New M62 Finally On The Farm!

[AaronM]

So I have spent months trying to reason with that little voice in my head telling me that the M62 was too much money for the expected usage. "You're not a commercial landscaper what do you need this for?"... "Why not just rent a backhoe when you need one?"... "Just hire someone to come out and lay that new water line!"... "People have planted trees for thousands of years without backhoes!".

Well... the little voice just lost the war and we have a new M62 on the farm- and it is AMAZING! I'm ready to start tackling some of these projects that have been bugging me for 5+ years.

I had to trade in my cabbed Mahindra 5010 loader which was a perfectly nice tractor (and the A/C in the summer was amazing) but I kept running into projects where not having a backhoe was becoming a real problem. It was either time to buy an excavator of some kind and keep the Mahindra or trade it and buy a multi-purpose machine like the M62. The 5010 was also just a little light for some of the loader tasks. A pallet of sod or bricks was just too heavy and forget about trying to pick up and move the 8'x8' chicken coop. The M62 lifted that with ease!

I had my dealer add the backhoe aux hydraulics and I'm going to be converting my skid steer style post hole auger to the Kubota quick attach style in the next few weeks. Then I can mount the auger to the backhoe instead of the loader and I think it will work really good. With the auger on the loader it was really hard to see what I was doing.

Next up I have to install the three point kit which looks like it might be a pain and then I have to paint all of my implements orange. That Mahindra red sort of clashes with Kubota orange

I also bought a 24" aftermarket bucket off ebay. It was a little cheaper than the Kubota brand bucket and is built very well. The manufacturer offered a small reward if I could send them a short video of of the new bucket. I just so happen to have a 12 year old that is really into both making YouTube videos and money so I gave him my camera and turned him loose. This was his first time on a backhoe and I think he did really good. He also did all of the video editing which I thought turned out really good also.

Here is his video if interested.

 

[JWR]

Impressive. Tell the young man"Great job" with the video. I can barely imagine how thrilled I would have been at his age with that kind of machine !

 

[coldsteelva]

Your son did an admirable job with that video. A little practice and he'll get smoother on that machine. I recognize those socks (and admire that he's wearing the matching pair). My 11 year old insists on wearing the matching design socks without the matching primary colors. Drive me nuts, but it's the 'thing' so I let it go. How about a hydro thumb for that backhoe?

That backhoe boom lock is pretty slick.

 

[AaronM]

I can barely imagine how thrilled I would have been at his age with that kind of machine !

Oh I know! You would have had to drag me out of that seat! I still had a big smile using it for the first couple hours this weekend but I'm sure it will eventually just be work.

I recognize those socks (and admire that he's wearing the matching pair).

I just don't get it. I have given up on trying to figure out kids fashion these days. The brighter and more clashing the better. At least he is easy to find!

How about a hydro thumb for that backhoe?

I'm actually talking to an aftermarket thumb manufacturer about getting something custom made. No one seems to make a thumb for this backhoe. The buckets will interchange with the excavators but the thumbs use different size pins & spacing I guess. Worst case I will have to start saving pennies and eventually buy the kit from Kubota.

 

[jmc]

That really looks like a nice outfit. If that 14 foot hoe wasnt standard equipment, you chose wisely.

Your son reminds me of going to the ag shows, where every monster tracked 400 HP tractor has a teenager sitting in it, grinning from ear to ear.

 

[WVH1977]

Nice machine. I am jealous of the kid. You are going to end up being the one with the shovel doing the ground work!!!:thumbsup:

 

[oosik]

Great video - your boy is a natural. Gonna take a plastic surgeon to get the smile off his face. I hope he realizes how fortunate he is -

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Nice tractor, great video.

 

[GravelRoads]

So I have spent months trying to reason with that little voice in my head telling me that the M62 was too much money for the expected usage. "You're not a commercial landscaper what do you need this for?"... "Why not just rent a backhoe when you need one?"... "Just hire someone to come out and lay that new water line!"... "People have planted trees for thousands of years without backhoes!".

:thumbsup: Congrats!

I went through a similar process but a new machine was out of my range. So I waited and waited and finally got lucky and found a used L48 in excellent condition. What an amazing machine that will do anything I'll need.

 

[Jchonline]

Outstanding tractor and young man you have there friend! I have been seriously considering a TLB myself for our mountain property. I really like the M62 for the size and turbo. My dilemma is how to deal with the winter and no cab. Thinking I might just wait until the storm clears to start plowing, or get a smaller cab only Skid steer/tractor to do the snow work. I love the M62!