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There's Cersosimo in Brattleboro, who bought my last harvest of good stuff. I thought they had opened a biomass plant and wondered about that, but I haven't actually spoken with them and my new forester didn't think they had biomass. Anyway, worth a call to them. Was the trouble worth...

I'm working at filing my next 10 year plan. I've got all this wood that isn't really good for anything that would need to be thinned for better trees. I'm just wondering if any of you have experience on extracting such wood firewood and selling it to others in Vermont. Is it worth the effort...

Probably not what you're looking for but I'm very happy with the Fred Cain 9 shank field cultivator, about the right width, pulls easy on my MX5400, and I'm sure a lesser tractor would do okay too...

Yes, I misquoted the 40 feet rule, it's 400 as you say. After a recent incident with a hunter the police have told me i have another option, have them towed when they park on my property, which matches your motor vehicle note. There may also be remedies through the fish and game dept for...

Deleted. Can't seem to find any other way to delete.

Vermont laws favor people trespassing, i.e. many Vermonters feel it's their god given right to trespass where they please for any purpose. The law requires signs posted every 400 feet, signed and dated annually. If you've got any real acreage, especially forested, it's pretty much impossible...

In speaking with my Kubota dealer this spring, he said the price of my MX5400 had gone up 3 times since I bought it two years before. And judging by the fact that he's had no inventory to speak of and can never tell me when things will arrive (always "months", and "maybe as late as next year")...

Make sure the tractor is level, it's really important for this particular indicator.

There's certainly some buyer beware elements. I bought an enormous bucket from them last year. I read through almost a decade of reviews, and in early years apparently Titan had a lot of SSQA quick attach problems where they weren't to spec. However that seems to have dropped off in recent...

Will be curious to hear about success raising the subsoiler, thanks for the info.

I figured gabby was talking about whether a 25HP tractor could pull it. My MX5400 had no trouble with it, rocks and all.

I got the Fred Cain 9 shank field cultivator and it was just right. Pulled up rocks without choking or breaking, dug in at least a good foot, left some half decent furrows (not that I'm qualified to judge), dug up all those infernal concord grape roots, though I'm wondering now many of the...

I have a fancy seat on my Kubota zero turn mower, it's nice and comfy. I don't have a fancy seat on my tractor though, and I don't feel the loss. The sort of jostling I get on my tractor in the field is a whole-body deal, more akin to riding a bucking bronco (not that I'd know what that's...

Compress into pellets and sell for heating stoves or kitty litter? Biomass energy generation?

Borrow my wife's two cats. They generate enough kitty litter to fill all the deeper holes in my field. (Pine litter - saw dust by the time it hits the field).

If I were to go for the Fred Cain model, I'm wondering if I should go 7-shank with my MX5400. Would save some money too.

Looks nice. Digs in on packed earth? The video mostly showed it in fully worked soil, the single pass over some existing grass wasn't compelling, but an actual user testimony can be :) Seemed decently made, and the ability to adjust/remove tines is nice.

Looking at this: https://www.palletforks.com/tractors/3-point/agriculture-equipment/plows-bedders/3-point-tractor-subsoiler-attachment/191314.html The user manual doesn't specify dimensions in the parts list, and the only photo with dimensions just says the top to bottom height is 52.25 inches...

I have the LandPride RCF-2072 (on an MX5400). Just right. I don't use it too often in the woods, but sometimes I do. However when it comes to the woods it isn't the width that is the problem for maneuvering (at least for me), it's the length. The cutter must extend at least a full 9 feet...

"Solar powered generators" are a joke. Sure, they're fun if you want a charged battery backup for trivial applications, and they're easy to build. Buy a panel, a charge controller, and a deep cycle battery, and poof, you've got the storage side down. Add 12v appliances or an inverter and you...

I'm going from memory, I have a MX5400 and the Kubota L2296 heavy duty bucket. It holds about 9 cubic feet, so 1/3 of a yard. For hauling heavy materials it's the thing to use (right balance of weight/capacity/toughness for things like gravel relative to the tractor specs). But if you're...

So I was reading here in TBN some weeks ago, looking for ideas on how to get all the gravel out of my grass put there by the guy who plows the driveway every winter. And I'm thinking power brooms, landscape rakes, blah blah blah, anything to keep me from having to actually rake it all up and/or...

Just want to point out that sometimes the dealer can do the service at your house, for a reasonable and not at all excessive fee. Saves a round trip, and maybe they're smart enough to batch it with other services in the area if they can (heck, there are 3 kubotas just on my tiny stretch of dead...

Someone mentioned this, I'll mention it again. Tools, for me that was mostly sockets and ratcheting wrenches (two), because none of my tools, not even my biggest adjustable wrench, could fit some of the larger bolts on the tractor and/or attachments. I bought a set with paired shallow/deep...

I have zero skills debugging this stuff but had to ask the obvious question: do you have sufficient hydraulic fluid?

I have a 54HP tractor with filled tires. I don't think it really matters whether the tires or filled or not, rut-wise. Ground is dry, no ruts. Ground is wet, there will be ruts. 2021 was a very wet year, it definitely messed with my plans when I wanted to avoid ruts. Not much to be done...

