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After several more hours of pad construction than I initially expected, it was finally time to start the "foundation". My somewhat wacky plan was a sandwich of: treated lumber, two rows of block, and another treated lumber cap to have the shed poles sit atop and mount to. One issue: it was too...

Still not enough fill dirt added, and then it rained a LOT and souped it all up. Almost got wet enough to make me give up on the project. But I didn't. Finally I had enough loads of soil added to begin shaping things up and make it how I wanted it. One major drawback of these tent...

I have a lot of equipment that just sits outside, and I hate it. Watching tractor implements and trailers sink into the soil, get blasted by rain and snow, go through repeated freeze/thaw cycles, and get UV damage in sunny areas, or grow mildew in the shady areas. Or frozen to the ground when...

That is indeed a smart tip about larger gravel! Although I suppose after milling just a few logs, you'll have sawdust and bark bits covering the ground everywhere anyway. Is that area flat? Looks sloped away towards the cliff, but photos are deceiving. Any plans for a roof structure over the...

Whoa, thanks to scootr for the amazon link, .... I think. I had no idea that a fully manufactured aerial work platform could be so cheap. $130, shipped? Thats almost scary cheap...

I always chuckle at the sight of a normal-ish pickup hauling 4 cars, too. Of course a lot of the time the truck is actually a F450 or Ram 5500. As far as backhoes, well thats not really a hot-shot type of load, is it. It's a local transport, and it makes sense that you might also need a dump...

Well Merry Christmas to you! I would have trouble sleeping if a sawmill was about to arrive to my property. So much logistics in play. Take your time and set it up right. Can't wait for the pics!

Fair point. When I first got my land, I did a fair amount of bush-pulling using a brush-grubber off a long chain, in hilly areas myself. It's a two man-job if you don't want to constantly get on/off the tractor/ATV, but it can go pretty quick as well.

Crap, I also regret opening and reading through this thread. I just turned 40. My house is done and easy to live in, but I have a lot of desires to add sheds, outbuildings, a sauna, etc. around the property. The idea of having my own mill to make these structures (and other fun woodworking...

Wait, you guys are burning, and/or cutting up autumn olive? No offense but that sounds like a huge waste of time. The rootballs are super weak. Just bulldoze it with your front loader! Get the whole thing out of the ground, push smash it all into a pile somewhere, and it dies quickly. I...

I'm no solar-physicist, but I don't think building a pavilion roof over your solar panels is going to give the best energy production. Kidding. Good plan for the step and drainage - give the water a place to go. I forget, do you have or plan to have gutters?

Truly shocking. So, you can't possibly considering buying a 40 HP economy-line tractor for 70k, right? Right?!? Cab & backhoe or not, that is insane. Edit: Did not see the Canada location before posting. Still, 70k CAN = 52k USD.

Eh, maybe a little. It runs really quiet now, for sure. But I don't remember the machine being "loud" on the OE fluids either.

My town. :) Kid stole the machine right from behind my mother-in-law's house. He went at least a dozen miles before quitting! Ok, so he bumped into ~10 cars, but for a 12-year old piloting a 35k lb machine, thats pretty good work overall...

Thats why i said "across the midwest" - we don't have that problem. And also, like I said, who cares if some of the skirt boards underground rot away slowly. The slab inside the building still meets up with the portion of skirt boards that are above grade. And if you're smart, you pour a...

Sounds like you would be pretty disappointed in a majority of pole barns here across the midwest then. Putting the skirt or band boards right into the ground is how it's done. Mine were done with full ground-contact rated, tongue and groove 2x6s. Three courses of them, two are below grade...

Just pop in some generic 1/4-20 threaded nut-serts, and let joe schmoe figure it out themselves? I would be making a custom chainsaw scabbard, for example. Just swing by a few major tractor dealerships for quick measurements, they wont even notice. Or fine, pass up on the lucrative side...

I know, I meant if you took some measurements of various popular models. Kubota's LA525, Kioti 4030, etc.

Pretty sure people (like me) would gladly pay you $25 or 30 for one of those, if you could make them to fit the most popular tractor/loader models.

Most of the time when I see it, the first course of block is put in atop compacted base, then you toss a drain tile with sock on it behind the block, cover with gravel and call it good. I dont think you would want the drain pipe within the fully hard compacted base, as this will inhibit...

I have a similar dilemma, as I want to fabricate a chainsaw mount to affix on my loader support frame. Was planning to drill a couple 1/4-20 holes and tap, as I really cant imagine the support frame is at a critical safety factor in this region.

You got issues. Sorry to say but a full rebuild is probably in order again. No thermostat? get the F$%^ out of here with that nonsense. I see a lot of old school thinking about "seating the rings". Mostly a wives tail here in 2023. The only thing a poor break-in will do is lead to gradual...

I know, I looked it up and had it in my own post. When I first typed that, I was picturing a tracked crawler loader or a forestry forwarder type machine, not a basic skid steer. (I didn't read the initial post well enough).

