My NX6010

[TSO]

OT: how do you like your Rhino blades? Tell me more. Next year I must make roads. Road making, I'm thinking I need to get a hydro tilt ram for my side link and I'm thinking about a CAT2 78" Everything Attachments box blade. Sections of road are below the grade of the existing terrain and I need to reverse that so the road is higher than grade.

Any suggestions?

While my 8ft back blade (actually made by "The Servis Company" probably 30+ years ago, before they were bought by, or converted to, Rhino...) is practically indestructible, and made for a much heavier duty tractor than mine ... the box-blade is more more like "everyone else's box blades on the market". It's a good blade, and it has seen it's fair share of work this season, but I managed to break it in the spring on a grading job (bent the whole 3pt linkage assembly when I accidentally backed into something I shouldn't have!). Of course, I was able to remove the damaged pieces and re-weld everything and it's right-as-rain now, and it's been worked hard since, but I think during the winter I'll reinforce it some more.

I don't think you need to purchase a super-expensive box-blade. Find something decent on CL, and weld some scrap metal onto it for reinforcement. Back-Blades are harder to find (in the class that mine is anyhow). It's very heavy duty. I found it used for a great bargain (actually it was part of a trade) but to purchase THIS blade new (they sell a similar design configuration today) would cost somewhere around $2000-2500.

In my experience (I've constructed several new driveways, and have maintained-graded probably 30+ driveways this year alone), a good box-blade AND back-blade are both good tools to have. If I have severe pot-holes, I use the box-blade, and it also helps with moving bulk material. I use the back-blade on larger jobs (private roads, subs, etc) after they're already "churned up" with the box-blade, and I can get a really smooth, packed finish with it. It also works better when trying to "crown" a road.

My best advice, don't be afraid to add material! The more you have, the easier it is to work with. And, there's nothing wrong with going with crushed-concrete. It packs and "sticks" together well, finishes nicely, and is cheaper than the other aggregates.

Here are a couple small driveways I recently did using just a box-blade (and my bucket)...

(added about 20 yards to this one)



(was able to re-claim and churn-up all this material)



(this is the back-blade)

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Maintenance can't correct wear and tear due to hard use. You've broken waaaay more stuff in under 50 hours than I did it 215 hours on my LS, and I thought I was using it pretty hard.

I certainly hope you don't run into any additional damage, but it really looks like you're using a CUT for tasks normally reserved for much heavier equipment. That's exactly why I bought a dozer (which needs work) and am actively shopping for backhoes...don't want to break stuff every time I try to do something.

Like what tasks am I being too hard on the tractor?

My damage has all been due to sticks grabbing stuff (oak tree limb specifically) and no guards (saplings pulling the gas line), and me running into stuff (gas caps and the roof). The actual work is well within the operating limits of the machine.

 

[94BULLITT]

 

[MinnesotaEric]

While my 8ft back blade (actually made by "The Servis Company" probably 30+ years ago, before they were bought by, or converted to, Rhino...) is practically indestructible, and made for a much heavier duty tractor than mine ... the box-blade is more more like "everyone else's box blades on the market". It's a good blade, and it has seen it's fair share of work this season, but I managed to break it in the spring on a grading job (bent the whole 3pt linkage assembly when I accidentally backed into something I shouldn't have!). Of course, I was able to remove the damaged pieces and re-weld everything and it's right-as-rain now, and it's been worked hard since, but I think during the winter I'll reinforce it some more.

I don't think you need to purchase a super-expensive box-blade. Find something decent on CL, and weld some scrap metal onto it for reinforcement. Back-Blades are harder to find (in the class that mine is anyhow). It's very heavy duty. I found it used for a great bargain (actually it was part of a trade) but to purchase THIS blade new (they sell a similar design configuration today) would cost somewhere around $2000-2500.

In my experience (I've constructed several new driveways, and have maintained-graded probably 30+ driveways this year alone), a good box-blade AND back-blade are both good tools to have. If I have severe pot-holes, I use the box-blade, and it also helps with moving bulk material. I use the back-blade on larger jobs (private roads, subs, etc) after they're already "churned up" with the box-blade, and I can get a really smooth, packed finish with it. It also works better when trying to "crown" a road.

My best advice, don't be afraid to add material! The more you have, the easier it is to work with. And, there's nothing wrong with going with crushed-concrete. It packs and "sticks" together well, finishes nicely, and is cheaper than the other aggregates.

Here are a couple small driveways I recently did using just a box-blade (and my bucket)...

