Just Ordered My TC45D

TexasZman · Dec 19, 2002

Jinman, most of the dead trees are 4-10" diameter, although there are some around 16-20" - better get the chainsaw ready for those. A lot of the trees can be toppled by rocking the base of the tree by hand, so I should be able to push over 90+% of the trees.

You ask where my place is - it is located in Colleyville on a dead end paved road about 6 miles from DFW airport. I may not be in the "country", but this is about as close to the country as you can get and still be in town. My wife and I had pondered where to build the dream house, and since her family is from this area, she wants to stay close by.

As for the tractor, 2 remotes are installed and am waiting on the 3rd. Yeah, you could say I am itching to get to work!

markie61 · Dec 19, 2002

I once saw my father-in-law fill up his loader bucket with dirt, lift it 4-6 feet, and then push it against trees. They'd fall right over and the root balls would pop right up. Of course, they were Virginia pine (trash pines, we call 'em - 40' tall and 3' roots). I think the extra weight/mass helped with the pushing.
Mark

jinman · Dec 20, 2002

Well Jeff, for a moment I was beginning to think that we might have more in common than the TC45Ds and McMaster New Holland. I work down at the airport end of Glade Road at CAE SimuFlite and you live at the other end in Colleyville. Until I read your bio and discovered you are a small business owner, I was beginning to think you might be a pilot. Anyway, It's a great area and I love working there as long as I can get away to my place in the country on a regular basis.

I hope you don't have to wait on your tractor much longer. Are you going to haul it yourself or get it delivered? I've hauled mine behind my 3/4 ton Dodge Diesel, but not on a regular basis. With a 3/4 ton truck you should be able to haul it just fine if you need to do it.

TexasZman · Dec 22, 2002

TaDa! My tractor arrived the afternoon of Friday 12/20. Within minutes I had pushed over half a dozen dead 6-8" diameter dead trees, and put the bucket of the loader under a large 20" diameter and about 16-18 foot long log. I was able to pick it up and shove it back with ease. Then I put put her away till Saturday.

Saturday 12/21. Fired up the BushHog 84" mower and cut about 3 acres of pasture. It was awfully slow going because of the countless stops to pick up deadfall limbs and debris that had washed and fallen into the pasture.

Sunday 12/22. Mowed another 2 acres of pasture and 'bulldozed' a lot of logs and other deadfall into a pile. I then proceeded to knock over about a dozen dead trees while the mower was still on the 3pt. I removed the mower, and then knocked over another dozen or so trees.

Here's the gist, this tractor has more power than I thought it would have. It barely makes a grunt when engaging the PTO for the mower, and knocks over the trees with ease. I was only able to spin the tires one time, and that was after I removed the mower. Hmmm - sounds like I may still need a little more rear weight even though I already have 420 pounds of rear wheel weights. I think I will look into the 3pt suitcase weights as they will add an additional 600 pounds without having the bulkiness of the mower.

SuperSteer - marvelous - I was able to maneuver around trees and fences and such that would have been difficult otherwise, and have on demand FWD when needed!

Jinman - I had the tractor delivered because my truck is too wimpy to pull a large enough trailer.

Check out the attached photo - do you think the black rear wheel weights are sexy?

I guess I will now move over to the "owning" forum since I have my tractor.

TexasZman

grainger12002 · Dec 23, 2002

nice,nice,nice,........Aint nothin like a new tractor-tis' a thing of beauty !! Enjoy& ahppy holidays.... The Grainger

jinman · Dec 23, 2002

Great looking tractor, Jeff. It looks like Santa came a few days early. He definitely left you some nice toys. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif Enjoy! Of course, there's not much you can do about the rain,/w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif but if you park it where you can see it, you can sit inside and drink coffee while "...visions of jobs done dance in your head." /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Happy Holidays!