A track loader? How long are it's tracks? You said the bridge was 12' long. Is that the span underneath, or the top deck length? The free span is what we need to focus on. I bet the tracks on the machine are as long as you bridge. In which case less than half the weight of the machine will...

Mine did once too. I figure they probably had the new guy stay busy one day by piling everything into one trash pile. Trouble is, I had already pulled out all the lumber I wanted to keep, and sorted it out in another pile. Had to do it again before they could burn anything. Fair point. I...

Those are some substantial pieces of lumber?!? Can't quite understand that. I saved every scrap over 2' long in my smaller house build. 5 years later and pretty much all of it had found uses in new projects. You burned up hundreds of dollars of wood, lol. I burned my scrap pile last Friday...

wow. she's a beaut, clark. What does it weigh with that bar and chain? I ran a couple fuel tanks through my trusty MS310 last weekend for the first time in nearly a year, started up quick and ran perfect. My arms we sore in weird ways the next couple days. :)

Already sheetrocked and it's wobbly? Darn. I would try toe-screwing some structural scres from the studs (stud finder them) into the base plate. If those short studs are only nailed from below, its probably the joint that is flexing, not the base plate on the floor?

I agree that gutters wont stop snow from sliding. They may only delay it slightly. You can absolutely pull snow off gravel. My entire driveway and garage approach is gravel also. Just keep your blade an inch above ground if you need to.

Lol no, 12/12 pitch means 12 inch rise for 12 inch run, IE perfect 45°. Steep, yes.

Thanks for the comments and input. I do have a seatbelt for my daughter on the jump-seat, a repurposed dog leash that she can buckle and unbuckle herself. It goes from the drivers seat mount to the fender grab handle, pretty stout. I do still hold her chest with my left arm whenever we're...

Interesting. I wonder if the species of ash is different than mine, or maybe they are just much bigger trees? All my ash were long dead before I bought my land in 2012. Some of them are still standing. I'm talking 15-20" diameter trees. The smaller ones fall down much quicker. I usually...

No way! Ash makes terrific firewood, don't just burn it up for no reason. Furthermore, You don't have to do anything any time soon, as long as the sight of dead trees doesn't offend you terribly. Ash tree trunks are very resilient, the trees will stand for 10+ years before falling over. In...

Good call. The way the camera so easily runs down the hill as the action is underway. And the preposterous loading of "boulders" up above the dump bed. It's not a real truck.

Yeah having door openers with precise stops is critical, for this reason. When my power is out and I have to decouple from the opener track and manually open/close, they do that too, not always consistent height. You make a good point. 1" clearance is pretty tight

I should update this to add that I did not, in fact, get furloughed for a week. Our CEO and corporate leadership team got cold feet and decided not to crush our team-wide morale, haha.

I went with 10' wide by 8' high doors on my pole barn garage with 10' sidewalls, for all the same reasons you mentioned (cost reduction, building looming too tall over the land, etc). No regrets here at all. My Kioti CK3510 with backhoe glides under the 8' tall doors with a few inches to...

^ yikes. These people just drive amongst us.

Your neighbor sells coal? How do you get it from the barn to the stove?

Wow, that is a good value. With 0% for 84 months, you could be just over $200/month payments (with a reasonable down payment) on this substantial tractor.

OMGZ you DriLLeD inTo yOUr ROPS, certain death ahead. Looks great. I sometimes wish I needed a canopy, so that I could fabricate something similar and have such an awesome spot for an LED bar and maybe a fan. But alas I live in the woods and have no fields to cut or farm.

It's very flimsy, but in a wind-protected spot so I don't worry much. The roof pitch is in the 2/12 - 3/12 range I think, BUT, the ribs on the steel panels go sideways - so snow never sheds. This is really dumb, but it's the cheapest way for them to make it. You can pay another 20-30% to get...

Wait for months for them to send you a visa card with $10 on it? Thats more trouble than it's worth, lol. But buying a full $5 gallons for just $50 at TSC was an awesome deal in the first place. My Kioti seems really happy with it in the hydraulic system.

This is more or less my own process as well. (very odd to see you stacking the split wood on end, though! haha) - Bring logs out of the forest (I usually cut to 8-10' long and carry the logs sideways in my grapple, no skidding through dirt) to a pile near the splitter, cut to lengths, split...

Thats what I was getting at. Why is the CK overkill, really? Just a gut feel on your part? If you go to lift one of your boulders and the CX can't do it, was it undersized? (yes). So yeah, the CK2610 is larger. Do you have specific space/storage/width concerns? Would the front snowblower...

What are your tractor uses? How much do you need to lift with the front loader?

THat looks tiny. Just whack it with your BX25 front loader, it'll fall off.

Wait, the DK "SE" tractors don't come with those features? And if you are buying new from a dealership, wouldn't you want them to install them for you?

