Thinking About a Tractor

ted, the best lawnmower I've ever used was my uncle's farmall B with an 8ft belly mower. Compact in length and comfortable. However, like all belly-mower tractors with no 3-pt, it was good for only 1 thing: mowing
 
I used to love mowing with th JD 945, 13' swath, and the hydraulic steering on it let me get tight in corners and around trees and shrubs.
 
JHW said:
ted, the best lawnmower I've ever used was my uncle's farmall B with an 8ft belly mower. Compact in length and comfortable. However, like all belly-mower tractors with no 3-pt, it was good for only 1 thing: mowing
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Now that sounds like something we'd want. I may just watch Craigslist and look for tractors with big belly mowers. Then augment that with the brush hog or a finish mower on the Massey/Allis.

There's an 8N with a 6' belly mower, but engine needs rebuilt (uses lots of oil/smokes).
 
Theboys said:
You won't like a belly mower as well as a 3 point. Can't get under trees and such. Plus keeps dirt behind
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Never had any issues with dirt/grass discharge with the 60" MMM on the 'Bota. :dunno: You're sitting pretty high up, so unless you are mowing constantly in 20+mph winds from the discharge-side, I don't think there's much worry.

I do agree about trees being a pain, unless you keep the lowest branches cut up to 7' high. Otherwise you are ducking constantly and the ROPS is breaking limbs, too. The MMM on most are pretty easy to get on and off, so it's not much of a time saver to have a 3pt. The only real benefit to 3pt is when backing it down trails or wet/soft ground to be able to avoid getting the tractor stuck/hung up on the MMM. The 3-pt mowers you have to worry about smacking things when turning near trees/houses/structure, where a MMM takes no extra care to maneuver. I suppose the 3pt mowers have a greater selection to choose from, and can be moved from tractor to tractor, but that's not much of a consideration for us.
 
Henning said:
Well, if you consider the other automated option is a herd of goats, all I can say is "less". :rofl: Unless the lawn mowing Roomba becomes sentient, it'll do less damage than a herd of goats.:lol:
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I was thinking sheep. Ben can help!
 
SoonerAviator said:
I do agree about trees being a pain, unless you keep the lowest branches cut up to 7' high. Otherwise you are ducking constantly and the ROPS is breaking limbs, too.
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I found out that while you CAN tear down a smaller tree by hooking a branch with the ROPS, it is only the second best way of completing the task :D

The MMM on most are pretty easy to get on and off, so it's not much of a time saver to have a 3pt. The only real benefit to 3pt is when backing it down trails or wet/soft ground to be able to avoid getting the tractor stuck/hung up on the MMM.
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The new MMM on the small kubota (and 1 and 2-series JD) is a drive-over design and goes on and off by turning two levers. The PTO shaft remains on the tractor and connects to a 'carriage' with a bearing and coupling to connect to the mower deck. The downside is that if you want to take the tractor into woods, you have to remove the carriage as well to keep it from getting bent by a stump. Pic below is the mower carriage when it was new and shiny. The grey part is the lift-arm that would pick up the regular MMM.
 

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I have a Kubota B6200 with 4wd and loader. Great little tractor. It's been retired to an easier life as my airplane tug. I'm real popular when the snow drifts up against hangar doors.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
I have a Kubota B6200 with 4wd and loader. Great little tractor. It's been retired to an easier life as my airplane tug. I'm real popular when the snow drifts up against hangar doors.
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Yeah, the reality for my airplane tug is that the old Wheel Horse C10 I have isn't big enough.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
I have a Kubota B6200 with 4wd and loader. Great little tractor. It's been retired to an easier life as my airplane tug. I'm real popular when the snow drifts up against hangar doors.
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I heard that nothing creates new friendships like ownership of a backhoe.
 
JHW said:
our tug when we were down south was a JD4020
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I could also always use the Massey, which would be excessive in capability.
 
weilke said:
I found out that while you CAN tear down a smaller tree by hooking a branch with the ROPS, it is only the second best way of completing the task :D



The new MMM on the small kubota (and 1 and 2-series JD) is a drive-over design and goes on and off by turning two levers. The PTO shaft remains on the tractor and connects to a 'carriage' with a bearing and coupling to connect to the mower deck. The downside is that if you want to take the tractor into woods, you have to remove the carriage as well to keep it from getting bent by a stump. Pic below is the mower carriage when it was new and shiny. The grey part is the lift-arm that would pick up the regular MMM.
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Yeah, I've seen the drive over models and it's a nice feature. Ours isn't drive over, but it can be slid under in a few minutes and connecting the mid-PTO and the front bracket (single lever) take another minute or so. Definitely handy to have. We've never had an issue with it and it cuts very clean/even.


