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Just watch, they'll be merging again within a decade. For "synergy" and "efficiency". The execs and banks make a ton of money when they spin off companies and also when they merge them. It doesn't have to be profitable for the shareholders or better for the employees or for society. The point...

Grease from your grease gun (#2) will keep it from rusting but will make the shafts hard to slide especially when cold. Light grease like spray lithium grease will stick longer than WD40 and still be light enough to let the shafts slide easily.

The ban, if and when it's enacted, would be on sales of products using gas engines produced after the ban. That part is per the law, so CARB can't change it. The law does call for CARB to enact those bans on or after certain dates, as CARB sees fit. CARB is supposed to study the industries and...

I replaced the rear work light with one of these: Amazon.com: OZUSA 3" Round 12w Osram LED High Output Exterior Interior Utility Work Light Flood Beam with Toggle Switch for Offroad SUV SxS Truck Trailer RV Marine Vessels 12-32 Volts : Automotive The switch is easier to operate than the stock...

I have some woods like coast live oak and Eucalyptus (Blue gum) that can be very difficult to split. I wound up with a splitter with a 4.5" cylinder (4" is common for low end homeowner splitters) so it's got more splitting force. The "ton" rating on many splitters can be wildly optimistic. My...

A good cant hook or peavy will make it easy to move those big rounds. It won't lift them on to the splitter though. I got a Woodchuck Dual convertible cant hook/peavy that works really well. The Northern Tool cant hook does not work well, I don't recommend it. I "noodle" big rounds with the...

10' walls will be short for a car lift. You need 12' at a minimum if you want to get it close to being able to walk under it. Of course if the lift will not be near a wall and you have an open ceiling there may be enough room. I know a lot of guys leave spray foam exposed but it looks like...

Bring it in to a bearing supply house and have them match it.

Yes, but doing that wrong would just stall the engine. It should not cause the HST to blow up.

The fluid in the grapple expands and contracts as the temperature rises and falls. It expands more than I thought it would, and it does not take much pressure to make the quick connects operable. I thought that connecting the grapple lines together would address it but that doesn't work for...

Yes but it's easier and cheaper to make a small number of huge power plants more efficient and pollute less than to put pollution controls on every single vehicle. As more solar is installed there will be more zero pollution electricity. Don't even start with the "mining for solar panel...

It looks like the balls stopped turning and were ground down by the race. Is there a lot of metal debris in the housing? Sealer would take less space between the halves than a gasket. Would that change the number of shims that are required?

Besides the diverters you can also add a set of non-factory remotes. You'll have to do some fab work to make simple brackets and get some hoses made. There are a number of threads on here detailing how people have done theirs.

The devices just use the wifi password to authenticate to the radio on your router. It shouldn't go anywhere else unless they specifically wrote the code that way which would be weird. And the wifi password is not useful to an attacker on the internet unless you used the same password as the...

If you can't find one you could make a stop that keeps the lever from going into the unwanted detent.

Apparently that's not correct: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/10/18/fact-check-california-cargo-backlog-not-due-trucking-regulations/8456582002/ (TL;DR is that only trucks with engines older than 2005 are banned. The port of LA already required engines newer than 2007 so...

When I had my LLC I just got a business checking account through the same bank I had personal checking with. I did it to make accounting easier- I would not have to hunt through my personal account for business expenses. However for some reason a business account costs a lot more than a personal...

You're probably going to a side by side for chores anyhow. If your land is really open and flat you might be able to get by with a beater 4x4 truck or one of those Japanese Kei trucks but for a lot of people a SXS is the most useful. I resisted for years and once I got one I regretted not...

It's too bad that work lights with switches are not that common. The stock one could use improvement. Many times the drop in LED bulbs are not in exactly the same place vs the reflector as the original bulbs. With road vehicles' headlights that can result in poor light patterns and blinding...

Don't forget to budget for implements to do the work. From the description in addition to a rotary cutter and box blade you may want a grapple or PTO chipper to deal with brush and tree parts. You can move dirt with a box blade and loader bucket, it's just slower than a more specialized dirt...

Is that the mill you have been waiting for? I'm guessing you have a stack of logs ready to go.

Front spacers are of limited usefulness due to the pivot on the front axle. When I bought my current tractor I had it set up with slightly smaller wheels and tires from a similar model (to lower the CG), wheel spacers and Rimguard. It is very stable on side hills compared to the last tractor...

If that is a sight glass you may have overfilled the transmission.

I'm using a rear remote valve to operate my grapple. It's mounted on the fender and the handle points forwards so it's close to the loader control on the fender. It's still not as good as having an electric 3rd function with controls on the joystick. And it's about the same amount of work to...

From memory the injectors are not in the way. If the injector lines are they can be removed easily.

Shouldn't the belt drive slip or at least cushion the impact to the engine/transmission? Are you using the MMM for rough mowing? Sounds rough to me if you're hitting objects big enough to stall the tractor. It might be better to use a rough cut mower like a flail or rotary cutter on the 3pt...

Besides being unreliable the Phillips Hue were also notorious for terrible network security. I work in tech. I won't have any appliances or devices that send data to the cloud or to an external server. Wifi is fine if it's purely local to my network and under my control. There aren't many...