Oh my. Thank you for sharing. I hope you can continue to heal, find therapies that soothe you, and still enjoy the dream of living on your slice of god's country. Hopefully you can afford to hire out any dangerous work now? I feel fortunate to have gotten through my land clearing, home-build...

One more thought: the nuts having low thread engagement on the carriage bolts on your posts also seems like no big deal to me. The weight is being carried by the bolt, and the nut is really just there to hold the truss-carriers tight to the post and keep the bolts from ever backing out. If you...

I don't understand why many of you guys are freaking out about the presence of mending plates in an engineered attic-room truss. That is how every single truss is made, the pieces of 2-by are only coupled together with plates on each side of every joint. Of course the plates are all in the...

I'm partial to 5w40 full synthetic diesel oils, but have been known to use a 10w30 when I can get it for free (leftover barrels from work, haha).

Nice, looking forward to seeing your pad poured. Do you have a before pic of the screw piles? I picture them a lot like a post hole auger, sorta? And then you screw them into the earth until a pre-set torque is reached, which indicates proper foundational strength? Is the torque setting...

For once ?!? Just because I tend to argue for gasoline over diesel in casual pickup truck use? lol. Yeah the UAW's initial ask was so audacious, that they now seem to have no choice but to settle for about half. Which is a crazy good raise and increase in benefits! General public here in...

Don't worry about the roof trusses - they were surely engineered and made by a reputable truss company. If there is an attic room, it is surely made to hold some weight. My 30' wide attic-room trusses have a 2x10 bottom chord to span a 15' wide room. Yours similar? But yeah it sounds like...

Welp, the strike continues and the S&!t has started to roll downhill. Mandatory one-week furloughs at my employer (tier 1/2 supplier) due to our lost revenue so far. UAW needs to climb down off the high horse and get closer to a deal. ASAP.

ANyone suggesting an expensive snowblower is completely missing the point here. OP said "3 events of 3-12" each". So barely anything. Just get a used rear blade and scrape it off. If it's a 10+" snow, get out there half way through it and stay ahead of it. Done.

Ah, it must be fall! Snowplow discussions are taking off again here. Love it. OP, I think you will be fine with either a front OR a rear blade. For 3 snow events per year? Don't sweat it. And if it is below freezing before the snow flies (not guaranteed, obviously) you should be able to...

sweet.

Oof, tough one. Sorry to hear about this. So it sounds like you do not contest the possibility that you did drive the tractor with no coolant in the radiator and block? It's hard to accept your assurances that the coolant temp gauge never spiked, because people really just don't watch those...

So wait... did you get the 35 or the 40? You didn't tell us it was for a cab model! I would have likely said get the extra 5 HP for the weight of the cab and to run the A/C.

Yikes. Diesel runaways are no joke, very scary and dangerous if the engine starts grenading and throwing parts out the side of the block. Did you have to stop it by choking off the intake, or did it eventually run out of surplus oil and quit? If you ran at way overspeed for more than a few...

If there was an established turbo kit for the Kioti CK2610, I would have bought one of those instead and looked forward to modifying it! I want to hear a turbo spool when my tractor pushes into a pile. On my F150 (3.5L EcoBoost) I recently added a dual open filter intake so I could hear those...

Always love some proper turbo-p@rn. Nice welds.

Your posts are 6' on center ?!? (Or do you just mean in that cold storage section of wall.) 6x6 ground-contact posts? Or re-using those glue-lams from your current barn? I don't see if you mentioned whether you are building this yourself, or having a company/crew put it up for you. Do you...

I would say it's more like, Deere and Kubota purposefully make MORE profit by riding on their (deserved) reputation. The other guys know they have to stay efficient and accept lower margins, yes. They still don't want their tractors to break during warranty, obviously.

I bought my Kioti because it seemed the best selling, best built and best supported of the Korean makes. Hard to get to real data on sales volumes, though. The dealer network is pretty robust from what I can tell.

Agree with Eddie, go 10 or 12 feet on the lean-to if you can swing it. 8 is almost nothin.

Thanks for sharing the plan. I seriously reccommend you swap a few windows around. You can have a pair of 60x24s on the back (east) wall to match each other, and a pair of the 47x47 sliders on the south wall. I just think aesthetically, it will look sooo much better to have matching window...

Haha. I mean yes kinda trolling. But also kinda not. I know people with lots of money like to buy green and orange simply for peace of mind, and that's fine. But what is the equivalent tractor here to a TYM 4820 cab. An L4760 or MX5400? Both are nearly DOUBLE the price. 55 thousand...

Gotcha. But also - your own website still lists 925 lbs on the "specifications" page.

Whoa, a new 4820C for under 30 grand? Thats a s%^& load of tractor for the money. It is kinda weird that people keep buying Kubotas and Deeres when these alternatives exist.

Makes sense to me, actually. It's the exact same ECU module, why wouldn't it be. Presumably you have to buy one through a dealer; then they will flash the corresponding 35 or 40 HP tune onto it. We just need someone to uh, borrow a dealer flash-programming tool (probably just plugs into the...

congrats! great looking structure. You need a couple hundred yards of fill dirt still, lol.