Jeff's comments on a ventrac or other alternative are also worth considering. Tractors and hills can be dangerous. It might help if you quantify information on the slope, i.e. how many degrees. Still, at any angle, all it takes is one tire in one small hole to cause a bit of unwanted excitement.

Gotcha. "Wet" gauge link. The other one pictured, which I have a similar one to, talked more about technique (air pressure ready to go). I'm not sure I want beet juice in my best device though, technique or not. All good, thanks.

I also have hilly terrain. If you're even remotely thinking about the 4701, do yourself a favor, spend a tiny amount extra, get the MX5400. It's 20% wider than an L3901 for stability, more ground clearance, and just a terrific tractor. I bought the MX5400 and it has been nothing but great...

Shoot, what is the right gauge? I have your basic sticks that pop out, and one like the photo above. I don't particularly want any of them gummed up, though I have beet juice not calcium chloride.

Make sure you're not running in a so-called "privacy" window/mode, which won't let the web site store the information it needs.

New starlink users https://gizmodo.com/if-i-fits-i-sits-starlinks-self-heating-internet-sate-1848327155

If you just want to keep the charge topped off, you don't need a 35 watt panel. If you want to recharge a deep cycle battery after it's had light use, then a 35 watt panel will do that nicely. Unless you're buying some el-cheapo panel for use on a backpack or in your car, they'll be weather...

Ouch!

My go-to pants have been sweats for years, extra thick cotton. However I seem to have entered a phase of life where all my pants are suddenly both too long and too big in the waist, and my socks also are too large. It was so bad I finally picked up a couple of pairs of suspenders, but they...

I just saw a video of a ripper in action, I'll keep that in mind. Overall I suppose my wife and I are going to need a few more washouts before we get desperate enough to do an excavator run, rented or otherwise. It's pretty clear I'll need a big enough one that I'll be years cleaning up the...

I've seen a poor solitary bluebird on top of the nesting box in my field stand on top and try to keep four swallows at bay. The bluebirds also supposedly don't get along with sparrows which also lodge closer to the house/barn.

Sharp shinned hawks are one of the birds that hunt the other birtds I value. I know, big circle of life and stuff, but I hate seeing the sharp shinned hawk hunting the birds I like. Unfortunately these hawks are quite nimble at chasing birds in the branches of trees.

I saw 6+ turkeys yesterday in the vole filled field. I wonder if Vermont turkeys eat voles. Here's hoping.

I have exactly the opposite problem, vole-wise. We've had above average rain the whole second half of the year. Voles have been out in huge numbers the last two years. After I did my annual field cut recently, barn cats, owls, and hawks were all hunting the voles, and I'm cheering them on...

On my MX5400, I notice that if I have my 900 lb bucket on the front (which is HUGE and extends far from the pin), and if I have only my 630 lb rear blade on, the tractor definitely dances a bit if I'm not careful. It's much more stable if I have my 700lb rotary cutter on the back, which extends...

Second that, buy the tractor (or other equipment) you need for the job. Buying a smaller tractor with mental training wheels is a bad idea, you'll just own expensive equipment that can't do the work. You'll learn the same way on either, and ding up a few things either way, it's just part of...

Re: a swell Heh, I'd need an excavator for that too. But really not feasible, the driveway us running through a forest, it's all trees and happens to be terrain that conducts a significant amount of water from uphill areas. Diverting it just means it's going to wash out some other area of the...

Someone above mentioned something that sounded like (what I'm describing below) too. I'm certainly not sure I've hit on any magic formulas yet. After some incredibly tough connect activity this spring, I am doing one thing new and it's been easy to attach hoses since I started it, but it could...

Yeah, that was the plan behind my question. Buy something, keep it 2 years, sell it. Effectively a long term rental. So the big questions are (1) what's the viable minimum equipment to break up that schist, (assuming about any excavator can dig out the rocks/dirt once the rocks are broken)...

Only if I could prepare the ditch by widening or depending it. It's just a ragged thing now, highly variable depending on proximity of bedrock or other large rocks. There's also a long segment I need to dig out that filled up with gravel from past washouts, and which I can only approach from...

A few months back I posted some questions about trying to solve washout problems in a ditch along my driveway (about 3/10 of a mile). Many excellent suggestions were made, it's a work in progress. However I keep thinking the real problem is just that the ditch is too narrow and two shallow...

Love snow, but dislike shoveling it in proportion to years of age. Also, our water table is high because we've had higher than average precipitation for months, which is why I was wondering about what winter was going to be like this year.

I am curious and full of dread about this winter. The last couple of years we've had so little snow. Lots of rain, in winter, but not so much snow, and I've been enjoying that lack of snow. Enter 2021, and we've had 5 of 7 days a week cool, cloudy, and often with rain. If you look at the...

Bluebirds are not quite endangered, but they are definitely low in numbers so they are special to me. The buntings also are never here in great numbers. We're talking 2's, most years. So that's where I feel protective. As I said, the blue jays are another thing, I was happy to lose a few and...

I definitely had a banner year for predator birds that have scared all my favorite birds off. Mostly one of the true hawks, a sharp shinned hawk perhaps, and a "sparrow hawk" (really I kestrel I think). The result is I haven't seen any of my favorite birds most of the second half of the...

