Attachment Wishlist....Whats everybody think?

[Pechan71]

Hello all,

The following are attachments that I will be acquiring over the rest of the winter for use this spring to accomplish a bunch of projects on the property. The tractor is an LS G3038H with FEL and BH, rear width is 68 inches sidewall to sidewall. The projects include some land clearing of mostly saplings to a few medium size trees, rock, root, stump removal (the small ones), land scarifying, grading and smoothing, some for lawn enlargement, some for garden enlargement, landscape planting, some trenching to run electric, and maybe water lines to the garden, fence installment, spreading topsoil and mulch, and about 1000 other things...

Attachments are: Box blade, Landscape rake, PHD, Subsoiler, Finish Mower, Rock Bucket, Pallet forks, 3pt Pallet forks, Chain harrow, toothbar for FEL, Ripper tooth for backhoe. Lots of other things on the list, but not lots of money to get them all. Here's what I've come up with, any recommendations / changes / input greatly appreciated:

Box Blade: Taylor Pittsburgh Taylor Way 6' 4500 Series Box Blade 4500-BB-72 from Rural King (was looking at ETA box blade, but I think this one compares favorably?)

Landscape Rake: Taylor Pittsburgh Taylor Way 7' 4500 Series Landscape Rake with Gauge Wheels 4500-LSR-84-GW from Rural King (again was looking at ETA landscape rake but think this one compares favorably?)

Pallet Forks: Blue Diamond Attachments Pallet Forks 2000lb Capacity Skid Steer 314003 from Rural King

Post Hole Digger: ETA 6900 Heavy Duty Post Hole Digger with ETA 9 x 48 HD Auger Bit 224 lbs

Subsoiler: ETA 3 Point Hitch Subsoiler

Finish Mower: 71 In. Caroni Estate Mower, Rear Discharge SKU # 26912 from AgriSupply

3 pt Pallet Forks: 3-Point Pallet Fork, 2,000 Lb. Capacity SKU # 72511 from AgriSupply

Chain Harrow: Loyal Drag Harrow, 6 ft. x 8 ft. SKU # 212864299 from Tractor Supply

Rock Bucket: Virnig srv60-ct 60" 3" tines 330 lbs from Iowa Farm Equipment

Ripper Tooth for BH: Custom unit from Michigan Iron

Toothbar: Not sure, Pirhana? Something else? Suggestions?

So that's the list, its a steep learning curve with some of this stuff to make sure you don't waste money, so please, let me know what you think!

Thanks

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the forum from Northwest Alabama. Sometimes you can find great deals with used attachments and other times you are better off leaving it alone.

 

[Baby Grand]

About the 3 pt Pallet Forks - what's the lift capacity of your 3pt hitch?
Don't want to overload those forks. Not sure if you could use them on the FEL, too.
Maybe with a skid steer adapter for the 3pt hitch, you could just get the FEL forks and use at either end?

What's that box blade weigh? Get as heavy as you can!

I have to add that Top & Tilt will make both your rear forks and the box blade much, much more useful.
If you don't have T&T yet, I'd consider it.

 

[Fallon]

About the 3 pt Pallet Forks - what's the lift capacity of your 3pt hitch?
Don't want to overload those forks. Not sure if you could use them on the FEL, too.
Maybe with a skid steer adapter for the 3pt hitch, you could just get the FEL forks and use at either end?

What's that box blade weigh? Get as heavy as you can!

I have to add that Top & Tilt will make both your rear forks and the box blade much, much more useful.
If you don't have T&T yet, I'd consider it.

I keep thinking about a 3pt to SSQA adapter as well. I've already made a SSQA to 3pt adapter for my loader as well using a quick hitch. One big problem with both will be leverage & lift. It pushes the load out an extra 6" to a foot, which will put a big dent in lift capacity.

Also cost. The few 3pt pallet forks I've seen cost less than a 3pt to SSQA adapter or my 2k lbs rated SSQA pallet forks. Even building it myself isn't cheap. $200 ish for a male SSQA bracket + $50-100 or so in other steel & parts puts me almost in the ballpark for cheap 2k lbs 3pt forks.

And ya, TnT or bust. I wouldn't even really consider 3pt forks without it. Otherwise it would be just a caryall you manually load & unload as you couldn't effectively maneuver the forks to pick up a load on anything but flat ground.

 

[Pechan71]

Thanks for the responses thus far. Rear lift is 1808 lbs., so just about in line with the fork capacity. The cost of these is only $159.00, so for now the idea is it will really just function more as a rear carry-all for those times that I wish I could just load up a few more logs to carry from here to there. TnT is on the list, but not just yet.

That box blade is 560 lbs, and looks to be built rather solidly, but I'm just going off of pictures. I had the ETA box blade in mind, but this one is heavier than both their HD for compacts, and HD for utility tractor BB's. The ETA Severe duty box blade is heavier than the one on my list, but lot more money. Anyone have any input on the build quality of the Taylor Pitt on my list? Both Box Blade and Landscape Rake?

 

[blin]

I really like the compact landscape rake from EA. Not only does it angle left to right and reverse (as most do), it will also let you swing the rake out at an offset to the tractor. If your are raking along a gully, river or other grade drop, you can rake up to the edge without the wheels getting to close.

 

[HarryN]

Dang.... did you win the lottery or something!

 

[2458n]

I would really start looking at auctions. The equipment you are looking at can all be bought used without paying a premium price for new. A box blade does not work differently if it is new or used. Start looking. The mower is the only questionable purchase used. If you check the spindles and blades, and the gear box for leaks you are pretty sure to be okay here too. Much can be saved here buying used. Just a question if you can live without the pricey paint. Rear discharge on your finish mower will leave few windrows,so that is a good choice. You are not going to find it all at once so take your time and you can find everything used.

 

[Msamt]

+1 on the Auctions, got my grapple for $800 and that was a steal.

 

[newbury]

You'll definitely want a quick hitch or at least PEC for the rear, and QA for the front.
Piranha TB is good for soil and roots, regular TB may be better for rocks.
And you might want to squeeze in a grapple, or at least had a "thumb" to your FEL.