Why's that, though? The length, width, weight, power, and loader capacity are pretty much all in the same class. Compare for yourself: https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/008/0/8/8085-kubota-l2501.html https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/011/1/9/11193-summit-tractors-tx25h.html...

Congrats on your machine, but thats a much smaller and less capable tractor than this summit TX25. It weighs twice as much as your lawn tractor, and the loader is far stronger as well. Plus double the rear 3-pt lift capacity, many more standard features, I could go on. Get a quote for a B2601...

Oh please, do enlighten us. I measure indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) to evaluate the performance of our powertrain components in a wide variety of internal combustion engines, maybe you want to learn about that? Of course fuel economy means MPG...

let's see a floor plan drawing of this new combo shop!

Ugh that's so awful. A beautiful child losing limbs, suffering from years-long rehab, adjustment and potentially life-long PTSD. All from a completely avoidable accident.

Lol, so smug. You obviously don't realize how complex the CAFE calculations are. Its a system to be gamed by the manufacturers. Edit: sorry, I don't need to be this rude. Having a monday here at work, haha. Here is the real world performance of mpg in the USA. Yes, it is ticking back up...

I said "20 years", not 60. But I should have more artfully articulated that actually, a major reason that overall american vehicle mpg is flat for decades now is because the vehicles themselves have gotten bigger and heavier, accounting for our consumer demand and safety requirements...

Eh, the efficiency part of your argument is debatable. Look at average vehicle mpg by year. Flat for 20 years now. There's no denying that emissions control has hampered internal combustion efficiency, especially for diesels. I still vote for the cleaner emissions and same efficiency...

Looks pretty dry there?

Sweet, that sucker is clean. Loader bucket has hardly been used! Regarding grapples. Everyone says the ETA wicked grapple is awesome, and I don't disagree. My 3510 came with one and I was loving it for brush and one log at a time. It is nice and light so you retain maximum loader capacity...

I pay attention, Snobdds. But have to admit it's pretty hard to stay interested and engaged in such a gloomy situation that I have no control over. So who owns this new debt we keep creating? Who are we paying interest to?

Quickly watering eyes is usually a sign that you body is trying to flush some toxins or contaminants, lol. Personally I am glad my tractor has a DPF so I can keep my garage cleaner. My '03 diesel VW Jetta could touch 58 mpg on the highway if you kept the speeds reasonable... miss that car.

Congrats! Post some pics.

I think your attic is bigger than my entire house.

You are way off. Through last year the F150 (3.5L ecoboost wih max tow) was rated to over 14,000 lbs conventional towing. No high-payload package required to get to that number, either, just max tow. And the same 6-bolt wheel pattern, no 7 bolt weirdness. For 2024 Ford (wisely?) dropped it...

Uphill would add an additional variable for sure. But the secret weapon I wasn't elaborating on was the transmissions. The new 10 speed shifts really fast and has a ratio for all conditions. I wouldn't want to tow 12,000 lbs through it every day though!

I really am! haha. My suburban buddies can barely mount a bike rack in a tow hitch. And yeah I paid 35,000 for my 2019 f150 with 52k miles on it last year. Hard to find any older diesels with lower miles like that, but when you do, they cost that much or more around here.

Will the insulation go in the lower rafters, or upper? IE will that be a conditioned space, or cold and vented?

wow. You should at least add some drop down attic stairs somehow, and make an evil-lair man cave up there or something. :)

Huh? Why did I make the wrong comparison. I was directly responding to hay dude who claims that a 2008 powerstroke is going to "beat the pants off" a new high horsepower F150. To which I am quite certain he is wrong, at least in a drag race. as long as you stay within the rated capability of...

Just for fun let's do a thought experiment here and stay within the rated towing specs just to be somewhat reasonable. Say, a 12,000 lb trailer behind both trucks: A 400 HP F150 (new 3.5L EcoBoost w/ 10-spd) and the 2008 F250. The F150 is going to win in a drag race, without a doubt. Fuel...

Because they are around the same price? Lol. My grocery pickup tows 11,000 with 1840 lbs payload and gets above 20 mpg daily. Only a tiny portion of folks tow loads like yours.

I'd jump on it. You're talking about several thousand dollars discount off new pricing, for an almost new machine. And you don't even have to baby it through a break-in

I wanted crew-cab long bed (6.5') so can only get the 5.0L V8 or 3.5L EcoBoost. Went ecoboost and no regrets so far. I've gotta full tanks of 20 mpg, but seen 22-23 mpg in casual cruising. The 2.7L is now the base engine for 2024 F150s and has a pretty stellar track record. High power, high mpg.

Ok so a mid-PTO and nothing to use it with... yet! Good luck on finding a front PTO solution. So to be clear, there is no plan to make and sell your own mid-mower deck ?