Vermont is definitely experiencing changing seasons with climate change. Meanwhile, ther'e's usually some grass for me to cut into November. This year, which has been cool and wet since june in above normal abundance, the grass is just growing nonstop. Looks great, but no respite from mowing...

On the regen issues some people worry about, I really don't know what the big deal is. My regens are rare, and don't interfere with my routines at all when they occur. I would not let regen worries factor into a purchase decision at all.

For me, the last thing I would want is any kids, pets, or even adults near the tractor when it's operating. It also takes practice to achieve "situational awareness" when you're sporting tons of equipment stretched out in front of, and behind you, by potentially long distances. (My 6' brush...

If it helps, also think of your tractor as a "long term equipment rental". I think it's generally accepted that if you sell your new tractor within 10 years, and take care of it, that your cost of ownership will actually be very little when you sell it. On the other hand, if you keep it for...

I'm not familiar with the Kioti models, but of course feel compelled to offer free advice :-) 1. For a power-hungry task like snowblowing, 10HP could be the difference between snow blowing and snow regurgitation on wet heavy snow. 2. If those models differ by size, the extra weight could mean...

Like I said, mine is an over the top setup. I have a 45KW industrial Kohler setup for a somewhat compound like set of buildings. The price for service has been rising, and you have to factor in years with bigger tasks, like changing coolant and such. Though my service place really ripped me...

My grapple is far and away my favorite and most used tool on my MX5400. I considered both the 400 and 900 lb land pride grapples, definitely don't go 900lbs. 400 is just right, and tough enough for anything you'll reasonably need to do. For me it's lots and lots of fallen tree cleanups, and...

It seems ot me you need to prioritize some things. 1. Do you need the generator? Doesn't sound like it unless your location is in a hurricane or blizzard zone and you want to defend against the severe storm long duration outages (infrequent, but the worst kind). 2. If you need the generator...

Nice to know I'm not the only one with the problem. So the jack is based against the rear of the forks where they attach at 90 degrees to the loader?

I have an MX5400 so can't speak to some of the things you mention. On the HST whine, well, I'd wear hearing protection on any tractor, and once you're there, the whine is pretty much moot. As for the emission purge, I've only had two that I noticed in 70+ hours. I just continue working...

I'm sure many of us are happy to answer specific questions. Meanwhile, for starters, if you're getting your downloads over phone wires like me, then you're getting under one megabit per second (Mbps) downloads. A picture from your phone is about 5 mega-BYTES, and there's 8 bits in a byte, so...

Naturally it's just for digging up trees and ditches. https://boingboing.net/2021/09/23/how-to-steal-all-the-money-in-an-atm.html

It's an interesting topic and sjstyles hits on an important point: 3-point turn techniques. I've only had my 1200 lb mower a year and still have yet to master not ripping grass on turns. The 3-point stuff and generally respecting momentum works to a degree, (i.e. slow down before you turn)...

Wife likes to name our vehicles. I choose "Atlas" for the tractor.

I didn't see the OP mention whether there were hills or unstable terrain, but that is probably your greatest safety issue. Hills can be dangerous, and if you have them then you want the most stable vehicle you can manage, whether that's by spacers to widen the wheel base, or another vehicle...

I considered the L4701 but instead I got the MX5400 and I'm very happy with it. If anything there are days I wish I had more power, the L4701 would probably have made me unhappy in that regard. I also appreciate the additional width of the 5400 for stability. So far the machine has been flawless.

Thanks all, lots of good (and increasingly large :-) ) suggestions. Plenty for me to consider. No room for pools, it's all forest under "current use" (i.e. tax-reducing silvicultural/agricultural plan), removal of too many trees would foil that (as well as cost a lot). Re: consultations with...

One person's nightmare ... yeah. Were it not for the cost of widening pretty much anything about my driveway/ditch, it might be fun. Most of the work isn't stuff my tractor can do.

The problem I'm trying to solve in this thread is water running alongside the road. That is what does the most damage to my driveway. What I was hoping to find was a solution that would let me toughen up the face of the driveway material alongside which the water is running. So between your...

Interesting. Not sure it scales up when the water is a foot deep though, which is what is flowing in my trench when it rains hard enough. Heck, it is some inches deep just on snow melt. Still, interesting to see your approach.

Ah, wide open space and unencumbered tractor operations in three dimensional space. You're living the dream!

Driveway's a third of a mile through deep forest on schist bedrock. That's why even widening the ditch is potentially a very expensive prospect. When I posted this topic I was hoping someone would have some "fit in the ditch" solutions. Those paver stones or whatever they're called might be...

Very nice, and definitely helps to picture how it might work for me except for the problematic aspects of widening the ditch.

I appreciate the graphical endeavor :-) As CalG replied, slowing down the water would be bad. In fact I'm pretty sure my December washout was either because one culvert became overwhelmed, or because the ditch had enough debris in the form of ice/snow/other that the water couldn't move fast...

Those tonnage amounts sound crazy! And my driveway is longer than some of those projects. How many tons does a 7 cubic foot truckload of rock weight? Maybe it sounds like more than it is. Anyway, good to know. I'm thinking I would have to substantially widen my ditch for rip-rap, which...