IBC tote. They are super common for transporting liquids. The plastic bladder comes out and you stack wood in the cage. The 275 gallon ones (most common size) hold about a third of a cord or a little more. A 275 gallon tote full of green Madrone or Tan Oak (my two most common hardwood...

Unless the diesel engine is under load its exhaust will be mostly air.

TSC has two Ky 31 Fescues- one is coated and the other is not. The bags are different color. The coated one is 50% seed and 50% coating. The last two years when I have bought it, the uncoated version had better germination and weed % numbers on the tag in addition to twice as much seed per bag...

Our gophers are very shy about going out of their burrows. You can watch for hours and see nothing but the mound getting higher, if that. Shooting them would not be effective. Poison is a bad idea because it will also poison the predators that eat gophers. When I set cinch traps I leave the...

The best thing I have found is cinch traps. Set them in fresh burrows and check twice a day. You need more than one. I've set 5 or 6 at times to get one gopher but usually it's 2 or 3. It depends on how many burrows are active. Watch your fingers when setting the traps, the spring is strong...

I always start by re-reading the directions and double checking that I did each step properly. Also check that the plug wires are hooked up in the correct order. With the plugs out you should be able to turn the crank slowly in the normal direction and see when plug #1 fires (stick a plug in...

When I put a battery tool away I check the battery level and if its less than full the battery goes on the charger. If you do that you'll always have a full or nearly full battery to start your next job with.

$1 plus stock sounds like the CEO only makes money if the stock price goes up. Except the stock grants are priced so the CEO makes money even if the stock price goes down. If the price goes down too far the CEO gets new grants at a lower strike price, so they still profit. Often the entire...

I'd think port 1 would be connected to the pump, 2 to the cylinder and 3 to tank. So the pump would flow to the cylinder when the valve is not energized and when energized it'd go to the tank. If your pump can't hold pressure when it's not running then you'd need a check valve between the...

Brakes on the left is common with HST CUTS these days, because with many newer HST models there's no clutch pedal and that is is always on the left. If you want gears there'll be fewer (if any) with brakes on the left.

It's currently 145 ac and 60% contained, with rain expected tonight. No buildings were lost. The evacuation warning was temporary and they closed the shelter because no one was in it. So unless it blows up in the next few hours it won't have been bad at all. They were planning more burns...

We could see the smoke column from our house. We need to do controlled burns to reduce fuel loads that we have allowed to build up for the last 100+ years. Lots of them. Some of them are going to escape, because we can't always predict what fire will do. We can't stop doing all controlled...

A couple weeks ago we were in Bishop, another eastern Sierra town, and gas there was slightly cheaper than in the SF bay area. It's usually about 10% more.

A lot of people like cities and like the SF bay area. Yea the cities here are too crowded for me (like all cities), but most folks aren't like me. Many tech companies discourage remote work. Google for example has a history of not allowing remote work though individual managers could allow it...

Our local propane providers don't appear to forsee much of an increase. Prices for two of the four went up the last few months, but only to the same price as last winter. The other two have held steady. I'm still glad I have two winters' worth of wood stacked and split though.

Mine's not on a dolly but I have not used the support leg. Put the leg down to within an inch or so of the ground and try to tip it over. It takes some force. You could tip it if you backed into it with the tractor but probably not by bumping into it while walking by. After I did that test I...

Unlike cars and pickup trucks tractor engines are made to run at full power for long periods. And your usual CUT user only puts on 100 or so hours a year. I would not worry about engine longevity. Also the emissions system present on models over 25.5 hp works better when the engine is run hard.

Something I realized only recently is that the coupler will slide a little ways on the PTO stub without disengaging the lock. So you can get it lined up and on the stub and then turn the ring or push the button to release the lock and slide it the rest of the way. If I am fighting with the...

Deere's making record profits. Their workers are right to demand more of a share.

Depends if your use of said PTO implements demands full power. For me, mowing relatively short grass and brush (because it does not rain in the summer here) with a 5' rotary cutter, I could do that with half the 32 PTO HP my tractor has. Someone with taller grass might need all of it. When I...

For service intervals check the shop manuals thread for a shop manual.

The range trans on my 4 year old 3725 is also stiff. It's loosened up some since new. I think Branson uses tight gear clearances which makes for less noise but more difficult shifting. The HST pedals have exposed linkage under the floor. I'd first clean that off then check vs the shop manual...

It's steel, and there's no safe place to pull the tractor to a tree. I'm on the side of a mountain, with forest. Not a lot of places to manuver. That sounds good. Thanks for speaking up, I know you use yours a lot. So it's more important to have the drag on the reel high enough (to use a...

@Fruitcakes what as the cause of kinking the cable? @sea2summit I think that it'd be even less than 1350lbs. According to this calculator https://cordem.com/load-calculator/ the utv would be about 360 lbs of pull (assuming 10% drag). The truck @ 5% drag would be about 1200 lbs. If the winch...

I have a Uniforest 35M forestry winch coming soon. I know I have to wind the cable under tension before using it. The manual recommends tying the end and having the winch pull the tractor up a gentle slope. My land is steep and the only suitable place to do that is a dirt road that's narrow...

