Tractor Talk

I forgot about my most recent attachment purchase:

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This is a boom pole that attaches to the back of the tractor and raises up & down using the rear hydraulic lift. I got it a couple of weeks ago (Tractor Supply coupons+promos) and have used it quite a bit already to move my attachments around without having to hook them up/drive them over/unmount them. I quickly moved a bunch of attachments out of the way when I was working on that area behind the garage.

The end loop has a 500# capacity, and the bottom-mounted loop has a 1,000# capacity. I'll find plenty of uses for it.

There's a woman working at my local Tractor Supply who does some farming with her husband. She's been a gold mine of information & advice. This boom pole was her recommendation, as were some skidding tongs:

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She bought the cheapest ones they sell for use on her farm and has been real pleased with them. She uses them with her boom pole to lift the end of the log up rather than have it dig in the ground as she drags it. She says she has gotten so good at it that she can use it like a claw machine, never having to dismount in order to hook/unhook stuff (or so the story goes.) These will help keep our right-of-way clear.

 

I think I saw some of those those rock pickers/sieves in an earlier search, now that you send me the link. Much of that stuff is designed for skid loaders...the bucket on my front end loader is not designed for easy swapping. I'm thinking I'll get additional utility out of a rake.

Regarding ballast: I was just mentioning that I leave my front end loader on for that very purpose (that, and the hydraulics are a real pain.) I also have the liquid in my rear tires, although one has had a tube put in. I was just at the dealer last week talking about this...it ain't cheap to have the thing taken in and that liquid replaced. And that assumes the tire can be plugged. He needs to keep it for 2 weeks to do it. I'm gonna wait until the end of the summer when his shop is not so backed up.

 

Since we're confessing here...ever since I got that box blade, I've just started learning how to fine-adjust the 3 point hitch check chains and the top link. The attachments I've used so far have been pretty forgiving. But the box blade is not only heavy, it requires fine tuning. I'm finally learning how to do this. (I also had to order a new top link, but that's another story.)

I've also had problems hooking up attachments because the top link flops down and gets in the way when I back the tractor up far enough to connect it. I usually keep the top half of the roll bar flopped down so the tractor will drive into the garage, so I recently hooked up a tie wrap and an "S" hook on it to hold the top link up. It's made things easier. But I just noticed in my manual that there's supposed to be a panel across the fenders with a clip on it for that very purpose...except my tractor does not have that panel. The manual shows that the rear lights are mounted on top of that panel, yet mine are mounted on the fenders. The guy at the dealership tells me that these inconsistencies are common with Kubotas.

I'm just now figuring this stuff out after 12 years. Shhhhh.....

 

Actually, I'm removing rocks from a garden so I can till it (although the rocks I've not picked up are pretty small) AND from an area I'm going to be mowing.

I'm looking a quick hitches and cannot figure out which implements will work with them. I saw one on AgriSupply, which referenced one of their cultivators is will NOT work with, but there was no reason given (incompatible with all cultivators or just that model?) This is a low priority for me, since I'm not messing with this stuff on a daily basis. I'd almost rather wait for a box blade with the clevis pin hookup to come available and put my money towards that, and then sell the one I've got. All my other attachments are easy to install.

 

Thanks!

I've never heard of goodworkstractor. I look at a dealer in Pennsylvania (Messnicks) and Everything Attachments for my instructional vids, then some of those owner forums you mentioned.

I ordered a new top link, so will be going to the dealer some time early this coming week to pick it up (hopefully.)

 

Yeh, I used to struggle horribly with getting the PTO for my rototiller hooked up. It's under a shield on the tractor and there's a protector around the u-joint, and the tiller is large and it's up against the tractor...there's so little room to get my hands in there.

If your PTO driveline is like mine (and I'm sure it is), it telescopes. It's actually two separate pieces. They slide apart so that the length can be hacksaw-shortened for a specific set up. With your mower deck unmounted, you can pull off the end that connects to the tractor. Then you can play with just that piece at the tractor and learn by repetition the best way to get that collar to click, how to disconnect it, and what it "feels like" when lined up right. It's so much easier than learning with the mower deck (or rototiller) attached. When you're done, you can put the two pieces of the telescoping shaft back together...one of the shafts just slides inside of the other (it is likely keyed.) I no longer struggle with hooking the thing up as much as I used to since I was able to learn it this way. That's another one of those "after 12 years of ownership" things I just figured out this year after umpteen times struggling with it.

If it makes you feel any better (it did me), this is such a universal issue that people buy easy-connect adapters costing $400+ to make this connection easier. Here are a couple of designs that are out there:






I came across these when searching for tips on hooking up my tiller driveline. When I saw the prices (they are close to $1,000 for high-hp tractors), I went back outside to try again and then realized I could separate the driveline and practice without the tiller attached. I had a similar struggle I finally resolved with the driveline on my belly mower connection to the mid-pto (done while lying on my back under the tractor.)

Regarding my roll bar...I got garage paint marks on it for those times I have put the thing up and then just driven 0n to store it. *CRASH* (Actually, I've only done it twice.) If it didn't fold down, I'd have my tractor outside with a tarp over it. (BTW: I like your shed. I want one like that.)

 

Mine's too tall to go through the door when it's full open. I smacked the exterior top trim molding when I first moved in and cracked it (my brand-new 3 car garage.) Shortly thereafter I had an issue with one of the door tracks and called the guys out to fix it. They saw what I had done (and I fessed up, since I'm a poor liar), and they had some spare trim on the truck and replaced it for my (shout out to Overhead Door Company!)

I've done it once more since. The only time I have the roll bar up is when I'm on the right-of-way moving trees. The combination of the heavy trees + the slope of the road + the incline of the ditches & banks is kinda iffy, so I put up the roll bar and I fasten my seat belt. I don't think about the roll bar being up since it rarely is, and I completely forgot once.

 

What tractor do you have? I know you said "small."