Reality check for this newbie. What do I really need? 15 acres, but no livestock.

[2LabsTX]

I just wanted to come back around to both thank everyone who took their time to respond with advice, as well as for anyone in the future in a similar situation.

Back in January I bought a new Kubota L4701 with a 6' shredder and a grapple. Long story short if you are in my position, buy the tractor. I had no idea how much fun and usage I'd get out of it. Example, just yesterday I cut down the nastiest/ugliest locust tree full of thorns that would be a ridiculous pain to (literally and figuratively) to cut up and haul off via trailer, etc. I cut it down, grabbed it with the tractor and carried it directly to the brush pile. All in about 15 minutes. Amazing.

Before, we were hand hauling trees we had cut into a pile. The ability to know just grab two or three trees at a time and just drive off...makes you feel super human.

So thanks again for the veterans here who took the time to offer some words of wisdom for this newbie. I'm now hooked.

 

[jjp8182]

I just wanted to come back around to both thank everyone who took their time to respond with advice, as well as for anyone in the future in a similar situation.

Back in January I bought a new Kubota L4701 with a 6' shredder and a grapple. Long story short if you are in my position, buy the tractor. I had no idea how much fun and usage I'd get out of it. Example, just yesterday I cut down the nastiest/ugliest locust tree full of thorns that would be a ridiculous pain to (literally and figuratively) to cut up and haul off via trailer, etc. I cut it down, grabbed it with the tractor and carried it directly to the brush pile. All in about 15 minutes. Amazing.

Before, we were hand hauling trees we had cut into a pile. The ability to know just grab two or three trees at a time and just drive off...makes you feel super human.

So thanks again for the veterans here who took the time to offer some words of wisdom for this newbie. I'm now hooked.

Congrats on the new machine. Completely understand the feeling -- as I still get the mental image of a dog happily carrying off a cartoonishly oversized bone/chew toy every time I haul off a tree/limb where it's ends are sticking 10-15+ feet out each side of the grapple.

 

[2LabsTX]

Congrats on the new machine. Completely understand the feeling -- as I still get the mental image of a dog happily carrying off a cartoonishly oversized bone/chew toy every time I haul off a tree/limb where it's ends are sticking 10-15+ feet out each side of the grapple.

You know it's funny, my first real tractor moment was something similar. I had been hand clearing a bunch of cedar and junk underneath some gorgeous 150 year old post oaks. I didn't want to crush the roots so even with the tractor, I was just hand clearing. It was a little uphill so man-handling these things was giving me quite the workout. I got them as far as I could without needlessly cutting them into smaller pieces. So I got a chain and drug them out of the drip zone, which made me smile. But then I turned around and picked all of them up with the grapple like I had just picked up a coffee cup. Contrast this with weeks of physically pulling these cedars up hill to a temporary brush pile, I literally yelled out "*&^% YEAH!!" when I lifted them up. Good thing I was alone.

 

[jjp8182]

You know it's funny, my first real tractor moment was something similar. I had been hand clearing a bunch of cedar and junk underneath some gorgeous 150 year old post oaks. I didn't want to crush the roots so even with the tractor, I was just hand clearing. It was a little uphill so man-handling these things was giving me quite the workout. I got them as far as I could without needlessly cutting them into smaller pieces. So I got a chain and drug them out of the drip zone, which made me smile. But then I turned around and picked all of them up with the grapple like I had just picked up a coffee cup. Contrast this with weeks of physically pulling these cedars up hill to a temporary brush pile, I literally yelled out "*&^% YEAH!!" when I lifted them up. Good thing I was alone.

Good stuff ...thing you're going to want to watch for is the first time you manage to lift the rear instead of the load. Not something that's fun or desirable to do, but it can happen unless you've got the rear ballasted to the point the hydraulic system is the weak link -- and finding or always staying at that ballast point isn't always the easiest thing to do.

Best things I've found to do when working with even potentially marginal ballast is to to keep you're hand close to the loader controls so you can quickly drop the loader (if/when needed) and to keep the driving speed down (especially when turning).

