Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[j44ke]

We have a Kubota BX2380 same as pictures less back hoe. If we need a backhoe we rent one. Only rented once in 25 years. I call it my hydraulic son. We have a 600' driveway with a short 10% pitch. Have the loader, snow blower for central MA winters, and a hydraulic feed chipper for 7 acre property, probably will get the mower and bagger once my old machine dies. You can definitely get by without one, but having it makes living in a rural setting much more comfortable and you will find lots of thing for it to do. Moving wood, concrete, carrying tools, building stone walls, removing brush and fire hazards near your home. You won't regret it. Comments about larger machine are valid. The B series are better for forestry management tasks due to higher ground clearance. The BX is easier to store and and handle has plenty of power, it just might take longer to do a task. There's a (gasp) facebook owners page for BX users and a web forum Tractorbynet that are useful sources of info from like minded obsessives you should consult prior to diving into that hole. There are few things as satisfying as tractor time. A 3 hour ride comes to mind...

5 years ago I looked at used items, they hold their value incredibly well and at the time new units were selling with 0% financing for 6 years. It made more sense to put down a modest down payment and pay 250/month for 6 years. You get the KTAC insurance which is like an excellent warranty for little money and I'd pay way more than 250/month to maintain the property jobbing it out, snow plowing alone it's paid for itself. YMMV. When I'm too old to live in a rural setting, it will be paid off an offered with the house or sold to pay for a week or 2 at the nursing home.

That's great. Thanks. You saved me some brain power.

[Too Tall]

Okay, now I am looking at tractors. Specifically subcompact. This is a slippery slope. First quads, then side-by-sides, then tractors. Next stop, mini-excavators.

Anyway, I like the look of the Kubota BX23. Small 4x4 tractor and I can get as complicated a plow setup as I want. They make a manual one and one that has complete hydraulic control, plus any number of after-market options. In the last week I've had 2-3 jobs that I could have used the tractor for. I have two drainage pipes I'd like to add to the driveway, and the list goes on. Splitter on the PTO. Chipper on the PTO. Planting trees which I will do a lot of over the next five years. And I just banged back into shape the stone wall that the snow plow guy knocked 4-6" off-line, so I am pretty committed to plowing my own drive next winter.

Plus it is orange.

Am I wrong? I might not care. I might have to build a second garage.

This one is on Craig's list locally for $23K, and it is the only one that looks like it actually got used.

that is the EXACT tractor I have been borrowing for the past two years. It is small enough to be called cute. That said it is unbreakable and a workhorse. Learn to use forward/reverse like a brake because hydraulic small machinery with hydraulics on all wheels only have a trans brake eg it suks. You'll learn to use the bucket and / or an outrigger for extra stopping power blah blah blah.

Bottom line, it is a great machine.

Last, get the backhoe. You want it for the massive lifting power.

[j44ke]

that is the EXACT tractor I have been borrowing for the past two years. It is small enough to be called cute. That said it is unbreakable and a workhorse. Learn to use forward/reverse like a brake because hydraulic small machinery with hydraulics on all wheels only have a trans brake eg it suks. You'll learn to use the bucket and / or an outrigger for extra stopping power blah blah blah.

Bottom line, it is a great machine.

Last, get the backhoe. You want it for the massive lifting power.

I have to say, if you can fit and work on a sub-compact tractor, that's good enough recommendation for me.

[Too Tall]

I have to say, if you can fit and work on a sub-compact tractor, that's good enough recommendation for me.

Born into a world I never made

[Scott G.]

Please get a tractor.

SPP

So, being Vsalon, there must be custom tractor makers,
I've seen vintage tractor groups out on rides.


https://www.tdcustomminitractors.com...ferguson-2805/

[Markco]

The customization is in the add on gear. Skid plate, thumb attachments, bucket teeth, extra hydraulic circuits, sun shades,
AC in a cab, tool carriers, wheel spacers, pallet forks, PTO generators, counter weights, winches. Not to mention the attachments. The list is extensive and expensive lol. There's a cottage industry of tinkerers and fabricators orbiting around these things.

[72gmc]

The customization is in the add on gear. Skid plate, thumb attachments, bucket teeth, extra hydraulic circuits, sun shades,
AC in a cab, tool carriers, wheel spacers, pallet forks, PTO generators, counter weights, winches. Not to mention the attachments. The list is extensive and expensive lol. There's a cottage industry of tinkerers and fabricators orbiting around these things.

Yes. So good for gear heads. Which leads to the day when you have an arsenal of accessories and a seat that’s held together by several kinds of tape.

[lumpy]

Our next door neighbor is a farm that's been in the family about 100 years. The owner regularly goes to equipment auctions and has effectively one tractor for each implement. He says he gets more done when he doesn't have to hitch up and unhitch machinery.

