Regaining my country roots

[Desade]

Hi, I'm new to TractorByNet. I grew up in nearly-rural Michigan using garden tractors (Case) and Dixie Choppers to mow several acres of grass and general mid-yard powertrain needs. Then I moved to Chicago after graduation, and played city boy for 20 years before buying 30 acres in the foothills west of Fort Collins, CO. The previous owner had a Cub Cadet 7275 with a front bucket, a general landscaping blade, a box scraper, and a 5' rear mower deck, which we negotiated as part of the house. This is a lot more tractor than I grew up with, and although I think it will be great for dragging trees around, mowing the meadow, and maintaining the private road, I admit I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. Even the Case and Dixies of my youth, I didn't have to service them, just drive 'em. I've done quite a bit of looking around on this forum and the "regulars" here really seem to know their stuff and are willing to share it, so I'm hoping that when I run into things I can't figure out, the kind souls here will take pity on me.

Give me a few years, and I might even be able to answer questions on my own.

[JimR]

One sure thing is to make sure your loader bracket bolts are long enough in the engine mounting holes. Cub seemed to short change these by using shorter than required bolts. This caused the loader brackets to work loose and ruin the motor block if not tightened up. I replaced mine before anything happened. They also make a kit for stiffening up the loader mounts on the motor. I bought one for my tractor but have yet to install it. I'm waiting until I take the loader off someday to do it. So far Mine has not loosened up since I installed much longer bolts. I have a 6 foot box blabe, 7 foot grader blade, 7 foot rear discharge mower, 6 foot rake, 3pth trailer bracket, post hole digger and a wood splitter for my tractor. There is never enough toys to add to it. The only thing I'm missing is a small backhoe for it. I have about 3500 hours on mine now and have done some major repairs to it recently like head gasket, radiator, oil cooler and the water pump. Hopefully someday I can tear it all down for a paint job.

[creekbend]

Welcome aboard. Best wishes.

[mguitas]

[Desade]

Thanks, JimR, I will definitely take a look at that.

[kensnelling]

Welcome from Oklahoma.

Ken