I've yet to run a tractor out of fuel. OTOH I did park the tractor on the driveway on Sunday afternoon to change the fuel filter. Got the new one in and it fired right up... and then cut out as the air got to the injectors. I'd forgotten to bleed the filter assembly. Idiot. Momentary panic...

Yea I saw that too. I wonder if their "farm tractor" is not the same as the CUTS most of us have, or our MFWD is not their "four wheel drive".

On an independent PTO with brake you should throttle down to idle while the PTO is engaged to let the engine slow the implement before turning the PTO off. That reduces wear on the PTO brake. And throttle down to idle before turning it on as well, to reduce wear on the PTO clutch. For my...

It's pretty small compared to all the gasoline that isn't used. And of course oil is finite too. Basically this argument is that if it's not perfect we can't do it, even if it's better than what we're doing now. Which is kind of silly. Nothing is perfect. I get not liking the replacing oil...

Its is reducing emissions. It's a lot easier to reduce emissions on X amount of power if it's made at a big plant than if it's generated at every house. Not only are large plants more efficient but the cost of the emissions gear is amortized over a lot of power. The power you get from the PoCo...

My Branson's loader valve routes all flow to the tank port when the spools are operated. You can't operate the loader and another hydraulic implement. I tested this by moving the loader and trying to raise the 3pt at the same time. Yep, it does not work. I think this may be a thing on...

You can get a generator interlock for many modern panels that will ensure that whoever operates the generator turns off the main breaker to the PoCo before the generator breaker is switched on.

Just curious, what are the symptoms of cavitation in this case? I don't think the loader valve could cause it as it's on the pressure side.

With steep slopes, loose dirt, and needing to cross significant pavement often, I shift back and forth from 2wd to 4wd a lot. Maybe my next tractor will have a button to push instead of a lever that's often reluctant to go out of 4wd. Backing up 3' or so usually loosens it up but sometimes I...

20+ years ago we had three different kinds of self-employment income between me and my wife, so we hired an accountant to do our taxes instead of doing them ourselves. They're also an enrolled agent and know how to deal with the IRS. Which has come in handy more than once, like when we got...

Here's some pics. If you look down from the top (or measure) you'll see that the tote and bladder are not square. One side is about 6" wider than the other. I orient my bladder cover so the large side ends up on the top. I cut away the other large side. That leaves more room for air...

I cut off one side and make two cuts so the bottom is a flap. Then heat form the flap with a propane torch and 2x4 so it bends over the edge of the cage. I end up with a cover that keeps the rain off even when it's driving sideways (if you have the cover oriented right.) But there's still...

The TSC stuff might be ok. But there's no testing of tractor fluids to see if they meet standards. The oil manufacturer can claim whatever they want. I trust major companies like Chevron and Mobil more than TSC. My owner's manual lists actual brands/models of oil instead of standards...

I use a stihl FS240 with harness. The one problem with brush cutters is that moving the cut brush is difficult. You have to unclip the cutter from your harness. If you have thick brush where you often need to pull the stuff you just cut out of the way to get to the stuff behind it, the...

Many log splitter companies inflate the ton rating. You have to get the relief valve pressure and cylinder diameter to calculate the real force the splitter can put out. Some of the premium brands don't inflate the rating, so they may sound weak if you're used to believing the manufacturer...

A new forestry winch sized for your tractor is in the $3700-5000 range. There may be used ones where you are but they're probably not much cheaper. They seem to hold their value well. You can get a 65' cable sold as a replacement for a truck winch from HF, some clamps and a ferule to make a...

The Bridgestone Duelers that came on my Tundra are approaching being worn out after only 15k miles. We're hard on tires here but not that hard. I'm going to replace them with something better before winter.

Tier 3, 4, etc have different tiers per engine HP. There are three applicable for CUTS- below 25.5hp, 25.5-75hp, and above 75hp. Each tier the emissions limits per hp get stricter. It's only the >75hp tier where DEF is used. Below 25.5hp the tier 4 limits can be met with engine tuning and...

MoKelley, my condolences. I handled everything for both of my parents. Mom wanted a burial, Dad cremation. I don't remember the cost of either one but it was a few years ago. It doesn't matter now. I ordered a lot of death certificates in both cases and only needed a few, and those were...

I've been using a cable choker. They cost less than tongs, they grip hard and don't come loose. Since they are stiff they're easier to poke under the log than chains. I have some long chains that I use to hook to the tractor, and also a 65' cable that's sold by HF as a winch cable...

You made a tractor version of the skid steer log splitter! Neat.

Keep in mind that the center of gravity of the pellets is a ways in front of the loader pins. If it's a sack on a pallet it's at the midpoint of the pallet which with the width of the pallet fork frame will be about 2' from the pins. You will need some extra capacity to handle the load's...

Typical CUT open center hydraulic systems don't do well at curling lifting and closing at the same time. But you don't really need that. I'm still running my grapple from a valve mounted on the fender close to the loader joystick. I can't close/open the grapple and move the loader at the same...

I use a hand bucket pump. It's mess free and lets you see when you're coming up to the proper level. OTOH it's slow enough that you're relived when you're done.

There are no roads locally that have enough visibility to do 'A'. 'B' is what's normal and expected everywhere. 'A' can confuse people. I think the most polite thing you can do if you're making a left turn and there is someone behind you is to signal early. If I'm the one behind I will...

