Newbie Introduction

[bevhoward]

I've had an XJ2025h bought new several years ago and just found this forum. The 2025 has been a fantastic tool for our central texas 2.75 acre lot.

The tractor's purchase was forced by the need to replace (maintain!) our septic field under current Texas septic law and that essentially paid for the tractor and backhoe.

The LS has also evolved into physical therapy which has gone a long way to help me recover from chemotherapy and, more recently, a heart valve replacement... makes exercising fun.

In addition to the backhoe and front loader, I had a Woodmaxx WM-8M chipper for two years chipping as we cleared the fire fuel from the lot (mostly cedar) then sold that chipper (it was too big for me to handle alone) and replaced it with a Woodmaxx TM-86H which does not have quite the capacity but is easier to operate and manhandle.

The Woodmaxx's are great chippers with a few (fixable) bugs that I will post details of if there is any interest. While the 8M is rated at 8" the 2025's limited horsepower proved that the max cedar diameter it would handle was 6" The 86H is less, but with the hydraulic feed control, it will take 6" cedar but it's necessary to pause the feed to recover from bogging down.

Also have a shredder, quick hitch and subsoiler. (note, the hitch is not the same hitch that the board auto created a link to)

Re the "fire fuel" problem the 2011 Bastrop fires got my attention and was a strong motivation for clearing our lot which was densely populated with mostly cedar.

While I hope I never have to use it, one related (fun) project has been
Tractor PTO Spot Fire Pumper - YouTube

Glad to find this forum... looking forward to using it.

Beverly Howard ...don't let the name fool you ;-)

 

[Thomas]

:welcome: to TBN Beverly...enjoy.

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum. We are glad that you found us and joined.

Sorry to hear about you health problems but yes, tractors are such great toys.

 

[ThirdMan]

In addition to the backhoe and front loader, I had a Woodmaxx WM-8M chipper for two years chipping as we cleared the fire fuel from the lot (mostly cedar) then sold that chipper (it was too big for me to handle alone) and replaced it with a Woodmaxx TM-86H which does not have quite the capacity but is easier to operate and manhandle.

Sounds like you are getting lots of use out of a tractor as a multi-purpose tool. I am curious about your comparison of the WM-8M and the TM-86H. I was under the impression that the tractor PTO power was the biggest factor on how much capacity these two chippers would have. How is the TM-86H less capable?

 

[bevhoward]

How is the TM-86H less capable?

Power _is_ the main factor, but, remember that the 2025 is under powered for both of these chippers.

The 8M has a 200 pound flywheel vs 120 pound for the 86H. In addition, the 8M has a belt reduction system, where the 86H is direct drive, so, heavy stock is going to have an impact on the ability of the 2025's motor to "keep going" with the 86H where it simply bogs for a short period on the 8M and the motor can throttle up and recover and did so for many 6" cedar trunks. As others have noted, this is not a major factor if you have a fireplace since most wood over 5" is going to be cut for firewood.

This point also underscores the value of hydraulic feed even though it adds several hundred dollars to the price. The ability to control the feed speed is nice, but more important is the ability to easily stop and reverse the feed which is not possible on the manual feed.

Related, I had several instances where the _feed roller_ jammed on the 8M and it took me several instances to understand that when the mechanical feed roller jams, the forces on the feed disconnect are so high that the lever on the disconnect box will bend and not disconnect when the "Stop Feed" bail is pulled.

The immediate result is that the feed belt starts smoking, and the only way to stop things is is to use the pto switch. Worse, after one of these events the "Stop Feed" bail is then non functional until the bent lever is corrected... and it's easy to miss the fact that it's non functional.

Hope this clarifies,
Beverly

 

[ThirdMan]

Thanks for the writeup! That does clarify. I forgot to say it before, but welcome to TBN!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Welcome to the forum. A lot of useful information here. I pretty much have an addiction to reading all the new posts in all of the forums daily. My wife loves when I read some of the posts in the "rural living" forum. I just saw that LS was expanding the plant in NC. I think they will eventually make a big name for themselves, I can't say anything bad about them as of yet.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

 

[alexsbuddy]

Welcome to the group! Lots of great people here always willing to share and help!

 

[DaveNJ]

Welcome! I have the XJ2025H also and am well pleased with it.