mike69440
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2005
- Messages
- 3,089
- Location
- Central NH (God's Country)
- Tractor
- 1984 Kubota B7200D (Sold 2015,) 2005 L39 Kubota, 2006 RTV 900 1997 Komatsu PC75UU2E w/ Thumb & Blade, 2013 Mahindra Max28XL Shuttle
After +90 hours my L39 is starting to look kike a rental machine.
I am pushing it the same way I push my little B7200 Bota, and this makes me question my sanity, as I do rally care if I break this $40K with implements machine.
Within the first few hour of use of my new Borgford grapple I managed to bend a few of the upper rakes teeth. I am lucky I did not roll the tractor. I moved some very large Stumps and one rock in particular I lifted and am sure the weight was between 2,700 lbs and 3,500 lbs, a big near perfect cube of granite 23” x 40” x 48”. The L39 has been “up Armored” with reinforced front guard, Skid plates, Reinforced BH Bucket, Mechanical thumb, toolbox and chain box and with me and the grapple surely tips the scales at +7,800 lbs. With the backhoe extended the rear tires were barely on the ground or even floating as I very slowly transported this beast 400 ft the rock pile. Not good for the ront axle I know.
The Borgford grapple did not have enough clamp force to outright grab the slab shaped rock across the 40” width, but I stood it up and grabbed it across the 2-foot thickness then tried to curl it. The T1000 did not have enough to outright curl the weight, but to my surprise the loaded would lift. I dared not try to get I more than a few inch off the ground, but carrying was better than trying to roll a square block. I deployed the BH as a counterweight. I had the stabilizers down when I lifted the rock about 18” the ground to get the rock in position to drop.
Also, this size rock is about as large a rock as the BH can role out of a hole.
Needless to say this is pushing the L39.
I moved several ton plus other rock and stumps get the machine stuck maybe 3 times trying to back up the soft slope leading to the “Stump Cliff”
This is a stunt you could not get away with if not for the backhoe. Set engine speed at 1100 Rpm, 1St gear reverse and use the hoe to pick up and drag the machine to safety.
Or, if not stuck to bad, just pick the back of the machine up and swing it to more solid ground.
The BH is a real tool in getting a machine out of a bad situation. Here is an example of where not having a strong hoe can make a bad situation worse.
Last week I had to pull my truck & small trailer out of my wife’s friend farm which my stepson buried trying to get to the manure pile.
I was going to use their JD4300 to pull the truck out, but I nearly sank the JD trying to get close to the truck. It was read dicey getting the JD unstuck pushing it out with the bucket. I ended up calling the wife to come over with 100’ of cable and we yanked the truck out of the muck from a safe distance where the tractor was less likely to go down in the mud,
The L39 Survived this weekend a little muddier, the step-plate to the cab bent and some scratches to the loader tube. I am real lucky not to have a nice ding in the hood to stare at from rocks etc falling of root balls I was shaking out. I think I will discontinue that practice, as sooner or later the nice hood wont be so nice.
I will post pic’s of my set-up in action when I remember to bring a camera up the new property.
I am pushing it the same way I push my little B7200 Bota, and this makes me question my sanity, as I do rally care if I break this $40K with implements machine.
Within the first few hour of use of my new Borgford grapple I managed to bend a few of the upper rakes teeth. I am lucky I did not roll the tractor. I moved some very large Stumps and one rock in particular I lifted and am sure the weight was between 2,700 lbs and 3,500 lbs, a big near perfect cube of granite 23” x 40” x 48”. The L39 has been “up Armored” with reinforced front guard, Skid plates, Reinforced BH Bucket, Mechanical thumb, toolbox and chain box and with me and the grapple surely tips the scales at +7,800 lbs. With the backhoe extended the rear tires were barely on the ground or even floating as I very slowly transported this beast 400 ft the rock pile. Not good for the ront axle I know.
The Borgford grapple did not have enough clamp force to outright grab the slab shaped rock across the 40” width, but I stood it up and grabbed it across the 2-foot thickness then tried to curl it. The T1000 did not have enough to outright curl the weight, but to my surprise the loaded would lift. I dared not try to get I more than a few inch off the ground, but carrying was better than trying to roll a square block. I deployed the BH as a counterweight. I had the stabilizers down when I lifted the rock about 18” the ground to get the rock in position to drop.
Also, this size rock is about as large a rock as the BH can role out of a hole.
Needless to say this is pushing the L39.
I moved several ton plus other rock and stumps get the machine stuck maybe 3 times trying to back up the soft slope leading to the “Stump Cliff”
This is a stunt you could not get away with if not for the backhoe. Set engine speed at 1100 Rpm, 1St gear reverse and use the hoe to pick up and drag the machine to safety.
Or, if not stuck to bad, just pick the back of the machine up and swing it to more solid ground.
The BH is a real tool in getting a machine out of a bad situation. Here is an example of where not having a strong hoe can make a bad situation worse.
Last week I had to pull my truck & small trailer out of my wife’s friend farm which my stepson buried trying to get to the manure pile.
I was going to use their JD4300 to pull the truck out, but I nearly sank the JD trying to get close to the truck. It was read dicey getting the JD unstuck pushing it out with the bucket. I ended up calling the wife to come over with 100’ of cable and we yanked the truck out of the muck from a safe distance where the tractor was less likely to go down in the mud,
The L39 Survived this weekend a little muddier, the step-plate to the cab bent and some scratches to the loader tube. I am real lucky not to have a nice ding in the hood to stare at from rocks etc falling of root balls I was shaking out. I think I will discontinue that practice, as sooner or later the nice hood wont be so nice.
I will post pic’s of my set-up in action when I remember to bring a camera up the new property.