A day in the life of a Kubota BX25D

[check]

First -- the roll bar - I understand, The first year I had my BX, I took top half off mine. When I got the chance,I trimmed ALL trees so I can drive under it with full rops up. Second, I beleive the noise you are hearing is the whine vibration from the ROPS. Fill it with expanding foam and the ringing from HST whine will go away.

What a great idea!

 

[check]

It is interesting to see how much that new grapple can pick up, and the different ways it can be used. That particular grapple is new on the market and a lot of folks will probably be interested in its capability's. I saw it easily picked up 2 RR ties, do you think it could pick up 3 if you could get them fitted in the jaws? Obviously it would pick up as much brush as you could "bite into". Keep at it, work safe, have fun, stay young, and drink Pepsi!

So how much does the grapple cost, Nd does it require any mods?

 

[Cherokee140]

IIRC I got it for $1200-something. You do have to change a few things, but nothing real major. 4shorts did a video and a good review on it.

 

[Cherokee140]

Cherokee,
I bet you appreciate that 10 ft garage door. I got to ask, what's up with the heron?

I love my shop. Heat, AC, Fridge stocked with.....

I told myself that when I built my shop I was too darn old to be out there crawling under cars in the cold or with sweat running down into my eyes. So nice lift....I don't even remember how heavy it is now....but it will lift anything I will ever need. 1 ton trucks+....I think it is a forward lift....can't remember for sure. The bird is fantastic, made of flat sheet and rebar....some fancy bar stock in there also. I can't claim I made him, but I have done some pretty big repairs to him. You have no idea how many people want him.

There are several Rabbits, squirrels, and other animals made from different sheets of flat steel I had laying around. Some pretty thin....others thick and good steel. Just fun stuff.

You have an idea on how large he is next to the door.

 

[dragoneggs]

Great advice on the foam in the ROPS!

I hate these posts! Now I'm REALLY thinking about a BX25D. On two acres, it's probably a waste, but I keep telling myself I have 200 feet of trench to dig, several stumps to dig, more stumps to dig as pines die off, new trees to plant, a drainage way to dig in, sidewalk to remove, and then what? A weight to hold my barn slab down? Hmmm. What else?

Dug 80ft of trench for a waterline to my future greenhouse today... what a dream the BH is!!! Most of it in a tight spot too!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well a few days have gone by and I have been lazy about updating....so several days in one post.

Machine now has 24'ish hours on it and all is well so far. Had to put new tires on the kids Firebird so the bug pan had to come out of the shop. Having a little tractor to go into my shop hook onto the pan on the bug and pull it out was great. What normally is a boy and man job was now just a broken down man and tractor job. Made life SO EASY. Then went to pulling out grape vine, and brush from along the tree line. Some old hedge posts just refused to budge so I had to dig those out....good god whoever put those things in there did not want them to EVER come out. I bet they are all 4-5' in the ground with another 4 feet above ground. All old hedge....that stuff sure does hold up well...it has been at least 30 years that my place was last farmed....and had cattle on it. Back part of my land still is a moon scape from the foot prints, but that is a project for later on down the line. On to grape vines....these things are everywhere, and some of them very thick. Think tarzan vines....they are that thick and will easy hold your weight...but chomp them in the mouth of the tractor and they USUALLY come out. This is one area where a larger more heavy machine would have been handy....the vines would actually pull the front of the machine off the ground while I was pulling them out of the tree....then as it would let go the front wheels would come back down. If I would go real slow I could keep the wheels on the ground...play with the angle of the grapple on the front arms I kept the front wheels close to the ground...but a heavy machine would have been faster. But so far that is the only time I would say a larger machine would have made the project go any better....I will also toss in a few photos of the new back shoes for the tractor.

What is in the arms of the grapple are grape vines, not brush or tree parts....grape vines.

Anyway on to the photos.