The UAW demand was actually 20% immediately, and 5% after that for next 4 years. For a 46% total raise in the contract. Oh and working 32 hours instead of 40 to earn this raise. I sympathize with some of the newer, low tier workers making under $20/hr for hard work on the line. But there are...

Kinda funny to complain about deluxe standard features as if they are a problem, haha. I'm sure the mirrors are easily removable, but most of us with mirrors do just fine at not destroying them. And I do actually agree about the self leveling loader, completely unnecessary in this machine size...

Their website lists the TX25 tractor as $19,499 including the LX85 loader (1100 lift to max height!). At that price they are a solid 25-30% cheaper than a Deere or Kubota (which both have much weaker front loaders on paper), and includes many more standard features, too. Question for those...

A big huge beam just to hide it inside the roof assembly!?!? That is killing me, lol. That is a crazy expensive attic, haha. Congrats on the progress!

I just typed out way too long a response to this, and then lost it. New engines are almost all "turbo or high compression". Almost every new engine platform will adjust performance based on fuel quality (via knock sensor readings). Like your oldest said, not tuned for it, no point. My main...

Nice. You had that much room between the air filter canister and radiator already? Hey it looks like most of your pics did not load, FYI. More pics!!

Ouch. But at only a 7% surcharge for premium, that choice becomes easier. Most people can see 5-10% mpg improvement on premium, plus your engine just runs nicer overall. Unless you drive a turd that doesn't care, of course.

I'm a huge zip fan. But if you build a super tight house (as you should), you also need to provide a means for fresh air ventilation, like an HRV or ERV - which most people still don't seem committed to doing. As a result I am a little wary of recommending everyone to build a super tight...

Thats a lot of tongue weight. That's a pretty big toy hauler to still be a bumper tow, and not 5th wheel!

My local dealer also does both Kioti and LS. And they push the LS machines so hard it makes me suspicious. I was set on my Kioti CK3510 and found one used instead. For the uses you have in mind, I doubt you will notice the loader capacity difference - they will both work great. How is...

I'm with you here mostly. I just did the major service (full fluids and filters) on my Kioti and you can be DARNED sure that I power washed the whole tractor, air sprayed and rag cleaned all the service areas before risking any crud getting into my motor or hydraulic system. And having dirt...

Pea gravel? You are using the wrong kind of stone. Just get properly crushed gravel and it will lock itself into place.

Right you are "75% Akbash %25 Anatolian"

oof, thats cute. What is the breed besides your statement of "livestock guardian" ? Looks labrador-ish

Any other 3-pt attachments you could put on for ballast? Pretty important when lifting heavy. Too bad you have to change your user name to "northern wisconsin Dave" now. Farewell to MI eh

Oh duh. haha. Yes, separate the two pieces then. Make it lighter however you need to. Still curious about your lifting setup (forks/ballast)

Empty out the tool box. Like winterDeere said. You dont want to take a chance on all your tools getting spilled/jostled/lost anyway. Do you have SSQA on your XJ2025? And pallet forks? Proper rear ballast? You already have the means to do this properly, if so.

Just put it in used 5-quart oil jugs and don't tell them its not motor oil. It recycles just fine, they just need to have a policy like that so that people don't bring them too much random stuff.

^ that seems like a pretty good method. My gravel driveway areas closer to the house have been turning quite green with grass and weeds. I tend to just mow them as needed, and the gravel is holding up well otherwise. It's a rustic look for sure. In my main 1000' lane out to the road, I can...

Thanks for the response. Great work so far and congrats on getting everything goin!

Oh man. I know I'm way too late to be helpful now, but I'm curious why you chose to chainsaw and then stump-grind, instead of using that excavator to simply fell the trees, stump and all? For any tree under a foot, its quite easy to just dig out the stump and push the whole tree over in a...

Looks steep enough for me! Of course with the extra pucker factor of slippery/mushy conditions right near the water line and high penalty for a driving failure!

Haha, right on man. Same for my wife and I. But it's gotten worse since our own urgency wore off, the house is "done" and she doesn't really do the "toil" thing anymore - but still has opinions and criticisms lol

Congrats, standing seam is the bomb. Black! A black metal roof? Hope you like it hot! That sucker is gonna ping and pop every morning and evening in the summer as it expands and cools back down. (Even my light grey metal roof that faces away from the sun does)

My fleet is smaller than it used to be. Currently getting: 2019 F150 3.5L - ~20 mpg combined 2018 Mazda CX-9 - ~25 mpg combined

Dude, you must be an extreeeeme hypermiler if we are to accept a 40mpg avg figure, on a gas hog focus RS. Your compatriots are averaging around half that! Nice work! (or check your calculations, lol).

Good question. Those 3-dial combo locks are rated for at least 20k lbs, right? All this setup just to lower the hitch height by a few inches? It's befuddling.

Stolen from facebook. Maybe a repost, sorry. How many issues can you spot? Several, at least.

Awesome! Really great to see you putting it to work right away with some proper jobs. Thanks for updating us.