If you have rear remotes, check that one of the valves is not stuck open (by moving the levers).

If there's not a model-specific cruise control you can adapt a generic one. Summit Racing has a bunch.

Check the shop manual for your tractor for a diagram. You can also use the parts diagrams on line at Messicks. The PB from the loader valve will go to the other valves in the system, like any rear remotes, before ending up at the 3pt. Usually those are in the transmission case at the back...

Careful with back dragging with the loader bucket. People have bent loader cylinders that way. When I do it I keep the bucket bottom at a shallow angle vs the ground and don't try to move much material with it. Using float is even safer. The box blade is a lot better for spreading dirt. I...

Some of our compound traffic light intersections are just as confusing. To a native roundabout user I'm sure that makes a lot more sense than it does to us folks from stop light land. I drove though some compound roundabouts like that in the UK. If there is traffic it's not too hard: just...

Hey @BeltheHntr how did your log lift turn out? I'm thinking of making one for my Oregon which is a similar design. I think it uses the same beam, just larger wheels.

I took the test in my dad's '67 GTO because it had an automatic. The examiner found a way to fail me because he didn't like kids driving hot cars. I went back in mom's Honda Civic and passed. I'd been driving on a permit for a year so the test itself was not hard. I already had a moto...

If it's a tapered hub and pulley like I linked to it does not need a key. The hub locks on the shaft hard enough to transmit the torque. Unless it comes loose that is. You can also check with Woodmaxx to see if their shaft is the same.

Hopefully the shop will be able to make you a hose for a temporary fix. I sure hope you're right about it raining soon! We could use it.

The force on mine changes quite a bit depending on which range I have selected. It's quite stiff for high (road) range.

Is part #12 in the OP's diagram a tapered & split hub and pulley, and there's 2 or 3 of bolts/washers 10 and 11? That's a pretty common way to lock a pulley to a straight shaft especially on flail mowers and similar. See: Bushed Pulleys: What you need to know before installation -...

My 3725 has a hydraulic filter and an HST filter. One's huge and the other is the size of a large car oil filter. For my 25 series the hydraulic filter number I have is NTB8030000B3 (superceeds TA00025525A) and the HST filter is TA00043153A I would guess that TA00025525C is a newer revision...

Often too much padding on the seat makes it less comfortable. You want to put weight on the "sit bones" that the shop measured for you. When there's too much padding the sit bones sink in and you put pressure on other parts. That can include nerves that go to a significant part of the male...

Isn't this the same tractor with a PTO problem in a different thread? Could the clutch driving the PTO be slipping?

The lower holes make the implement tilt forward more as you raise it, or tilt down more as you lower it. BTW top links are generic and cheap.

I'm going to put a bathroom (toilet and sink) in the shop I'm trying to get a permit for. The county won't let me have the sink outside the bathroom because someone might drive a car into it. I'd need big bollards in front of the sink to satisfy them. But somehow drywall and 2x4s are enough...

Yes, if you pull it out before the age limit (if there is one on that kind of retirement account, not all have them). We keep looking at paying off the mortgage early but with only a few years left it doesn't make sense. Most mortgages are structured so you pay mostly interest first and...

And the output of your new valve goes to whatever the PB port was feeding, not directly to the tank. Otherwise the 3pt won't work. CUT hydraulics work in series. You're adding a valve to the chain.

Yep you're right, I explained that backwards. It sounds like the OP's dealer could have put the 3rd function after the BH stack, which could damage the BH valves.

If the BH is plumbed after the 3rd function, don't use the 3rd function with the BH hooked up. BH valve stacks often are not able to handle the pressure that would generate.

My first thought was also a remote stuck on and "dead heading". Sometimes you can hear the sound the relief valve makes when it's doing that, but with engine at full rpm, mower turning and hearing protection it'd be easy to miss it. After the first time that happened to me I check the remote...

I have a #1. I think it's more of an all around type. If you're lifting a lot of heavy logs or digging out roots, I think a #2 style would work better. My Wicked grapple does not do that well at digging. I do little of that, so that's fine with me. There have been a few times when I grab a...

I have had a MTD chipper/shredder, a MacKissick 4.5" PTO chipper/shredder, and an 8" Woodmaxx PTO chipper. For me the PTO chippers are far better. The MTD was useless. I don't often chip nice straight logs that are at the limit of the Woodmaxx. I'd need much more than 32 PTO HP to do that...

Turkeys like dirt that is easy to dig in. Both for finding seeds and bugs to eat, and to dust bathe. I have a sprinkler system on the lawn and a remote controller. When I have reseeded the lawn the turkeys come and dig it up and eat grass seed. I've used the sprinkler remote to activate...

Hose size relates to the flow of the implement. Implements or cylinders that don't need much flow can use smaller hoses. They're cheaper and easier to deal with. For example the hydraulic top and tilt links on my Branson have 1/4" hoses and ends and two stacked adaptors to get to the 1/2"...

You mean a 1/2" coupler there, right? Totally normal. The next implement might need the flow from a full 1/2". And you would not want to have to change the female couplers on the tractor when swapping implements. You may need to stack adaptors to go from the common 1/2" threads on the...

