A day in the life of a Kubota BX25D

[Cherokee140]

Well I have had the little machine a grand total of 4 days, Machine arrived with 3.8 hours on it and now (IIRC) has 9.6. So far it has been a source of great fun and has done things I would have never been able to do by hand.

We dug up a stump that had been near my shop that the wind had taken down a few years ago. I tried to burn it out many times but it was just too much. The wife played on the tractor on Friday, then Sunday I went to digging up the stump. I must admit if I had know what I was doing I think it would have been faster. I dug a pretty deep hole, but then found out if I put the bucket on the back side of the hole, and curled the bucket it cut the bottom of the tap root and it just popped right out. I think I dug a much bigger hole then I needed to....but I now think I can run the backhoe pretty well. In looking at the photos I see we did not take any of the dirt pile I had, but as a guess it was about 5' tall. And pretty darn wide.

The first pic I am still digging, not having put the push to the back side of the stump....live and learn...it came out so easy. The next are just a few of it getting out. I also used the grapple to pull the stump out....we not being sure that the tractor would lift it out we thought about getting a chain to put under it...but wanted to try the grapple first. It pulled it out pretty easy on the first try. I must say I am pretty impressed. The ones with the wife inside the hole are taken after the first two buckets of dirt got put back in...we wanted to show how deep it was. My boy helped move some of the dirt from around the hole back in...everytime I tried with the bucket I just dug deeper...I guess that is a skill that will come later. Ended up with a good pile of dirt left over, I know it will settle in as time goes on...hope it will. Next job...Black locust trees your number is up.

Anyway on to the pics.

 

[Cherokee140]

I am pretty impressed with the power of the machine, it would not bust the roots that are larger then my wrist, but if I took a tooth and cut the root in half it would snap then I could snap the other half. On roots the size of an old Ike dollar it would do no problem....but it got so rooty in there you could not see what you are doing, so we had to trim them back. I would estimate about 6-7 bucket loads of dirt to fill the hole back in, and I still have a good pile like I said before. The cool thing is that the fuel gauge has not moved a lick...it is digital but the first segment is not gone yet. At the dealer for the test drive it had 1hr on it, When I got it the machine had almost 4 hours on it....they did say they played with the grapple a bit as this was the first one they did. I don't know if they filled it up before or after, so I don't have a real good feel for fuel use yet. It only has a 6.6gal tank IIRC so not sure how quick that goes. All the digging was done at 2000 rpm as the manual does say no full throttle for the first 50 hours. I am not sure if it would have more power or not if run at full speed but at that speed I had enough control to put a tooth of the bucket on a root the size of my wrist and push till it went snap. The speed of the loader and backhoe I found to be just fine. I know some of the videos on Youtube say it was slow unless you ran the machine faster but it was ok at this speed to me....might also explain the fuel use.

I always hated that tree, it had been there from before we built the house and the wife wanted to save it and made the builders stay wide and clear of it. But the stupid thing would always drop apples on the driveway and going into my shop...if you did not pick it up it was a mess. And that wood takes FOREVER to burn. Lucky there are only a few more hedge trees left that I have to deal with. Most of them are the thorn locust and I really worry about the tires when I get close to them....they have thorns as long as your finger and just sharp as all he!!.

Not sure yet what the next adventure will be, I have some old tree poles that need to be pulled out and I have an 8' metal peacock that stands outside my shop that broke his foot in the ground last wind storm....I really want to get that fixed....so some easy jobs are on the way next....pull up the spikes for my bird....about 14" of rebar with a big washer welded on the top to hold him down, and then pull up those poles from the old trees.

So far to say I am having fun is an understatement. I am also shocked I was not in more pain then usual....it did bounce me pretty hard a few times.

So far the only huge weakness to the machine are the small feet for the backhoe. I used some old RR switch blocks they are nice and wide but heavy as ****...I need to find another solution.

 

[Cherokee140]

Looks like you are really enjoying your tractor, check with 4shorts as I think he modified the feet on his BX25D along with a lot of other modifications, he has a lot of videos on You Tube as well, great craftsman.

I saw the feet that 4shorts made, but I don't have the ability to bend metal that thick. I do have some metal working tools but mainly for car bodies....currently I am doing a 1963 VW Bug....I think he used a large flat stock and made the bends on the edges of the feet then welded the eye on where it attaches to the tractor. I will have to weld it all together but I think I can make up a set that will be better then the stock feet.

Here is a photo of the RR steel that I was using. Very heavy and very good quality steel....I will also include a photo of the bug just incase anyone wants to see it. I have not taken photos of it in quite some time, but the pan is off the body, engine and trans are out, front end rebuilt, and working on cleaning up the engine/trans area for paint....I need to take more photos of it.

 

[radioman]

Congrats on having fun with BX. I wouldnt worry about digging too deep. Two things on that - one its fun to dig with BX, and two the deeper the easier it is to roll a stump with less chance of harming the hoe parts.

If you have a welder, you certainly can just weld up ears with the RR ties. No need to bend if you don't have that ability. it functions the same way. Your stump is much smaller then the ones I have dug up.

 

[AStanton]

Looks like easy diggin in your neck of the woods. Around here, we got a lot of what you call Maine Potatoes.

 

[k0ua]

Man, you have dirt like that up there?.. Down here they charge real money for dirt like that. The glacier must have scrapped half of Iowa off and left it at your place!:laughing: I can sure see you getting some use out of a backhoe up there. If you weld up the flat scrap stock on both sides of the 90 degree angle, and grind/round over the top side, no one is going to notice you did not bend it. As for filling holes, you will learn how to hold grade with some practice, hang in there.:thumbsup:

 

[bellweather]

You may want to consider removing the mower deck when doing backhoe work.

 

[Cherokee140]

You may want to consider removing the mower deck when doing backhoe work.

When I get into the woods part I will, but this was nice and flat I did not think I would hurt it. I am thinking the deck may come off tonight.

 

[Cherokee140]

Looks like easy diggin in your neck of the woods. Around here, we got a lot of what you call Maine Potatoes.

Those look like solid rock to me....and I thought that clay I have is bad....it is nothing to yours.

 

[Deano]

Cherokee140,
When the root is too big, just work your way out from the stump. Sooner or later it will give!