Green Horn

[case685]

Hi Appygirl I've been feeding large bales to 6 horses for several years now and though the snow sometimes causes a problem I find wet conditions tougher to deal with ( I'm a few hours east of you in southwest Ont. ). If your going to be driving the tractor where the horses hang out it can get pretty messy, even in lighter soil conditions. A larger tractor with good ag tires is the best way to deal with that.
Also don't be afraid to go used when it comes to buying a tractor. Unless they have been badly abused ( you can pretty much tell by looking at them ) they are very reliable especially if you stick to the main brands. If you don't mind shifting gears as opposed to HST(automatic) you can also get more bang for your buck. Gerry

 

[Appygirl]

Thank you Gerry. Good thought on the mud/slush. I do plan on the ag tires.

 

[Spiveyman]

Heck that was great info for hubby to build me one when it's time. Thank you.

My husband has a wood shop so he should have all the toys to build one.
I'm still waiting for my dining room table made out of cherry!! Hmm maybe for Christmas!!

Ha! If he can build a cherry table then he can most certainly handle something as rudimentary as a carry all. I'm not exactly a skilled wood worker, but it is fun to build with wood. It is very forgiving. Here's a fun project I worked on over the winter. Now I can use a saddle as a piece of furniture and justify adding it to the decore of the house.






I also understand the concerns with buying a used tractor if you aren't very familiar with them. One rule of thumb that can help, find one with OEM paint that looks pretty decent. That will tell you that it hasn't been mistreated. Not many people will keep a tractor clean but destroy it mechanically. If you get one that's been repainted you never know what kind of condition it was in before the make-over and a new coat of paint will erase years of mistreatment. If you buy used from a dealer, spend some time talking to him, ask him lots of questions and see if he's happy to answer them. If you can find a salesman that will spend time to teach you something instead of just wanting to sell you something, odds are he/she will be trustworthy. And if you get one of those feelings about the salesperson, look elsewhere.

Hope the hunt is going well.

 

[3RRL]

If your land is kinda flat, there's always the old hay wagon routine. You can tow it out to pasture.

 

[Appygirl]

I think you underestimated your wood working skills, that is absolutely gorgeous!! I'll trade you saddles too I do have a nice saddle, I just whine about it being heavy. Did you use a router for the longhorn head? Hubby hasn't played with his router much. I think I need to get in there and practice if I can find a clear working space. LOL

I need a time out for a couple of days for the tractor hunt. I'm actually glad they have half days on Saturday and closed Sunday. I do have a tall order and needing a trailer puts it up to the Jolly Green Giant or is it Jack and the Bean Stalk with my budget. Hmmm wish list vs reality.... now there's a concept.
I do feel the trailer needs to be put on another page because it will most likely pay for itself in about 2 years. It will definetly save time and money getting hay loads, and trips to the dealer for servicing the tractor.

c/ya

 

[Spiveyman]

I think you underestimated your wood working skills, that is absolutely gorgeous!! I'll trade you saddles too I do have a nice saddle, I just whine about it being heavy. Did you use a router for the longhorn head? Hubby hasn't played with his router much. I think I need to get in there and practice if I can find a clear working space. LOL

Ha! I think you underestimate the effect of putting NINE coats of poly over the stain! I wet sanded with about a million grit sandpaper on the last few coats to get one heck of a smooth shiney finish. That distracts from some of the mistakes I made. I used a router to put a fancy edge on the front and rear panels of the stand, not sure that shows up in the pics. I tried on a scrap piece of board to use the router to create an indented longhorn head. I was going to stain it darker for contrast, but I just couldn't get it as perfect as I wanted, so I went the other rout. I drew one out on a scrap board, then used a scroll saw to cut it, then sanded it. In the end it was too "pretty" so I roughed it back up with some 60 grit paper.



I don't think you'd like that saddle either then. It's heavy. It's a Billy Cook Wade Rancher. The wade tree is a hoss, needed for the stress and strain of roping larger cattle. Same with the horn, extra beefy and wrapped in goatskin for friction when you dally off. Actually I've only used it a few times. Usually a bucket of grain is easier!

I agree on the trailer, you need that for sure (assuming you have a truck than can haul it). I can't haul mine with my 1/2 ton pickup, so now I just have to buy a super duty truck! Incindentally, if you have a 1 ton truck, be careful what trailer you buy or you might have to get a CDL to use it. There are several threads here that address that, here's one of them:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/construction-equipment/105204-can-i-legally-tow-20-a.html

 

[Appygirl]

Ha! You're funny! I got thinking after I posted that you had used a scroll saw, and with nine coat it will be good enough for your grandkids!
Okay now I'm going to go peek at my owners manual for towing rate; I've kinda forgotten what the exact numbers were and see how much my trailer weights empty. I did upgrade to a different and bigger engine last year ; its a 3/4 ton diesel duramax/ allison transmission; love it!! Okay got to go look at numbers. Oh, and my saddle it a TEX- TAN, big and heffty , I"ll have to get pictures, but where's that camera at?

c/ya

 

[Spiveyman]

Ha! You're funny! I got thinking after I posted that you had used a scroll saw, and with nine coat it will be good enough for your grandkids!
Okay now I'm going to go peek at my owners manual for towing rate; I've kinda forgotten what the exact numbers were and see how much my trailer weights empty. I did upgrade to a different and bigger engine last year ; its a 3/4 ton diesel duramax/ allison transmission; love it!! Okay got to go look at numbers. Oh, and my saddle it a TEX- TAN, big and heffty , I"ll have to get pictures, but where's that camera at?

Grandkids! Ha! That thing's practically bullet proof!

I bet you are OK with a 3/4 ton. The problem is a 1 ton (10K capacity) + a heavy duty trailer (> 16K) seems to require a CDL even if the trailer's empty. Sounds like you are under that.

My partner has a Tex Tan roping saddle, great saddle, and yes a tad heavy too. We've got a 3 year old daughter and a 5 month old son, so there's always a camera handy.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I bet you are OK with a 3/4 ton. The problem is a 1 ton (10K capacity) + a heavy duty trailer (> 16K) seems to require a CDL even if the trailer's empty. Sounds like you are under that.

Not an expert here, but my understanding was you needed CDL if gross combination weight rating (GCWR) is 26,000lbs or greater. I don't know of any 1-ton pickups with a GCWR that high, so I don't think it's an issue for a setup with a 1-ton and any trailer. In some cases trucks capable of pulling more, like the International CXT, can be had with a 25,999 GCWR for the precise reason of avoiding the CDL requirement. But again, I'm not an expert (though I anticipate one will soon post to either confirm or refute my understanding).

 

[Spiveyman]

I'm not an expert either, Just saw that on another thread and wanted to make sure she was OK.

To be sure, I just checked Ford's website (since I'm a Ford guy) and they have several F250 and F350's that go over 10,000 lb GVW. There's even an F350 CrewCab at 13,000 lbs!!! (more power) Also looked up heavy duty Gooseneck tandem axle trailers, and there are several models in the 12,000 to 14,000 range. It's certainly possible to top 26K, though probably not that likely.

I think for Appygirl she'll be fine since she's using a 3/4 ton truck and probably isn't looking for suck a heavy duty trailer. When I made the comment I didn't know what truck she had. The trick now is to know what your combined GVW is and keep it under 26K unless you want to get a CDL.