K Arno
Bronze Member
After spending way too long looking for a previously loved machine I bought this one new. A front end loader, Backhoe, front mount snowblower and a weight box got tucked into the 1% financing. I had been looking at larger machines however cost and an honest assessment of what I would be using the machine for prompted to pick what I got. I live on a 12 acre wood lot on the base of Moon Mountain the slopes tend to the steep side there are two seasonal brooks and one year round at the bottom. Just under a quarter mile of mostly gravel road not much grass to cut the "lawns are around the house garden and are a bit scattered and tight. Have a separate machine for the grass. Supplement the oil heat with wood cut on the property. Hauling it in had gotten to be more and more of challenge. Few years back we had a Halloween snow storm that tore up the woods and that got followed up with a tornado that while it missed me by a mile there was still enough wind to cause even more damage with mature maples snapped and hanging at about the 15 foot level. Some that pulled up the entire root-ball and hung up in the canopy. So much for what my use plans are.
So far I love this machine. Not much snow this winter. Most of our snow was wet and heavy this machine blasted it out of the way. I do my own gravel drive and my neighbors paved one as well. Not having the gravel frozen tossed some stone but it did a nice job of keeping access clear. I did slide into some lilac bushes (real old ones) and tore off the lights on one side. The Hoe has to come off to mount the front snowblower. Dropping and reinstalling all of the different attachments gets easier with practice. Got a ten wheeler load of reprocessed concrete. With a shovel and wheelbarrow it would take me at least a month to fill all the potholes. With the machine a long afternoon. Rocks you know the ones that catch your mowing deck and tear up spindles. the backhoe makes short work of them. pushing them to there new home wit the loader makes me think a grapple should be in my future. Have some impressive piles of rocks so far. Stumps take some time with this machine size and leave a big hole. have a pile of them and more to go. The FEL is worth having the machine by itself. have hauled more stuff with it than I can remember. Do be careful you don't drop drop things adding to your brush piles and dent your shiny new hood.
Why didn't I do this sooner I ask myself. time to go out and agitate some gravel. Sun is shining...
So far I love this machine. Not much snow this winter. Most of our snow was wet and heavy this machine blasted it out of the way. I do my own gravel drive and my neighbors paved one as well. Not having the gravel frozen tossed some stone but it did a nice job of keeping access clear. I did slide into some lilac bushes (real old ones) and tore off the lights on one side. The Hoe has to come off to mount the front snowblower. Dropping and reinstalling all of the different attachments gets easier with practice. Got a ten wheeler load of reprocessed concrete. With a shovel and wheelbarrow it would take me at least a month to fill all the potholes. With the machine a long afternoon. Rocks you know the ones that catch your mowing deck and tear up spindles. the backhoe makes short work of them. pushing them to there new home wit the loader makes me think a grapple should be in my future. Have some impressive piles of rocks so far. Stumps take some time with this machine size and leave a big hole. have a pile of them and more to go. The FEL is worth having the machine by itself. have hauled more stuff with it than I can remember. Do be careful you don't drop drop things adding to your brush piles and dent your shiny new hood.
Why didn't I do this sooner I ask myself. time to go out and agitate some gravel. Sun is shining...
