Tools you waited too long to acquire

[Susquatch]

My little tractor that could.....





I once lifted and moved an 8x12 fully insulated double walled shed with it (no pictures). The forks didn't reach far enough in to balance it so I had to strap it on.

The lift ratings on loader tractors are colour coded like stop lights. Red for stop, amber/orange for caution, and green for go.

 

[Starlight Tools]

My little tractor that could.....

View attachment 87028

View attachment 87029

I once lifted and moved an 8x12 fully insulated double walled shed with it (no pictures). The forks didn't reach far enough in to balance it so I had to strap it on.

The lift ratings on loader tractors are colour coded like stop lights. Red for stop, amber/orange for caution, and green for go.

When I was shopping for a machine, there were only three dealers on the area, Kubota and JD in Green or JD in yellow.

JD green had only a couple of machines on the lot and basically nothing that I was interested in as I wanted the TLB, tractor, loader, backhoe and they had no backhoes. Ideally I needed a Mini X, a front end loader and a rough terrain forklift, but that was three expensive machines, and I was scratching the finance barrel to even get one.

Massey Ferguson was the same way with almost no stock, and they are part of the Kubota dealership, just on a different lot.

Kubota had the best range of machines, with the most stock, so I went that way.

JD yellow in the industrial machines were way more expensive, and overall much larger in size.

After I had the Kubota, I found out about Kioti and also found that Bob Cat had come out with a line of tractors, which are Kioti's painted white

A buddy of mine that has an excavation business just ditched his JD yellow excavator and got a Kubota of the same size, told me that the Kubota digs circles around the JD and was one of his best decisions.

 

[Susquatch]

A buddy of mine that has an excavation business just ditched his JD yellow excavator and got a Kubota of the same size, told me that the Kubota digs circles around the JD and was one of his best decisions.

We can all tell stories like that. My Deere is MY DEERE. I've had it for about 40 years. It's never needed repair and has always done everything I've ever asked it to do. Even things others thought were impossible. I don't need to tell stories about others. I have lived my stories myself.

My previous note was only intended to stir up loyalty debates. I like being a shit disturber. Tractors are like dogs. When we love em, we love em with all our hearts! In particular I was aiming at @CWret who also has orange. He and I are always poking fun at each other.

 

[Upnorth]

We can all tell stories like that. My Deere is MY DEERE. I've had it for about 40 years. It's never needed repair and has always done everything I've ever asked it to do. Even things others thought were impossible. I don't need to tell stories about others. I have lived my stories myself.

My previous note was only intended to stir up loyalty debates. I like being a shit disturber. Tractors are like dogs. When we love em, we love em with all our hearts! In particular I was aiming at @CWret who also has orange. He and I are always poking fun at each other.

Some day you'll be ready to move up to the king of tractors. Massey Ferguson

 

[CWret]

Poke away Susq!!
I love my orange compact tractor. It has been a faithful and trouble free friend for 35+ years. The truth is that there is very little difference (IMO) between orange or green - the BIG difference is the dealership. And oh yea - a machine’s likely-hood of lasting decades is directly proportional to how the owner treats it.

PS. I purchased 2 Kubota industrial engines that were used to power the hydraulics on custom built rock drills. I also have owed 2 Kubota diesel lawn tractors. In all cases my experience with orange has been superb.

 

[Susquatch]

In all cases my experience with orange has been superb.

I wish I could say the same about green. My first personal green experience was a Riding Mower. Before that, we had green on the home farm - but I didn't buy them myself. For the first 15 years of my adult life, I had a push Mower. Then, when we bought our first home with a bit more land, I bought a craftsman rider. It lasted a year, then threw a rod, I fixed it, and then it needed another rod a year later. But this time the cylinder liner had also worn through. So we bought an MTD at the co-op. It lasted a year too and then started to gobble oil. Turns out that it had a Chrome plated cylinder that had also worn through. So I replaced the motor with an industrial version. It lasted 2 years and then the tractor frame started to rust through everywhere. My father in law gave me a Ford Lawn Tractor. By then I was cutting 3 acres. I rebuilt that engine a few times too. I was desperate for something better.