Ah, that's useful. Yeah, I have some of that stuff covering a slightly buried part of drainage elsewhere. May be too big for the ditch I'm trying to fix though. Still, will think about it.

Culverts pull water from the ditch, under the driveway via pipes, and put it out to the down-hill side of the driveway. There are multiple periodic culverts. I just need the ditch to handle the volume (which is a separate topic to some extent), and the intensity of the flow. I'm focused on the...

The photo in the original post is just recent erosion from the last couple of weeks of rain. I had to repair that entire section when it washed out nearly 50% of the width of the driveway last December. The water just takes all the small rock and when it's strong enough just pushes it...

No idea, that's why I'm asking :-) I was thinking of cinderblocks, they even have those solid ones that weight a ton, I don't know how much they cost. I'm still wondering if they'd need to be cemented together too, and whether the water would just work its way behind the "wall" from the top...

You're a neighbor!

If you've got a picture of what a "rip rap" lined ditch looks like that might help.

Would that just cause a huge unfortunate mass of water at the end points of the bales?

The driveway er, transversely traverses, a hill, although the incline is not severe. The entire portion of the land on the ditch side of the driveway is basically a water shed for the upper portion of the hill, which is why there are multiple culverts under the driveway. The spring thaw alone...

See attached photo, which unfortunately doesn't show the 10-12 vertical inch drop from driveway surface to water very well. I have this drainage ditch along my gravel driveway feeding multiple culverts all in the hope it will keep my driveway from washing away. Mostly it works. Most of the...

I'm still learning the art of composting, but at least I have readily available water. As somebody said, most of solutions here are mostly making a big pile of whole leaves into a big pile of small leaf fragments. I have no answers, just sharing two things I did to help manage leaves since I...

Some fields are harder than others too. I had watched plenty of people I hired cut my field over the years. The last guy kept a box of new pins handy. It's why I paid the extra $600-800 for the slip clutch on my land pride, and well worth it in my book. I hate shear pins, they can really let...

As someone mentioned, it could be adblock or other extensions you've authorized in your browser that aren't playing nicely with TBN (so disabling all your extensions might be a start). Another possible cause is that stored cookies and other things are problematic, so you might need to go into...

Perhaps it's for the same reason they put a telephone jack outside the house, so you can connect to it to determine whether it's your house wiring that's to blame, or whether it's on the phone company's side of the wiring that's to blame. (Weather protection aside, I'm sure starlink will figure...

If I'm in the suburbs of Boston, there must be 3 rabbits to a 1/2 acre yard. The neighborhood is thick with them, even though I see the odd hawk, owl, or fox. In the woods of Vermont though, in nearly 12 years I have not seen a single rabbit. Rarely rabbit tracks one or twice in the winter...

Funny that. I had fiber through Verizon outside Boston. Technically, it was flawless. However Verizon, being part of the evil Verizon/Comcast duopoly in the region, would just jack up prices every couple of years by large amounts. 18% one year. Just because the could, it isn't like my...

I only run my filter pump (and chlorine generator) for an hour a day, and that's all I need. So... there's that. Well, when I'm not heating the pool. If I'm heating the pool then things run longer.

I have the Milwaukee M18 saw. Heavy. Effective. My only complaint is the thin kerf bar and chain. It will derail if you just look at it funny. On the bright side you up your skills on avoiding pinches, but still, if the blade is heavy brush, it will derail easily. I plan to replace it with...

I've never noticed my salt water pool drawing that much current. There've been times I've had the pump off for a couple of weeks with no noticeable reduction in my bill, though my bill is large for other reasons. Now turning on the air conditioner, _that_ jack up the bill quickly. But the...

Yeah, grapple was closed. How do you check the femail side, retracting the sleeve (which retracts the ball bearings) retracts doesn't allow oil to leave that I have seen.

One pair of connectors mated fine, one pair just refused until forced with the clamp.

All male connectors had no pressure. The female from the grapple to the mail on the tractor wouldn't connect, the male from the grapple would connect. I don't *think* it would be the case that one grapple hose would have pressure when the other didn't, though I suppose they're seperated by a...

Thanks all, but as I said in my post, there's NO PRESSURE in the lines. So unless zero pressure is the problem, that isn't it. Some oil does dribble out on every coupling attempt but it's all passive gravity-fed leakage. One of the couplings just does not want to mate and I can't figure out why.

I have third function hydraulics on my Kubota for my grapple. Last year I didn't have any issues with it. This year is another matter. In the first use of the spring I couldn't get the couplers to mate. FIgured it was pressure, took the usual measures, no lock. Tried again the next day when...

I have a salt water pool, chlorine is generated from the salt. It's never excessive, never makes me itch. Can't speak to eye sensitivity since I always wear goggles. It is all very low maintenance which I like. Easily adjustable via various controls on the chlorine generating system. I toss...

Just watch your garage when you pull in, if you garage it and don't have extra wide doors.

Good video. Sounds like my next round will be energizer or amazon basics (though I wonder about consistency of quality with amazon basics).

I think you missed my context on the latency w.r.t. remote machine access. Starlink's claims of 20ms sound _great_, if that's what you're getting. It was the old school satellite internet setups of 10 years ago that had unworkable latency for remote work (or games).

