Mini Tractors - lets see um (1 Viewer)

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Well, it was dropped off at 5pm and I’ve got nearly 4 hours of abuse on it. Sheared the bushhog pin already and have a grade 6 bolt in it right now.

Thoughts: more than enough HP for what I want to do. Grapple has more than enough strength for ripping down low tree limbs or pulling up small trees. 4wd feels lacking when either back tire spin and front only bites when jamming on brakes. It carries a 5’ bushhog with ease and I’ve just done some serious work with it running down 2” saplings as well as clumps of bushes. Working a field I haven’t worked in about 3-4 years since my smaller 20hp died. Salesman claimed a 2 year bumper to bumper and a 7 year powertrain warranty. When I laughed and said “I’d put that to the test” he replied with “everyone says that”. We will see.
 
Well, it was dropped off at 5pm and I’ve got nearly 4 hours of abuse on it. Sheared the bushhog pin already and have a grade 6 bolt in it right now.

Thoughts: more than enough HP for what I want to do. Grapple has more than enough strength for ripping down low tree limbs or pulling up small trees. 4wd feels lacking when either back tire spin and front only bites when jamming on brakes. It carries a 5’ bushhog with ease and I’ve just done some serious work with it running down 2” saplings as well as clumps of bushes. Working a field I haven’t worked in about 3-4 years since my smaller 20hp died. Salesman claimed a 2 year bumper to bumper and a 7 year powertrain warranty. When I laughed and said “I’d put that to the test” he replied with “everyone says that”. We will see.

I wrecked both yokes in a bushhog driveshaft doing cutting like this, you may need to put in a driveshaft with a slip clutch. I found one cheaper at a Kubota dealer than what Tractor Supply offered.
 
Yep, you can do a lot of damage without a shear pin to fail first.
 
Spoke too soon on 4wd lacking. Should’ve read the manual.... So, I was sitting on the frame when I noticed a lever by my foot. Engage it and it appears to be a center diff lock. Hmm. Next to my right heel is what looks like an old ‘70s style dimmer button. Stomp it and it locks the rear diff. Hmm. 5 minutes of cussing and it walked right out.
 
I could not imagine life without a tractor. Literally changes the way you look at getting every chore you have accomplished.
 
I could not imagine life without a tractor. Literally changes the way you look at getting every chore you have accomplished.

No doubt. This is my first with FEL and especially a grapple. I yanked a couple of 6-8” trees out this afternoon. Otherwise it’d been a chainsaw and chain to drag them off in a large pile. Now I can pile them up.
 
I could not imagine life without a tractor. Literally changes the way you look at getting every chore you have accomplished.

By far, the best money I have ever spent on a tool.
 
Salesman claimed a 2 year bumper to bumper and a 7 year powertrain warranty. When I laughed and said “I’d put that to the test” he replied with “everyone says that”. We will see.
So I was getting the hang of pulling up small pines and hardwoods by their roots using this grapple. Actually easy to do and enjoyable to be making progress in this field. So I get around to some bushes that have popped up and yank up a pile of those while I’m at it. Then I come around and start working down the road frontage on some bushes that make it hard to see when pulling out...the “THUMP” happens. It was late in the day so I wait until business hours to notify my salesman and he quickly turned me over to the shop guys. Had a guy pick it up before lunch that day.

I was able to jack up the axle and get 4 bolts started and snugged up with an end wrench. Those four also had about 5 threads worth of knuckle on them. One bolt was sheared off and the 6th was MIA. I asked for a new knuckle or a helicoil repair and 1/2” of weld across the bottom so it doesn’t happen again. Had about 12 hours on her when it happened but I was giving it hell pulling those bushes. Wife was trying to get on me but with a 2 year bumper to bumper I have to get all these bugs worked out on their dime.

Had about 4 hours of yanking trees. This is start of the third pile.
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Carnage from a bush.
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Wait until they tell you this was due to abuse and to punch sand. I'm thinking about installing a cheap dash cam on my ROPS to have video evidence of everything I do on my tractor so they can't pull that crap with me. Just made it over 20 hours on my Kioti CX2510. This is the day I brought her home. Got an EA grapple and tooth bar on order. Can't wait.