I'd be leery of solvents affecting seals. If it was me I'd first find out where the water was coming from, for example a torn shift boot, and fix it. Then change the oil until it's no longer cloudy.

Fenders are great when riding in the rain. Even hard core racers use them on wet training rides. Enjoy the new bikes!

Couplers are actually much larger than the nominal sizes. The chart I linked to is the actual size if you print it at 100%. I suspect that the couplers on the tractor are female 1/2" ag couplers. There should be model numbers on them that you can look up to determine the type. You can use...

Here's a guide to quick connects: https://www.discounthydraulichose.com/v/vspfiles/downloadables/qd_sizechart.pdf The most common quick connect on CUTS are 1/2" "ag" couplers.

Having had a Kubota and a Branson, I think the Kubota loader controls are better. Part of that is due to the extra friction from the cable operated remote valve on the Branson (my Kubota B7100 had the valve on the loader) and part is due to the quality of the valves themselves. One of the ways...

If you're just driving around on ground that's not really steep it won't make a difference. If you're pulling something, traction is the limiter and the heavier machine will do better. The only place where the lighter machine would do better is going up steep hills. But since the larger...

My 37hp 3725 has plenty of power for most things I do. Mowing with a 5' rotary, loader and grapple work, box blade work, etc. I could use more power for the 8" wood chipper. When chipping material over 4" I have to slow the chipper feed way down. We have steep hills and more power would haul...

I'd switch the front axle to a compatible gear oil. Gear oil has more anti wear additives. Manufacturers use tractor fluid because it's simpler for them.

Try running what you have first. With the BB you may be adjusting the top link fairly often anyhow so a little drift won't be a problem. Also with the BB and possibly the blower much of the implement weight is on the ground not on the top link. Less force means less drift. Just put the...

Until this year Bransons did not have the ability to do a regen. They have a low temp constant regen. That works for a large majority of owners but a few who live in cold areas and run their tractors for short periods or at low load have had problems with the DPF clogging. When that happens...

There's a thread somewhere where a member here converted their Branson Ansung hoe thumb to hydraulic. They added a section in the middle of the Walvoil sectional valve, which is a super clean way to do it. I agree that the mechanical thumb is kind of limited. I run my 3725 at 1800-2000 rpm...

A lobe breaking off the cam would be very unusual. More likely a valve is stuck open or a cam follower broke or there is something wedged in the cam drive gears/chain.

The 3725 I have, and 4225 also used a common engine, the A2000. I asked the dealer what the difference is and they said the fuel injectors but according to the parts lists it looks like it's the injector pump that has different part numbers. It could be as simple as adjusting the pump. Or...

Unscrew one of the quick connects from it's hose to let the pressure out. I made a couple devices with quick connects and a valve on a tee. I plug those in when I store my hydraulic attachments. Then when its time to use the attachment I can just let the pressure out with the valve, remove...

The 3620 uses a 1.8L triple. The larger HP engines in the 15 and 20 series are 4 cylinders. Looks like they dropped the turbo triple in the 15 series. The fours use dual counterbalancers so they're smooth. I agree with the recommendation for a 20 series if you're going to lift logs...

The dealer makes a difference. I got my Branson in part because the dealer was so good to work with (and has continued to be good after the sale). I had to beg Kubota dealers to give me a quote, and that was 4 years ago before the current shortages. OTOH all I have needed from my dealer is to...

Where (roughly) are you located? What does "clear some land" entail? The backhoe on a CUT is pretty slow at digging up stumps. My dealer's 3 hours away. They ship parts. The only time I've gone back there was to pick up a used backhoe. Mahindra's DOC-only solution does not do regens. Current...

With a good drain pan I don't spill. I originally was going to use 5 gallon buckets but they would not fit under the tractor so I had to get the pan. I didn't think about raising the tractor on boards. I'm glad I got the drain pan because swapping heavy 5 gallon buckets while 10 gallons of...

On Bransons there is a hydraulic system filter and if your tractor has it, an additional HST (transmission) filter. I suspect that's common on CUTS. They both filter the same fluid of course but I think the HST filter is lower flow and may also filter out smaller particles.

I'd rather follow the factory procedue and not risk damaging pumps including the HST by running them dry.

I use LocTite 545 on NPT threads used for hydraulics. It works really well. Teflon pipe dope does not. Regular 242 thead locker is not the same stuff. I did not have good results from NPT for hydraulics until someone here mentioned 545. To me the threads in the pic look tapered. I think the...

They make rodent repellent for cars. I've not tried it. Lots of good suggestions above but the best way I have found to keep rodents out is to drive the vehicles more often, and not for a short trip. At least once a week seems to work for me. When I was driving to work a few times a week...

Sorry your dealer is lame. If you can get the old seal out you can take it to a bearing supply house and get a replacement. I think they're replaceable from the outside. The one on my Kubota was not that hard to do. They might be able to get you a new sight glass too but those usually are...

The power reduction for naturally aspirated engines is about 3% per 1000' of elevation. But with a turbo it's much less. I think the larger Grand Ls have turbos.

I'd have been very pleased to get VA and Tricare for life and a pension after 20 years as a federal fire fighter. A lot more folks would sign up for that job and stick with it if they got those benefits. The only serving myself that I did on fire crew was C-rats from the back of the truck when...