Then I met a Deere dealer by accident. He promised me a Mower that would last at least 10 years, and a full refund after 5 years if it didn't. Nothing else had lasted 5 years so I told him I would do it if he put it in writing. He did, and gave me a 5 year interest free loan to boot. He died about 20 years later and never saw that rider again in that whole time. I sold that house to my middle son. He is still using that same mower 35 years later. When we bought the farm, I upsized the lawn tractor to a Deere 900 series garden tractor. It quit on me after I accidentally fed it some diesel fuel laced with water. I had to replace the injector pump. But it's still cutting 5 acres of grass 15 years later.

My loader tractor is still trouble free after 40 years.

My Deere row crop tractor is whole nuther deal. I bought it cheap because it had a wiring problem the dealer couldn't fix. Turns out that the factory wiring diagram was wrong. I fixed it by totally redrawing the circuitry 1 wire at a time. None-the-less, it seems to like limp home mode. It randomly stops working in the middle of a job and needs to be reset. It's a great tractor... when it works. It easily pulls a 24ft set of disks or a 24ft cultivator sunk to the stops. But I don't like having to reset the planter whenever the tractor decides it's time to limp home. I'm not thrilled with the electronics or with Deere's right to repair policies. I do long for the old technology that just worked and worked and worked.

See, I'm not totally brainwashed. Just mostly.....LOL!

 

[CWret]

Well Susq - as I said - my Kubota experience has been remarkably trouble free and all enjoyable.
I was pointed towards a Kubota because my mother had a hobby farm/bush lot and bought a nice new 60Hp farm tractor with lots of attachments including a FEL. My brother inherited it when he took over my mothers property. It was then over 40 years old and had no problems or issues of which i am aware.
My first kubota was a small 14Hp 4x4 tractor that was typically what a grape farmer would use between the grape rows. For me it had the task of cutting grass and also blowing snow with a front mounted 4’ blower. It worked great but i traded it in for a better suited grass mowing 4wheel steer 17Hp kubota. When trading it in (at the same dealership where i bought it) i got a credit of exactly what i had paid for it (6 years earlier). The 4WS kubota served me well for 25+ years when i traded it in for a zero turn. I bought my compact tractor (B1250 24Hp) about the same time as the 4WS. As mentioned above - it continues to serve me well with no problems (other than a couple of oil leaks that I couldn’t fix but the dealer did for a very reasonable price). The 2 Kubota motors that i purchased to power hydraulic units (mentioner above in previous post) worked hard (full throttle) in a harsh environment (dusty). They worked flawlessly for about 8 years until i sold that business (each did about 1,200 hours/year for 8 years).

So - unlike some of the problems Susq has experienced with green - my experience with orange has been remarkably great.

 

[140mower]

@CWret who also has orange

I knew there was sumthin' 'bout that guy....... 😉


Go green or stay home and clean. Sheesh. 🙄😛😎

I've got two bobcat machines, a 430 zero swing excavator and an s205 skidsteer. I have no complaints about either of them, and as a duo, with attachments to fit the work load they're pretty much unstoppable. I did convert the rubber tracks to steel on the excavator however. The terrain here is pretty demanding of the tracks when cutting in driveways and trails on the sides of mountains.

 

[Starlight Tools]

I knew there was sumthin' 'bout that guy....... 😉


Go green or stay home and clean. Sheesh. 🙄😛😎

I've got two bobcat machines, a 430 zero swing excavator and an s205 skidsteer. I have no complaints about either of them, and as a duo, with attachments to fit the work load they're pretty much unstoppable. I did convert the rubber tracks to steel on the excavator however. The terrain here is pretty demanding of the tracks when cutting in driveways and trails on the sides of mountains.

Both of those are built with Kubota engines, LOL

 

[CWret]

I've got two bobcat machines,

I mentioned above that i traded my 4WS kubota in on a zero turn -well that was 11 years ago for a BobCat. I didn’t go for a Kubota because i wanted to use my grass catcher (bagger) and it seemed easiest to make it fit the new BobCat. Other than needing new spindle bearings - it has been trouble free and never let me down.

This week I had to repair the bagger blower - new bearings and tighten up the impeller mounting. It is an awesome attachment for looking after leaves in the fall. 🙂
While at that repair i also installed assist lift springs on the deck (that’s been on the to-do list for a decade) In pic below you can see the new springs and also the gear box that drives the blower.
When attaching the bag assembly i wanted the weight as far forward as possible so i would not need weights on the front - so i moved the rear motor guard in 2.5” - this required moving the air filter and also shortening the exhaust manifold.

