New M9540HD12-1

   / New M9540HD12-1 #51  
I recently bought another attachment for my tractor, and unfortunately I couldn't go to pick it up, so I had my dad pick it up for me. To load it, he used the guys cab M9540 tractor. My dad was so impressed with that tractor and kept telling me how much I would love it. I was kicking myself for not being able to make the trip, as I could have driven it around for a bit!
I told him about this thread and told him to check it out for some good pics. He kept saying how nice of a tractor it was, and said he's jealous of you guys with one :D

We just finished our third summer with ours and are really happy with it; agreed some really good pictures and write up by ovrszed.

I've built a camp area in our timber with a rocked fire pit, a 20x36 shelter and a toilet. I wanted sand for the shelter floor. So while it's dry I road the tractor about 1/2 mile to the creek where I can drive onto a large sandbar and get a bucket full. Then haul it back up the hill to the campground. Slow but steady. Now have a huge pile of sand for future projects. Good tractor time which for me is good for the Soul.... :)

I couldn't agree more, I really enjoy it. My father in law and dad were the same way. My FIL had a bad heart and a lot of pain from that and a bad hip replacement. He said the only time he felt good and didn't notice the pain was when he was on his tractor. He died in it of a heart attack while working on a road through the woods behind our house. He was doing what he loved.

I try to write a review with an open mind. I have no intentions of convincing anyone that my tractor is "the best". I try to shoot good photos the same way. There is a vast sea of information on this website, most written and posted the same way. I've gotten more good information from this website than I've contributed. I'm glad you and your Dad enjoy the thread.

I've got more pics to post but left my camera on the tractor at the farm, I'll try to get them posted this weekend. Got some pics of grapple use for TripleR. :)

You are going to get me in so much trouble; I got "the look" the other day when I mentioned how nice it would be to have a grapple.:laughing:
 
   / New M9540HD12-1
  • Thread Starter
#52  
In an attempt to help TripleR with his grapple quest, here's some photos of it in action.


We've been clearing a brushy fencerow. First part is cutting the trees, topping them, then carrying the trees to the woodpile for blocking. A Grapple bucket is your best friend.

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It's such a satisfying feeling that I'm pretty sure I heard Angels singing,,, well there was a rainbow overhead.....

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Then we used the backhoe to dig out the stumps and haul them to the brush pile.

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Then we chiseled the area to cut any remaining roots. Piling what we could gather with the Grapple.

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Last step was to run the springtooth harrow over the area which gathers the small roots that are left. Then pick them up and pile them with the Grapple. We cleared 1/2 mile of fencerow this way. It would be a lengthy process to do all that by hand. Gotta love a good Grapple and a tractor that can handle it.

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   / New M9540HD12-1 #53  
Very nice pictures and I can sure see where that would be handy. Not that I will be buying one, but about what's the cost on one of those?
 
   / New M9540HD12-1 #54  
Nice pictures, keep them coming.
 
   / New M9540HD12-1
  • Thread Starter
#56  
Very nice pictures and I can sure see where that would be handy. Not that I will be buying one, but about what's the cost on one of those?

Sorry I didn't get back sooner.

I'm not sure what they cost. There are several varieties. You can just buy the grapple assembly and bolt/weld it to your existing bucket or you can buy a complete grapple bucket. If you buy a complete bucket they are usually slotted on the bottom with no vertical ends. Lets the dirt sift thru better. Down side is you don't have a bucket that'll carry dirt if needed.

For me, I bought a used Bobcat Low-Pro bucket for $600. Then I built the grapple assembly at a cost of $450 in materials plus another estimated $50 in shop supplies.

Also don't forget you hafta add 3rd function to your loader. That'll cost you another $700-$1000 depending on how you do it.

So estimating optimistically I'd say you will spend $2500-$3000.
 
   / New M9540HD12-1 #57  
Nice thread ovrszd! I have exactly the same tractor, the only diff is I got the front wt. bracket instead of that (lacking) bumper, as you also describe, and 3 pr. of rear outlets. I've had it for 4 years but only have 40 hrs on it, not because I don't use it, but because I can't! It's 650 miles away from here at my old place. I have decided to bring it home to our new place, hopefully this month. My buddy teases me telling me that I have more hours on my owners manual than on the tractor. He is right, but for the last 4 years, that's all I had to remind me of it other than a few photos.
We rented out my old farm where the tractor is waiting for the R.E. market to rebound to sell it, I had hoped that we would just have to wait out 4 years for a new president........... That did not go well! I'm bringing my "new" tractor home! I'll get the rest of my stuff at the farm loaded some other way when and if we sell it! Thanks for pics. I'll be doing some of your same mods. for a saw and misc. storage for the allways necessary pins & stuff and a legnth of chain. Do you have any suggestions for designing a bumper/grill guard? That black metal that has the tiny holes in it is (grill/hood area) can be dented by a butterfly! How often do you need to tilt the hood? I'll be using it in the woods mostly up here also. I have a bunch of hyd. attachments for my skid steer that fortunately is actually heavier, wider and more hp than the tractor so they will all work well, I hope. The extra forward reach of the tractor should be handy for stacking brush, I'm just not looking forward to that first scratch, working in the woods is hard on any machine. Oops I just remembered that I allready got my first scratch, a few yrs ago we (at the farm) had a pair of back to back heavy snows and it took down the roof of the lean too that the (again, brand new) tractor was in. I hopped in the truck and made a trip down to do and save whatever I could. The tractor only got a little scratch on the hood and a little flat spot on the top tip of the exhaust.
I'm glad you give the tractor good reviews, I would't know:laughing: but I am looking forward to it!
 
   / New M9540HD12-1 #58  
Sorry I didn't get back sooner.

I'm not sure what they cost. There are several varieties. You can just buy the grapple assembly and bolt/weld it to your existing bucket or you can buy a complete grapple bucket. If you buy a complete bucket they are usually slotted on the bottom with no vertical ends. Lets the dirt sift thru better. Down side is you don't have a bucket that'll carry dirt if needed.

For me, I bought a used Bobcat Low-Pro bucket for $600. Then I built the grapple assembly at a cost of $450 in materials plus another estimated $50 in shop supplies.

Also don't forget you hafta add 3rd function to your loader. That'll cost you another $700-$1000 depending on how you do it.

So estimating optimistically I'd say you will spend $2500-$3000.

That's not too bad, I paid well over that for my LP HR3584 scraper.
 
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   / New M9540HD12-1 #59  
The nice thing about a true root rake grapple is if you are stacking to burn, you won't end up with so much dirt in your burn pile.
 

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   / New M9540HD12-1
  • Thread Starter
#60  
That's not too bad, I paid well over that for my LP HR3684 scraper.

I wish I had your attachments!!! :thumbsup:

I gotta find a brush cutter first. Looking for an 8 or 10 ft multi spindle mounted used, preferrably Bush Hog or Land Pride. If you see any in our state let me know. I don't mind travelling for the right price.
 
 
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