That looks like a NPT male swivel on the hose and of course a female NPT on the elbow.

I have one of those on my loader dump circuit to reduce "bucket flop" and two on my backhoe boom so it doesn't jerk the entire tractor around. That valve does not feather well. The valves all bolted right in with the correct JIC fittings. I can even reach them from the tractor or BH seat...

Having a unique ID for people is a hard problem. There are duplicate SSNs for example. Most of the data hacks these days are from criminal or state sponsored groups. Sometimes its a mix. A number of criminal gangs operate in Russia with the tacit approval of the government, as long as they...

The DPF or similar keeps the soot out of the air where people breathe it and get cancer. It's not for CO2 emissions. Tire IV has limits on emissions other than soot but they're possible to meet with engine tuning. But yea I agree that recycling waste oil is better for the environment than...

It's the measurement from tread edge to tread edge when the tire is mounted and inflated. Since bikes have to lean to turn the tires have a crown to them, so they generally have a much narrower contact patch than the full width.

There's a pretty complex linkage for the pedals under the floorboards. I'd start by making sure that's all clean and lubricated where needed. I should probably do that with mine just on general principles. When I'm moving along in range 2 with a lot of HST pedal and back off, if I'm going...

get a drain pan that holds 10 gallons or more and open each drain plug one at a time. You don't know how much will come out of each one. nearly full open top 5 gallon buckets spill easily. I use a 12 gallon drain pan. It's one of those with a basin on top that drains into a reservoir below...

Bike fit is really important for both comfort and performance. A good shop will take the time to fit you and will swap parts around to get the fit right. They'll also help you figure out what kind of bike you want. Halfway decent bikes will be much nicer to ride than cheap ones.

I once bought a set of valve feeler gauges that were mis marked. I got a lot of practice adjusting the valves on my car before I realized that the problem was the feelers.

My 3725 has the "IND-10" wheels and tires, which are the smallest of the three sets they use on 20/25 series machines. It normally came with IND-20s. I got them to lower the CG for operating on side slopes. But I also run mine in the parts of my woods that are not too steep or too thickly...

I'm sorry for your loss. Many hydraulic fluid leaks are pretty easy to fix. For example bad seals or leaking hoses. Is there an obvious leak that you can see under the tractor? Losing 5-8 gallons of fluid will make quite a mess. Running the hydraulic system dry can damage parts. You may be...

Now that I have a hydraulic splitter I only use the maul when splitting big rounds down to sizes I can lift on to the splitter. And only to finish cuts that I noodle with the saw. Most of the species on my land are hard splitting. Tan oak, live oak, eucalyptus are all tough to split. Bay is...

The 3pt lift arms should be designed to handle the weight the 3pt is rated for plus a safety factor. Anything less would be a failure of basic engineering. Of course one could have a manufacturing defect but that's unlikely. It's not something I worry about. Getting the front end off the...

My Branson's loader control is a lot harder to feather than the Kubota I had before, and that had a worn linkage. I still can't lift and curl at the same tome like I could with the Kubota. I think that Kubota makes better loader valves than what comes on our Bransons. OTOH Kubota's rear...

Social skills are important! There's not many jobs where you don't need them. My jr high had a killer shop. High school had an auto shop, a photography lab, electronics lab, and even aeronautics courses. And a computer lab, in the '70s using teletypes and paper tape. I took all of that...

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The purpose of the extra payments was to enable low wage workers to stay home and avoid Covid, school their kids who were not in class due to Covid, and take care of family members who had Covid. Not taking jobs (and thus reducing the spread of Covid) was the point. Setting up a means...

As you get better at operating it you'll use two or three motions at the same time. That will make it less jerky and will also use more fluid so you may want more rpms. The BH I got for my Branson (Branson branded, made by Ansung) was super jerky on the boom. I just could not feather the valve...

Besides pollinating they also eat a lot of other insects including many that are agricultural pests. I would not wipe out the species but a nest where people can step on it is a bad deal. They will burrow into houses too. Not long after we moved the mountains I kept hearing very faint...

One more thing- you'll sometimes see videos of tractors being operated with the loader up high. Don't do that. It puts a lot of weight up high, especially if there's something in the bucket. That makes it much easier to tip over. Keep the loader low and learn to look over, around or through...

A lot of modern cars don't have many safe jacking/jackstand points underneath. There's a few products with the same idea of letting you use one point to lift and hold the car up. None of them are cheap, but neither is damaging the underside of the car or having it fall on you. You'll want...

Lifting something too heavy won't stall the tractor or slip the clutch. If it's too heavy you'll trip the relief in the loader valve. If you lifted the object part ways and the relief trips, you won't be able to lift it any farther. All loaders can lift more at the bottom of their travel (the...

While we used trex for the decking, their rails were not appealing. The redwood we used looks a lot better though it needs periodic re-staining, especially where it gets a lot of sun.

Unless you buy a high end splitter or have the major parts already it'll cost less to sell the 3pt and buy a standalone splitter than to build one out of your 3pt splitter. If you do it, get the two speed pump.