Thanks. Sounds like it isn't quite ready for prime time and I should check again after they announce non-beta launch as it also sounds hopeful. re: LTE hotspot, I hear you, for my first 5 years in this place cellular internet was all I had. Even DSL is a step up, until the kids visit with all...

After your first life-altering surgery or heart attack? _looks at beer, beer, do know better yet? beer replies: no, have another_

Hi all, forgive me for not wading through 1000+ messages. What I want to know is, who has Starlink, for how long, and how is it doing so far? I'm apparently eligible, they're willing to take my money if I'm willing to pony it up, but I'm not ready to be a beta user or particularly early...

Grapple is my favorite tool for cleaning up downed trees. I have forks. Forget it. Save the forks for digging rocks and moving pallets. Watch the weight on your grapple purchase. It's temping to buy a bigger bad-a$$ grapple so that you can abuse it more, but the weight really does subtract...

I once bought a bunch of BJ's (food warehouse) branded batteries. Some leaked after they'd been on the shelf for a while, but in some packages all of them would lose voltage in a pretty short time. (Like a whole package of 9V batteries, all useless). That should not happen with alkaline...

I was somehow under the impression they don't make this any more. Anyway, I have one that I think is this model from 8-ish years ago. No complaints at all. The ground clamp was a bit weak and I had to replace it, but otherwise all good. Installing the electrical outlet for it cost more than...

In my case remember the tires are only doing half-year duty, so, for example, their treads are in great shape despite being 6-7 years old.

Seems as good a place as any to ask my question. I was having the truck tires changed from studs to non-studs last week. I only have one set of rims. They basically tore the bead trying to get the tire off, and now I'm down a tire. The tires are maybe 6-7 years old. Nokians. The shop guy...

Re: cab or no cab. When I'm in the field cutting, I can pick my time for a nice day, I don't mind not having a cab. In fact it's nice to be in the fresh air on a nice day, even if the weed seeds are blowing every which way (and clogging my air intakes). On the other hand, when I'm in the wet...

Funny guy! Asking a conference full of tractor enthusiasts if they regret owning a tractor. The only regrets here are people who buy too small and then have to upsize, or who didn't buy a cab when it turns out they really wanted one. Anyway, while you're thinking about a tractor, just beware...

Interesting idea! Of course once i have the forks it might be easier just to make a box for rocks. :-)

Lots of good information, all helpful. I'm just trying to understand what I can safely do with my pallet forks and bucket, and also how to make my only-marginally-safe oversized bucket work better with what I have, which seems like it will require more ballast than my rear blade supplies...

And of course the reality is much more complex because the load isn't uniform, or at the tip. I spent the Saturday (between the rains) using my new 750 lb 49" deep 35 cu ft light materials bucket. It's definitely going to be useful and it was on Saturday, but the dynamics are severely different...

A rule of thumb like this would suffice, given sufficiently high confidence level in the rule :-) I'm sure I don't know so I'm asking.

Yes, but my concern is this. Say I wanted to provide ballast equivalent to my 700lb rotary cutter. If I just put 700lbs of steel and concrete into a 2' deep by 3' wide by N' high box on the 3PH, how much ballast have I lost compared to using my same weight rotary cutter? I'm thinking the...

When using pallet forks or other attachments where one end of the attachment is far from the other, what are the equations to calculate effective load? (Whether it's loader or 3ph) For example, the rear of my rotary cutter is 8-9 feet from the 3PH, and the front edge of my new bucket is over 4...

I would need a newer much bigger truck to haul my tractor with with just the rotary cutter and loader/bucket. That doesn't even include my other attachments if I was moving. I would also need a suitably rated trailer. It's probably a lot cheaper to hire it out unless your business is moving...

Use a metal file cabinet exterior as a liner?

Thanks, good to know. I usually run with a 700 lb blade or cutter even with my loaded tires, which is a pretty good amount for my loader-heavy tasks with the "how far they hang out" factor.

Anybody done any interesting ballast additions/couplings that pair with a BTR? I'm under the impression the BTR doesn't contribute much as ballast.

The power of my Milwaukee M18 chainsaw is good. The thin bar and chain suck though, but I've read they work fine with thicker standard bars and chains. Anyway, the battery outlasts me with the chainsaw. On the other hand the cordless blower and string trimmer can wear down the battery pretty...

I haven't tried painting it, but I could guess the issues about excess paint and such causing problems will depend on the size of the mesh, e.g. 1/4 inch mesh might have a lot of paint that spans the gap if you're not careful, like bubble solution spans the bubble-blowing ring. If I was going...

I'll elaborate. I have a Kubota ZT. Like most ZT's all the weight is in the back, and where you sit doesn't cancel that. Sure, you're forward of the engine, but still near the rear third of the mower. I have hills and it really doesn't take much slope to make me nervous. You have these...

Two other things. The SSQA interlock is perfect (picture attached), and also a picture of the bucket on the MX5400. It's big and heavy, but not overwhelming the tractor. However I definitely would not recommend anything smaller in the tractor department, and it's heavy (and big - as in weight...