Keeping operations slow and smooth helps prevent a lot of potential mishaps (with "slow" being a relative term in this context).

 

[2LabsTX]

Thats good info. You know, that does bring up one question I did have. How do I know when I am approaching the max my FEL can lift? When hauling that huge black locust yesterday, as I was lifting it up I could feel my rear tires starting to become light on their feet. I did have my rear tires filled, and I had my 6'ft shredder on as a counter balance. Do I just "feel it" when my FEL is struggling, or do I risk collapsing it if I overload it?

I have watched lots of safety videos and tips/tricks. I'm still learning and trying to be as careful as I can.

 

[mcfarmall]

You aren't going to "collapse" your loader if you overload it. Here IS what will happen...you'll either lift the rear end of the tractor off the ground or the loader simply will not move due to the hydraulic fluid passing over the internal relief valve.

 

[2LabsTX]

You aren't going to "collapse" your loader if you overload it. Here IS what will happen...you'll either lift the rear end of the tractor off the ground or the loader simply will not move due to the hydraulic fluid passing over the internal relief valve.

Excellent, thank you for this!

 

[3Ts]

When your rear tires start to get light, you are a little over what you should be lifting and need to stop and re-assess the situation. You may be able to continue, or you may not, what you are lifting may be well under the stated weight limit of the loader but that's not the only consideration. Ballast and whether your tires are loaded (part of that ballast), and the geometry of everything all fit into how much you can lift. If any of your wheels are in the air - how are you going to control your tractor?

As an example, my tractor has a load rating of 3000# for the FEL, however I also have a boom that I can attach to it and reach up into the air about 20 feet. I've calculated the torque and the weight limit on that boom is less than 200# at that distance. (Geometry is the limiting factor).

 

[2LabsTX]

When your rear tires start to get light, you are a little over what you should be lifting and need to stop and re-assess the situation. You may be able to continue, or you may not, what you are lifting may be well under the stated weight limit of the loader but that's not the only consideration. Ballast and whether your tires are loaded (part of that ballast), and the geometry of everything all fit into how much you can lift. If any of your wheels are in the air - how are you going to control your tractor?

As an example, my tractor has a load rating of 3000# for the FEL, however I also have a boom that I can attach to it and reach up into the air about 20 feet. I've calculated the torque and the weight limit on that boom is less than 200# at that distance. (Geometry is the limiting factor).

Right. Yesterday with that big locust tree, when I grabbed it more in the center with the CG more evenly distributed and tried to pick it up, I could feel my rear tires coming up and the FEL struggling. I knew that was too much. So I then re-positioned myself and grabbed it more at the rear base with the tree facing away, and got it enough off the ground to minimize the drag of the branches and I backed it up to the brunch pile. The entire time I felt stable and hand on the control to lower it quickly if I felt it becoming unstable.

Now, I just have to deal with the thorns that broke off and scattered. Sigh.

 

[jjp8182]

Right. Yesterday with that big locust tree, when I grabbed it more in the center with the CG more evenly distributed and tried to pick it up, I could feel my rear tires coming up and the FEL struggling. I knew that was too much. So I then re-positioned myself and grabbed it more at the rear base with the tree facing away, and got it enough off the ground to minimize the drag of the branches and I backed it up to the brunch pile. The entire time I felt stable and hand on the control to lower it quickly if I felt it becoming unstable.

Now, I just have to deal with the thorns that broke off and scattered. Sigh.

As everyone else said, and it sounds like you've already started to gain the experiences, so I've got nothing more on that.

However, depending on the size of the material that broke off (i.e. if it's long enough to get caught by the grapple tines) the grapple can be used like a giant (impromptu) rake without doing ground damage by skimming just across the top of the ground (tine tips just fractions of an inch above the ground). Doing so can also permit you to turn without putting a side load on loader arms (just need to make sure you're not going to catch the ground while turning).

It's a great way to clean up an area enough that even a residential mower could/should be able to handle mowing over what's left - or at least most of it. Which is part of how/why I tend to leave most clean up until the end -- unless something starts becoming an obstacle/nuisance.

Just my thoughts though.