I've Graduated to This Forum!

[deputyrpa]

WoooHOOO !! I'm in the Kioti Owning/Operating Forum! After a week of doing laps around the house and making the dogs nervous, my DK arrived!! Equally exciting, we had a visitor in these parts!!









A soon as it rolled off Rick's trailer, I put it to work lifting one of three large rocks left in the back of my house by the foundation excavation. After some bucket fitting with technical assistance from my Shorthair Klaus, I hoisted it and moved it to it's "proper" staging location. I dinged the top edge of the bucket, even before Rick got the check!! I wasn't able to leverage a discount though! Fed Rick a big grilled cheeseburger for strength and stamina!
More pics:





I toured the area and showed my neighbors the new machine. My farmer-friend Doug's first utterance was " Holy Cow! That's really heavy duty!!" Immediately and automatically, my chest grew a few inches.

Another neighbor is a heavy equipment operator, and he was impressed to. He watches me struggle with my Jinma with the pasture rocks, was happy that I got a tractor that will do the job safely.

An hour later, my friend came over with is Paystar tri-axle and 20-ton trailer, and off we went to my Mom's house, where we replaced 28' of plugged 3 0 year-old drainage tile, which (used to) drains the artesian well. No pics...it's all work-work-work with my buddy. He owns a rather large construction company in CT, and has operated excavators for many years. He operated the hoe, and was impressed with it. I was impreesed with HIS operating - he is perfection in action. I dialed up the operating speed to full for him, but it was still slower than what he's used to. Nevertherless, the we got it done in 1.5 hours, including raking.

Then it was back home, where I started removing rocks from one of my pastures. The biggest one I popped out was about 1 ton. When I was digging up one rock, the bucket cylinder piston rubbed against one buried next to it as I was curling - and - I gouged the piston. I stopped immediately, and after cursing the geology, I got some emery paper and worked the wound (Thanks again, ANDY!!). There is a small gouge left, but there's nothing sticking up that would tear the seal. It still pisses me off! I'll get some pics of that wound and the rock graveyard later.

PHEW! I'm getting a lot done already!! I gotta thank Rick, exponentially, for a level of customer service that, frankly, one doesn't expect nowadays. And, of course, I thank all the TBN members who helped (including WSJ - who kept me in touch with myself ).

Off to get some diesel!

[JoelD]

Welcome welcome welcome to the pack!!!!

Great pictures, nice trailer and rock.

Oh yeah, just noticed, there's a tractor in those pictures.

Congratulations Deputy, that is an awesome rig, you'll have many many many hours of fun on that machine. It's Zen right? Nothing like operating a machine, particularly with your backdrop.

There will be many more bumps and scratches and gouges where those came from, precisely what the machine is built for.

I raced motocross for a number of years as a kid, 13 - 18, my dad would buy us new bikes every year and we'd sell the prior year's bikes. We'd brake them in in the backyard, letting them idle for 15 minutes then shut down, then 15 then shut down. After cycling through a bunch of times. We'd head to the track for practice, he'd brake out the practice gate, line me and David up next to each other, Raise his hand to indicate 15 seconds or so till gate would drop, we'd both sit there wide open, the gate would drop and it was on.

I said to my dad, I'm afraid to hold it open that long and he'd say, "That's what they are built for!!", David and I use that phrase to this day.

Have tons and tons of fun and keep the pictures coming, can't get enough.

Again, awesome set up!!!!

Sincerely,
Joel

[bearhawk]

Originally Posted by deputyrpa

WoooHOOO !! I'm in the Kioti Owning/Operating Forum!
.....
.....
Off to get some diesel!

SWEET !!!

[mab]

Congratulations Deputy! on a nice looking setup. Just one thing; You weren't worried about taking delivery on Friday 13th? Couldn't have postponed it for one more day?

Not to worry. I'm sure your kioti will provide years of dependable service. Speaking of dependable service, sounds like at the rate you've been working... you should probably book your 50 hour service!! I couldn't believe how quickly the hours racked up especially when I discovered all the uses for my new tool. Good luck with new rig.

mark

[Oleozz]

You have moved up in the world. Great looking outfit, that backhoe looks like a beast! Good Luck

[plowking]

Nice looking tractor. I know all about rocks,on my last machine and the new one now,I put a reinforcement on the top edge and made a spill shield ,so if bucket is curled back too far it won't drop material or rocks on the hood. I keep touch up paint for after those kind of jobs. I was thinkng of a mechanical thumb later,it would cost around 700.00 installed. My machine is a different brand but rocks is rocks. plowking

[WSJ]

Dog! Serious tractor (and especially backhoe) envy! Very nice! Scenic, too. You're making my CK look like a lawnmower. However, the steering committee is adamant that it's plenty big enough, and that I should quit trying to one-up you.

Rosie looks like she wants to drive it - plan on giving her lessons?
Maybe I better call and tell her how easy it is and how much fun Kimberly has on mine . -WSJ

[Dmace]

Very nice tractor, Welcome to the Pack!

Boy, that is one awesome looking machine. Thanks for the pics!

[IslandTractor]

Congratulations. I also have the 90x BH on my DK and love it. Now we just need to convince you to get a grapple and you'll be all set!

[deputyrpa]

9 hours on her now, mostly on rock removal and transport duty. Here's one, from the foundation excavation, that I managed to jam in the bucket and bring up to the official "circular driveway rock garden" staging area. Here's two pics:





There were a few that I popped out with the hoe in one of my pastures, which I could not fit into the bucket....and a T-shirt phrase came to mind: "Got Grapple?" NO ******!! And my bucket is ...shall we say, dimpled. You don't have to convince me Island - you just have to start a donation fund! The first accessory is one of those Caroni flails to replace my 5' rotary cutter (the "Flinging Sensation").

Because I was using some massive, immovable rocks to help get the "field eggs" into the bucket, I wound up flipping the target rocks up onto the huge helper rocks, creating some monoliths. Hey - maybe those monoliths will means something to some civilization some day.....I should etch some pics on them.....

Then I dug a Y-shaped ditch in one of my lower farm fields to collect surface spring-water that now sheet flows over the hay field. I'm trying re-establish its former path thru a drainage swale. I was easy work for the hoe, but valuable practice time for me. I'll get some pics of that today.

And no Scott, Rosie will NOT be operating the DK...or even the Jinma. Evidently you had not witnessed her...uh....ablility (yes, only one I saw) on the JD lawnmower. She is also wicked scary in reverse!

Here's a pic of the new and the old: