Doing More Work with the LS

[rocknrod]

Well it's no Gary rock but it had to be moved - Made the bucket seem small.

As you see I modified my sun shade/ROPs to get max shade :thumbsup:
I couldnt get under it. It kept moving across the property. So I tied it up.

 

[timebak]

rocknrod: Dude, that's some pretty good riggin' to strap that rock onto that bucket like that. I guess now we know where the "rock" part of your user name came from... :laughing:

Did you dig this rock up, or was it laying on the surface already?

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is a nice rock. I wish I had several about that size to line my pond overflow sluice with. Would make a nice little pad to make a step down the hill series of waterfalls. I planned to put in a little back of the dam overflow with series of step downs but the underground springs got to flowing so fast that my brother in law had to cut in a upper sluice to keep from washing out the dam. Now I think I will just build up the dam more at the back and see if I can find some rocks like you are hauling to make me some step downs. Maybe make it curve around and down to the creek. All my rocks are roundish so may have to look for some at the rock market. You never have what you need.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I envy your short sleeved shirt if that is a recent photo. It has been in the 20's up in Arkansas and lots of snow this year. I think we have had 4 good snows of 4-8". Last 2 were about 4 " each.Two came while I was home Christmas for 3 weeks and 8" and about 6" and then the temps went down into the teens. I didnt even attempt to crank up the LS or get out other than to push the snow off the patio. Then I came back to Nigeria where it is over 100F everyday. Shock/Shock both coming home and going back.

 

[rocknrod]

I envy your short sleeved shirt if that is a recent photo. ...

I'm driving the tractor
I have a whole bunch of these flat rocks now, just piling them up on the side.
Maybe use them for a walkway when the house is finished.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Rocks are plentiful at my place but mostly small golf ball to basketball size when you till up a spot. I cant wait to see what turns up when I start fixing up my garden spot. I have to confess that I went outside the LS brand and bought a Kubota RTV 900 with hydraulic dump. I think is will be handy for moving these rocks that keep growing up out of the ground yearly. Many are small, but big enough to cripple a lawnmower if hit and they just keep coming and coming so it is a never ending battle to keep them at bay.

I am fantasizing about maybe building myself or maybe just buying a tree spade to put on one of the Tractors, perhaps the Yanmar FEL ,just for rooting out rocks and maybe even use it for planting shrub and such that the wife likes to set everywhere. I think that would be a handy tool

 

[timebak]

Rocks happen. And they continue to breed. We have a couple of fields on the back of our farm in Alabama that have been under continuous cultivation since the 1920's, and we STILL drag up rocks from bowling ball size to almost half-a-refrigerator size. And we've been no-tilling that ground for decades.

Right after we got our first tractors with cab and A/C (a pair of 1976 IH 966 Turbo's), I was chisel plowing one of those fields and ripping right along in the 104 degree August heat with the A/C wide open and blowing snowballs. I wasn't paying close enough attention and was enjoying all that horsepower and I let the plow get a little deep.

I snagged a large microwave oven sized rock and up it came, jammed right between two of the chisel arms. Danggit!!! I jumped out of that cab and grabbed a big prybar and started to work. I dang near passed out. Coming out of that icebox cab into that 104 degree heat (even higher in the sun out in that field) nearly killed me.

By the time I got that small boulder pried out of my plow, I was about to fall out from heat exhaustion. Never had that problem when I was sitting out in the heat already................................. But I would still never give up that cab for row crop work.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I know that feeling. I was trying to put up some fence last Oct and the weather was nice about 70F (just before the snow storm came and dropped it to 18F) . After about 5 post driven with a hand powered post driver, I was about like you described. I had to laydown and just close my eyes and relax for about 20 minutes to cool down. Of course I went off to the back side of the place without any water either. After I cooled down enough to get some strength back, I got on the tractor and went home for a cool drink and more rest. Later that afternoon, my b-i-l came over and gave me a hand and we used the FEL to push the rest of the post into the ground. Got to work smarter not harder when you are approaching Social Security age.