Yeah my 3510 SE also has the electric clutch PTO and thus you can't ever rotate it manually. So I do have to give my brush hog a twist back and forth to get aligned sometimes. Make sure there is grease on both sides.

My 2019 1/2 ton has bigger and stronger brakes than my 2003 2500HD did. Plus you really don't need any more pickup braking power when your trailer's brakes are properly functioning and controlled. Which my 1/2 ton also does way better then my 3/4 ton ever did. The lines are blurry now, IMO.

I'm still confused why a dog would crap on gravel. What a terrible place to leave yer doo doo. My dog (lab/pit mix) seeks out clumps of grass or woodchips and then does the instinctual hind leg "bury it" move which accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Anyone who does this is a real piece of %^&. Diesel exhaust particulate matter is a known and proven carcinogen. Intentionally defeating your emissions control just to blast it into someone's face is evil. Coal rollers should go straight to jail. Sorry, rant over, let's not derail Mule's...

Beautiful truck! Love that color. Interesting to see tow rating that low on a '19 with the 6.7L scorpion diesel. You could get an F150 3.5L EcoBoost over 14k towing and ~2600 lbs payload back in 2019 (max payload, max tow packages). I think you still can now, but only on the base trim, for...

I went the other way, 3/4 ton back to 1/2 ton. So far so good, but I don't haul too heavy these days. When I bought my '03 2500HD from the original owner, he was searching for mpg improvements and had 80 psi (max sidewall) in the tires. About ruptured my spleen just to drive it home...

I gave the buddy seat a proper test last night and put my own 185 lbs on it. Didn't creak, crack or budge a bit. Still noodling on the seat belt materials.

Thanks and this The cub cadet 7305 in my profile is also a diesel. A pre-emissions Mitsubishi diesel that is honestly very loud. It's not my neighbors tractor, and not my problem, haha. My Kioti is not especially loud if I keep rpm's under ~2200. Unfortunately to drive uphill in high range...

Congratulations, and welcome to TBN. Was that... supposed to be a question?

Yes, BUT, these plans and actions from the OEMs are stemming from state and federal EV transition mandates that are based upon aspirations of politicians - not actual science or study of what is feasible. In order for there to be 17 million EVs made and sold each year (USA vehicle consumption)...

You're certainly right about that. Thus I won't be using this seat for any kiddos until I add: seatbelt, side rope/net, and a handle or two. Falling off the tractor is not allowed!

I'm curious how many folks out there have fabricated a buddy seat for their CUT before. I know most of our tractors aren't really big enough to find space for this without blocking a lot of controls or compromising ergonomics pretty badly. My daughter just turned 4 and she loves to ride on the...

While the tractor is still fully clean and in the garage, I couldn't resist starting on another pet project last night. If you have an SE model like me, then you probably know that there is really not much going on to the left of the driver's seat. No clutch pedal, no gear shifter. Just the...

Yeah same. I listen to engines a lot at work so my ear is pretty tuned in. When the combustion changes for late post-injection to regen the DPF I always briefly freak out and think the worst. The dashboard light delay is a bit cruel, haha.

Nice. Oh I forgot to share this image of the hydro drain plug magnet. I presume this is.... fairly normal, but it's always a bit unsettling to see. From the "25.7 hrs" label on the hydro filters, I guess they did an early filter change, but I have no idea if this was the original hydro fluid...

Hopefully good until ~500 hours now on the major services. I'll probably still try to change the engine oil every year or 100 hours, but honestly it drained out looking almost like new still.

Tractor is still working perfectly. DPF regen frequency is still very reasonable, I think I have done 3x now in getting from 103 hours when purchased to 239 as of right now. It's probably almost time for another. I did finally get the woods brush bull rotary mower going, that also came in my...

Not sure exactly what you mean by thermal barrier. But my roof has the 5/8" zip, fully taped of course, plus 1" polyiso insulation, also fully seam taped, then another 3/8" OSB layer atop that for better support and fastening of the standing-seam roofing. (it was a pricey roof assembly, no...

Go with zip sheathing for walls and roof if you still have the choice to make! Far superior durability, long-term rot resistance, air sealing, etc.

Normally I'd get irked to see a good 5-6" pole turned into chips instead of firewood, BUT, it's poplar. Nice chippin!

By the way, is that max 3-pt lift height in your pic? Hope it doesn't scrape too bad when you try to drive on/off your gooseneck.

Garter snakes come in a lot of different patterns. Generally east of the mississippi, seems to be the most common snake in many areas. If you see a slender 1-3 foot snake around your house, thats probably what it is.

^ this. Don't worry about 'em one bit unless they get into your house, haha. They do pest control for free.

Eh I'm sure it's not intentional, he's just a very busy dude who may not have email notifications turned on, or sent to his primary account. He's probably built several other huge things by now, haha. Maybe... a new shop/barn, 2 miles of fence, and another pond?

Nice! I mean, you MUST have tested it out already, no?