[bigbill]

For farming, I spent several days a week and my summers on my grandfather's farm in the DFW area. He had not bought any new equipment since 1950 so I grew up driving death traps with no roll bars, any kind of safety features, and one tractor that you had to handcrank to start. I mowed ditches with a Farmall B (gas) tractor with a tricycle wheel setup (front wheels are paired like nose gear on a plane). I look back and can't believe I didn't roll it over on me. At times, I would walk about 20 feet in front of the thresher looking for flood debris that would tear up machinery. I started driving at 9 years old and one tractor in particular, a Farmall D, I had to climb the wheel to get on it.

My grandfather was one of FDR's "Scientific Farmers" during the depression, and if the machinery was good enough, there was no need to upgrade. He lived 1900-1997 and died in the room where he was born. I always looked like older pictures of him, so here's what I'll look like at 97.

[j44ke]

So, being Vsalon, there must be custom tractor makers,
I've seen vintage tractor groups out on rides.


https://www.tdcustomminitractors.com...ferguson-2805/

Man oh man - unfortunately the local Lawn & Garden, prime bragging show off venue in these parts, is now closed. Much harder to show off now except maybe at Stewart's or various stoplights.

But I like it!

[j44ke]

The customization is in the add on gear. Skid plate, thumb attachments, bucket teeth, extra hydraulic circuits, sun shades,
AC in a cab, tool carriers, wheel spacers, pallet forks, PTO generators, counter weights, winches. Not to mention the attachments. The list is extensive and expensive lol. There's a cottage industry of tinkerers and fabricators orbiting around these things.

I can sense this just in a cursory survey of what's out there on the inter-webs. Seems like a welder becomes a necessary add-on to the garage.

[Too Tall]

Big Bill, good share. You are a fortunate man.

[Scott G.]

Man oh man - unfortunately the local Lawn & Garden, prime bragging show off venue in these parts, is now closed. Much harder to show off now except maybe at Stewart's or various stoplights.

But I like it!

Saurday Breakfast Ride, meets the Vintage Tractor Quarterly group outing.

DSC00818.jpeg

[j44ke]

Saurday Breakfast Ride, meets the Vintage Tractor Quarterly group outing.

DSC00818.jpeg

There should be cross-border hand-ups.

[mjbabcock]

For farming, I spent several days a week and my summers on my grandfather's farm in the DFW area. He had not bought any new equipment since 1950 so I grew up driving death traps with no roll bars, any kind of safety features, and one tractor that you had to handcrank to start. I mowed ditches with a Farmall B (gas) tractor with a tricycle wheel setup (front wheels are paired like nose gear on a plane). I look back and can't believe I didn't roll it over on me. At times, I would walk about 20 feet in front of the thresher looking for flood debris that would tear up machinery. I started driving at 9 years old and one tractor in particular, a Farmall D, I had to climb the wheel to get on it.

My grandfather was one of FDR's "Scientific Farmers" during the depression, and if the machinery was good enough, there was no need to upgrade. He lived 1900-1997 and died in the room where he was born. I always looked like older pictures of him, so here's what I'll look like at 97.

Dude has disproportionately big/strong hands…at 97. I’d be wary of a handshake as he might crush a metacarpal.

[gregl]

I'll pile on about the value of a small utility tractor. I grew up on a large, CNY dairy farm. The local tractor/implement dealer sold Oliver (later White) and New Holland, so that's the equipment we operated. When my father sold the farm to pursue other business interests, he kept an Oliver 550 as a utility tractor. The Oliver was a great small tractor, but a bit cumbersome for hobby farm chores and not terribly versatile. Later, we purchased a Kubota L245DT. For a small rural property, the Kubota was a much better fit than the old Oliver. Even though it only had half the horsepower of the Oliver, the diesel Kubota had more useable low-end torque. With 4-wheel drive, the Kubota could put the power to the ground very effectively. I was always amazed at how easily it would pull cars out of ditches, snow and mud. We equipped it with a front dozer blade that did double duty for winter snow removal and summer dirt moving. The blade had a float detent in the hydraulic control and removable bolts in the spring trip mechanism which made it very effective for snow removal, yet did not damage the driveway surface. In the summer, I would re-install the bolts to lock out the spring trip mechanism for dirt moving. On the back, the Kubota had a standard PTO and Cat. 1 3-point hitch. We used a Mott flail mower for summer lawn and pasture duty. Posthole augers, plows, and other implements were used often. With a radiator hose coolant heater, the tractor started easily in below zero temps. The Kubota was a great machine and I would get a similar tractor in a second if my property needed one.

Greg

[bigbill]

Dude has disproportionately big/strong hands…at 97. I’d be wary of a handshake as he might crush a metacarpal.

He was still farming at 97, he contracted pneumonia a month after his birthday and died six weeks later. He died three days after I returned from four months submerged on a submarine, and I was able to attend his funeral. He was also a dairy farmer and the milkman until the late 50s. He went to the cemetery in his old milk wagon pulled by a single Clydesdale. He was Texas A&M class of 1921, and received a masters degree from Baylor in 1923. He taught regional farmers how to rotate crops, terrace their fields, and to preserve topsoil from erosion. His younger brother was a professor at Baylor at the outbreak of World War 2. Joining the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the younger brother (1903) directed logistics for USO shows all over the Pacific. After the war, he started a travel agency that specialized in taking tourists behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn't until he died of leukemia in 1974 that we learned that he was more than a travel agent when some old guys from the CIA attended his funeral.

