DieselBound
Elite Member
Rear remotes, a must! I got different types of valves for my NX, but cannot tell you exactly what kind: I know that one that I use for my grapple I'm able to just hit the lever and it'll lock and hold that operation, open or close, until I put it back into the neutral position- I'll be driving into a pile of branches/debris and do a quick slap of the lever to close the grapple as I then use that hand to manipulate the loader control real quick, then pop the valve back to neutral. And while you're thinking of rear remotes think about adding a hydraulic top link (it'll be an aftermarket addition, plenty of info on this site to figure it out).
The retractable/adjustable lower link arm ends are, if you can get them, well worth it. If you get quick hitch ready attachments they hook up really easy even without the quick hitch: that's how I do it; and on my B7800 it's the ONLY way to do it as the link arms use turnbuckles and, frankly, suck. Just shoving in pins is easy enough. Also, not sure if it's something available on this class of tractor, but my NX has a lever in the rear to manually operate the link arm height; with a cab that's especially necessary because you cannot reach the cockpit lever, as I do with my B7800 (open station).
I fully agree with skipping the backhoe attachment and just renting an excavator. That's what I do (I'll be renting a couple here next week). I've also rented a skid steer with an auger when I did my fencing project; much easier to reorient your position with a skid steer (you get to look right at where you are drilling); and then there's the fact that you can reverse auger position, something that you can't do with a PTO driven auger- I was 3' to 4' deep and clogging up with clayish soil and wouldn't have been able to pull up the auger if not for the fact that I could reverse it (the weight was sometimes really something, heavy wet clay!).
I gave up on quick hitches a long time ago. My B7800 really needs one but not all of my implements would work with one. And hooking up PTO shafts is harder because the quick hitch presents more stuff to have to work around. Even gave Pat's quick hitch a try, but my B7800 is just totally a pain, the link arms are only constrained by turnbuckles (they flop about when trying to hook stuff up- not an issue with the quick hitch). As noted above, with my NX and it's adjustable link arms and the manual control lever in the rear it's pretty easy to hook up most things. Quick hitches put things our a bit further, cutting down on lifting capacity; not likely a big hit, but it's something to consider; and, if you have existing PTO implements you need to verify that shaft lengths are still good (not too short- there are extenders for the tractor PTO shaft, but I haven't used one so I cannot really speak toe real world use/viability).
The retractable/adjustable lower link arm ends are, if you can get them, well worth it. If you get quick hitch ready attachments they hook up really easy even without the quick hitch: that's how I do it; and on my B7800 it's the ONLY way to do it as the link arms use turnbuckles and, frankly, suck. Just shoving in pins is easy enough. Also, not sure if it's something available on this class of tractor, but my NX has a lever in the rear to manually operate the link arm height; with a cab that's especially necessary because you cannot reach the cockpit lever, as I do with my B7800 (open station).
I fully agree with skipping the backhoe attachment and just renting an excavator. That's what I do (I'll be renting a couple here next week). I've also rented a skid steer with an auger when I did my fencing project; much easier to reorient your position with a skid steer (you get to look right at where you are drilling); and then there's the fact that you can reverse auger position, something that you can't do with a PTO driven auger- I was 3' to 4' deep and clogging up with clayish soil and wouldn't have been able to pull up the auger if not for the fact that I could reverse it (the weight was sometimes really something, heavy wet clay!).
I gave up on quick hitches a long time ago. My B7800 really needs one but not all of my implements would work with one. And hooking up PTO shafts is harder because the quick hitch presents more stuff to have to work around. Even gave Pat's quick hitch a try, but my B7800 is just totally a pain, the link arms are only constrained by turnbuckles (they flop about when trying to hook stuff up- not an issue with the quick hitch). As noted above, with my NX and it's adjustable link arms and the manual control lever in the rear it's pretty easy to hook up most things. Quick hitches put things our a bit further, cutting down on lifting capacity; not likely a big hit, but it's something to consider; and, if you have existing PTO implements you need to verify that shaft lengths are still good (not too short- there are extenders for the tractor PTO shaft, but I haven't used one so I cannot really speak toe real world use/viability).