Left the horns on? Hope those are all girls.... My neighbors boy goats are truly disgusting. Peeing in their own mouths. Peeing on each other. Ramming things constantly. They stink. Whereas the lady goats are delightful pets, and provide delicious milk. :P

Bump because I am also curious how the lake is doing. This was a great thread to follow!

Niiiice. Thanks in advance for sharing as you go through this process. You gotta fab up a question mark downpipe for it like you did for my ALH back in.... 2009? I forget what year it was but definitely long ago. Is the intercooler going to have a fan? Or sit by the radiator? If no airflow...

El 6000' in Wyoming? Yeah you got some winter to contend with for sure, haha. Nonetheless, a ductless minisplit or two could still provide good heating backup down to ~20° outside temps. If you build with enough insulation, a pair of freestanding oil filled 1500W radiators can help below...

He said he observed that condensation inside a "tractor shed" which I assumed to mean enclosed or at least 3 walls, etc. An open roof structure is not going to rain condensation, the breeze is all you need to equalize the air conditions (similar to how another poster said his neighbor cured his...

While we're complaining about generic buns; they are also so dang small! Can't hardly get a proper load of toppings atop yer dog anymore.

Wow this thing is hilarious. Between the single headlight, pointless ROPS, and exhaust pipe directed straight to mouth level, it's a real gem of a design. Sort of surprised this made it through all the design and marketability reviews. What is it even for? Pretending to have a tractor?

Not really possible to give you good advice here without knowing the general location. Heating efficiency is completely dependant upon climate conditions. That said, my 1650 sq ft house is heated primarily with our woodstove. We have baseboard electric resistance radiators in the bedrooms...

Haha, the TBN old timers get suspicious when low post count members chime in to a more divisive thread. This one also has a very clear thread title, "clearing 154 acres of woods" - certainly gets your attention and the OP directly asked for comments and input.

47 now. But I suspect somebody has gotten over 100 before, with a well placed wise crack. @Muhammad got any data on this?

All your pictures of it not working are on a gravel drive, but you are upset about how it works on dirt with grass in it? Looks a little tight between the front blade and the top cross member, but that's hard to adjust now. My land plane (bad boy grader scraper) has both blade at an angle...

Dang, my notifications bell went crazy on this one. Got 45 likes and still climbing daily. Meanwhile the OP never came back huh. Some pictures or further description would have really helped. Sheesh.

Fair point!

What I think (wait, are you asking my opinion? lol) is that we have plenty of cleared farmland already in this country, and what we need, is more forest and natural habitat, not less. There are thousands of acres of fallow farmland just around my own county here in Michigan. I'm sure there are...

You raise a good point here. But I will say, my '03 2500HD had 4.10 gearing, which was great. But through just a 4-spd 4L80 trans, it was still pretty horrible. Yeah I liked how it banged shifts (after a black bear performance tune), but the torque converter was a weak, slushy affair. And...

IBC totes for sure. Search far and wide until you find a pile of them for cheap, or even free. I got 12x at $25 apiece, then 8 more for free a couple years later. Then you have firewood storage totes for life. I used spiffed up wooden pallets for my first few years of firewood storage and...

Sorry if this sounds rude, but are you serious? You want to destroy 150 acres of natural wooded area? If you need 300 acres of row crops, why didn't you just buy 300 acres of existing farmland? 150 acres is already a huge farm to manage. I don't get to decide whether this is the right and...

BUT, but but but, max payload now only comes on the lowest XL trim. Which is pretty well equipped compared to any truck from even just 5 or 6 years ago, but it still sucks to miss the bigger screens, nicer interior features, surround cameras, adaptive cruise, etc etc.

Oh, I don't disagree. I had to work really hard to get a full tank of 15 mpg in my '03 2500HD (6.0L LQ4), usually it was 12-13mpg. But now I have a 2019 F150 that effortlessly gets 19-20 mpg even if I accelerate like mad every now and then. Even a new chevy/GMC with the 5.3L and 10-spd will...

Is that a road, or a lake?!?

Wow, bust out the popcorn because this truck argument is just terrific. The "most american made" competition is pretty dumb. YES, we should all want our vehicles assembled in the United States with as much American made content as possible, but all vehicles are a mix of sourcing (Tesla is a...

Lol, you must drive reeeeallly carefully. Because your fellow Tundra owners are averaging 15 mpg WITHOUT towing anything. https://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tundra?engineconfig_id=19&bodytype_id=&submodel_id=

^ dang. Does look nice, but over twice the price of my Bad boy land plane. And it would do the exact same job that mine does. Sometimes EA seems to overbuild stuff just for the heck of it. And they charge you accordingly. More power to 'em and anyone who wants the best.

I mean, that's just insanely idiotic. You can't fight a fire because there's live electricity inside the house? Just start spraying water! Not like the firefighters will all get electrocuted. I don't know if the electric company ever even comes out for a house fire here. I mean, probably...