So let's get down to why this bucket is $1699 delivered, compared to the HLA MBHVX84 (39” deep, 35” high, 3/16 material, ¼ endplates. 755 lbs. Stuck cap 39.4) which was my other top choice, but would have been almost $2500 just to get it delivered to the dealer (so more shipping charges would...

Some pictures of the bucket. We'll start with the fun ones. That's my L2296 heavy duty bucket in the foreground, about 9 cubic feet struck capacity. The Titan Attachments bucket is 35.xx cubic feet, so nearly 4 times as much. Here's my new Billygoat blower and a sledge hammer to lend some...

I don't know if they spend the night in trees, but I know porcupines like to nap in trees. I've even seen them 40 feet up in a pine tree during the day, apparently just snoozing. I've also had them nap in my fruit trees. They're slow and awkward climbers, but ... effective enough.

I have often thought they are actually very sweet animals too. They're murder on my fruit trees, I have to use electric fences to keep them off, but otherwise I don't mind having them around.

Porcupines definitely look for salt. Including road salt covered auto parts, discarded antlers, etc. And if you're the sort who pees on his property to mark boundaries, well, that's no boundary to a porcupine, that's just salt :-)

Followup: I bought the 750 lb Titan Attachments bucket, 84". At 750 lbs and a lot of weight far away from the pin, it definitely drives like my 400 lb heavy duty bucket with a full gravel load. The width is nice at 84", I wouldn't worry about that. After all, I put logs in my 72" grapple...

I just took delivery of one, and after pestering multiple topics for information on this bucket (largely unsuccessful) and scouring the web for information (also unsuccessfully), I'll post my (ongoing) review here. Head's up: this was potentially a fool's errand on my part, but so far no blame...

Turns out my 1200 lb Kubota zero turn mower is far more dangerous on slopes than my tractor. Go up a slight slope and just look at it funny and it'll upend, definitely need to be careful on the hairtrigger controls to avoid unintended wheelies. Guess that's why the mower has ROPs, but...

I've only got one year of experience on my steep hill with my MX5400. On the steepest stuff I only drive forward downhill, generally planning to loop around the property in such a way that I have planned to be driving down/forward on the steepest parts. It's going uphill on the steepest stuff...

Thanks all for your opinions and insights. I agree that it is highly questionable, minimally, to have my _new_ machine using a twice-fixed tire, and have conveyed my unhappiness about this with the dealer. At this point he assures me his guys have gone over this poorly assembled blower with a...

I had a new Acura about 15 years ago with Michelin tires. 3 of 4 of them had problems requiring replacement of the very expensive tires in the first year. I bought tire insurance, never had another problem (still have the car). _knocks on wood_ Murphy's law? Curses? Some vehicles have all...

We don't really have a "computer security meets tractors" topic/forum, but I thought this might be of interest to some here. https://it.slashdot.org/story/21/04/22/2040207/flaws-in-john-deeres-website-provides-a-map-to-customers-equipment

Winchester NH.

I reported the hack truth post, suspcious (guy has two posts), and his post has nothing to do with the topic.

Speaking for myself, I also consider the 4701 and went with the MX5400, and I'm very happy with my decision. Worth considering and sharing your plans for possible loader work, grapples, brush hogging, etc. How will you cut the hay, how will you move it?

I use it all the time with my bucket, particularly on any kind of driveway maintenance where I'm looking to scrape, not dig, my (gravel and/or mud) driveway. Don't really need it with the grapple whose bottom tines I can eyeball for root raking or whatever. Of course in my case I've never...

I had no trouble reaching a human being at palletforks.com who took time to attempt to answer my questions about a bucket they sell (though I'm pretty sure the answers were incorrect). But certainly I'm wary of their reputation. That said, for the savings in cost I ordered the 84" bucket from...

Maybe I should have bought one of these: Cyclone PTO - Buffalo Turbine :-)

Certainly I'm trying to figure out what I think of the outfit (which is also a Mahindra dealer), since I haven't dealt with them before. I don't think it really had any hours on it, the tires were pretty much clean when I got it, though maybe they just really know how to wash the thing. My guess...

It's a walk-behind blower, weighs about 160 pounds. I've had motorcycles with smaller engines.

Actually it looked black like the rest of the tire until I stretched it a bit. Definitely not bubblegum and pretty firmly attached, and height appears cut to match the surrounding tread. Meanwhile, the tire was definitely leaking, it was flat the day after I brought it home which is when I...

This is just a little 20-psi tire on a leaf blower. It's supposed to be a new blower, but it has a slow leak and this really odd ... extrusion? ... coming from the tire between the treads. I'm wondering if my "new" blower, which had several other problems, was sold to me with a patched tire.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that?

Sounds like you need a clevis, something like this: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-3-4-in-x-3-in-farm-clevis That's what I use in my tow bar, and my chain+hook go right through it so I can latch the chain to itself with its hook. (The link above is not the clevis I use, I...

Some people use this type of inexpensive siphon, but you still have to get suitable elevation on the diesel can, and it's a slow transfer...

The default grease gun head on my device was incredibly difficult to attach to, or remove from, any of my zerks. I quickly bought a LockNLube grease gun coupler and haven't thought twice about it since. I also had two zerks on my Kubota loader which were were straight zerks that pointed in...