[bigbill]

Back on topic. I'd like to buy a small tractor for our Wyoming property but I'd have to build a place to store it for the winter. We're looking at a 400 square foot garage as the basis for our shop. It comes with roll-up doors which would give us a place to park the tractor when we leave in September.

[j44ke]

I'll pile on about the value of a small utility tractor. I grew up on a large, CNY dairy farm. The local tractor/implement dealer sold Oliver (later White) and New Holland, so that's the equipment we operated. When my father sold the farm to pursue other business interests, he kept an Oliver 550 as a utility tractor. The Oliver was a great small tractor, but a bit cumbersome for hobby farm chores and not terribly versatile. Later, we purchased a Kubota L245DT. For a small rural property, the Kubota was a much better fit than the old Oliver. Even though it only had half the horsepower of the Oliver, the diesel Kubota had more useable low-end torque. With 4-wheel drive, the Kubota could put the power to the ground very effectively. I was always amazed at how easily it would pull cars out of ditches, snow and mud. We equipped it with a front dozer blade that did double duty for winter snow removal and summer dirt moving. The blade had a float detent in the hydraulic control and removable bolts in the spring trip mechanism which made it very effective for snow removal, yet did not damage the driveway surface. In the summer, I would re-install the bolts to lock out the spring trip mechanism for dirt moving. On the back, the Kubota had a standard PTO and Cat. 1 3-point hitch. We used a Mott flail mower for summer lawn and pasture duty. Posthole augers, plows, and other implements were used often. With a radiator hose coolant heater, the tractor started easily in below zero temps. The Kubota was a great machine and I would get a similar tractor in a second if my property needed one.

Greg

Funny you should mention the L245DT. I was looking at this one, a L275 4wd. Comes with a brush hog and a back blade. I'm more interested in the back blade. Brush hog doesn't have much application for me as our property is heavily wooded. I've been told that this era of Kubotas had terrific long lived engines though, and the price is different too. One thing I was wondering though is about attachments. My understanding is that the beauty of the PTO is that it is universal, so you can put a Kubota backhoe on it or use an implement by some other manufacturer. That's correct, right? But are there hydraulic parameters or horsepower specs that need to match up? I could see where the tractor might be underpowered for the attachment. And I know that some attachments require an additional line. I'll be looking at front blades as well for snow plowing. And post hole augers. And chippers. And splitters. Andandandandandand....

I don't want to spend all my days working on a tractor, so I was leaning towards a new one. But I'd twirl wrenches for a better more capable machine in good condition. And most people around here selling tractors have been using them for mowing almost exclusively. This is one of few that doesn't also have grass tires, though maybe grass tires are okay for what I am doing. Seems like they'd be a problem when plowing snow or grating a drive or going anywhere there isn't a regular surface.

[gregl]

Funny you should mention the L245DT. I was looking at this one, a L275 4wd. Comes with a brush hog and a back blade. I'm more interested in the back blade. Brush hog doesn't have much application for me as our property is heavily wooded. I've been told that this era of Kubotas had terrific long lived engines though, and the price is different too. One thing I was wondering though is about attachments. My understanding is that the beauty of the PTO is that it is universal, so you can put a Kubota backhoe on it or use an implement by some other manufacturer. That's correct, right? But are there hydraulic parameters or horsepower specs that need to match up? I could see where the tractor might be underpowered for the attachment. And I know that some attachments require an additional line. I'll be looking at front blades as well for snow plowing. And post hole augers. And chippers. And splitters. Andandandandandand....

I don't want to spend all my days working on a tractor, so I was leaning towards a new one. But I'd twirl wrenches for a better more capable machine in good condition. And most people around here selling tractors have been using them for mowing almost exclusively. This is one of few that doesn't also have grass tires, though maybe grass tires are okay for what I am doing. Seems like they'd be a problem when plowing snow or grating a drive or going anywhere there isn't a regular surface.

Most PTO-powered implements (mowers, augers, rototillers, chippers, etc...) specify minimum PTO horsepower. 3-point hitches have specified weight lifting capabilities. Tractors with standard (quick release) hydraulic outlets have specified hydraulic flow rates to support hydraulic lift cylinders and hydraulically powered implements. You just match your tractor to compatible implements.

For true woodland or agricultural applications, ag tires are best. Our L245DT had ag tires front and rear with calcium in the rear tires for extra traction. Since the soil in our pastures and lawn had significant underlying clay, it had good load bearing capability and the ag tires worked fine for lawn mowing. The heavy flail mower (with a steel roller) kept the lawn very smooth. For your application with limited (if any) mowing, ag tires would likely be best.

Greg