In what ways? Reliability? Or just your personal preference? The other thread going about towing 10k, pushed me to investigate payload ratings, and it seems most Tundras are just for homeowners to play, not really for any serious work. I do like the new turbo-6 engine, but if the truck's...

Judging from this thread, you are going to have a horrible time trying to tow 10k lbs with a Tundra. Most payloads are well under 1500 lbs. So you could only tow 10k lbs on the hitch with no gear or other people in the truck. https://www.tundratalk.net/threads/payload-sticker-picture-post.674369/

So you are quoting the maximum available payload (max payload package) which was pretty rare, and could not be optioned on higher trim levels. Most F150s were 7200/7300/7600 lbs GVWR. The only way to get above 3000 lbs payload was with the 5.0L V8 in a 4x2 regular cab, low-trim, long bed...

^ A 2014 F150 is steel body, pre aluminum (started in 2015), so it damn sure weighs more than 4700 lbs. probably closer to 6000 depending on cab/bed/4x4 config. And the GVWR is probably just over 7000 lbs, the full 7800 "max payload" package is hard to get with a normal cab/options package...

Or put a boulder or half scoop of dirt in the front loader on one side to counter balance the spent tire corner and take some weight off. In any case the tire is completely spent already, it wouldn't hurt anything to try driving on it. But dang air ops, that sucks! Good job on the R&R and...

No, a scoop of dirt obviously helps increase front wheel traction more directly. But I've also found that having that extra 700-1000 lbs of mass moving along on the tractor gives you a lot more momentum to "bust" the box blade rippers through roots, rocks, and keep the full load of soil in the...

^^ Very important suggestions from Eric. We also use our mud room, which has a door between it and the house as well, as a sort of "air lock" in the deep cold winter months and also the hottest summer days. And also to keep the dog from running outside to greet visitors, they can instead step...

Wow, getting started right away! Love it. Best of luck to you in this substantial endeavour. Nice house plan, nice parcel of land. :)

^ this. Diff lock is only meant for rare circumstances when traction is really lacking. If you need it constantly, you are asking too much of your machine. With enough weight/ballast, operating at higher rpm in 4wd, you should have plenty of traction already. I basically never use the diff...

Yes, accurate. My 72" bad boy scraper has been flawless so far. Just wish I could store it under a roof, some rust is creeping.

I bought my land plane specifically for repairing my 1000' gravel driveway. And I had lost access to my old box blade (it went to my neighbor along with the Cub tractor), so I wanted something with rippers again, for breaking up soil or anything else. Sounds like you are pretty close to...

A 3901 probably has the guts to pull a 72" box blade. Plenty of power, but the tractor is a little light. Loaded tires would help. Keeping your FEL bucket loaded with a scoop of dirt helps also. I had a 72" box blade on my Cub Cadet 7305 (30 HP) and it was a little too big. Very easy to...

If you can't smooth out loose dirt with either a FEL bucket (back drag) or box blade, then you just aren't experienced enough. Those are both excellent tools for smoothing out and leveling loose dirt. Yes, a land plane does the job without almost any thinking (just drop it and pull forward)...

6'. Cover the width of the tires plus an inch or two extra on each side. I dunno the width of a 3901 (what tires?) but if a 66" box blade covered it well, that would give you more ripping and pulling power.

I do not like the basic f150forum, the aesthetic is poor, and the site is too popular, which means it is flooded with both good responses and terrible, useless ones. People often respond about your question about a newer f150 by telling you what their junked out old 2002 f150 is like...

^ looks plenty sharp to me! A couple sharpened divots in the edge never hurt nothin.

Are those containers level with each other? Looks like, not? So you're gonna build a roof across uneven containers? With a big valley in between? I am a bit confused why you didn't just carve out a proper flat pad with your perfect tool on hand (excavator)

I just hadn't put the tailwheel back on. It had been off for transportation some 2-3 years ago and I just never bolted it back on. I didn't know (or think about) where to set it and basically put it on the 3rd lowest setting (out of some ~12 height holes to choose from). With my hydraulic top...

I feel like I've never seen that feature on a modern CUT front loader.... Most have deployable stands built in for keeping the FEL up on the air for quick attach/detach. But I haven't seen a lock in "full up" option for the boom cyls.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the safety policing. Would be incredibly dumb to injure or even kill myself just trying to do some basic equipment maintenance. My wife and kids would be screwed without me!

Agreed, been some good story telling in here. Now I think what we need is a few pics. Pond full of debris, smokey running tractor, sly grinning neighbor wielding a big hammer, etc.

That sounds pretty typical. I didn't know these things either when I bought my parcel of land. "What do you mean I can't build a shed or barn to store my equipment and belongings before I'm ready to build the house?!?" (I built a small pole barn back in the woods for storage anyway, my...

Oof! No, a single pond does not mean you have actual wetlands. I mean, often it does, but no certainty. Sheesh. When i built here in Michigan in 2014, i had to get township wetlands board approval as well. The main guy was just about to head out of town on a long vacation when i wanted my...