 

[rocknrod]

...
I am fantasizing about maybe building myself or maybe just buying a tree spade to put on one of the Tractors,...

You talking about one of these?

YouTube - Bucket Buddy Power Shovel Digging & Clearing Trees & Brush
I want one too. I like this one best, I saw another but it kept flipping up. Didnt have the turnbuckles on it.
If you find a place that sells them for a good price - let me know.:thumbsup:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Yes, something like that. There are one or two on TBN where guys built their own. On slides on under the bucket and has supports that extend to the back of the bucket then chain over the back and on the top of the bucket lip. I seemed ok and spread the force over the whole bottom of the bucket. If I get ready to build one I will have to search that one out, I think he used a piece of 12- or 18 pipe.

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

I am fantasizing about maybe building myself or maybe just buying a tree spade to put on one of the Tractors, perhaps the Yanmar FEL ,just for rooting out rocks and maybe even use it for planting shrub and such that the wife likes to set everywhere. I think that would be a handy tool

Hey Gary,

I don't think there's a "native" rock on my entire place. I plan to import some boulders though for the huge pond I plan to have out there some day.

Another option that might work would be a stump bucket like I got last November. I use it more than any other SSQA item. Having a narrow area with teeth makes it easy to cut roots because it concentrates all the cutting/digging force in a small area. It works great on my little CUT so it should be really sweet on a beast like your 7010. I would think rooting out rocks would be a breeze, though you might have to change it out to carry off the really big ones.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I saw those advertised and for the price, I dont know if I could buy the steel and build one as cheap. I dont know how some of the guys on here get so lucky in finding bargain pricing for "scrap" that just fits their needs and then get it at 1/2 the scrap iron pricing or free. I can never find that good a deal. I may have got a small deal on my Kubota 900 RTV @ $8750 but it was not a great deal like some folks here get. As far as scrap steel, I have none, so anything I build I have to buy everything. I guess I will just have to weight the use versus the dollars and see if I will have enough use to justify the cost. My only concern with buying one on the internet is that you cant really tell if they are strong enough to stand up to the 7010. You can put a lot of pressure on something with that tractor without really feeling it.
Like the guys talking about using their bucket for driving post and needing to put some dirt in it for weight, heck mine will bend a t post double before all the weight of the bucket even gets on it.

The only real bargain I have is my LS tractor and I didnt need to get consensus from the TBN crowd to know it was a good deal. Some folks are so brand loyal that they wouldnt buy outside orange/green/red regardless of the price or obviously better or at least equally built machine. That is their loss and we LS guys will continue to use our great tractors and use the difference in money to buy more toys.

 

[rocknrod]

As I get oler I find it was a mistake not to accept welding school from the U.S. Navy when I was active.
I could build one more me.
That is a cool unit Lil' Blue:thumbsup:

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

As I get oler I find it was a mistake not to accept welding school from the U.S. Navy when I was active.
I could build one more me.
That is a cool unit Lil' Blue:thumbsup:

Glad you like it.

I can't weld either, but I'm going to try to learn. I've got a buddy that can and he's helped me with a couple of projects. (I supply the materials, electricity, and beer while he supplies the skills.) We added 2.5" - 1/4" angle iron to the top of the loader bucket to prevent bends and to provide support for a 2" receiver and some grab hooks. (The dealer added the ones on the edge of the bucket.)