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weilke said:
I heard that nothing creates new friendships like ownership of a backhoe.
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This depends. I had the only pickup truck in my immediate neighborhood and I had so many friends. It's all supply and demand!

-Skip
 
Ted DuPuis said:
As I said, having a really nice pretty cut isn't much of a priority out in middle of nowhere farm country. We didn't even care about a super nice manicured lawn in the city. So, speed and comfort are priorities.



I'm liking the idea of a medium tractor with a belly mower to replace the Snapper. Amounts to the same thing only more comfortable. I have a brush hog already and so maybe I use that for the outer acres if Laurie and I are both mowing. Could get one in a Ford or Farmall style to expand the collection.
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Put a fence up, put the kids in 4h and buy some lambs to eat the grass and sell at the County Fair 4h auction.


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weilke said:
I heard that nothing creates new friendships like ownership of a backhoe.
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A friend bought a backhoe this Spring ............ So I bought a trailer for hauling backhoes.


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I put the front end loader on the D17 to work yesterday to flip the Massey's tire over. Picked the 500-1000 lb thing up, drove it where I wanted it, put it back down and flipped it. This thing is awesome!

One of my hoses is seeping, and one of the rams is also seeping. So I need to find a hose shop for sure to fix the one hose, have to figure out about the ram. Is the best thing to do with those usually rebuild, have someone else rebuild, or replace?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I put the front end loader on the D17 to work yesterday to flip the Massey's tire over. Picked the 500-1000 lb thing up, drove it where I wanted it, put it back down and flipped it. This thing is awesome!

One of my hoses is seeping, and one of the rams is also seeping. So I need to find a hose shop for sure to fix the one hose, have to figure out about the ram. Is the best thing to do with those usually rebuild, have someone else rebuild, or replace?
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Dude, those Rams are dirt simple and the parts/materials available at any hydraulic/industrial supply. You have the ability, no worries. :lol:
 
Henning said:
Dude, those Rams are dirt simple and the parts/materials available at any hydraulic/industrial supply. You have the ability, no worries. :lol:
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I figured they were pretty simple to do,just never done it before

A couple have some corrosion on the parts that are exposed when sitting. Any remedy for that or treatment?
 
post pictures of the RAM or the leaky parts.....and Henning can tell you how to fix them. :D
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I figured they were pretty simple to do,just never done it before

A couple have some corrosion on the parts that are exposed when sitting. Any remedy for that or treatment?
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Outside of cleaning it up, not really. If it never goes inside the seal, it's not an issue. If it goes inside, you may need to replace, at that point a whole rebuilt cylinder is cheapest.

There's very few parts in them, put the seals in correctly and you're done.
 
Henning said:
Outside of cleaning it up, not really. If it never goes inside the seal, it's not an issue. If it goes inside, you may need to replace, at that point a whole rebuilt cylinder is cheapest.
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I have a couple of rams with "rough" spots in the chrome.....I just polished them with a sctochbrite/deburring pad on a die grinder and replaced the o-rings. They are fine and will eventually leak....but prolly not in my lifetime.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
I have a couple of rams with "rough" spots in the chrome.....I just polished them with a sctochbrite/deburring pad on a die grinder and replaced the o-rings. They are fine and will eventually leak....but prolly not in my lifetime.
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Yeah, it takes significant pitting going through the seal to make it actually leak. Most of the time it's just a matter of the ram coming out a bit damp.
 
Yeah, parts of the ram that goes in. So scotchbrite, that sounds good. I'll work with that and need to find the parts for rebuilding them.
 
Short of the ram or cylinder being scored, a reseal is a piece o' cake. Sometimes the gland nuts can take a little creative persuasion...if replacing the piston o- rings is necessary, The Surplus Center sometimes has some good online deals for all manner of hydraulic stuff, including parts. Baum Iron is another. Applied Industrial Technologies is a great source of all manner of seals, bearings and such, but I don't know if they have stores out near you.

Discovering the miracle fluid power can be addicting...I built a hydraulic drive for my old manure spreader and a hydraulic bush hog for the skidsteer last fall.

