Happy 1000 Hours!

kensfarm · May 17, 2004

I was helping out my next door dairy farmer yesterday by digging out a manure pit and loading into his wagon when I looked down and saw the hour gauge was at 1002 hours! Dang.. I missed it.. I guess I hit the 1000 hours earlier in the morning when I was cleaning up my own farm's manure & old bedding for the steers I've been raising... or it could have been from earlier that morning when I was transporting my newest addition back to the farm.. a small hoistein bull(will be a steer in a couple weeks).. he has "Mickey Mouse" face in black on his left side.

This TC35D w/ SS & 17LA HD bucket is like having a team of workers.. I def. have to say.. this tractor has earned it's keep!

I thought I list-off some of the tasks & problems I've had over the last 4 seasons.

Yearly Task: Finish mowing(6ft), Bush hogging(5ft), Post hole digging, Plowing(2-bottom), Tilling(6ft), Planting(2rowJD, Oliver Grain Drill), Hay Raking, Round Bale moving, Snow Removal(FEL&RearBlade), Logging, and endless FEL hauling & digging work.

Feats of Strength: 18 wheeler stuck at bottom of hill after unloading gravel.. angle too steep to lower truck bed back down. See "Boomer amazes truck driver!"

NH skidsteer stuck in woods.. pulled him through the mud like he was on a sled.

Problems: flat tires - 2 front(until solid filled) 2 rears(broke valve stem off, stick puncture.)

hydralic - pin hole on main metal line that runs on top hydro, FEL bucket hydro lines - 2 separate times (bundles of railroad ties 3000#) the lines were showing outside wear.

killswitch - plastic connection for switch under seat broken
fuse blew - didn't have headlights on..
gas gage - still not working.. one of the first problems when new.. told dealer for 50hr service
quick connects - leaking.. dealer tried to fix.. still leaking
telescoping steering wheel - currently locked up
cruise control - never has worked
front axle guard - currently bent in a "S" shape
top link bracket - slightly bent(probably from BrushBull600)
HD bucket - stress cracks along each side of stitch welding on the inside of the bucket.. had the entire seam re-welded.

This tractor has made the hard work fun.. I've pushed it to it's limits and then some.. it has been the extra hand when no one's around to help.. and has kept me safe at heights while I've worked out of the bucket. I have more tasks & projects on hand then I have time.. so glad I have this tractor to help me! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks guys.. for all the info on problems & projects!

tc35dforme · May 17, 2004

Ken....My only question...why didn't the minor items get fixed under warranty ( fuel gauge, cruise control ) ??

As a fellow TC35D owner I'm glad to hear you got to 1000 Hrs. I'll be there in ohh....maybe 3 more years /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

markie61 · May 17, 2004

Are you gonna invite all us TBN buddies over for cake and ice cream? Yum /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif!

Congratulations. At the rate I'm going, my party will be in about 2 1/2 years.

Mark

kensfarm · May 17, 2004

I guess it comes down to time & money.. always hated being w/out my tractor.. when I did the first 50hr service.. the bill was almost as big as the tractor payment w/ pickup/delivery added. They probably did fix the gas gauge only for it to stop working again.

I would usually group "tractor problems" together before setting up for the dealer to come pick it up. They had a recall to replace a gear spring.. mine had no problems.. but when I had the metal hydralic line spring a pin leak.. which required them to strip the tractor down.. I asked them to do the recall work as well.

It's not the number of hours that count.. it's the number of bugs you pick out of your teeth from smiling too much while driving that tractor! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

paccorti · May 17, 2004

I thought I was doing pretty good with the 650 hrs on my TC35D. You got me beat by a mile!. I put about 160hrs per year on mine. The thing I love about mine is how good it mows. With a 7' First Choice rear discharge that baby can really mow. Great cut and real fast. Nobody can tell I have pasture grass because it looks so good! That tractor makes my 10 acres managable and even fun to work. What could be better?

