'New' John Deere 2305

[jsygrovehpi]

Uhh, I should be taking pictures this afternoon once I get off of work and down to his house. Yeah the chain on the chainsaw would definately be shot afterwards but if it would at last through all the cuts needed, it would be less expensive than making 2 complete round trips to the rental place along with the cost of whatever we rented.

I was thinking to protect the chain as best I can I would measure 5" in from the tip of the bar on the chainsaw and putting some tape on the sides of the bar as a visual depth guage. Then cut straight down while standing on the outide of the wall 5"-5 1/2" of the 6" width of the 6x6 timber to weaken it to the point where some gentle tugging by the BH would easily and (hopefully) neatly disassemble the wall into 4' x 3' sections. The reason why we dont want to take apart each piece of timber as you suggested is because each row of timber is nailed to the next row with 10" long spikes and we tend to avoid making more work for ourselves since we arent getting paid by the hour :laughing:

 

[C-Range]

Just as a point of reference, I used my backhoe today to fetch an old forklift frame out of a hollow next to my yard. It was actually on the other side of my property marking stone wall and down a steep slope about 6 ft, left behind by my home's previous owner. I've been meaning to pluck it for a while and since I had the hoe on the tractor from digging a dry well for my brother yesterday, I figured I'd grab it and haul it off to the scrap yard.

I used the bucket to reach down and snag one of the pieces. The frame was in 3 pieces, but 2 of them (the sliders) were sort of tangled so both of them came. Surprisingly, it pulled the 2 pieces right up and onto the stone wall.

At the scrap yard, the bigger of the two pieces weighed 360 lbs, according to the scale. I didn't get the other one verbally and forgot to look on the slip but it was not much lighter, probably at least 300. So, that little 260 backhoe manhandled 660 lbs at once for me. Not bad for a little tyke.

The 5-1/2" chain saw depth sounds like it might work. Instead of tape, maybe you could just put a good size C-clamp on the bar as a depth limiter. Just a thought. You have health insurance, right?

 

[jsygrovehpi]

Well we started the destruction...I mean...construction last night. Below are 'Before' pictures. The only thing we did prior to when the pictures were taken was that we cut the #3 rebar that was inserted in the top of the wall every 8' that held up metal garden fencing. I dont know if you can tell but my father precut the wall with a circular saw every 4' (Picture 3). Even though the saw only got about halfway through the wall when the guy delivered the block with the piggyback forklift the weight of the machine near the edge of the inside of the garden wall was causing it to flex worrying my father of a possible premature failure.

When I arrived at the house I took a sawzall and prededed to make the cuts approximately 2/3 of the way through the wall at the narrow point of the wall (foreground in pictures). Since we still felt this wasnt enough my father fired up the chainsaw and preceeded to cut nearly all the way through the wall until the chain was dull (approximately 3 cuts) because we somehow found 2 spikes and a bit of dirt.

I then proceded to fire up the 2305 and head over to the point of the wall. Our plan is to remove the wall as neatly as possible then using the FEL scoop the dirt up and dump it further inside the garden to remove that fairly unusable part of the garden. Backing up I grabbed the point of the wall with the BH and began tugging. That little BH has some serious power for such a small machine! While tugging I was moving a good 12-15 feet of wall on either side of where I was working! Later I was able to carry a 16' 6x6 using the FEL like it was a large cigar by hooking the end of the timber under the top lip of the bucket. The wall, however, did fight back and progress was slower than i expected but we were able to remove 8 feet of the wall facing the house (left side of the point) and 12 feet of wall to the right side of the point by the time we quit at 8:15. It would have progressed faster if we spent more prep time cutting the timber. It was just too dark to work or take any pictures when we quit (sorry). Maybe I'll get some shots before starting work again.

Just before we quit for the evening the left joystick on the BH controls began to stick in all directions and would not return to the neutral position making it very dangerous for my father to be standing close to the rear of the 2305 to give me directions on how to grab the timber. Anyone have any ideas as what was causing this?

