Re: UPDATE: Bought NEW 6000 w/FEL
Suns been out for about a week now in VA. I've got a shade over 15 hours on the 6000. All but a small amount of the hours were running the International 7' brush hog. I've cut about 20 acreswith it (4 separate fields so I'm not sure exactly how many). Man! I'm sold that this was right decision! A few notes: Fuel economy-about what you'd expect from a 60 hp diesel--maybe 6 gallons in a hard afternoons cutting (3-4 ft. hay/fieldgrass). Brush hog is very smooth and quiet compared to a number I have run. Does a great job of cutting. Only small complaint is that the right hand rear wheel collects a bunch of hay around the axel as the blades run CCW and throw the "stuff" right out on/past that tail wheel. About the tractor/FEL. Plenty of power and I've never felt such nice power steering on cars, much less a tractor. Transmission is smooth and sure, but as someone else noted the shuttle could be a tad lower so someone whith shorter arms doesn't have to lean forward to get to forward. I'm going to get a toothbar for the FEL for digging once I'm done with the cutting chores. Haven't had a great amount of use for the FEL yet but have pushed a tree that fell over during a storm back out of the field I was cutting. Very easy to manuver thanks to the joystick. I have an early one made by KMW LTD, an would have liked to have 2 cross members rather than the one large one but I think for my purposes, it will be fine. Anyone out there picked up a toothbar for a 78" buckey yet?? If you know of any (I want the one that bolts up to both sides of the bucket so it can be taken off easily) pls let me know.
I think I'm going to change the oil/filter at 25 hours. Mentioning that, I note that the oil from the factory is a reddish color sort of like power steering fluid. Anyone else notice this on their "00" model?? Hasn't used a drop and the pressure stays at the upper end all the time. I have noted that the operator's station is somewhat different than what I'm used to; that being "close". The seat is very comfortable to me and I like the fenders/and the the "hold on" rails and their placement. Not sure I like the location of the battery as its under the air filter in the front. Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give a conservative 9 for what it is. A hard workin' tractor that fires up on the first crank and is truely one of the smoothest 4 cyl diesels I've had the pleasure to work with. OK , I'm done. Any comments from other "00" followers??? BobG in VA
