What have you done with your tractor?

[Rob-D]

After posting pics of my new tractor I got comments on my place so I thought I'd start a thread on what owners do with their tractors and dozers too. Did you build a pond, move trees, clear land? I'd love to see it and I'll bet most people here would also.

Here's my 'work in progress':

I build fruit orchards and am clearing land that was 95% thorn trees and scrub but good soil and drainage. Now the grass is just starting to come up in those areas that are just cleared earth in the pics. I have about 20 to 30 fruit trees so far in my other orchards, apples, pears and berry bushes. I have an 8 acre field we use for hay and the front 4 acres has horses and assorted other animals on it that belong to my friend.

The small pond is about 1/3 to 1/2 acre (12 feet deep) and has rainbow and brook trout in it from Soil and Water. There's whirling disease up here so you have to be careful what goes into your water. you need the depth to keep the fish safe when it gets hot or cold although I have several springs feeding the pond that keep it cool in the summer. I don't stock bass as they eat the frogs and newts. Between the trout, frogs and swallows there are no mosquito problems but some of the clearing helped with that too. Also we do only organic gardens which we feel helps with the natural balance of nature.

Rob

 

[woodchuckie]

I make and maintain trails through my timber land but most recently I used it to help finish the pool we put in. We put a new pool where our old one was and had to lower the bottom four inches because the new wall is 52 inches. It made quick work of this hard Alabama clay.

 

[RoyJackson]

Mostly mowing...some brush cutting and chipping, some snow removal and a modicum of materials movement.
Mostly my own work, but I'll help a neighbor when they need it.

 

[pitt_md]

Well I will list some of the things I have done but I am sure I will forget most.

Move snow with loader
SnlwBlow massive amounts of snow.
pull hay wagons
Move 800lb square hay bales into storage
disk fields
Till fields
Till Gardens
Cultapack fields
BushHog pastures, medow's
Drag pastures
Move more than 50 mature trees that I cut up into 10'-15' lengths
Grapple Huge Rocks out of field
Remove old fence lines
Build fence - drill post holes
clear brush
Landscape new house lawns
grapple rubble from old house to bury site
Rake up debris (rocks, root chuncks) from new construction site
Build 3 sided horse shelter - level site, move dirt, Drill holes, move material
Build two dry lots for horses
Maintain gravel driveway
spread/move manure
Drag/Move 20'X30' cedar shed
Move lots and lots of dirt
Spread gravel on drive
Spread sand in horse shelter
Reclaim over grown areas
Remove trash from woods left by farmer I bought from.
Pull fallen trees out of river per county mandate
move implements around - load and unload from trailer, move to witer storage
level and clear site for round pen (horse training)

I think you get the idea. My ranch/hobby farm would not exist if I didn't have this Kubota work horse or something like it.

 

[kebo]

My ranch/hobby farm would not exist if I didn't have this Kubota work horse or something like it.

Which came first, the tractor or the farm? Hmmm.... Put another way, the tractor would not exist if you didn't have the farm either!! :laughing:

Looks like you have found a hundred and one uses for your 'bota! I've used my 790 mainly for bushhogging around my parents place, and at my hunt club, and also to scrape the roads at the club and help put in our food plots there. There's a number of other smaller jobs I do with it just too many to remember all and list them here. We don't have snow here to speak of so that's definitely not one of them LOL.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Graded the driveway and the neighborhood road, tilled the garden, mowed a LOT of thick brush, hauled logs, leveled land, dug post holes, maintained my trails in the woods, maintained my campsite in the woods, graded a horse arena, spread manure and topsoil, plowed snow, and some mowing jobs for neighbors, friends, and family. All without a FEL!

 

[dave1949]

Well I will list some of the things I have done but I am sure I will forget most.
Pull fallen trees out of river per county mandate

I think you get the idea. My ranch/hobby farm would not exist if I didn't have this Kubota work horse or something like it.

This one gave me a chuckle. The Fish & Game folks here have been 'seeding' rivers with large trees. Something about the trout habitat and creating deeper pools.

Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Like pitt_md, our property would not be very enjoyable without the tractor. We don't farm anything or raise animals. I try to promote wildlife habitats of different kinds but mostly have created a lot of 'edge' habitat and working on new growth habitat areas that will get bush hogged every 3-4 years.

We have several miles worth of walking trails that I could never keep open without the tractor.


These are things I've done:

Clear snow with FEL, have a rear snowblower now waiting for winter.
Haul firewood in the FEL bucket.
Maintain drive/spread gravel with FEL bucket.
Mow the open areas and trails with bush hog.
Clear old field areas with FEL bucket and PTO chipper.
Drag away trees to a brush pile using 3pt lift boom.
'Re-arrange' rocks that are in the way.
Use the FEL bucket like a big wheelbarrow for picking stones.
Stir the compost pile with the FEL bucket.

