Buying Advice 1acre Home Tractor Mitsubishi or Iseki

[riseandgrind]

Here are some photo's (See post#30). She may not have the best paint, but mechanically seems to be in pretty good shape.
I spend most of the day using the box scraper to move some dirt around. I had a real low spot in front if my shop and when it rained it all just pooled up and made a lake. After I got the low spot filled in I used the loader to level the dirt out and try to compact the dirt. I have pretty soft dirt. Overall been fun driving it and learning how to use the tractor. Just wish I could get the dirt compacted better. It's really loamy and when it rains its just going to make a mud pit.

Even though I am new to this, I wish the box scraper had hydraulic DOWN pressure, Also really really glad I got the 12sp. Having never used a tractor before I was thinking that was quite a bit of gears, but so far Im very glad I have all those options. Another thing I noticed, these little tractors are worthless in 2WD LOL, I was just messing around with it. 4x4 kicks butt,

Really all she needs at this point is a new seat, and I plan to replace the filters. Fluids were full and looked good. Prior owner was a mechanic apparently and should have been taken care of. But really who knows, I've learned to barely trust what anyone says this day and age

Thanks for all the replies, and I actually kind of like the geared transmission, very easy to use. HST and Power Steering are just luxury items, would like them, def not a deal breaker for me and I'm fine with this purchase.

 

[GPintheMitten]

You can get some compaction by back dragging the loader flat.

But likely it will take awhile to get the area firm. Let it dry then fill some more and smooth out by back dragging the loader.

Nice tractor.

 

[riseandgrind]

You can get some compaction by back dragging the loader flat.

But likely it will take awhile to get the area firm. Let it dry then fill some more and smooth out by back dragging the loader.

Nice tractor.

Thanks! Thats what I was doing. We are supposed to get some rain Sunday, so hoping to do some more grooming after that. Been watching lots of videos and I am pretty quick at learning how to operate machinery. I got pretty good on my little forklift real quick. This thing is pretty simple. Just need to learn some techniques.

Am I crazy or is it normal when dragging the box blade it's hard to keep a constant level on it? Seems like I want to blade to stay at a certain height but it fluctuates to much since it doesn't have any real downforce. Does that make sense? I was kind of having to drive and watch it and adjust the height on the fly.

 

[GPintheMitten]

It's almost impossible to keep the rear implement on a flat plane when there are humps in the drive. Best tool is a land plane. Second best and much cheaper is a rear blade on an angle like this /:-: and go very slow.

 

[kevin37b]

Throw a 1000# of lime on there and work it in . Will be like concrete .

 

[riseandgrind]

Soooooooooo, couldn't help myself. Decided to go check out the little Mitsubishi in person today. Talk about an incredibly clean little tractor. 175 original owners, one owner machine. 4 brand new tires, new battery, excellent paint, box scraper, FEL, runs excellent. Couple of differences I notice right away. Mitsubishi has Power Steering, but I am 6' 3" and it's very cramped.

 

[CDennyRun]

They're both good looking machines. The Mitsubishi looks very well kept! Either of those tractors would sell for around 6k-ish in my area.

Chris

 

[jenkinsph]

Am I crazy or is it normal when dragging the box blade it's hard to keep a constant level on it? Seems like I want to blade to stay at a certain height but it fluctuates to much since it doesn't have any real downforce. Does that make sense? I was kind of having to drive and watch it and adjust the height on the fly.

All box blades can rise up when encountering hard ground. The heavy duty models will cut through the mounds better than the light ones. Controlling a box blade requires you to make very frequent adjustments on the fly. I find most new operators drive the tractor faster than they can make the needed adjustments. My best advice is to slow down to a crawl and learn to control the box blade height in real time. With seat time and practice you will get better at it and will be able to move at incrementally faster speeds. Don't beat yourself up because a box blade really takes time to master.

Leveling and smoothing are two very different things you can do with a box blade. Smoothing is easier to accomplish and what I see most people trying to do. You can adjust the pitch forward (shorten top link) and use the front leading edge to cut into the surface collecting material in the box and drag it across depressions and have it fill them in. If you get the ground loosened up you can then make passes over the ground with the box pitched rearward (lengthen top link) use the rear blade to smooth out the surface. Obviously you can fine tune this to get the results you want to get a smooth surface.

Leveling is a little harder to accomplish and requires you to have full control of the box blade height at all times. You need to know where to cut off the high spots and where to distribute it to the low spots. Simply dragging a box blade across the ground does not level it in most cases, it can smooth it out though.

Don't drive the tractor faster than you can make the adjustments needed.

 

[airbiscuit]

Soooooooooo, couldn't help myself. Decided to go check out the little Mitsubishi in person today. Talk about an incredibly clean little tractor. 175 original owners, one owner machine. 4 brand new tires, new battery, excellent paint, box scraper, FEL, runs excellent. Couple of differences I notice right away. Mitsubishi has Power Steering, but I am 6' 3" and it's very cramped.

So, how is it that we are seeing both tractors in one picture? If yes woo-hoo. If no, are you happy with the choice you made?

 

[riseandgrind]

Great info Jenkins, that's pretty much the attack plan I was using!

Yes both tractors are sitting inside my shop right now. Part of me was still curious about the Mitsubishi, even though I was really liking the Iseki. After taking a look at the Mitsubishi, it was in such immaculate condition I struck a deal with the owner and decided to take it home with me as well.

It's a one owner tractor with 175 hours on it. All the information here was pretty much spot on. I've had seat time on both units. Both units will easily accomplish everything I needed them to do. I'm going to keep the Isekei. I'm 6'3" so getting on and off the Isekei is much easier for me. I prefer the 12 speed over the 8 speed. Now the Mitsubishi has power steering, which is awesome! onenthing I dislike on the Mitsubishi. When you start the tractor you need to switch from either high or low and put it into a neutral setting every single time. Yes annoying and not that big of a deal, but it bugs me.

Everyone was right. The HP doesn't really make much difference. I prefer the larger tire size, the extra overall weight and the size of the machine. Ohhh I also like being able to adjust the box scraper left and right tilt on the fly with the hydraulic arm. The Mitsubishi has to be adjusted via a turn buckle everytime.


Both are awesome little machines, but for me and my size the Iseki is the clear choice. I'm going to sell the Mitsubishi and whoever gets it, will have a very sweet little machine!