 

[jsygrovehpi]

I have another thread started about my wall project with updated photos if anyone is interested.

I didnt want to digress too far from the general 2305 talk that this thread was centered around.

 

[Fixedon66]

I guess I should jump in with my news of getting a new-for-me used 2305. It has 160 hours with a 200CX FEL on it. I've been using it on some property we have recently acquired. The property has a house and yard that takes up about 3/4 - 1 acre. My 54C MMM just came in and I plan to install it this weekend to cut the lawn around the house. I went for the mechanical lift because I can't ever see having a 3PT attachment on while mowing the lawn.

Fenced off from that is another 9 acres. We lease the 9 acres of pasture to folks with a couple horses. We keep up the fences and they keep up the horses. That has allowed me to forgo a brush hog purchase for awhile but will be looking for one in the next month. I also plan to get a box blade for keeping up the gravel drive, general dirt leveling and for ballast. So far I've just loaded leaves, old railroad ties, etc. to haul to the back of the property. I've scraped a small portion of ground that is higher than the driveway that holds in rain water. I see the tractor will handle that project just fine once I have the time and sod to replace what's torn out. (I'm learning that a FEL is not a delicate tool to remove and replace existing sod. :confused3

So a couple of questions come to mind for now. I got this at an auction so I figure I should assume the oil and transmission fluid (& filters) need to be changed. Any thoughts on JD brand fluids and filters vs. other good brands? I read earlier in this thread about Rotella 15w40. Is that proper viscosity for down south in Oklahoma? (No snow blowers needed here. Well, last season I could have used it once.) I see Sam's carries that here.

I have to admit my radar is NOT on when driving out in the brush and worry about breaking the transmission fan or filter. Are the Ebay items mentioned above the only available? They sound a little expensive to me for what they do.

As a new 2305 owner I look forward to any pointers you veterans can pass along.

 

[C-Range]

You'll find plenty of folks having strong opinions about lubricants but I just look in the owners manual and see what specification is called out. Then, thanks to the fine folks at the API (American Petroleum Institute), I don't need to pay top dollar for the green and yellow label. I can just head on down to my local automotive store and get whatever meets the spec. Just make sure you don't go getting something "close enough". Get the right one and change it as scheduled by the manufacturer.

As for what grade of oil to use, go look it up in the owner's manual. I ain't doin your homework for ya.

I don't know of any place else to get those guards selling on eBay except for a pan made by Bro-tek that protects both the filter and fan. The only caveat is it can't be in place when the mid mower is on. Check em out. Great company.

 

[Fixedon66]

As for what grade of oil to use, go look it up in the owner's manual. I ain't doin your homework for ya.

Ha! I'm good with that. Right after I posted that I looked it up. 10W-30 for my area. Then I also see the API Classes. Thanks for the pointer.

I don't know of any place else to get those guards selling on eBay except for a pan made by Bro-tek that protects both the filter and fan. The only caveat is it can't be in place when the mid mower is on. Check em out. Great company.

I saw that mentioned in a Kubota thread of all places. I'll check them out before I make a final decision.

From the description of the separate parts listed on Ebay it sounds like the Fan Guard is the more important one (avoid a $1000 repair) and it can stay on with or without the MMM installed. If I gather right, hitting the filter will require a new filter and maybe some fluid. Keeping a spare filter on hand might be the easiest thing to do.

 

[C-Range]

If you think you will hit the filter then I'd recommend being proactive. For the cost of a guard, you could save the cost of a filter and 4 gallons of hydraulic fluid and possibly more.

Last I looked though, I didn't like that filter guard on eBay because it only mounts on one side. You hit a big enough rock or stump and that thing could bend up and wipe the filter out for sure and then some. I want to build my own one of these days when I get a chance. No rush here.

It sounds like that tractor has your full attention. That's a good thing. Get to know it like the back of your hand. Take good care of it and it'll take good care of you.

Welcome to the support group.