If you can get to the stems you can use a 25% solution of Triclopyr in diesel or horticutural oil. Just wet the stem for a foot or foot and a half. You can do it without hitting the plants you want to keep and if you do, Triclopyr is broadleaf specific. Triclopyr only works when the plants...

My couple year old Trex deck hasn't warped. It's not significantly hotter in the sun than the redwood deck we had before, and it's a much darker color. Since it's smooth and there's no splinters we can walk bare foot on it. We considered ipe but if you don't stain it yearly, it turns gray...

You can compare data sheets for the recommended oils and the oil you wish to use.

The rule of thumb is that flame height can be up to 3x the height of the vegetation. So 3' grass can get you 9' high flames while 4" of stubble and cut grass lying down would have up to 1' high flames. Fire needs air to burn. When the flammable material is up in the air and has space around...

The level may be above the sight glass. If the trans fluid is clear it can be hard to tell the difference between sight glass totally covered and no oil in the glass. You can try parking the tractor on a slight down hill or carefully jacking up the back (remember the front axle pivots) to see...

A hydraulic 3/8-1/2" adapter is under $2. 3/8 quick connects will flow enough but if you ever plan to use something else, 1/2" is the most common. The 3/8 QCs cost a little more and are a bit harder to find. I can get 1/2" 4200s at the local TSC. Use LocTite 545 on the threads.

We're semi dry farming our garden tomatoes this year. They get a few hours on drip emitters once a week. The plants are looking kind of peaked but they're producing a good amount of very tasty fruit. We dry farm canning tomatoes in normal years but we got less than half the normal rain fall...

I bought flat face connect under pressure connectors to use for my grapple. They take so much force to connect and disconnect that I gave up on them. I switched to Pioneer 4200 couplers. The sleeve works both ways on those which makes them easier to use...

Pressure build up in implements is a thing. Even a 10-15 degree temp rise can do it. If you're not comfortable hitting things with hammers you can unscrew one of the quick connects to let the pressure out. Don't do it too often though as NPT threads seal by deforming. I made a couple devices...

IQ tests primarily test how good you are at taking IQ tests. I've known high IQ people who could be brilliant at some things but at times lacked common sense. And of course we don't want to entirely blame accidents on the victims. While people can do dumb stuff, employers and designers should...

When we bought it, my wife thought that the Branson was a toy for me. But then she saw what I could do with it vs the small Kubota we had and changed her mind. She thought the 8" chipper was a toy and the the 4.5" we had was fine until she saw in in action. Then she thought the grapple was a...

A DPF (which is often a DOC+DPF) will be in place of the muffler. It is usually a stainless steel cannister that's larger than the usual muffler. It'll be in a couple sections usually held together with V-band clamps. There will be at least a couple sensor wires connected to it. If your...

If you have a fender mounted joystick with cables to the valve it will be a little more work to get a valve and set it up than if it's a loader mounted valve with direct joystick. But still doable. The valves on the later 20/25s like mine are not that great anyhow. Can't raise/lower and curl...

My EA grapple came with a spring hose holder. I made a bracket that bolts to the existing threaded holes used to hold a guard on the cross tube. I used hydraulic bulkhead fittings in the bracket- JIC on the loader side, NPT on the quick connect side. For me the bracket placement and angle was...

Solar + battery + generator to keep the battery topped up would be a good solution for us. We have frequent and often long power outages, especially in winter. But I can't find anyone who makes that. It seems like something you'd have to piece together.

My Honda generator and Kohler-engined log splitter both have fuel valves. When I shut them off I turn off the fuel and let the engine run the carburetor dry. No need to drain the tank or use non-ethanol fuel that's hard to find and very expensive here. I do use fuel stabilizer though. And they...

For me the #1 implement is a PTO chipper. I use it for brush and tree parts. If you're going to need to move dirt a box blade works a lot better than the loader bucket. Also good for grading roads. If you need to mow easements or fields or anything except lawn you will want a rough mower...

You can have the bar grooves resized. There's a bar-squeezing tool that narrows the groove. A good shop should have one. Some guys run chains of the next gauge size up, i.e. .058 on a worn .050 bar. I use a bench mounted chain grinder to sharpen damaged chains. You can grind the teeth...

No Tier 4 tractors under 75hp use DEF. Tier 4 limits are lower (more strict) per hp above 75hp and that's where DEF is often used.

Yes they make greasing go faster. They don't fit every fitting due to the diameter and length but they fit the vast majority of grease fittings. I might have had to replace a zerk fitting that would not accept grease once. It's rare. Sometimes on tractors the force on the part can keep...

Yea, that's cause you're in the middle of nowhere (of which I'm envious). I grew up in the greater SF bay area and live pretty close to it still. There's a lot of people and the cities are surrounded by mountains on three sides. The prevailing wind comes from the ocean side. So it's a...

If you rent you need to work straight through for a day to get your money's worth. And then there's the time to pick up and drop off the unit. If you own a splitter you can go split for an hour or two whenever you have the time. So it depends on how you can structure your time. I can get a...

Unless you're really unusually proportioned or very large or small, most people can get a good fit on an off the shelf bike frame. You may need a different stem, seatpost, seat, bars, to get the contact points in the right place for you. Swapping parts to get the right fit is part of the...