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@iptman

I almost went with a Kioti but went Mahindra due to location of dealership for the Kioti. It was an older, well established dealership and I went with the new up and coming guys. Gambled that they would do whatever necessary to keep a good name and reputation to continue selling tractors. Whereas the older dealership would likely tell me to pound sand.

The grapple is sweet. Tip it down to about 15* from vertical with it wide open and bulldoze it up to the root ball. Then rock the bucket up little by little as you rock the clutch forward and it’ll pull up most things by their roots. When the axle broke the bolts I was doing this but trying to get a rather large clump all at once. I should’ve worked it from two sides and I believe it’d have come loose without issue.
 
Be careful using that grapple on stumps. Stump work is hard on any machine, but especially hard on a front end loader and the hydraulic cylinders. Pulling stumps twists the front end loader with built up force from trying to pop them loose...hung up on the teeth and then letting go. It will twist your rods. I have a neighbor that did just that using his grapple.

Ideally a big hoe should be used for stumps. Even my 12 ton mini ex struggles some times with big stumps. It will get hooked on a root and the boom will start to twist with force. You have to know when to back off.

Also get a skid plate if your going to be working in the woods. I don't know if yours is hydro drive or geared, but hydos have a cooling fan under there that sticks live to damage.
 
Be careful using that grapple on stumps. Stump work is hard on any machine, but especially hard on a front end loader and the hydraulic cylinders. Pulling stumps twists the front end loader with built up force from trying to pop them loose...hung up on the teeth and then letting go. It will twist your rods. I have a neighbor that did just that using his grapple.

Ideally a big hoe should be used for stumps. Even my 12 ton mini ex struggles some times with big stumps. It will get hooked on a root and the boom will start to twist with force. You have to know when to back off.

Also get a skid plate if your going to be working in the woods. I don't know if yours is hydro drive or geared, but hydos have a cooling fan under there that sticks live to damage.

It’s a shuttle shift so no extra fans. It has two long runners that accompany the FEL but I’ve been looking at possibly doing a skid to protect a few sensitive spots.

My box blade has 4 root rake looking things that I can drop down to almost 3” below grade. My grandpa has an actual root rake for his big tractors and I’m considering either making or sourcing one for mine. I used the box blade to pull a couple of pine stumps where the tree snapped a few feet up ground level. Worked much faster than trying to work it out with the grapple.
 
Getting things done! Little tractors are what makes life easier.
New pad with pistol range.

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Dose a smallish 85 year old dozer count?
We cleared a half acre of heavy sage and big rocks. Lots of rocks!

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I have been clearing junipers, oak and elm saplings, and brush from under and around a huge old live oak tree on our place, the oak tree must be 100-200 years old, the circumference is huge - way bigger than I could possibly reach around. When I first found it, you could barely walk around it, the underbrush was so thick. After cutting and burning a good part of the fall and winter, and pruning the big oak, it is getting nice enough to see the potential. Here is a photo of it last winter while burning a pile:

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So today, I drove my tractor down a 4-wheel-drive trail, down a steep hill, and across a small creek to get to the oak and mow all around the cleared area with the brush hog. There is grass growing already, I hope to make it spread and thicker, and keep the saplings and briars from coming back by keeping it mowed fairly short. My wife wants to have her birthday party here in August, and my youngest daughter is going to get married here in October.

I was a little worried about getting the tractor and brush hog down and up the creek banks. The creek bed here is a flat sheet of solid rock, and the water is only a few inches deep, so the only problem was the articulation of the brush hog on the three-point hitch, and traction on the somewhat muddy banks. I made it over just fine and got everything mowed, but coming back the other way I couldn't get back up the bank, even in 4WD and with the rear diff on the tractor locked. Too much mud, a small rock ledge, and not enough traction with the ag tires on the Kubota.

A 1/4-mile walk back to the house to get the 40, drive it to the top of the hill, and rigged a straight pull with the winch line of the mighty 8274:

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Started the tractor and put it in neutral, then walked back up to the Cruiser and winched it up:

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The 8274 pulled it right up without slowing down or any complaint - it's the best winch I've ever had by far.

Once I pulled it out of the creek and about half-way up the hill, I set the hydraulic brake on the tractor, rigged down the winch line, strap, and shackle, wound the line back on the drum, moved the 40, and drove the tractor the rest of the way up on its own power.
 

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