The Tractor Thread
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
at1010
*Supporting Member*
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I have this exact tractor. I LOVE IT! Dont be fooled either, the FEL can flat out work. I have moved railroad ties to mulch all by myself. That SOB is some of the best money, I have ever spent. One implement that is often overlooked that I think is awesome are the PTO cone spreaders from lawn seed to lime, they are badass.
I'm with ya man, best $ I'll spend when it comes to working around the homestead and doing deer chores. This is an ABSOLUTE gamechanger when it comes to my food plots, trail cutting/maintenance, and overall management efforts at the farm. I could barely get to sleep last night since my mind was racing as I rethought my 2022 Deer Chores List! It seems silly to say a tractor will help me kill deer, but it's the truth. It elevates my capabilities and makes sure the basics don't get ignored because I can't get my hands on or I want to use it in a way he wouldn't want me to. Mo fugger is mine and I'll break it if I want to
at1010
*Supporting Member*
- 5,262
- 159
I'm with ya man, best $ I'll spend when it comes to working around the homestead and doing deer chores. This is an ABSOLUTE gamechanger when it comes to my food plots, trail cutting/maintenance, and overall management efforts at the farm. I could barely get to sleep last night since my mind was racing as I rethought my 2022 Deer Chores List! It seems silly to say a tractor will help me kill deer, but it's the truth. It elevates my capabilities and makes sure the basics don't get ignored because I can't get my hands on or I want to use it in a way he wouldn't want me to. Mo fugger is mine and I'll break it if I want to
hell yes!! Titan attachments makes strap on forks, I have a set, well worth the $150 - I have moved blinds to pallets and I don't need a 1K pallet fork attachment for how often I actually do it, but the Titan attachments are nice!
I have a 4 foot bush hog and tiller
The tiller needs work the bush hog is good to go
The tiller needs work the bush hog is good to go
Made some mods today to make it a bit more functional for me. This first that that drove me nuts was not storage for pins, tools, etc., so I mounted a 30 cal ammo can to the mount that used to hold the slow moving vehicle sign. I also added chain hooks to bucket which should work nicely with the clamp on forks. The factory lights are useless with a bucket and I expect several late evenings on this thing, so it needed a light bar up high on the roll bar. Good upgrades for the overall functionality of it.
Nice! But I foresee that lightbar moving away from your face. Bug magnet!
Sitting still, yes, and maybe on the move, but that's the best place for it, so I'll deal with 'em if I have to. It definitely lights up the work area!
With the addition of a 48" Land Pride brushhog and a 50" LP tiller, I've put this baby to work racking up 50 hours on it since she came home. I'm now mowing the backyard with it thanks to a blade change and it's saving me time there. I use it to mow the main part of our farm as well. Trail maintenance at the farm is the best it's been in years and I'm reclaiming areas of the 11 acres at our house that had long since went fallow. It is likley I'll never get a greater ROI on my $ in terms of usefulness and overall positive impact on my life outside of my profession and family, than I will with this tractor. Hell, simple things like the quality of my gardening experience have improved just with the ability to put a proper tilling on it. Or moving heavy things. I'm getting old and while I'm still a good, strong farm hand, I'm old enough to want to work smarter these days! If you're ever on the fence about buying a compact tractor, hop on over and you'll never regret it.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Not sure it will even happen this year but we have been talking about getting a tractor for the many projects on the farm. It would have to be 4x4, have at least a bucket and eventually a brush hog. Something just about the size of Jesse's Kubota is what I have been envisioning but I am not sure it would do some of the jobs I can see needing done. I'm hoping guys with knowledge of actual dirt moving/excavating could chime in. @giles and others??
A couple years ago we got a verbal estimate from an excavator for a driveway, adding a culvert and flattening for a home site of over $20K, more likely $25K the way he was talking. Probably be more now the way things are. For someone that doesn't know anything about dirt moving it just doesn't seem hard to cut a driveway, drop stone and make a driveway work by just using a tractor. Am I off base here??
My questions to you guys are:
- Creating a driveway and fixing trails through creek crossings and hillsides what would be your recommendations on equipment for getting it all done? (aside from or including a tractor like this?)
- With a tractor the size of Jesse's, how well does the bucket do at moving dirt, to possibly create the driveway and remove topsoil?
- For clearing a driveway/trail repair would a back-hoe attachment be worth it if the tractor came with it?
- Am I biting off more than I can chew with wanting to put a driveway using a smaller tractor?
- Should something like this be left to a professional?
A couple years ago we got a verbal estimate from an excavator for a driveway, adding a culvert and flattening for a home site of over $20K, more likely $25K the way he was talking. Probably be more now the way things are. For someone that doesn't know anything about dirt moving it just doesn't seem hard to cut a driveway, drop stone and make a driveway work by just using a tractor. Am I off base here??
My questions to you guys are:
- Creating a driveway and fixing trails through creek crossings and hillsides what would be your recommendations on equipment for getting it all done? (aside from or including a tractor like this?)
- With a tractor the size of Jesse's, how well does the bucket do at moving dirt, to possibly create the driveway and remove topsoil?
- For clearing a driveway/trail repair would a back-hoe attachment be worth it if the tractor came with it?
- Am I biting off more than I can chew with wanting to put a driveway using a smaller tractor?
- Should something like this be left to a professional?
Chuck, hate to say it but a job like that for a compact tractor like Jesse’s would be biting off much more than it could chew IMO. I can’t tell exactly how long the drive would be but it looks fairly long in your picture. If you had a grader or ripper on the back 3-point to break up the sod, and then a shitload of patience to scoop and carry and load with a tiny bucket, yes technically you could probably get it done. But it would suck.
Most compact tractors like Jesse have a front-end loader capacity of about a 1000 pounds, give or take. A Kubota 3901 (which I believe is slightly bigger than Jesse’s) has a loader capacity of 1,082 pounds. And that max capacity is not exactly fun to maneuver around without having loaded rear tires and a counterweight on the back. You would have a LOT of loader work in scooping and dumping topsoil, and then moving, placing, and spreading stone. A small compact tractor is simply not built to handle a job like that IMO. If you want to do the job yourself, you would be better off renting some real equipment that would be more capable and more efficient. A D3 dozer for a day and then a backhoe or large skidsteer to move stone around would be a heck of a lot more user friendly.
For frame of reference, I have a new Kubota on order that I’m waiting for. It’s an MX6000, 60 hp and a front end loader capacity of 2,310 pounds. Still basically considered a “compact” tractor, but much more stout than the 2500 or 3900 series tractors… and I’m not sure I would even consider using it for a driveway cutting job.
Sorry to be the Debby downer buddy. If it were me, I’d rent some big boy equipment to do the driveway. And then buy the tractor for the trail maintenance and farm chores.
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
A large skidsteer would probably work for breaking trails but would lack the brush hog. I second renting a dozer to get the driveway done. I have a small kabota with bucket/backhoe and it would be a monumental task to put in in a driveway.
Then you could get a tractor with a brush hog attachment for regular use on the farm after the driveway is done.
Then you could get a tractor with a brush hog attachment for regular use on the farm after the driveway is done.
These guys are spot on. To maintain with a tractor of that size would be doable. But to actually work with it would be painful.
If I wanted to add a 10x10 or even a 10x30 section of patio/driveway/etc I could make it happen with a subcompact tractor. Anything larger and I'd really have to weigh out my time/fuel costs versus rental costs of a more qualified machine.
Tracked skid loader or dozer would be my recommendation. Dozer would be first choice.
Tracked skid loader or dozer would be my recommendation. Dozer would be first choice.