JimWilson,
Did you get your new machine? I was thinking the tooth bar might help with picking up stumps and ripping out the high bushberries.
I did - I've been meaning to start a thread on that whole adventure.
I came back from vacation on the 29th of May. I had a U-Haul trailer reserved for the 30th and I had my father lined up to help me go pick up the tractor. So a couple of days before - I got an email from U-Haul, saying that I had to go to a different location to pickup the trailer from the original one where I reserved it. The original location was directly on the way to the tractor dealer - the new location is like 15 miles - in the opposite direction.
So that was the first thing that didn't go right.
I pickup my father, whose on the way to the U-Haul location - go get the trailer - and head towards the tractor dealer.
I stop at the bank and pickup the $$ to pay for it. That went as expected.
I get to the tractor dealer - and walk in the front door, and the salesguy is there to greet me. I tell him I was there to pick up the tractor. I could tell immediately that wasn't what he expected to hear come out of my mouth. Bear in mind that I thought we were in complete agreement that on the 30th I was going to show up to get the thing. So he tells me: "can you give me a couple of hours?". And he gives me $20.00 to go out and get some lunch. He also says that they still haven't gotten the backhoe bucket in - and they haven't gotten the thumb assembly in yet either. I told him that was no problem - I would take the tractor without them and come get them later when they arrived.
So that was the 2nd and 3rd things that got screwed up.
So we go out to lunch - spend about an hour there, and then I start thinking: "I wonder if that tractor is actually going to fit on the U-Haul trailer" - Because the trailer isn't a full bed - it's just basically got two "tracks" where the wheels of the car would go - and the middle of the trailer is just open. So we get back to the dealer and start measuring (they had a 3300SU sitting in the display area) - and sure enough - the track of the tractor wheels isn't wide enough to actually get the tires into the track on the trailer. So now we're not taking the tractor home today whether they get it done or not.
This was the 4th thing that got screwed up (this one was my fault)
So I headed in and found the salesman and told him the "tractor no fit on trailer" news. And he tells me that they have another problem - the toothbar I ordered doesn't fit on the FEL bucket because they changed the cutting bar on the lower edges. They've got to get a different toothbar in.
That was the 5th thing that got screwed up.
So he tells me that they can deliver it - probably on Friday. So at least I'm hoping now that will go right.
So we take care of all the paperwork and payment and so forth and that at least goes ok. Then they gave me the tour of the whole tractor - that probably took an hour or so. And we head home - drop off the trailer, etc.
Friday comes - and they were scheduled to call me about 11am, and I hear nothing. I asked them to call because I was at work and needed to head home to meet the delivery guy once I know he's coming. So I call around 11:30 after I get out of a meeting and they say they will be there around 1. I wait til almost the last minute and leave work and haul *** down the highway - and there it is: the truck with the tractor is literally waiting at the light for my exit off the highway. I zoomed past the guy at the light and got home a few minutes before he showed up.
He drops off the tractor - gives me the paperwork package, etc. And heads out. I took the tractor for quick spin - and just dragged the bucket on the gravel driveway real quick to smooth out a rough area - and after doing that I'm looking at the bucket - and the thing looks crooked.
So I take a closer look - and one of the lower pins on the FEL quick attach is missing.
We're now at the 6th screwup.
I call the dealer on my way back to work and let him know the pin is missing and he says they'll call me back. He calls back like a half hour later - and they can't find the pin. I know for 100% sure that I don't have it because the tractor literally only moved about 30 feet - from the end of the ramp truck and down my driveway.
Plus they don't have any in stock. So he has to order one. Which they did and had it in by the next day.
Oh yeah - and then it rained out here for like 5 days straight. So I didn't get anything done.
It's been ok weather the last couple of days - so I've been coming home at night and using the tractor to move the big pile of granite wall stone I had sitting in my front yard - I'm almost done with that. I'll be heading up to the dealer on Saturday to (hopefully) finally pick up the bucket and thumb for the backhoe, and hopefully they will have a toothbar for the FEL bucket for me too.
I definitely like this tractor - it does a lot more work than my
BX23 did. Bigger bucket lets me move things faster - and the extra lift capacity is great for moving some of these big rocks. I'm noticing the vibration that a number of people have mentioned with the
B3200. At some point in the future I will probably look into doing some of that tuning I've seen mentioned in some other threads to get the engine to run more smoothly
My biggest thing now is getting more seat time and I've got a list of mods I want to do. First on the list is adding some storage so I can have a place to store chains, gloves, etc. right on the tractor. When I get that squared away I'll post a how to.
I've got 2 and a half hours on it. The weather around here is supposed to be nice this weekend so I will probably be able to put another 2 or 3 hours on it this weekend digging up stumps and moving some dirt piles etc.
