CT_Tree_Guy
Platinum Member
(Another "long one" - sorry all)
Island -
My turn to apologize, I wanted to edit my last post to tone it down a little, sorry about "calling you out" like that. It's always tough communicating by keyboard, even with "smilies" etc. at our disposal. Maybe "horsepower junkies" with quotes wouldn't have gotten me as "lathered up". Or maybe it just hit too close to home because maybe I AM a horsepower junkie. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hey, I guess there are worse things to be "hooked" on. Anyway, again my apologies, and I really liked your post.
Your points are excellent, and I totally agree with you that there are very real downsides to having more power than you "need". I say "need" because it's so hard to figure out what that really is. As you say, tractor x might do 80% of what we "need" to do, tractor y might do 90%, tractor z might do 100% or (110%). As you say, it's a lot like having a V-8 or V-10 pickup with a tow package, then using it to go buy a loaf of bread. Tough call.
I guess it's up to each of us to make that call. My choice was easy, I wanted the biggest Kubota I could get with hydro. Even then I had to compromise, because there are some logs that I can't pick up, but 98% of the time I have just the right tractor.
There was another thread in which a poster said that "the smaller tractor can do everything the larger one can do, it will just take longer, that's the ONLY difference." While there is a lot to that, the statement as a whole is ultimately false. (Per my previous comments about the 402 kg loader and the 853 kg rock, or the 5' round baler).
Anyway, I think your points have added a great deal to this discussion, and looking back on this thread I share your surprise that no one has really pointed out the downsides of having "too much tractor", and I'm glad you did.
That's why I love this place so much (too much?). Someone always seems to come up with something new and valuable, and we can all learn from it. It just pains me to see discussions get "ugly" and turn into "cut n' paste wars" which take time and energy away from a dispassionate analysis of the issue at hand. (I now know that we're on the same page with this, so none of this is aimed at you). I just like the policy of saying what's on your mind, devoid of "negative adjectives" (stupid, ridiculous, absurd, wrong-headed, whatever) and unflattering nouns (such-and-such-lover, bonehead, jerk, and worse).
I've always thought that the "Golden Rule" had a gaping hole in it, in that it leaves it up to the individual how he wants to treat others, based on how he likes to be treated himself. (For example, sado-masochists can have a field day and still be following the Golden Rule). I've objected to name-calling before (hard to believe, isn't it? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) and other posters have said, "hey, that doesn't bother me". But I don't think anyone really likes it. Perhaps they just tolerate it more, or better, than I do, and of course we all have things in our lives that we HAVE to tolerate - this would be just one less thing, as Forrest Gump would say.
I've always wanted to start a thread proposing a new "rule" - maybe call it the "Silver Rule", or the "Platinum Rule", heck I don't care if it's the "Cubic Zirconium Rule" - where you just say your peace without using negative adjectives or nouns - the use of which I refer to in perhaps a strict use of the word as "attacks". I've always been careful not to use them in my posts, and I offer my own 300-and-some posts as evidence that it can be done, and you can have fun at the same time. Of course, nothing's black and white except maybe newspapers, and there's a lot of "grey area" where that sneaky little devil "sarcasm" can creep in, or truly GOOD- natured "ribbing", but one can usually tell when it has gone too far.
OK, that's about it - any of you boneheads out there care to disagree with me? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
And ... since it's that "most wonderful time of the year" ... peace to all, and I wish you all happy holidays, filled with love, family, friends, compassion and the joy of being alive on this amazing planet .... (and no, I have NOT been drinking, not yet anyway) /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
John D. (aka "love junkie", "peacenik", or "fruitcake", pick one) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Island -
My turn to apologize, I wanted to edit my last post to tone it down a little, sorry about "calling you out" like that. It's always tough communicating by keyboard, even with "smilies" etc. at our disposal. Maybe "horsepower junkies" with quotes wouldn't have gotten me as "lathered up". Or maybe it just hit too close to home because maybe I AM a horsepower junkie. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hey, I guess there are worse things to be "hooked" on. Anyway, again my apologies, and I really liked your post.
Your points are excellent, and I totally agree with you that there are very real downsides to having more power than you "need". I say "need" because it's so hard to figure out what that really is. As you say, tractor x might do 80% of what we "need" to do, tractor y might do 90%, tractor z might do 100% or (110%). As you say, it's a lot like having a V-8 or V-10 pickup with a tow package, then using it to go buy a loaf of bread. Tough call.
I guess it's up to each of us to make that call. My choice was easy, I wanted the biggest Kubota I could get with hydro. Even then I had to compromise, because there are some logs that I can't pick up, but 98% of the time I have just the right tractor.
There was another thread in which a poster said that "the smaller tractor can do everything the larger one can do, it will just take longer, that's the ONLY difference." While there is a lot to that, the statement as a whole is ultimately false. (Per my previous comments about the 402 kg loader and the 853 kg rock, or the 5' round baler).
Anyway, I think your points have added a great deal to this discussion, and looking back on this thread I share your surprise that no one has really pointed out the downsides of having "too much tractor", and I'm glad you did.
That's why I love this place so much (too much?). Someone always seems to come up with something new and valuable, and we can all learn from it. It just pains me to see discussions get "ugly" and turn into "cut n' paste wars" which take time and energy away from a dispassionate analysis of the issue at hand. (I now know that we're on the same page with this, so none of this is aimed at you). I just like the policy of saying what's on your mind, devoid of "negative adjectives" (stupid, ridiculous, absurd, wrong-headed, whatever) and unflattering nouns (such-and-such-lover, bonehead, jerk, and worse).
I've always thought that the "Golden Rule" had a gaping hole in it, in that it leaves it up to the individual how he wants to treat others, based on how he likes to be treated himself. (For example, sado-masochists can have a field day and still be following the Golden Rule). I've objected to name-calling before (hard to believe, isn't it? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) and other posters have said, "hey, that doesn't bother me". But I don't think anyone really likes it. Perhaps they just tolerate it more, or better, than I do, and of course we all have things in our lives that we HAVE to tolerate - this would be just one less thing, as Forrest Gump would say.
I've always wanted to start a thread proposing a new "rule" - maybe call it the "Silver Rule", or the "Platinum Rule", heck I don't care if it's the "Cubic Zirconium Rule" - where you just say your peace without using negative adjectives or nouns - the use of which I refer to in perhaps a strict use of the word as "attacks". I've always been careful not to use them in my posts, and I offer my own 300-and-some posts as evidence that it can be done, and you can have fun at the same time. Of course, nothing's black and white except maybe newspapers, and there's a lot of "grey area" where that sneaky little devil "sarcasm" can creep in, or truly GOOD- natured "ribbing", but one can usually tell when it has gone too far.
OK, that's about it - any of you boneheads out there care to disagree with me? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
And ... since it's that "most wonderful time of the year" ... peace to all, and I wish you all happy holidays, filled with love, family, friends, compassion and the joy of being alive on this amazing planet .... (and no, I have NOT been drinking, not yet anyway) /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
John D. (aka "love junkie", "peacenik", or "fruitcake", pick one) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