Backhoe stuff:
Couple of french drains and utility trenches.
Improve rough areas in trails by digging up dirt to spread.
Dug a couple very small wildlife water holes.
Dig drainage trenches along trails through wet areas.
Dig up rocks sticking up to high.
Dig up old tree stumps.

Used the tractor when we built for backfill, foundation stone, leveling, carrying, etc.
Dave.

 

[Rob-D]

Wow! This is great, you never know what you'll get when you ask a tractor question!

 

[Johndeere3720]

Wow! This is great, you never know what you'll get when you ask a tractor question!

Your sure right about that.:thumbsup:

 

[micky]

Hope the pictures work. Expanding a turn around area for a friend. Still needs stone put in. I had to dig out 8 stumps and moved a lot of dirt.

 

[oldballs]

Wow, in 35 years I've done most of what you all are doing without the nice Kubota. Large gardens, many children to raise, ducks, dogs, 20 orchard trees, large strawberry beds, nice grape arbors, 200 seedling pine and cedars trees now grown to maturity, tons of gravel, dirt and rock moved. All of this done with a wheelbarrow, shovel and 8 HP rototiller. Then came the Case 448 after several years. Now that I'm 77 and there is nobody here but me, I've got this nice Kubota tractor and attachments that are just looking for something to do. Is that bass akwards or what?:confused2:

 

[rockotman]

I got my 2320 in May, and so far I have...

-Mowed grass (again, and again, again...)
-Hauled debris from trimming a bunch of pines to our burn pile
-Hauled away several tons of dirt and rock from the floor of the barn
-Hauled in several tons of stone dust to replace said dirt and rocks
-Augered 30-some post holes for split rail fence to split the single pasture into three pastures
-Used it to haul tools around while installing said split rail fence

But the scariest thing that I have done with it is try to teach my wife how to operate it. I think she is playing dumb just so she doesn't have to cut the grass. :laughing:

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I have rebuilt my gravel driveway using a back blade and rake, about 300'. I have put in a drainage ditch with a swale at the end to contain the water with the rear blade, about 100'. I have rebuilt an area of my lawn with loader and rake, about a 1/4 acre. I have skid a few logs. Cleaned up several debris piles with the loader. I used it to unload attachments from the truck bed. I clear my drive of snow with the bucket and rear blade but, that's history....just bought a 3pt. snowblower.

Purely residential type of work.

 

[dodge man]

I bought a BX2350 about 2 years ago, and thought I would use it for about 80% mowing, that hasn't been the case. I'd say about 50% of my hours have been mowing, the rest has been other stuff: dug out stump, cleaned out a ditch, spread about 100 tons of gravel, dug out for a swimming pool, use it to cut up and haul firewood, snow removal, brush hogging, grade a gravel driveway, haul brush and to generally intimadate the wild life and strangers

 

[amarlow]

@micky-- You did beautiful job clearing that turn around area. I wannn know how!

Those look like some pretty good sized stumps, and they aren't tall enough to "push" over. How did you dig them out? It looks as if you only have a front end bucket to dig with. Seriously, I want details: How did you dig those bad boys out?

~Allen

 

[Rob-D]

Wow, in 35 years I've done most of what you all are doing without the nice Kubota. Large gardens, many children to raise, ducks, dogs, 20 orchard trees, large strawberry beds, nice grape arbors, 200 seedling pine and cedars trees now grown to maturity, tons of gravel, dirt and rock moved. All of this done with a wheelbarrow, shovel and 8 HP rototiller. Then came the Case 448 after several years. Now that I'm 77 and there is nobody here but me, I've got this nice Kubota tractor and attachments that are just looking for something to do. Is that bass akwards or what?:confused2:

I did too.... then I got a tractor. Life changed and I wondered how I ever got anything done without one!!

Rob

 

[Gordon Gould]

I work in the woods so:
Build and mantain woods roads and drainage
Winch, skid, and load fire wood
Ditto spruce, fir, and pine saw logs
I have a 1 mile drive way and it snows here so:
Clear door yard (Use truck plow for road)
Move back snow banks
Grade
Regravel and clean ditches
Chip road side brush and limbs
Help my wife take care of her garden and berry bushes
To many little things to mention
Other things like:
Use grapple for vice building grader
Hang deer

Getting dizzy thinking of all the stuff that I just do. Tractors are handy.

 

[Thomas]

Lately useing rear scraper blade..cleaning ditches re sloping driveways do to heavy rains.

 

[Raspy]

Some of the steel work on my new house.