(added about 20 yards to this one)
View attachment 394670
View attachment 394671

(was able to re-claim and churn-up all this material)
View attachment 394672
View attachment 394673

(this is the back-blade)
View attachment 394674
View attachment 394675

Wow, what a fantastic explanation!

 

[GManBart]

Like what tasks am I being too hard on the tractor?

My damage has all been due to sticks grabbing stuff (oak tree limb specifically) and no guards (saplings pulling the gas line), and me running into stuff (gas caps and the roof). The actual work is well within the operating limits of the machine.

Part of "the actual work" involves surviving the operating environment without breaking stuff on a regular basis...at least it does for me. When you're trashing blades and cracking stump jumpers in just a few hours of use, it sort of indicates hard usage, which clearing is. CUTs can do some clearing work, but it's not really what they're designed for, and you have to be really careful to avoid breaking stuff when doing so...and that seems to be what you're experiencing.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Part of "the actual work" involves surviving the operating environment without breaking stuff on a regular basis...at least it does for me. When you're trashing blades and cracking stump jumpers in just a few hours of use, it sort of indicates hard usage, which clearing is. CUTs can do some clearing work, but it's not really what they're designed for, and you have to be really careful to avoid breaking stuff when doing so...and that seems to be what you're experiencing.

In a nutshell I couldn't justify the expense of a track loader with high flow hydraulics and a forest mulcher, and so after looking at telehandlers, new and used skid and track loaders, wheel loaders, Bobcat's Toolcat, I settled on a 60ish hp CUT because I would have a variety of jobs to do after land clearing and tractor attachments cost less money, while the tractor platform itself is easier to fix and would require less support equipment and tools.

Originally I had somebody tell me not to trim the lower branches of oak trees until winter for fear of getting oak wilt, so we didn't. But after it became obvious that little oak branches can rip junk off of the sides of the tractor, we began cutting the branches of the keeper trees that would hit the tractor when it came by. The hardest I've been on the tractor was when I tried out the pharanna tooth bar and plowed out some underbrush like a dozer while videoing. Trouble was that method is too slow and leaves a pile of junk and so after a couple of minutes of videoing, I quit. The second hardest I've been on the tractor is using the Everything Attachments root grapple as a root grapple in low gear and driving along on the same path in order to remove sapling stumps and roots from what will become a turn-around for trucks hauling in class 1 next year for roads and possibly a cargo container since I've discovered I need on-site storage

I'm still using the original rotary cutter blades, and though I'm at a loss as to how the crack in the disk got into the stump jumper, near as I can tell that crack isn't structural. The very normal way of my use is to clear out a section with the rotary cutter, jump out and saw up the big stuff and set it aside, prune any low branches of keepers with either a Silky hand saw or my 28M cordless Sawzall where I'm going to use the rotary cutter next and cut down the larger stuff that I don't want to keep.

Anyway, I don't believe I'm doing anything excessively hard to my tractor's drivetrain or chassis. Moreover, since I now have the machine down where I can custom fab stuff, I'm making up some guards for it to protect some of the areas that seem particular prone to damage.

Speaking of, I need to chase off to pick up sheet stock.

 

[Scooby074]

Share that popcorn??

 

[oldpilgrim]

Anyway, I don't believe I'm doing anything excessively hard to my tractor's drivetrain or chassis.

probably not, but it''s gonna look kinda funny after everything else is ripped off of it.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

probably not, but it''s gonna look kinda funny after everything else is ripped off of it.

I'm not going to bother making things look pretty until all of the clearing is done.

Test fitting the extended guard to protect the steering ram. The holes are for tacking button welds. The other side is a mirror of this one.

Test fitting one of the two new 16Ga skid plates that will protect all things underbelly from the engine oil pan to the transmission.

One thing I'm wondering about is what kind of primer Kioti uses. Seems to be real tough stuff.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I'm not a paint guy, but I am attempting to match the tough paint coating of the factory paint on all of the new bash guards I'm making. Recognizing Kioti's primer as something more than what i have on hand, I ordered in the tough filling kind of primer from Amazon.

Amazon.com: VHT SP304 Prime Coat Light Gray Sandable Primer Filler Can - 11 oz.: Automotive

My mum told me that the weather is supposed to cooperate with my tractor bash guard fabbing this week, a good thing since my garage and driveway are not heated and I live in Minnesota.

Sadly, my dealer is now trying to contact Kioti order guy's boss since my replacement parts have still not been ordered and my dealer's phone calls and emails acknowledged. If somebody is "on vacation," it seems like the Kioti mothership needs to make certain that dealers can still place weird orders.

FWIW, this is the only factory skid plate located under the fuel tank.