If your bucket settles with a load, that's an indication the piston seals need replacement.
 
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I should put a load in the bucket and see if it settles. The apparent answer is no, I believe that it's just that outer seal where the leak is occurring.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Short of the ram or cylinder being scored, a reseal is a piece o' cake. Sometimes the gland nuts can take a little creative persuasion...if replacing the piston o- rings is necessary, The Surplus Center sometimes has some good online deals for all manner of hydraulic stuff, including parts. Baum Iron is another. Applied Industrial Technologies is a great source of all manner of seals, bearings and such, but I don't know if they have stores out near you.

Discovering the miracle fluid power can be addicting...I built a hydraulic drive for my old manure spreader and a hydraulic bush hog for the skidsteer last fall.

If your bucket settles with a load, that's an indication the piston seals need replacement.
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In the maritime world, I try to keep as much stuff hydraulic as possible. Having all the critical moving parts continuously bathed in oil has some advantages.
 
Henning said:
In the maritime world, I try to keep as much stuff hydraulic as possible. Having all the critical moving parts continuously bathed in oil has some advantages.
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I spent a summer on a coastal lobster boat when I was a kid. All the winches and whatnot were hydraulic drive.

Ted, one other thought. Tractor Supply sells pre-made hydraulic hoses a heck of a lot cheaper than Parker or the other hydraulic houses do.
 
You can also buy Aeroquip type fittings and a spool of hose. Never buy another again. :lol:
 
Good thought on TSC... need to run by there anyway, I'll check what they have.
 
I use kriha here for all my hoses. I use a small cylinder shop to rebuild all my cylinders. The cylinder shop can fix Rams or hone the bore or whatever needs done faster and way cheaper than replacement. And the surplus center is only couple miles down street even! I had a construction company and had lots of hoses and cylinders to fix. Doesn't take much oil to pay for a fix. In my experience the hose shop uses a better quality hose than what you normally find in tsx or orchleins.
 
Good info, Joe. Thanks!

I looked at what I've got - I have one hose to replace (knew that), and I see two rams that could use attention, but not mandatory right now. So I'll see who I can find and what the schedule allows.
 
Ended up actually doing some work on the tractors.

The local Parker store made me a new hose for the Allis Chalmers' leaky front end loader. $30, that was good by me.

Then I had to figure out where on earth the reservoir was for the front end loader, because it was not at all obvious. Turns out it was the left tower. Not labeled or obvious at all, but easy to fill. Good, done. Used it to pick up a bunch of trees and brush to move around for the bonfire.

This past weekend, I went and picked up a used Land Pride 7' PTO mower that I attached to the Massey Ferguson for mowing the property. I think an 8' would be nicer, but 7' does the job quite well. Given the number of trees on our property, I think much bigger would've been too big. With it, I'm able to drive the tractor around without worrying about hitting trees, and mow the property much faster. It's working very nicely so far, I suspect we could do the whole spread in a couple hours now. As we pull out some dead trees, that'll make things quicker and easier. It's really quite maneuverable and makes mowing more fun. We'll need to keep the riding mower still, but I think the pair will make a good balance for the property.

Oh, and I gave up and paid someone to finish the job on the tractor tires. Lesson learned on that one.
 
@Ted DuPuis Don't pull the dead trees. Use explosives. Just because it's more fun. LOL... (No, I'm not serious, but you know you want to...) :)
 
Well, the Massey's carburetor started leaking fuel. As in, it just dumps fuel into the engine now. Seems like it's probably a float issue.

I'm going to pull it off tomorrow and see what kind it is. Never rebuilt a carb before, but if @jesse was able to rebuild the carbs on his jetski, I figure I can handle rebuilding this thing myself.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Well, the Massey's carburetor started leaking fuel. As in, it just dumps fuel into the engine now. Seems like it's probably a float issue.

I'm going to pull it off tomorrow and see what kind it is. Never rebuilt a carb before, but if @jesse was able to rebuild the carbs on his jetski, I figure I can handle rebuilding this thing myself.
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Google it, you can probably find a step by step with pictures. There's not much to those.
 
Cooter143 said:
Google it, you can probably find a step by step with pictures. There's not much to those.
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I found a video. Guy sounded like he'd spent too much time inhaling MEK vapors. That should automatically make anyone who's turned wrenches on airplanes qualified.
 
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