Peter

jinman · May 17, 2004

( he has "Mickey Mouse" face in black on his left side.
)

My girlfriend has a goat she calls Mickey Mouse for the same reason. I'll have to get a photo of the "little rat" and post it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Congratulations on your first 1000. When did you buy your tractor? I checked your profile and you didn't register until 2003. Did you get 1000 hr that quickly? Wow! I jealous of your seat time. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I just rolled over 600 hours. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

kensfarm · May 18, 2004

You guys are always invited to stop by.. if it's the weekend.. I'm on the farm. My only errand I run on Sat. morning is going to the Souther States store to pick 500 lbs of sweet feed & 200 lbs of fertilizer.. all piled in the back of my firebird!

Icecream & cake would be great.. but how about one step further.. it would be great to have a TBN party.. this summer would be a great time.. the veggies should be rolling in.. and one set of my steers should be getting towards a 1000 lbs.

Jim.. my reg. date is deceiving.. I bought the farm in Dec. of 99.. and I believe I got the tractor in the spring of 2000.. so I'm probably putting about 250 hrs a year on this machine.. but this year my seat time has increased 2 fold because of the steers.. and the size of the ground I'm working.

Here is a picture so I can show you guys the work this tractor has been doing. I numbered the picture areas so you can see what I'm talking about.. and why I've had so much seat time. The farm's borders are in white.. the creeks that run through the farm are in blue. The white arrow points to the farm house. The red represents the fence line I've been working on so I can rotate the steers from field to field. I just got a new load of used railroad ties.. so I can finish fencing in the front fields. So when it's raining & I can't mow or plant.. I always can set post in the ground.

1. Hayfield.. bushhogged early spring.. overseeded & fertilized.
2. Grainfield.. converting to grass/clover mix.. last Sunday I used my Oliver Grain drill to plant the grass seed & fert... the farmer who rents the rest of my farm had prepped this field for me to plant. The grain drill also has grass seed boxes.
3. Was my back yard.. currently fenced in for the 10 steers I'm raising.. this is my temp. setup until I get the front fields finished.
4. & 5. This my "supersized garden" this year.. it took me at least 3 days to plow the entire area w/ my refurbished McCormic International 2 bottom plow.
4. Planted this entire field in Silver Queen sweet corn w/ a
JD 2row corn planter. I took off from work last week and planted it on Monday.. by this past Sunday.. it was already coming up! I was happily surprised.. ground temp. was at 76 degrees this past Saturday.
5. So far we've planted 100lbs of potatoes.. a set of onions.. around 50 tomatoe plants, green peppers, squash, green beans, lima beans, still more to go. Since this coming weekend will be two weeks since the first set of sweet corn went in.. I'll be planting the second set of sweet this weekend.. weather permitting.

Now you can get a good picture of where all this seat time comes from.. coupled w/ logging/firewood detail for the fall and winter(fireplace,woodstove), snow removal on the farm plus surrounding neighbors.. plus using the tractor to help build new doors for the barn, the cattle shelter, 2nd floor balconey on the farm house, and a list of other projects. I also use the tractor when I go hunting.. I have a seat I built that fits in the bucket.. back the tractor into some brush.. and use a ladder to climb up and into the bucket.. portable deer stand. I also use it to mow the grass.. last season I raked hay for my dairy neighbor while he baled. I guess that's enough.. you think I could convince some that a hydro CUT is a real farm tractor? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

kensfarm · May 18, 2004

Just saw this in today's Frederick New's Post.. the creek that runs through the middle of my farm is Little Hunting Creek!

THURMONT --A swarm of actors, film production people and other specialists were on hand for Monday's on-location shooting of "The West Wing."

Ms. Tomlin, remarked on her way to break that she was enjoying the surroundings.

"I'm going to buy this place," joked Ms. Tomlin, referring to the remote lodge on Catoctin Hollow Raod. "Right now I'm haggling over the price."

West Wing star Martin Sheen said he has no plans to fish along the bank of the Little Hunting Creek.

"I don't fish," said Mr. Sheen, noting that he had no desire to disturb fish in their natural environment. "I think fish belong where they belong."

jinman · May 20, 2004

( he has "Mickey Mouse" face in black on his left side.
)

Mickey Mouse the goat...

...now lets see your bull /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif ...or is that steer? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

kensfarm · May 21, 2004

Jim that's a pretty good "Mickey".. what kind of goat is that? I'm taking pictures this weekend.. the calf is only 2 weeks old.. he's still a bull for now. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Thanks for the picture.. I'll post mine as soon as I can.