What makes a good tool kit?

[Egon]

Bill:
Got to be honest, I've got a small B7100 kubota. I've also got all the tools mentioned in the posts plus a whole lot more.
But JDKidd has it right. That will do you just fine and add as required.
Egon

 

[DFB]

Blurrybill, with a new tractor especially under warranty there's probably not a whole lot of wrenchin' you'll have to do to it.

The battery can sometimes be the source of common problems and to read battery voltage and charge current a multimeter is good to have. I like the digital display types.

If you live in a colder climate and/or anticipate using your tractor in below freezing weather an inexpensive antifreeze tester might also be handy to have around the garage to check the condition of the coolant.

DFB

 

[Bird]

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifOf course you're right, JDKid, as far as actual needs, but it sure is nice to have just the right tool for the job at hand./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And the only reason I have a quarter inch ratchet is because it was a gift (manual ratchet; don't have a quarter inch air ratchet - but sure did repair/rebuild a lot of them - there's no way you can stop the mechanics from using them for a breaker bar/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif). And like a lot of folks, I have lots of tools that are almost never used (and a few that I actually have never used/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif). But of course I have lots of tools (most, in fact) that are for other things than my tractor.

Oh, by the way, you ain't steppin' on anyone's toes, as I see it, the more opinions we get, the better informed we are./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Bird on 12/22/01 05:08 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[DFB]

<font color=blue>But of course I have lots of tools</font color=blue>

Bird, over the years have you ever seen any ratchet wrench sets like this?

DFB

 

[Bird]

Nope, DFB, hadn't seen that one before. I'll bet it's almost as old as I am./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Solo]

blurrybill,
I would recomend a good hydraulic floor jack, 2 tons should be plenty.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Ah yes. Walden Tools. Made in Worcester Massachusetts. The factory building was torn down several years ago. In later years they opened a factory tool wharehouse on the first floor of the factory building. They sold all kinds of tools. In my younger days I spent many hours brousing. Seemed strange to be looking at jointers made in Taiwan while you could hear the punch presses working above you. The place always smelled of cutting oit

 

[Bob_Trevithick]

Hi Bill,

Not sure about other options as factory installed.. just know the rear work lights should be factory installed. I assume things like the heaters, which the dealer installed, should work okay.. although I have yet to have occassion to try them. Okay, honestly, I'm half afraid the tractor will catch fire when I first try them. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I asked our oil supplier about a diesel tank for the yard, and the smallest he had was 190 gallons. The kind folks here told me that it would take me about four years to use that much, and yeah, it might be stale by then. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I bought a couple five gallon cans, and make runs to the local truck stop for fuel now. Maybe someday I'll get a slightly bigger tank, maybe 50 gallons, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I add "Power Service" to all my fuel. You only need a small bottle of it, because the big one is supposed to condition a few hundred gallons. It doesn't matter if you don't need it given the ambient temperatures.. it doesn't do any harm and it gives peace of mind. You never need to worry about gelling (which can occur at as high a temp as +30 F.)

Yes, the little GT235 was a great little tractor.. but I "under-bought." I really needed more, but let financial considerations get in the way. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I plan to maintain my machine, except for the sections of the manual where it says "have a John Deere dealer do this." Things like fuel injector maint, etc. I'll certainly do all the maintenance like oil and filter changes. But every now and then I plan to have them take the machine and tell them "do whatever it needs."

I'm anxious to see what the new 4x10 series looks like.. I bet it will be impressive!

I'm told that, even if you buy from dealer X, you can always go to dealer Y and say, hey, I didn't know about you at the time, and would have bought from you had I known.. but please service this thing, and if I'm happy you'll get all my business from now on. I did this when I called one dealer, and he said "yep, no problem. We'll help you out." Sounds good!

Regards,
Bob (another clinical psych kind of guy /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif)

Bob Trevithick

 

[gerard]

Blurry Bill, I you're not familiar with Harbor Freight tools check them out. They have a lot of VERY reasonably priced tools. Yes they are on the cheaper side as far as quality goes but unless you're making a living with them it's hard to justify snap on type tools. (I haven't broken anything yet). I bought a set of the large sockets (I think 3/4 to maybe 2 1/2 inches) for about $50. Yep made in China but snap on for that I guess would be a couple hundred bucks. MY two cents and I'll disagree with bird on one point. Oil filter wrench - I have the strap kind that a 1/2 socket fits in. One size fits all. Grease gun - get the pneumatic, loader has 12 zirks alone. $20 in H Freight and they work well.

 

[PaulinSD]

I have the usual basic complement of tools, 1/2; 3/8 and 1/4 inch socket sets, end wrenches to 1", cresent wrenches, nut drivers, and the like. VOM comes in handy for electrical work. Grease gun. I have a 4 HP air compressor with a 7 gal tank. At work I have access to impact wrenches and the bigger tools, so far I have not had a use for them. I change oil and fluids at work, mainly because it's handy, there is a pit there if needed, and we have a used oil barrel there. I've found so far, it's the minor things that need attention more than the big stuff. So far, I've been able to handle maintaining 2 tractors, 2 trailers, 3 mowers for the tractors, a DR, 1 ton dump truck and the wife's Tahoe. After reading the above posts, I have to agree, it's the refrig in the garage that makes it all possible!!

Paul