Small tractors doing big work.

[MossRoad]

Many of us need to make do with what we can afford. I certainly do not need a large tractor to maintain my 20 acre little slice of heaven. 250 yard driveway, 100 yard shooting range, putting up firewood, and a couple of feed plots.

Living in the country, there are enough people with big machines that I can call on for really big jobs that happen once a year...if that. And being retired I have more time than money. When only doing 50 hours a year on the tractor it is actually fun to work with one.

Not all of us make a living sitting on one.

I agree. When we bought our 20 acres about 9 miles from our home, we bought a large, used IH2500b tractor loader. 8000# machine. Used it to carve out a couple large jobs, remove a few large trees, and brush hog between tree plantation rows for several years until the trees got too large to fit between. We then bought our current Power Trac PT425 that's only 42" wide. 48" brush cutter, a couple different sized buckets, pallet forks, 60" finish mower, 60" power angle snow blade. It's perfect for maintaining the 2+ miles of walking trails 6' wide, a nice 200 yard shooting lane, hauling our firewood out of the woods, cutting a few meadows, mowing our home lawn, maintaining a Little League park with 4 diamonds (until our kids grew up), the wife's church/school diamond, etc... it does things the big machine couldn't do because the big machine was, well, too big. It couldn't fit down the rows of trees. It had to have 8' clearance due to the cab. It couldn't do the side slopes and tight turns on the trails. Good gravy, you'd never want to drive it across a lawn. And it couldn't fit in the back of my pickup truck with an attachment, so it wasn't easily transportable. I had to hire a rollback truck to move it if needed. Now we have a car hauler trailer, so I can take the machine, and all of our attachments to a job site and it's like an entire toolbox. The little machine is perfect for our needs, whereas anything much larger would be a hinderance. :thumbsup:

 

[buickanddeere]

what chain adjuster is that? You guys got a big tick problem there?

The problems are with the little ticks

 

[buickanddeere]

I'm not sure where people decided this post was about abusing small tractors. Its about using them within their limits, just taking longer to do bigger jobs. Instead of using a larger faster tractor with multiple plows to make one pass, use the smaller ones to accomplish the same task taking single passes. Its about using the attachments safely and within the limits of the tractors but getting the job done maybe slower. Its more and more the internet safety police are coming in to save the day, yet no one said abuse the rigs to get things done. I just don't get it. Here are a number of links especially the B1620 video showing what you can accomplish with these little rigs. Maybe you don't need the massive big tractor, just take your time to get things done.

Don't see abuse in these videos, but their getting things done with the little rigs.


Kubota B162 - YouTube

Kubota B6 Potato Harvest - YouTube
Mahindra Plowing the Garden - YouTube
kubota plowing the garden - YouTube
Girls Love Tractors! - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15vu18gvm6E&index=11&list=PLdxwoRpzsO5K8LXIfkp8UVKWHnmMPU1es&t=0s

YouTube is loaded with brainless individuals with a small tractor pulling tree stumps out . The operator backs up to the tree stump with about 20feet of slack in the chain . The operator now takes a flying run at top speed and takes up the slack with a jolt .
Worst I have seen to date was some 400lb slob on a Deere 1 Series . I expected to see the drawbar bolts pull out of the transmission case .

 

[VroomVroom]

YouTube is loaded with brainless individuals with a small tractor pulling tree stumps out . The operator backs up to the tree stump with about 20feet of slack in the chain . The operator now takes a flying run at top speed and takes up the slack with a jolt .
Worst I have seen to date was some 400lb slob on a Deere 1 Series . I expected to see the drawbar bolts pull out of the transmission case .

Well no doubt I’ve seen some of those. I watched one on one occasion with a really nice restored 8 or 9N backing up to a 6 inch tree and throttle full ahead trying to pull it out. Or another fellow on if I remember right, a new modern kioti or kubota, maybe in the 25 or 30 hp range push down small trees down breaking them up getting the 18 inch stumps caught up underneath the front as he was backing up. Obviously they have not owned much equipment before and if they did they must be good mechanics as they would have been steady fixing things after they broke them. I think some of these people have never owned equipment and when the word “tractor” is said, they think battle tank and indestructible? Even if It appears obvious to most others that the pins, castings, steel, design of the piece of machinery can’t handle repeatedly what their doing to it.

That’s not small tractors doing big work. That’s just small tractors getting abused and destroyed.

 

[VroomVroom]

I made the example by posting the above videos. None of those little machines were being abused. But we’re doing functions with attachments that were design for them at a slow steady pace to get a lot of work done if your willing to sit in the seat drinking your coffee at 1 mile an hour , putting the time in until it gets done. Or the old farmers of yesterday who made due with their cubs to handle the farm for 50 years. This is what I like to see

 

[donaldj]

I'm not sure where people decided this post was about abusing small tractors. Its about using them within their limits, just taking longer to do bigger jobs.

I'm finding a lot of that on this forum lately. Seems like a bunch of grumpy farts bashing things being done and how they're being done.

I'm glad you mentioned "abuse" and "limits". I used to autocross a sports car. We rarely understand the limits of the machines we own, and pushing a machine closer to its limits is NOT abuse like going past its limits are. Sure, you might decrease longevity a bit, and sure things might need repairing, but we buy these machines to work, and sometimes a job comes along that is big and we make it work with what we have rather than go out and rent a bigger machine that would make it easier. That's life.

It's easy for others to sit and gripe about something not being handled according to one's preferences and optimized their way.
From their computer chair.
That their dead butts are plopped in.
Behind their keyboard.
While you're out there working.

 

[HEC]

I was able to take out this nice pine with a 30 hp L3010. It took a little at a time but we got it done. Here are some pieces of it.

View attachment 562070

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View attachment 562072

gg

That will make some mighty fine lumber

 

[VroomVroom]

I can’t stsnd looking at gordons winch pics because I want one. If I could only win the lottery everything would be ok

 

[Reb954]

I'm finding a lot of that on this forum lately. Seems like a bunch of grumpy farts bashing things being done and how they're being done.

I'm glad you mentioned "abuse" and "limits". I used to autocross a sports car. We rarely understand the limits of the machines we own, and pushing a machine closer to its limits is NOT abuse like going past its limits are. Sure, you might decrease longevity a bit, and sure things might need repairing, but we buy these machines to work, and sometimes a job comes along that is big and we make it work with what we have rather than go out and rent a bigger machine that would make it easier. That's life.

It's easy for others to sit and gripe about something not being handled according to one's preferences and optimized their way.
From their computer chair.
That their dead butts are plopped in.
Behind their keyboard.
While you're out there working.

They are referred to as "Keyboard Commandos".:2cents: Some of the comments I read on the internet make me wonder if that person would say the same thing, in the same way if it were a face to face discussion.

 

[VroomVroom]

I was able to take out this nice pine with a 30 hp L3010. It took a little at a time but we got it done. Here are some pieces of it.

View attachment 562070

View attachment 562071

View attachment 562072

gg

How did you get them up in the truck. Those winches are pretty useful.