Used tractor implements

A used heavy duty tractor implement is a better buy, in my opinion, than some of the cheap looking new ones out in today's marketplace. The box blade you see to the right is a prime example. It is the proper width of 42" for my little tractor, uses captured pins for the 3 pt hitch instead of the common single sided ones, has a hinged tailboard with bolts to make it fixed, and weighs much more than the current crop of SCUT and CUT sized box blades. The only downside is the cutting edges are worn and have already been reversed. I am looking forward to a little seat time leveling out some of the forest road on our place and the funky off camber slippery slope next to the pond that keeps me out of the woods in the truck any time it is slightly damp in fear of sliding into the water. If we get a dry spell, I will be using it to cut a mud dam the beaver pushed up. My wife will also enjoy the smoother, level paths I can now make. I would also like to give the dealer a plug for going above and beyond. Zimmerer Kubota in Denton is where I found this little gem. They gave me the 3 pins to mount it, which were not shown in the internet listing. They also retapped the rear tailgate bolt holes and fitted new bolts with lock washers. I also had a chat with Len(sp?) Zimmerer about my tractor and the box blade since they opened when the B6100 was new and this box blade brand and style was the model they rented with it when interest rates were so high nobody could afford to buy. It is not every day you get a history lesson and a little implement refurbishing after you purchase something.

The reason for the tractor

Here is part of my reasoning behind finally purchasing some form of tractor. The picture shows a peninsula that semi-seperates the main rectangular pond from the northern shallow pond. It is at a strange angle, overgrown, and generally unusable. I believe it is from excavating the pond and allowed the excavator to reach further portions of the pond during renovations in the past. it is shaped sort of like an inverted V with the north side steep and the south side sloping gently towards the water. I want to shape it with a flattened top, leaving the steep north side, and creating a possible building site or at least a packed gravel pad for my wife to enjoy the pond. A small cabin would have a great view from here of both parts of the pond. I cleared the brush over a year ago with a brush cutter, but the vines and a few trees are coming back from the roots. I am heading out to mow the year old shrubbery before they grow enough next year to require a rotary cutter. A middle buster/sub soiler combo at TSC will be picked up soon for busting up that grass and other gardening uses, maybe while I am out mowing. I will then go over it with a box blade and level it off. The next post should be of my mowing results and maybe a little logging/sawmill action if time allows.

Tractor for work and pleasure

I bit the bullet and purchased a real, albeit small, Kubota B6100E tractor for the property. I had to find one small enough to keep in the backyard for security, and transport it back and forth. It came with a finish mower and a 25 gallon sprayer. The mower means I can actually get the front entry and pond mown and usable. The sprayer has a wand and two nozzles in the pointing down. I can treat the turf areas for weeds and spray the pond edge to kill the hook stealing vegetation. After a little work, we should be able to play a little easier next year. A box blade will need to be purchased for trail maintenance, and renting a few other implements when needed will make structures and access easier. I can't wait to start leveling out the lumpy area in front of the pond and maybe starting on a gravel road to get the truck further in. It slips on slick clay where I must turn and go uphill just feet from the pond edge and keeps the truck confined to the entryway. We don't need that kind of structure in there. I am going to make a hitch connector for the Logrite Junior arch to pull the larger logs. The Junior may be able to handle a 16'x16" log, but it ways a bit much to pull very far by hand. I plan on getting out there within a week and getting some mowing done to start with a fresh cut next year. A few of the plants growing are shrubby perennials and vines that need to be knocked down now before I must cut them and growing grass. It will also clear out the matted down dead grass. I only have 14hp to work with and no rotary cutter. A rotary cutter may be on my rental list once I know I can keep up with the current grassy areas. We also plan to use the tractor for some foodplots on ours and my fathers future property.

All right, now we are getting somewhere! I took delivery of the Logrite Junior arch recently with the extension handle. It is a well made piece of equipment with everything lining up properly and nice, contnuous, smooth welds. Even the bolts were good quality. The arch can hold up to a 16" diameter log in the tongs and 16' in length because of the extension. I am not sure I would want to pull its full capacity by hand. I can now haul all my firewood as practically tree length material to my firewood pile. It will also hold a log above the ground for bucking into firewood lengths. No more hitting dirt and dulling the chain. I will also start hauling larger, heavier logs to the mill with it. The little lawn tractor was having a hard time dragging much of a log, even with a piece of old barrel as a skidding cone. Cedar was pretty much the limit for it, and short or small diameter pieces at that. I hope to get some use out of it this spring as a lot of cleaning needs to be done and some of those trees will make decent wood for the sawmill. I have been rereading some of my books in preparation for marking and cutting more junk trees to make room for the good ones to grow. I will have a report on how it worked out next time.

A quick June update

Well, it has been busy around the house and tough to get out to the property. I planned on releasing the willow oaks and cutting up the rest of the cedar on the sawmill, but mother nature threw a wrench in that idea. The little garden tractor's engine filed up with water from the big rain event we had a few weeks back. I am not sure if the water came up that high or it blew in somehow. However it got in, it took awhile to change the oil/water at the back of the property where it almost seized up. Now it burns a little oil and I am sure its' days are numbered. I started looking at what to use as a woodland tractor. There are lots of pros and cons for skid steers and compact utility tractors. Once I have tallied up all of the responses, I will post all of them here to make a decision. I may not have the money for the best solution, but I will have it stored on here for the future. I also have very few of the saplings surviving in the high water. Once it goes down in the fall, I will make a head count of the survivors.

The trees are in

Well, the seedlings finally made it in and I planted them yesterday. The 25 mayhaws went together on a 10-12 foot spacing on a peninsula at the shallow northeast end of the pond. I put some near the waters edge and a couple are in the center of the peninsula. Boy, planting in the soft, sticky clay is a chore! The cypress went in on the opposite shore from the mayhaws. A large section there was flooded for a while and killed off some oaks. I was able to get these in between the drying out and reseeding of terestrial weeds. Hopefully I will not need to mow it to much before the little trees grow above the weeds. They are tough to see in a sea of green and I know a few will fall victim to the mower. I also hope the wildlife stays away from them. I am not to worried about deer, but the hogs are a nuisance. They may uproot them to eat the roots. I sure hope not. I also picked up a 1985 Montgomery Wards lawn tractor made by MTD on craigslist for $150, and it works! Well, except for the loose mower belt and the throttle lever I accidentally borke in half while putting it up for the day. Finally mowed a large portion of the areas that really needed it. The wife is happy now that she will be able to get around in her wheelchair. It seems to be a well built machine, and I am going to fix the small problems it has. It should also have enough power to pull a log arch to fetch logs to the mill.