What attachments did you THINK you needed but don't use much?

schmism · Jul 4, 2009

i dont use my post hole digger much. (i might dig a few holes a year)

but when i DO need it its worth every cent i payed for it.

does that count?

Oh now that i think about it i bought a 2x14" bottom plow that i dont use much now that i have a 5' rear tiller. But i wouldnt get rid of it just because i dont use it much anymore.

cowboy357 · Jul 4, 2009

LBrown59 said:
If you have a fel you don't need a box blade .
If you have a box blade you still need or could use a fel.

Each to there own , But I beg to differ. Depends on Your needs . I have a fell on both my tractors . but while digging a small pond in rather sandy soil . I used the fel to build the ramp . but the box blade to drag out the bottom sandy soil.

Sure I can dig it & pick it up with the fel. But it just burys the tractor & I have to dump it & push myself back out. Because the angle going up a 6 foot fairly steep ramp is imposable with that much weight on the front. without digging in. I can take it out a few inches at a time using the box blade & go up the ramp because I,m only dragging the same amount of dirt , Thus not digging in .

Also dragging with the rippers is far less harder on the tractor then using the tooth bar at an extreme angle.

So What works for one doesn,t work for everyone. I just do what I have to do to get the job done with what I have.

. Bob

RedMahindra · Jul 4, 2009

I agree with cowboy357. I have a FEL and BH. I also have a box scrape and I would much rather use it to scrape my driveway than try to use my FEL to do it! It is a lot easier to level it out with the box scrape.

Willl · Jul 4, 2009

My Jinma chipper (feeding that thing branches turned out to be not as fun as I thought it would

) and my weight box.

Tig · Jul 4, 2009

I maintain almost a kilometer of road. I can't imagine doing that with only a FEL, or without a FEL for that matter. My box blade stays on the tractor 99% of the time when I don't need the blower.

LBrown59 · Jul 4, 2009

cowboy357 said:
Each to there own , But I beg to differ. Depends on Your needs . I have a fell on both my tractors . but while digging a small pond in rather sandy soil . I used the fel to build the ramp . but the box blade to drag out the bottom sandy soil.

Sure I can dig it & pick it up with the fel. But it just burys the tractor & I have to dump it & push myself back out. Because the angle going up a 6 foot fairly steep ramp is imposable with that much weight on the front. without digging in. I can take it out a few inches at a time using the box blade & go up the ramp because I,m only dragging the same amount of dirt , Thus not digging in .

Also dragging with the rippers is far less harder on the tractor then using the tooth bar at an extreme angle.

So What works for one doesn,t work for everyone. I just do what I have to do to get the job done with what I have. . Bob

But it would be pretty hard to load a truck or a trailer with a Box Blade to take that soil elsewhere.

warhammer · Jul 4, 2009

Yard Rake

NSBound said:
Just curious. I think we're all "guilty" of thinking we need all sorts of attachments and implements. Did you ever buy any that you don't use much and now are thinking of selling, or wouldn't miss much if you didn't have them?

MtnViewRanch · Jul 4, 2009

Maybe I have taken the original post wrong. Some of you are saying that this implement or that implement is not needed because you can use something else, and that is fine for YOU. But I don't think that you should be telling people in general that there is no reason to get this implement or that attachment. Just because you have no need for something does not mean that that something is not going to work for someone else in someone else's circumstances.

Sackett2 · Jul 4, 2009

MtnViewRanch said:
Maybe I have taken the original post wrong. Some of you are saying that this implement or that implement is not needed because you can use something else, and that is fine for YOU. But I don't think that you should be telling people in general that there is no reason to get this implement or that attachment. Just because you have no need for something does not mean that that something is not going to work for someone else in someone else's circumstances.

Agreed.
I looked at my attachments and the rear blade is covered in the most grass; hence, the least used, and with a box blade it does most of what I need. I have only used my forks once, but still see the potential for other uses; perhaps in a year or so, when I get a top and tilt, the rear blade may be my favorite. As we are doing some landscaping, the box blade was invaluable on leveling a lawn.

rvaitor · Jul 4, 2009

EddieWalker said:
That's an easy one. The box blade. It's been a total waste and I'm giving it to my brother now that he's just bought a place. I've learned that I can do more with my loader bucket then I can with the box blade.

Eddie

I was just thinking I'm probably the only guy with a box blade that's never used it. Got it with my tractor three years ago and have never had it on my tractor.

Still thinking I may be able to use it but too busy with other things.

Heywood Jannockitov · Jul 4, 2009

Toothbar. Ordered one with the tractor. Used it for awhile then took it off before the first winter. Never put it back on. Maybe they help on a small cut or scut with insufficient weight to push into a dirt pile, but on a 5425, I found it made no difference to the fels ability to scoop material.
Didn't like that some dirt always got trapped behind the bar and wouldn't dump out.
Will probably never put it back on.

