Buying Advice So now I have the tractor, now what??.

[GManBart]

I use my QA pallet forks more than I use anything else...hands down. a 66" EA Wicked Grapple is on the short list to buy as well.

If you're going to seriously use the FEL, you're going to need a counterweight, and hanging an implement off the rear doesn't really do the job properly (not enough weight, and they stick out far enough to bump into things frequently. For your tractor, you're going to want a minimum of 1,000lbs. I got lucky, and found a 1,300lb hunk to steel at the local scrap yard, and turned it into a counterweight with a little help from my neighbor.

All of the brands of rotary cutter already mentioned are good, but I'd add Rhino...very heavily made stuff. Don't overlook quality used cutters....if you know what you're looking at, you can save a lot of money on them. As long as the deck is solid, everything else can be replaced pretty easily if need be....when you look at $1800 for new, and $500-750 for the same unit used, it makes that choice easy, assuming you have the tools and ability to work on that sort of stuff. I recently bought a 5" hog in really good shape, that had a bad gearbox. I got a factory (Omni makes almost all of them) gearbox, and new set of blades, and all told I have right around $600 in it, and it runs like a new unit.

 

[Jmsmithy]

Do you all recommend weights? Tire weights or suitcase type? What about tire filling?

Also, I have a maple farm and will be doing quite a bit of logging to release my maple trees...who has experience with various winches available (Farmi, Norse etc)? Boy they are expensive :shocked: !

Can you use a crane arm an chains?

So much fun looking at all this stuff! Of course this could be more than the tractor ! :confused2:

 

[wolftree]

Jmsmithy,

If you did not get a front loader with your tractor, you owe it to yourself to look at Westendorf front loaders before making a decision about one.


www.loaders.com for Westendorf loaders and the other products.

 

[jeff9366]

Do you all recommend weights? Tire weights or suitcase type? What about tire filling?

Also, I have a maple farm and will be doing quite a bit of logging to release my maple trees...who has experience with various winches available (Farmi, Norse etc)?

I do not weight my tractor permanently with wheel weights nor filled tires. Permanent weight has major disadvantage of compacting the soil/lawn and minor disadvantage of increasing fuel usage. Consider repairing a puncture in a filled rear tire....

When I need weight I mount an implement on the 3-Pt. hitch. Ballast on the 3-Pt. gives improved traction, and weight behind the rear axle relieves stress on the front axle when you are working with a max load in/on bucket, which for me is log sections ~ neither filled tires nor wheel weights relieve front axle stress.

On occasions, you cannot pick up a max bucket load without rear ballast. Instead of the bucket coming up, the tractor will kneel and you are really stressing it.

If you think you need more permanent tractor weight buy a tractor with a heavier frame.

My 60" wide tractor moves through the woods well. I have rarely feel desire for a winch. I skid using an Omni Hanging Tree mounted on an Omni Cross-Drawbar Stabilizer, which Omni calls a combination hitch. You drag logs CAREFULLY to an accessible area with chain attached to the (TSC) cross-drawbar, then raise log with Hanging Tree to transport safely. Had I to do it over I would consider a Northern Tool Log Hog*. Omni now offers a Log Boom, I see.

(If a log being dragged encounters an immovable object [boulder, rock ledge, burrow etc.] while the tractor is powering forward, the tractor can go vertical on its rear wheels in a heartbeat. A heartbeat! )

On my "learning" tractor, a loaned John Deere 750, I skidded logs without dedicated skidding equipment. As a result I tore the Meniscus in my right knee. Result: 12 weeks of physical therapy and knee surgery = $18,000 plus, plus, plus. Mr. Natural says: "GET THE RIGHT TOOLS". Why didn't I listen?

I have industrial tires, R4s, most compact tractor/loaders come equipped with R4s.

In everything having to do with my tractor I try to observe the KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

OMNI Grabhook Hanging Tree - OMNI Mfg LLC

Norwood Log Hog Log Skidder Tractor Attachment, Model# 41255 Log Hog | Log Skidding| Northern Tool + Equipment

*Try to ignore dangerous dragging chain in Log Hog video.

 

[GManBart]

Do you all recommend weights? Tire weights or suitcase type? What about tire filling?

Also, I have a maple farm and will be doing quite a bit of logging to release my maple trees...who has experience with various winches available (Farmi, Norse etc)? Boy they are expensive :shocked: !

Can you use a crane arm an chains?

So much fun looking at all this stuff! Of course this could be more than the tractor ! :confused2:

In general, weight helps traction. Wheel weights, and loaded tires are the ticket for pulling ground engaging implements, but not very helpful when using the FEL.

Without a rear counterweight, my tractor can only lift a bit more than half the loader's rated weight. It's listed as lifting 2,640lbs to max height, at the pins. It was getting very light on the rears when lifting the 1300lb slab for my counterweight, and slightly lifted the rears a few times. Add the weight of the pallet forks, and it was lifting something like 1,700lbs....but it wouldn't have been safe on anything but the flat concrete I was on.

Check your manual, and it'll probably give you an exact figure for what the recommend for counterweight. Here's mine:

 

[jeff9366]

Rodin, Matisse, Picasso, Toulouse Lautrec......they would all be proud to have created this.

 

[TSO]

In general, weight helps traction. Wheel weights, and loaded tires are the ticket for pulling ground engaging implements, but not very helpful when using the FEL.

Without a rear counterweight, my tractor can only lift a bit more than half the loader's rated weight. It's listed as lifting 2,640lbs to max height, at the pins. It was getting very light on the rears when lifting the 1300lb slab for my counterweight, and slightly lifted the rears a few times. Add the weight of the pallet forks, and it was lifting something like 1,700lbs....but it wouldn't have been safe on anything but the flat concrete I was on.

Check your manual, and it'll probably give you an exact figure for what the recommend for counterweight. Here's mine:

Why is your tractor rated to lift 140# more than mine?

 

[GManBart]

Why is your tractor rated to lift 140# more than mine?

Because I read the loader manual, not the website!

 

[schweizer]

My most valuable implement is the backhoe. Lots of people may disagree but I'm constantly digging water lines for irrigation around the house, digging out a stump, etc. And it makes a great counterweight. With fluid filled back tires and the backhoe sticking out the back, I've only had the back tires off the ground maybe 2 times: once with a heavy load of lumber on the forks (also a great implement, especially for construction), and the other time when pulling a log out of the forest backwards. When building my barn, I threw an empty pallet on the forks and had a simple but very effective man lift.

I wouldn't get the winch. Use something like a snatch-block to winch your log close enough to chain directly to the tractor. Then just pull it to where you want to buck it.

Marcus

 

[flusher]

Hello All

Thanks to all your advice, I finally de my decision and purchased the Kioti DK40SE HST.

I have 250 acres, food plots, 300+ yard rifle range, maple syrup farm. I log ( firewood for the maple evaporator plus my two wood stoves), hunt, fish make syrup etc etc...

Have multiple atv's as well as snowmobiles.

All that being said, what do you think should be the first purchase as far as implements go?? I think I'm going Brush Hog first....any suggestions as to brand? Also what other implements do you all like??? :drool:

With only 34 hp (pto), I'd go for a 6-ft brush hog and keep it out of the heavy bush. Mine is a Hawkline that cost about $1100 5 years ago.

Other implements: depends on the jobs (near term and far term future) you anticipate. Can't help you until you clue us in on your plans.

Good luck.