Both of those are built with Kubota engines, LOL

When at the Barrie forum meetup that BrentH hosted - I saw his JD compact tractor. It looked very similar to my machine but mine is dressed in a pretty orange. He told me that the diesel motor, hydraulic motors, and hydraulic pump all come from the same factory.

PS - the BobCat is a nice green NOT JD green!!!

 

[LenVW]

I mentioned above that i traded my 4WS kubota in on a zero turn -well that was 11 years ago for a BobCat. I didn’t go for a Kubota because i wanted to use my grass catcher (bagger) and it seemed easiest to make it fit the new BobCat. Other than needing new spindle bearings - it has been trouble free and never let me down.
View attachment 87048View attachment 87049
This week I had to repair the bagger blower - new bearings and tighten up the impeller mounting. It is an awesome attachment for looking after leaves in the fall. 🙂
While at that repair i also installed assist lift springs on the deck (that’s been on the to-do list for a decade) In pic below you can see the new springs and also the gear box that drives the blower. View attachment 87050
When attaching the bag assembly i wanted the weight as far forward as possible so i would not need weights on the front - so i moved the rear motor guard in 2.5” - this required moving the air filter and also shortening the exhaust manifold.
View attachment 87051

When at the Barrie forum meetup that BrentH hosted - I saw his JD compact tractor. It looked very similar to my machine but mine is dressed in a pretty orange. He told me that the diesel motor, hydraulic motors, and hydraulic pump all come from the same factory.

PS - the BobCat is a nice green NOT JD green!!!

Wow, you guys really spend the dough on lawncare.
I have never had a riding lawnmower.
Even when we had an 1/4 acre lawn in Stratford in the 1990s.
Now the lawns have shrunk so much that I have not see a riding mower in our neighborhood.

 

[CWret]

Wow, you guys really spend the dough on lawncare.

For now i choose a 2 acres lot needing a ride-on mower vs an urban lot with 1000 blades of grass. That perspective could/will change ss the years pile on.

 

[LenVW]

For now i choose a 2 acres lot needing a ride-on mower vs an urban lot with 1000 blades of grass. That perspective could/will change ss the years pile on.

Keep cutting as long as you are able.
I have seen too many colleagues retire fully and die of BOREDOM !!

 

[Starlight Tools]

Keep cutting as long as you are able.
I have seen too many colleagues retire fully and die of BOREDOM !!

Some of us are on the Freedom 6 Foot plan! (better not be my butt on the backhoe diggin' the 6 foot deep hole!)

 

[Susquatch]

Wow, you guys really spend the dough on lawncare.

Well, my farm came with about 5 acres of grass. You wouldn't be cutting that with a push mower Len. Even if you could, you wouldn't finish in time to start over again on the same day of the week. Even with a 5ft deck, there are days when I just want to use my 8ft Bush Hog and get it done. There are also days when I think about growing hay instead of grass - then I remember ticks....... and the idea dies yesterday.

Fundamentally though, you are right. Rural living has its costs and benefits. Overall, I think rural living is a better life, but not everyone would agree.

 

[Upnorth]

I only this year started using a ride on mower. The ride on is an old John deer that was going to the dump. A little work and it now starts first try and runs perfect. I think that mower is from the 1990s. It's missing the hood so it's not pretty. I also have a reserve mower it's a 1975 Allis Chalmers (rebadged Simplicity) that sat in a barn for almost 50 years. I got it running but it probably needs a new motor. It had so little use it still has paint under the deck. With this motor repaired or a new motor it will last the rest of my life.

My other mower is the 1979 Massey Ferguson 245 in post 784 it also had a rough time before I got it. It was in a smoldering fire that melted and burned everything from the instrument cluster to the headlights. It was going to be scrapped. With some paint, rewiring and new hoses and instruments it ran again. The battery was so melted I had to remove the body work because it wouldn't fit through the hole. Acid leaked all over. I have been mowing with it for over 5 years now. This year it got a new water pump and radiator. The originals lasted 47 years. I put on a new water pump but I'm going to repair the original and probably put it back on.

Point from all of this is that both of these are tools I waited too long to acquire. Second point is that things from the 1970's and earlier are great to work on. I don't really know at what point things became difficult. I have a second generation Tacoma and happily pay the guys across the street to fix it. The access and rusty bolts are something I don't want to deal with.