Buying a tractor

[flusher]

I bought a B7510HST/LA302 FEL last May for $12,600 plus tax. Came with ag tires, 3-year warranty, 10% down/0% financing for 36 months. Added a King Kutter 4'ft box blade later ($375 at Tractor Supply Co.).

It's a solid little tractor. I've used the heck out of the FEL toting gravel, sand, drain rock, building materials, etc. Got a $175 toothbar for the FEL from Markham Welding to help when digging.

Used the box blade and FEL to dig trenches for paver block walkways in the front and back of my new house (4' wide x 70 ft long, each). See attachment.

Also bought a 4-ft King Kutter rotary mower (aka bush hog, brush hog, shredder) for $675 at TSC. I have 10 acres total of which about 7 acres are weeds that get mowed with the hog.

The other 3 acres include landscaped areas, a small almond orchards, the house, garage/shop and several small sheds. Use a cheapie 42"/18hp Huskee riding mower from TSC ($1000 + $180 for 3-year service contract) to handle the lawn mowing chores.

Also have a KK middle buster plow/sub soiler ($135 at TSC) for cutting trenches for landscape irrigation pipe and drains.

I assume you'll be getting a set of similar attachments real quick. Tractor's not much good without implements.

 

[Dryland]

Tires: The middle set (not sure the right term). Not the turf and not the narrow deep tread. Spent the afternoon starting to learn how to use the tractor.

Handles well. Since I've never run a tractor before I have a long way to go getting the "feel" of the FEl, the box scraper, etc., but it will come with time.

 

[kozak]

Dryland,

R4's....aka Industrial.

Congratulations on your purchase. Hope the tractor fits all your needs now & into the future.

The Dealer may already have told you but just in case......when using a full load in the FEL, do not transport with the bucket way up high. Keep it low. Not sure if you indicated you had rear ballast or if you keep the box blade on for that purpose. Will make FEL operation much smoother & safer.

Stay Safe,

Vic

 

[KiotiJohn]

Congratulations. You'll enjoy the tractor, and learning how to do everything is a big part of the fun.

One think I would suggest is that you read all the information in your owner manual, especially the safety info. Also read the safety forum here on TBN. Safety is extremely important with this type of equipment as anything can happen in a big hurry.

Enjoy!
John

 

[Dryland]

I spent a couple of hours using the 7510 yesterday. I played with the ripper highth adjustment on the box scaper. It appears that I don't have a hydraulic way of changing the angle of the box to get the tines to bite more...I can only adjust the tines to 3 different levels of depth. I think I can get a wrench and adjust the angle of the box manually if I want the tines to bite more and first.

Today I'll play with the FEL to start getting a sense of what I can do, how it feels, etc.

 

[KiotiJohn]

All you need do is adjust the top link. If you want the rippers to dig in more, shorten the link by turning it. It's a turnbuckle type with threads on each end right? If you shorten it, the front of the box will go down, if you lengthen it, the front will come up.

You can get a hydraulic top link and a right lift arm link, but you would need to put in remote hydraulic kit(s) to do so.

Play with that toplink, and you'll soon be getting at those jobs.
John

 

[Dodgeram]

KJ,
Not to hijack the thread, and the question has probably been answered:
Since I have the rear remotes for the BH, can I get just the fore/aft hydraulic for the top link?
I also agree, if you adjust that top link (tighten) you can stop the tractor /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Tom

 

[Dryland]

Thanks for the comments on adjusting the top link. It looked like the non-hydrolic way to go. I played with the "float" setting on the scaper today and put the tines in the mid position. Seemed to work fairly well. Managed to scrape a lot of vegetation off and turn up a fair amount of the deadwood laying just under the surface. I toss the wood in the FEL as I drag, dump and repeat.

Tomorrow I get my wife on it. I also need to start playing with the FEL. I have 2 large burn piles of stumps and other debris that were burned when I had the land cleared. Lots of ask and dirt that needs to be moved around so I can recreate the burn piles to finish the job.