Another guy gave me a 4" square tube - 1/4" steel gate post because I needed something to knock down brush when using the cutter. (I tried using the loader bucket for that but was afraid I'd mess up the loader arms if I accidentally caught dirt or a stump.) There's a place just a couple of miles away that has new and scrap steel. Bought a piece of scrap 1/2" steel plate for the support. We welded it up, drilled 4 holes, primed and painted it, bought longer/stronger/bigger bolts and then mounted it behind the grill guard. I've raised it a couple of inches since the photo because it was a little too low.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I dont think you would damage the FEL by hitting a stump. I used to run my ol Yanmar with the fel down low for just that reason when I first bought my place. It was overgrown with brush and weeds and I did hit a cedar stump. No damage to the FEL. Once I was clipping along in 3 H range (about 8 MPH) and hit a sink hole dip that was about 3 feet deep but grass coving it was level so it wasnt that obvious. Must have been an old tree root ball that was removed or something. ANY way, the FEL dipped and plunged into the ground. Instant stop. I about went over the steering wheel, but no damage to the Tractor or FEL. They are pretty tough. I used mine to push over trees, ride the tractor up till the front wheels were 3 feet off the ground and never hurt it. NOW you could spring them up if you hang on corner of the bucket under a root or something and get really agressive with lift it up and pushing in 4 WD. My Yanmar V3 is pretty darn tough and the LS seems to be even stronger built. The only thing with the V3 is trying to keep the bolts in it where it bolts to the tractor frame. They just keep getting loose and falling out no matter what I do to tighten them. I have a couple that I have to replace in it now, before I can use it again.
I just keep my bucket level so that if it hits something it hits with the blade edge straight on. That is the strongest position. If you had the bucket curled up so the bottom if facing forward, you may bend it if you hit a stump hard, but if you keep the bucket level, I think you would be ok.

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

I dont think you would damage the FEL by hitting a stump. I used to run my ol Yanmar with the fel down low for just that reason when I first bought my place. It was overgrown with brush and weeds and I did hit a cedar stump. No damage to the FEL. Once I was clipping along in 3 H range (about 8 MPH) and hit a sink hole dip that was about 3 feet deep but grass coving it was level so it wasnt that obvious. Must have been an old tree root ball that was removed or something. ANY way, the FEL dipped and plunged into the ground. Instant stop. I about went over the steering wheel, but no damage to the Tractor or FEL. They are pretty tough. I used mine to push over trees, ride the tractor up till the front wheels were 3 feet off the ground and never hurt it. NOW you could spring them up if you hang on corner of the bucket under a root or something and get really agressive with lift it up and pushing in 4 WD. My Yanmar V3 is pretty darn tough and the LS seems to be even stronger built. The only thing with the V3 is trying to keep the bolts in it where it bolts to the tractor frame. They just keep getting loose and falling out no matter what I do to tighten them. I have a couple that I have to replace in it now, before I can use it again.
I just keep my bucket level so that if it hits something it hits with the blade edge straight on. That is the strongest position. If you had the bucket curled up so the bottom if facing forward, you may bend it if you hit a stump hard, but if you keep the bucket level, I think you would be ok.

The other reason I came up with the brush bumper was because I couldn't see very well with bucket on. Tried using forks instead and that wasn't a whole lot better and not wide enough. When I pulled the FEL off and put the bumper on I had great visibility and maneuverability. And it knocked down all the brush and fire ant hills really well. I hit a hidden 9" diameter stump with it and it stopped me dead in my tracks. No problem as I hog in 2-wheel drive. It even gave a little to cushion the impact. Was totally thrilled with it until I pulled up to put the loader back on and discovered the bumper interfered with the dismount support arms. Had to come up with an alternative method for mounting and unmounting the FEL. I know a lot of people never remove their FEL, but doing so makes it a lot easier to hog in amongst the trees.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sounds like now that you have it cut down and know where the stumps are, it's time to get out the chainsaw or dynamite and get rid of those pesky stumps for good. Then you wouldnt need the bumper anymore, so no more FEL interference. I just used my FEL on the Yanmar to push over the grass so the seeds didnt stop up my radiator so bad when hogging tall grass. seeing as it is only about knee high. I dont think I will have that problem with the LS since the bottom of the radiator is about chest high. I dont think my grass will get that high again before cutting it.

I think I have gotten all the stumps out now. I had one old cedar that was solid and I had it remove with a dozer, so I should be good to go now.