<font color=blue>on your profile, you have years more tractor experience than I'll ever have.</font color=blue>
Man Bill, ya made me go look at my profile to figure out what I said to make you think that. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Must have been the "workin' on farms in my youth" comment. Only problem is, that wasn't with compacts and implements like box blades and such AND, my youth was a looooong time ago.
Remember that most free advice is worth what you pay for it and, in my case, you may want to ask for a rebate. I'm also only at about 80 hrs on my 4400, so I haven't torture tested my implements like others on this board have. I'm sure they could give much better advice. Still, I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.
So.... does it make sense to buy a quick hitch and matching implements?
Not for me. I hate limiting myself to one type or brand. The beauty of a 3ph is it's versatility. Why restrict that. Now, with that said, I have about 3 implements that I switch back and forth on a pretty regular basis. I may go ahead and make the modifications I have to for them to work with the quick hitch, but I wouldn't want to be locked into a particular brand just to fit the hitch. I guess you never would actually be locked in, as you could always take off the quick hitch, but then you're back to wrestling implements to line them up with the links.
Still, you got a LP boxblade as I recall. Why?
Because my Deere dealer also sells LandPride. When I ordered the tractor, there were three implements that I knew I wanted right out of the gate. A box blade, roto tiller, & a rotary cutter. These three implements were package priced in with the tractor deal and, as such, cost me much less than buying them separately.
Give me your experience/impression of LP vs. KK.
I won't take anything away from the LP stuff. They are finished beautifully, the welds are solid and they perform as advertised. They are also expensive when compared to KingKutter. The KK implements have a butt-ugly paint job but seem to be built darn tough. For ground engaging equipment (box blades, rear blades, rotary cutters, mowers, rakes, tillers, etc.) I tend to look at the weights of comparable sizes and, if applicable, the rating of the gearbox. If the weight is about the same, they should be built from about the same materials. That leaves welds and finish. I don't worry too much about the finish. If you use these things, they're going to get beat up anyway. If you don't like the color, a little paint can fix that. The welds aren't terribly important for me either. I have a mig welder, stick welder, cutting torch and a plasma cutter. If a weld breaks, I can take care of that. If I had to haul these to a welding shop if something broke, I may put a little more emphasis on the weld quality but, so far, nothing on any of my KK implements has broken.
I think I need a boxblade (there is a KK 5 tine BBlade in town at Orcheiln (sp?) for
around $260 -- LPs are 500-600. Worth the difference?
KK lists two box blades with 5 shanks. A 60" at 415 lbs and 66" at 435 lbs. My LP 2566 box blade is listed at 423 lbs, so the KK meets my weight test. If it looks solid and the welds look good, I'd say it's a good value at that price. Even as part of the tractor package, I can guarantee you that my LP was a lot more than $260.00.
How do you use the rake and is it a good implement for you?
I actually bought the rake to rake the sod clumps out of freshly tilled ground. It has worked fairly well for that, but I'm thinking about taking out every other tooth. The teeth are only spaced about 1" apart, which should be great for spreading and leveling gravel or driveway rock, but it tends to not let much dirt go through. This is one implement that, had it not been for the price of the KK brand, I wouldn't own one. I don't anticipate that I could have gotten enough use out of one to pay 6 or 7 hundred dollars for one.
Also, tell me how you have been using the boom pole
So far, not for much. I've used it a few times to load an extra implement on the trailer when I was taking the tractor to a different location, but that's about it. When I bought the rake at Atwoods, the boom pole was just sittin' there with a $67.00 price tag on it. For that, I thought I should take it home with me.
I'm learning that paint color isn't as important as value, especially with the cost of a 4310.
For the most part, I agree with that. If I had unlimited funds, I might like to have everything green/yellow to match the tractor. Since I don't, I bought a couple gallons of paint and saved a bunch on the implements. However, price cannot be your ONLY criteria. You obviously think so too, or you wouldn't be spending the money for a Deere when there's a lot of less expensive stuff out there. When it comes to the KK equipment, I do think they offer a very good value for the dollar, though they may not be the "best dressed" at the party.
Hoss