It's bad enough carrying things in a bucket, because you forget something is in the bucket and can destroy it. And while you can see what's in the grapple, one accidental push of the grapple "close" function for a fraction of a second and you may destroy whatever you are carrying. That said, I...

Now for that second set of photos that are more large trees, there's where the ability of my landpride curved grapple to act like a claw in the arcade game probably works better. I can't see the Steinsammler being quite as flexible with large tree carries. Having said that, I probably still...

I have the Landpride SCG1072, which resembles the second photo (grapple on tractor). I use it for all kinds of brush and tree cleanup, and while I don't know if I'd truly be happer with the grapple of the left Steinsammler (?) grapple, I've often though a grapple with longer bottom tines would...

I don't have one, but I've spent a bit of time researching one. If/when I get one I've decided on the WoodMaxx 8H, which has independent hydraulic feed and good reviews. I'm still going through the cost justification of a chipper though, and also have no place to store it out of the weather...

Turns out my tractor dealer is listed as a dealer for W.R. Long, interesting that he didn't mention their products while we were talking about HLA and LandPride buckets. I'll probably stick with the Titan at this point, in fact I'm hoping to order it today. The struck capacity of the Titan 84"...

Those pictures definitely tell a story. However I can't help but think that rock, in its current resting place, is mocking you.

I think I'm going to order the 84" titan. I was out there today raking rocks out of the grass (because the guy who plows my driveway makes my life hell - something I'll fix someday), and my heavy duty (but tiny!) bucket was full with grass and rock in no time. Too tiny. Definitely want a big...

Wow, a lot of dissing the HST, which is fine. Here's my two cents. I bought an MX5400HST. I bought HST because (a) it sounded a lot better for noobs, both me and my wife, and (b) it sounded a lot more convenient for loader work. I use it on a very steep hills. There are basically two (of...

Can't imagine how useful it, but it's way up there on the "so cool" scale.

I happen to like my HF cutting wheels. They're cost effective and have a thin kerf that I prefer when cutting. That said, I suppose the thinner disks are even more likely to shatter, though I haven't had any shatter. Always something to worry about with any brand.

Other people in the thread suggested that, and I've seen the builds. I definitely thought about it, but for multiple reasons I have rejected it. It isn't going to weather well outside, I don't have room for it inside, and whatever I build will be a sloppy (if functional) mess. I'm still...

On my MX5400, I find my grapple + hydraulics doesn't have the oomph to lift some rocks nested in the soil that I'd expect. So a lighter/narrower grapple might be of use (greater lifting potential) if you expect to pry any rocks out with your grapple (which some people will say isn't the best...

I bought this several years ago: PoultryNet® Plus 12/48/3 (100' x 48" white/black roll), double spike Item #207018 I don't use it for keeping chickens in, I use it for keeping all the woodland creatures out, and it has worked very well. Make sure you get the one with extra stout and/or double...

This is more or less how my dealer instructed me to do it when I bought my tractor+grapple.

Actually my primary use for this bucket is leaves and debris, so while the massive weight/size of the LM2596 is a concern, I won't be adding much to it. Though I may use it for mulch, but I won't be able to fill it, that's okay. it'll still carry more than my 9 cu ft heavy duty bucket. I was...

On a completely unrelated topic, TBN didn't notify me that any of you replied. Curious. And it isn't in my spam folder.

Looking at these specs: https://cdn-assets.greatplainsmfg.com/ari/attach/lp/public/specs/381-192sk.pdf the "working depth" is 41.25 inches. However the gussets (size unknown) might remove a few inches. Either way, it'd be a lot more than 25 inches deep, I think. Re other comments on inner...

Anybody got such a bucket? Not interested in 108" buckets. Yeah, I've got pallet forks, but since I'm thinking about big buckets, it'd be nice if they could haul a few sheets of plywood, perhaps with more stability than I'm likely to achieve on my pallet forks.

Hilarious and practical. I always have unused file cabinets sitting around. What is that setup you have on the 3PH to which the file cabinet mounts?

You talking about this bucket? https://www.shfarmsupply.com/inventory/v1/Current/HLA-Attachments/Buckets/Extra-High-Volume-Loader-Bucket-Regular-Duty/MBHVX84--Joplin-Missouri---15260231 I'm definitely interested in that MBHVX84 model, which has a struck capacity of 39+ cu ft. Definitely...

If you're worried about width, consider the size of your barn/garage door opening. 8' could be tricky. Otherwise, if you can carry 8' logs in a grapple, why not an 8' bucket? Another consideration, if you're using the bucket to clear snow (though buckets for clearing snow are of limited...

I have an MX5400, which per the spec is just shy of 6 feet in overall width and equipped with an LA1065 loader, (so ~2300 lbs lift capacity at the pin, model number is lift capacity in kilograms). The bucket I bought with the tractor is an L2296 heavy duty bucket, 6 feet wide. For reasons I...

For my 50 hour service they did it at my house. It was good to review some stuff with the guy doing the service, for example there were a couple of zerks to grease that I didn't know about and don't remember being in the manual.