To answer your what makes good bikes so expensive: well made light weight parts. Every extra pound on the bike is one you have to drag up hills. It also makes the bike feel slow. It costs a lot to trim the extra grams off every part yet still make it reliable.

I suggest going to a real bike store. Actually go to a few of them. A good one will make sure you fit on the bike. BD can't do that. Bike fit is super important for comfort. Even for bike racers. Many of the road racers I rode and raced with with paid good money to specialist bike fitters...

Using the rear remote hydraulic levers, just like I would when operating the tractor from the seat. They're between the seat and the fender but I can just reach them when standing behind the tractor. I say levers because I have a tilt cylinder too and use the other lever to operate that when...

My top link is not too heavy to hold up, and I can reach the rear remote levers while standing behind the tractor. So I unhook the top link from the holder, adjust the link length and push the pin in. It's much easier and faster than using a turnbuckle top link.

California drought map: Current California Drought Map | USDA Climate Hubs We're in a D3 zone (on the central coast not SoCal). We got a little less than half of the average rainfall last winter- 23 vs 50. SoCal does not get much rain even in normal years. So the vegetation is adapted for...

I've been watching the bike racing. I raced as an amateur & masters (old person) so I understand the sport. Football too because I went to school in a town that was totally soccer crazy. Sometimes I pick one sport that I know nothing about at random and watch some of that just to try to learn...

Gifford Pinchot, 1st head of the USFS declared in 1911 that all fires must be put out. That was in response to a huge set of fires in 1910 that burned 3 million acres. It took a while for the FS to develop equipment and techniques to do that but by the '30s they were making good on it. Logging...

I think that good low intensity fires that don't crown out put out a lot less smoke than a full on inferno that's torching the trees. There's just less stuff burning. (there's been a lot of footage on fire twitter lately of backfire operations on the big fires in CA, and those show what good...

If that's the factory ROPS setup , it's not great either. The monkey-motion linkage between the levers next to the seat and the valves out back add slop and inaccuracy. I can get mine to move slow or fast with some practice. For the small diameter cylinders on your flail I think they would...

Hydraulics text books recommend valves that have about 25% more flow than the system. So you'd want 13 or 14 gpm valves.

I read the text of the reviews. Reviews that make it clear they bought and use the product that I'm looking at are the ones I pay attention to. I mean the multiple paragraph ones where they really get into it. "5 stars works great" is useless even if it is a real review, and it's often not...

You'll have to fab the connection between the mini ex flail and your backhoe. How will you operate this? Drive the tractor to a spot, get off and on the BH seat, drop the stabilizers, mow a little, then back to the tractor seat to move 3ft forwards? Seems like it would not be very productive...

Good that you noticed that before something got damaged! I've yet to remove my loader. Maybe I should cable tie or safety wire the linch pins so they can't fall off.

A few models like the Kubota B3300 (now discontinued) have had problems. I recommend reading the brand-specific section of this site for that brand to see if there are a lot of people with problems. A lot of DPF problems are caused by operator error- delaying regens and idling the tractor...

For chainsaw work you should be using boots that will protect against chain cuts, for example steel toe boots. I'd recommend logger boots like the Redwing LoggerMax. The deep lugs give good traction on our steep slopes with low traction loam. The cutaway heel is better for walking down...

Jack up the front end and turn the wheels with the steering wheel. If it's stiff then, you know it's somewhere in the steering system. You can disconnect parts of the linkage (drag link, tie rod, etc) to further debug. Of course there may be more than one problem. If not maybe the kingpins...

A water bottle cage for a bicycle hose clamped to the ROPS would also work. The cup holders on my 3725 work well for bicycle water bottles.

I think it makes resale harder. It raises the price and many buyers won't want a backhoe. I suspect that the value of a used backhoe is less than the value of a used tractor. I base that on getting a lightly used BH from my dealer for a little over half the new price. I don't think an...

Some lower end Kubotas have live PTO. I'm sure there are others. The independent PTO is handy if you will be running a PTO chipper or other stationary implement. You can turn the PTO on and off while standing next to the tractor rather than having to get on to operate the clutch. 540 rpm is...

Parts availability can be a problem with older machines. Especially grey market ones. Unless you can find a perfectly maintained creampuff your new used tractor will need some work and parts. With a few exceptions modern new tractors are pretty reliable. Keep up pn the maintenance schedule...

I have a pair of Carhart work boots which I use for general outside use, running the tractor etc. They have a composite toe. When I'm running a chainsaw or working on steep slopes, I use a pair of Redwing steel toe logger boots. I would highly recommend steel toe boots (or chainsaw safety...

Mini splits work really well, and they both heat and cool so you don't need an additional A/C like with propane. If I was planning a new house now in an area with reasonable priced and reasonably reliable power (ours is neither) I'd go with mini splits or the versions where the air handler goes...

SPUG is awesome, and a good model to follow.

It's not being attacked by elites, it's being restricted due to the air pollution it generates. People gotta breathe. Some places on the west coast have air pollution problems due to geography and the number of people. For example both the SF and LA bay areas are large urban populations...

A year ago most propane prices here were especially low. Covid made the market wonky. Prices then were around $2.20 and now they're more like $2.75. The good part about our cost of propane is that we save a lot of $$ for every cord I cut and split.