Recent content by ShenandoahJoe

I blew out a hydraulic hose on my B7300 when I was in the middle of a big job, so I just took off the loader and got back to work. Figured I'd replace all four hoses (they're over 20 years old) later. Well, the previous owner left a surprise for me. (see photo) I thought I knew which hose went...

Getting on 12 years I've been doing that last one...

I have a 2-level cottage set into a hillside. I'm getting water in the basement, so it's time to put in some drainage pipe. I have to dig a trench along the wall, but that wall is under the middle of the top floor, so I can't get in there with any normal trenching equipment. (Marked with an...

The snowplow that just did my streets was a white F-350 with the words "HI-TECH" written on the door in black electrical tape. Whatever -- I'm just glad you came by. (I'm in town today. You know, I've had a tractor for five years now, and it's never once snowed on me and the tractor together.)

I have a lot of insect and animal pests around my place. I also have a menagerie of snakes, toads, praying mantises, and other hungry carnivores. Good thing, too -- I'd never get a crop out of the garden if it weren't for their help. So I really hate hitting one of them with the string...

Dig with the fork, lever up a ball of earth, crumble the dirt with your hands, throw the spuds in the bucket... you know the drill. Then I levered up these guys. They're about two feet long. Two ducked back in the hole, two slithered off stage right, these two stayed there and cussed at me...

The guys who make bucket hooks tell me my loader bucket isn't big enough to handle them. Now I'm looking for something else that will let me lift things that are too bulky to go in the bucket. Here's my latest brainstorm: The crossbar between my boom arms is a hollow tube. I'm thinking to...

How many times per month do you have to need a pickup, before it makes sense to buy one?

OK, there's this boat. It's aluminum, about 9 feet long, in my driveway, and full of rainwater. (Long story.) It's too heavy for two muscular guys to lift by the handles on the ends. No obvious attachment points on the sides. This may be a boat question more than a tractor question, but how do I...

Don't worry, LD1 and Arrow, I'm not going to try to pick up a ton with my front-end loader. Even if it had the capacity, even Wile E. Coyote could figure out what would happen if he tried that. But a couple of hundred years ago, a 1,200-pound horse could mount a 3,000-pound cannon on its...

I have a propane tank that weighs about 1,700 pounds. I have a tractor that maxes out about 1,800. (Kubota B7300 with FEL.) How can I lift that tank high enough to put it in a truck? Without building a permanent structure, that is. :)

My Ryobi Expand-it power head just gave up the ghost. Never liked that engine; now it's dead. Still have the string trimmer and brush cutter attachments, though. Is there another, more reliable brand of power head that it's those attachments, or do I have to start over from scratch?

Over in the hat thread, Larry points out that most farmhouses have a "mud room" where boots, etc. can be taken care of. Mine does not. We're renovating right now, and I see an opportunity to add a room that will not only accommodate muddy feet, but will greatly reduce the number of times I get...

Every spring, I go off to the farm supply and buy half a dozen bags of composted manure. I mix it into the soil when I plant; it kinda makes up for my incompetent gardening skills. This year, though, all the bags say "compost and manure", not "composted manure". What changed? Is it a...

Trying to figure out if I can control weeds with a cultivator behind my little Kubota B7300. I grow vegetables without herbicides or pesticides. Hope to get into small grains some day. I dropped by Everything Attachments, and they recommend a 4-foot, single-row cultivator. That's about equal...