Anybody use those big blowers you wheel along the ground? Would such a blower help with heavy fall leaf cleanup in any significant way compared to backpack blowers?

Yeah, dealers have were sold out for much of last year. I notice the WoodMaxx 8H chipper I was looking at last year appears to be 10% more this year. As tractor grinder assists go that does look like a cadillac compared to the 5k celica. I have seen some interesting skidsteer attachments like...

And the typical $3-5k stump grinders like this don't fit the bill? Is that because yours isn't an HST, or because the grinder is not heavy duty enough? GR15 Series Stump Grinder | Land Pride I could see clearing those stumps, somewhat slowly, with such a tool. I'm new enough to tractors that...

So long as they don't exceed the width of 3PH implements that might be trying to prepare the ground, it sounds fine. But if you were tilling or something and the wheels were wider than the implement, that could be awkward.

Unfortunately the old Rimguard chart link I had is invalid, but perhaps these two links will help: https://www.rimguardsolutions.com/beet-juice-is-better/why-its-better/ https://messicks.com/blog/post/Liquid-Tire-Ballast-Chart.aspx You can figure out weight per gallon of various fills, and...

Also useful if I want to film a western movie!

Reminds me of my last water heater failure. Unfortunately a generator didn't help with that. A number of days followed where I heated my water on the stove for bathing in whatever way made best use of a couple gallons of heated water. Now I'm always mentally casting suspicous glances at the...

For the top layer of my gravel driveway (which is misleading because it never had a formal set of lower layers), I like the premium offering from my local gravel pit. It is described as 1.5 inch crushed gravel “dense grade”. It's about $425 a truck, supposedly 15 cubic yards. Part of that...

Re: dimishing returns, sounds like it. Re: skills, you got 'em, I definitely do not. Any mental picture of doing things to my tires (other than tightening the nuts) all involve me getting squished.

FYI, it wasn't that I feel there's anything bad about Australia, but when it comes to internet clips of wildlife I would not want to meet, Australia is always right up there. Here in Vermont, sure, we've got a few things to watch out for. The brown recluse spider perhaps, ticks with lyme...

If you're always using the BH for ballast, then you probably don't need your tires filled. But assuming it isn't usually attached for non-BH work, ballast is really important for traction and also generally keeping the rear tires on the ground when you're doing heavy loader work. Rear tires...

it's working fine for me on multiple machines, mostly equipped with firefox browsers. Is it possible you're using the "private browsing" function of your browser? That might cause needed state to disappear between sessions.

While the people with the mice are hoping for rains, the other part of the continent has floods from the rains, and spiders fleeing the floods. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/22/horrific-swarms-of-spiders-flee-into-homes-and-up-legs-to-escape-nsw-floods As a general rule of...

Lol, I don't know what you're objecting to. That's exactly what I have, my entire house, every building (spanning four circuit panels) on the property, every function, comes from the transfer switch next to my generator. WHOLE HOUSE. And it's grrrrrreat! And it causes zero problems.

A few notes that I'm not sure were mentioned, for consideration: If you're going to try stumps, then the BH is probably what you want, or ... not. If you are only going to pull stumps once a BH is an expensive and sub-par way to do it compared to renting something bigger. Clearance: if you...

Low budget, sometimes crazy, and high budget power outage schemes I have used in New England. When I lived nearer the city in MA, with town water, we didn't really have a long term outage plan. In 10 years we only had one or two outage that lasted more than 24 hours and you still have running...

I have a Kubota Z724 with a 54 inch deck, they make them with larger decks too. Built like a tank, top speed 11.2 mph. Seat very comfy. 11.2 mph on a mower feels very fast. Anyway, just another brand to consider. Mine was about $9k, can't remember if that was with taxes or not.

Just to offer the other perspective, and not to contractict jsonlebleu, it's all a question what is important for you and how much you're willing to spend. For me, the grapple is my favorite tool and generally the one attached to my tractor. I get a lot of fallen trees around my yard/field...

Wonder what the shipping is on those. When I priced shipping for the 415 lb Tomahawk it was $318 shipping. Who knew the Amish liked to weld? That claimed struck capacity for the 96 inch bucket (2.3+ cu yd) is huge!

Yeah, I saw that. The Jenkins Iron & Steel ones with the particularly wide bolt on cutting edges. They don't say what the struck capacity is, and since they don't speak to it, shipping costs probably apply. At that price and dimensions I can get a similar one from my dealer off the lot. But...

Well, I don't know about that towable lift, but I have in the past considered buying some kind of used cherry picker (for lack of a better word) for a completely different problem, which is maintaining a very tall (and largely useless) building I have that is nothing but a drain on my bank...

Yeah, I think I've seen that Weekened Woodsman series and it is excellent, showing the difference between a $10 rope and a $300 rope, for example. Meanwhile, this thread keeps going with lots of interesting information and creative ways to down trees (like a jack). However for my OP post, and...

I don't use my forks for carrying brush/trees, but I could see how it would probably work well enough for brushless tree segments. Where the grapple shines is for the _rest_ of the tree. I do a little basic limbing of the fallen tree, ensure all those branches are more or less in a pile, and...

Somehow the words of Tom Lehrer come to mind here: "To think of all the marvelous ways they're using plastics nowadays".