Botabill · Jul 4, 2009

MtnViewRanch said:
Maybe I have taken the original post wrong. Some of you are saying that this implement or that implement is not needed because you can use something else, and that is fine for YOU. But I don't think that you should be telling people in general that there is no reason to get this implement or that attachment. Just because you have no need for something does not mean that that something is not going to work for someone else in someone else's circumstances.

I don't think anyone is saying an implement is bad and no one should have one. They aren't saying if you have one you aren't a right thinking person either. They are simply saying for THEM the implement has not been the most useful. Lets accept the fact that different folks find value in different implements and move on. Personally I'd like to have all the implements in my barn as at some point each and everyone of them would find a use.

3RRL · Jul 4, 2009

A very interesting question with interesting replies.
To answer the original posters question, for me it was the forks for the FEL.
I looked high and low to find a used set of forks so I could build my own set. I've had them (and plans to build) for almost 2 years now and haven't needed them yet. I do have a forklift truck in my barn so maybe that's why. But I envisioned using them out in the field on the tractor where the forklift truck would not go ... it's not an off road model.

But there again that's only for me, in my case.
I guess it really depends what you mostly use your tractor for and what is the least you use it for. That will (to some larger degree), dictate what implements you use most. And it will vary from year to year as your place comes around from what it was to what it is, and what it's going to be in the future. Following suit, it also depends on what your place was like when you got the tractor and implements you thought you needed.

In my case, my property was a wild Oak forest on a sloping piece of property.
I pretty much needed one of everything to do what I wanted to do. My needs lean towards building roads, clearing, pulling trees, ditching, footings, building pads, preparing to have my home and barn built. I did not need any farming implements (yet) since that was on the back burner. When I did need to plow I improvised and used the boxblade for that too. Now we have a tiller because things have changed (again).

I'll bet my box blade (for me) along with the FEL and bucket grapple have been the most used.
Then the backhoe. At the time, the added bucket grapple and backhoe were life savers for me. My sloping ground need an implement that I could "tilt" different than the wheel base to build roads and trails on my sloping property. That way I could contour and not just follow the lay of the land. Like banking my roads in the turns cutting into the hillsides. But again, that is because my set of circumstances required those types of implements more than others.
No doubt your needs may vary, of course.
Rob-

GeneD14 · Jul 4, 2009

Since I bought a tractor with a loader several years ago the 3 point boom pole has collected plenty of dust.
The most used by far is the loader and material bucket.

EastTexFrank · Jul 5, 2009

Like Eddie, I haven't used my box blade much in the past 4 years. In fact I haven't used it at all. I did use the heck out of it when I first got it. Same story with the Kuhn tiller. I used it a lot when I first got it but once I got everything tilled up I haven't used it more than once a year to get the veggie garden in shape. Since I've got a 6' bush hog on the L4740, I've not used the 4' one on the B2400 though it still might be useful in the tight spots down in the "thicket".

I've always had a longing for a backhoe but I've got no real need for one but it sure would be a "cool" toy. I think if I tried hard enough, I could probably find something to do with it but I just can't convince my wife that it's a necessity. It would probably end up sitting next to the box blade, gathering dust.

mjncad · Jul 5, 2009

A 3PH Post Hole Digger was my stupid implement mistake. I traded it in as a down payment on a JD L130 lawn tractor.

Gary Fowler · Jul 5, 2009

I have to say that the 3 PH fertilizer spreader/ seeder is not been used in 2 years (never actually). The box blade I use all the time, FEL, post hole digger is also used a lot. We use PHD to dig holes for planting shrubs and flowers since the soil is so rocky on the Arkansas farm a shovel is pretty useless for digging a hole and dont have a back hoe. I used the box blade scarifiers to work the soil and cut the roots around some large thorn trees and then uprooted it with my FEL. Worked great.

Gary Fowler · Jul 5, 2009

To WOLC123: not all 3 PH disc are light weight and pieces of junk. Look up the J Bar Corporation website. I have one of their 8 foot models and it weight is at over 800 lbs plus I have a couple sections of railroad steel attached for a little extra weight in the rock and clay soils of Hot Springs county Ark. It gives my 4220D Yanmar all it wants to pull

Gizmo2 · Jul 5, 2009

3RRL said:
I guess it really depends what you mostly use your tractor for and what is the least you use it for. That will (to some larger degree), dictate what implements you use most. And it will vary from year to year as your place comes around from what it was to what it is, and what it's going to be in the future. Following suit, it also depends on what your place was like when you got the tractor and implements you thought you needed.
Rob-

Agree, as I posted before. Now, after reading Heywood Jannockitov's post I would have to add the size of the tractor would make a difference. As with me, a tractor with 3PT down pressure would make my PHD a completely different attachment.