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I was clearing a fence line similar to the one you posted the photo of with all the vines using my B26. It was too light to push thru some of the trees and vines with the FEL as it would just raise up the front of the tractor. I tried with the backhoe and while it would tear thru the vines, it was just too slow. Finally I got my LS P7010 up there and just bulldozed thru every thing including small trees, fence post, barb wire etc.
I noticed in one of the videos that you would push forward thru brush and then back out to scrap it up with the ratchet rake. A word of caution on that. Once you push the saplings down and they are leaning to the front of the tractor, backing up over them is what will do damage when they spear up under the tractor possibly taking out fuel lines, HST fan and any thing else hanging down. I had one spear under my B26 doing exactly what you are doing and got wedged between some hydraulic lines and my throttle linkage. The tractor wouldn't idle below 1500 rpm and I couldn't pull the sapling out by hand. Luckily I had a ratchet strap with me which I looped around the sapling then fastened the other end to my FEL bucket and curled it pulling out the sapling. I had to removed the rear tire to adjust the throttle linkage so it would idle at 1000 rpm which is where it always idled. I had no more adjustment to get it lower than that.

JUST be careful backing up on pushed over brush.

 

[Cherokee140]

Thanks....I should have thought of that. I snagged an oil line on the JD650 a year or so ago. Just ripped the rubber line off of the steel line...it is just on there with a double hose clamp...not sure if that is factory or someone "improved" it....but all hydro. oil was on the ground in minutes and the arms would not work any longer. No damage other then to my wallet for more oil. I think I could just charge right in and through, but (and you will laugh) I don't want to scratch it. Last night....Now at 24.8hrs, I had the idea like you said but the bucket a little high and see....worked pretty good, but got a good sized grape vine (remember Tarzan) and the bucket started to bend up on one side....or lift or something like that....I was thinking I bet this is how they "tweak the loader" and stopped that right away. Pushing along I always go real slow...it just seems to clear better when you go slow vs,. blasting along. Dug up a huge grape vine and another post from the old fence row....was there some law that these things had to be 5' in the ground....good gravy. And HEAVY....now I am broken down, but I can pickup one fence post....not this one...it was loose just laying in the hole and I could not lift it up out of there. I will wait for the grapple to go back on and try with that....otherwise I will tie a chain to it and pull it out of the hole.

Now hail and rain like crazy so I bet I will not be out for a little while...turns to a swamp back there....that is another thing we are going to work on.

 

[Cherokee140]

Update.....30.8 hours IIRC.

No photos this time....because....well really is just more of the same. Clearing the same brush, made about a dozen trips with the grapple full of just debris no other word for it. Then lit two fires to reduce the burn piles. The wood in these piles is up to two years old....did I tell you I was lazy.... Anyway the first pile a little old oil, and a match and it slowly caught fire.....boy I took some static from the peanut gallery on that one.....that is not your normal fire.....where is the woosh. Well I did not use 5 gal of gas that time....sorry. Oh

Ok....next pile.....only about 3 gal of gas....hay that stuff is expensive.....and a little diesel....light rag and toss....about 10 sec later....there is the woosh all came to see. I think in a past life I was a pyromanic or however you spell that.

Anyway one positive to using a little accelerant on a fire is the pile just seems to go that much quicker.

Grass is starting to turn green now....and getting close to time to start mowing. Using the deck on this machine will put 3 mowers in the field again....that is handy. I will see how this little machine cuts and how thrifty it is with fuel when cutting.

Anyway...that is todays update.

 

[Cherokee140]

Short update, currently at 31 and change.

Really an excuse to drive the machine.....I used it to take out the trash....I also picked up some of the brush and compacted the burn piles a little more. Going to be out of town for 2 weeks and the inlaws will be at the house...I doubt the FIL will use the new tractor, he likes the old 650.

A few pics and a short video of really nothing more then me driving down our driveway. The flowers are not all out yet, and will likely full bloom while we are gone...oh well.

Anyway on to the flower and movie.

 

[dragoneggs]

Short update, currently at 31 and change.

Really an excuse to drive the machine.....I used it to take out the trash....I also picked up some of the brush and compacted the burn piles a little more. Going to be out of town for 2 weeks and the inlaws will be at the house...I doubt the FIL will use the new tractor, he likes the old 650.

A few pics and a short video of really nothing more then me driving down our driveway. The flowers are not all out yet, and will likely full bloom while we are gone...oh well.

Anyway on to the flower and movie.

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Yes, you have a BXaffliction.