In big picture they’re relatively cheap. Just used mine to move old propane tank Sunday. It’s nice to be able to have something loaded in truck and be able to unload on your own at home.
It was another excuse I used for new tractor, the ability to move the spare engine and trannys between shop and barn.
Only problem for me w/ tractor forks is they're hard to see when trying to slip into a pallet or under something. Disabled my seat switch just so I can stand up and see what I'm doing. Bucket mounted forks are also an option but you're really weight limited given how far out they are and the weight of the bucket itself. Either way you're going to want some counterweight on the back if lifting much of anything. At least fill the rear tires if they're not already.
Only problem for me w/ tractor forks is they're hard to see when trying to slip into a pallet or under something. Disabled my seat switch just so I can stand up and see what I'm doing. Bucket mounted forks are also an option but you're really weight limited given how far out they are and the weight of the bucket itself. Either way you're going to want some counterweight on the back if lifting much of anything. At least fill the rear tires if they're not already.
My rears are filled. Should be about 330 lbs per tire assuming 75% fill. I sit pretty high but will have to get the forks to see how much visibility I will have.
I use my forks all the time, that is what is generally mounted to the tractor. I move 5' round bales with them, flat side down. Stack them like cans in the barn. I stack firewood in the cages 275 gallon totes come in, makes moving it around very easy. I have also picked up large oak tree trunks 12' long. You'll not regret getting a pair, you grow accustomed to not seeing the tips just before you move in under a pallet.
I continue to let things distract me from Landcruisers..... I have been chasing down all the parts to make a backhoe attachment work on my tractor after finding a backhoe locally for "cheap". It needs a full rebuild and I keep telling myself the value it will add to the tractor will be worth it, but surely just renting a mini-excavator when I need to dig would have been a better financial decision. The backhoe attachment is underwhelmingly small compared to what I expected from the photos in the sale ad. I know these tractors aren't designed to take a ton of stress from all these various attachments, so understand that anything much larger would probably just ruin things in a hurry. I was able to source pretty much everything required to mount this to my tractor specific subframe online, I just need to fabricate the rear subframe bracket. We have a plasma table at the shop, so that should make things pretty easy!
^ maybe not the best decision financially for just a few jobs, but eh, what a lot of fun that will be to have around!
Coincidentally, I just saw some vids on YT about the HF minitrencher which seems to be of similar size and some of the comments were that these are surprisingly powerful, in fact enough that they would tear the buckets apart in some cases. The wonders of hydraulics...!
I actually bent my bucket arm on my backhoe. It was stupid and impulsive and my fault. Tried to move too big a tree with the backhoe and mechanical thumb. Going to see if the kubota dealer can bend it back for me this summer when I bring it in for an oil change. It would require way more force than I am willing to use to bend it back.
I finally got around to using my new hydraulic auger. This thing will eat. 12 inch bit with tungsten teeth. Took about 30 seconds to dig 24-30 inches deep. It's long and heavy. If I didn't have the BH attached I'd definitely need some counter weight.
I finally started moving logs from trees that have clearly been on the ground for some time. Big thumbs up for the grapple. Not sure what else I will use it for but it’s perfect for this task.