Kubota L35 TLB, Safe Level Front Wheel Immersion In Lake?

[MF243RedTop]

Something like this is what I'm imagining.



Instead of mounting your trailer ball to the FEL, why not use 2.5 or 3" square tubing (1/4 or 5/16 thick wall) to mount to the FEL and get your ball further out away from your tractor. Don't know what length you'll need but 4-6' would make a difference in how far your front wheels go in.

 

[Keuka]

Red Top,
I'm looking at that option also. I have a 10' length of the 2 inch tow hitch tubing I could use to make a longer hitch bar and I'm looking at both options. Of course the back hoe extends out about ten feet and that would put my larger diameter rear tires in the deeper water and the smaller diameter front tires in shallower water. I'll come up with something that will work.

We pull out our docks and boat hoists each fall for winter freeze up. So that makes launching (without the dock for tying up) much more difficult for late season fishing. Back in the 50's, 60's & 70's, when I was a kid, our branch of the lake froze solid every winter. It hasn't done that now for several years. If I was braver, or more foolish, I'd take the chance like others and just leave things in over the winter. About the time I'd do that we'd get a cold winter, like yesteryears, and there I'd be watching the ice crunch things up. I might be old and foolish but I'm not old and lazy, yet.

The lake I live on ( Keuka Lake, Finger Lakes Area of New York) is a good size body of water. You can pull out and go fishing with the lake calm as **** but then the wind kicks up and in short order you'll find yourself trying to pull the boat out in rough water conditions. In my younger years I would have just pulled up near the beach, jumped out of the boat with my hip boots on and horsed the boat around. Those days are long gone so know I have compensate and use the tractor.

 

[LouNY]

See a lot of bubblers around Lake George to keep ice from busting up the docks.

 

[Keuka]

Bubblers work until the ice breaks up and starts to move from being wind blown, then they're not worth much. When you get a big sheet of ice a mile or so long moving even only a few feet a minute, there's a tremendous amount of force there. I've seen permanent docks, built on pilings, totally mashed in a matter of minutes. It's like playing Russian Roulette, sometimes you win but sometimes you don't. People are getting braver each year around here and there's several docks that cost in the neighborhood of $50,000 plus. Mother Nature has a way of changing directions and getting even in very short order.
Anyway, I believe I've come up with a good way to hook a tow ball on the excavator bucket. If this works like planned it should allow me to boom out, launch and only get the front end in a couple of inches of water, possibly even keep the front end completely on dry land. With the boom all the way in it puts the tow ball 15 feet back from the front tires, the ball on the FEL is only about 6 feet in front so I'll gain 9 feet. Then, if needed, I can drop the backhoe outriggers and boom out several more feet.

 

[JWR]

Here is Southern MD we have salt water (mildly salty, not quite as much as the Atlantic) and my pier is on a protected creek in off the Chesapeake. We use "bubblers" too. Mine is a submersible pump rigged to hang off the pier and pump a pretty healthy water spout. It has been 4 or 5 years since we had heavy ice in the creek BUT it does happen even down here and many pilings and piers have been uprooted by the ice clinging to the pilings and then going up and down with the tides. The picture from RedTop is worth 1000 words if that is very close to your situation.

I think it safe to assume you have very light tongue weight when moving the boat in/out. That being true I would try a MUCH longer rig out front of your FEL. Probably needs some bracing to two more points on the bucket with such a long lever... I'd be tempted to rig a "pig pole" with 3 point attach points fabricated to the bucket and then receiver hitch out at the end of the pig pole. A "quick attach adapter" (of whichever class would match the pig pole you find) might simplify the project & add stability by making attach points for the quick hitch adapter rather than the pig pole itself (??)
All sorts of angles and stuff to figure out. Depends too on how much metal fab you can do yourself versus hiring it done. One plus would be LOTS of kludges you could perform if you had 3pt hitch compatibility on your FEL bucket.

I found an old (50% larger than the orig Kubota) bucket at an auction and had a local shop weld on some attach points to the bucket that matched my BX2200 pin locations. That way I can switch to a larger bucket for lighter loads like snow. If you had that "extra bucket" you could go much more hog wild modifying things for your boat launch purposes while preserving the orig bucket... just ideas.

 

[bcp]

If you are launching your trailers, make a tongue extension.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=trailer+tongue+launch+extension&iax=images&ia=images

If they are other trailers, add a boom of the length needed, with a ball on the end. Maybe add a caster wheel on the far end, too.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tractor+loader+bucket+boom&t=ffsb&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

Bruce

 

[JWR]

Good holy Moses ! I do believe a few thousand other people have tackled THIS problem ! What an amazing collection! BCP you have put us to shame.



It does appear that great minds think alike ... or stumble in similar directions !

 

[Keuka]

My FEL tow hitch is similar to RedTops' except mine is a do-it-yourself version that bolts to the bucket through the center hole for the FEL cutting edge. It works great when the water level is at normal seasonal height or for moving trailer around the place but during the winter the water level usually drops about 2.5 feet and that leads to a very gradual sloping lake bed on my beach. Anyway I just finished mounting a bolt on, do-it-youself sort of modified ball mounting rig on the rear backhoe bucket. Playing with it in the parking area at the shop it appears it will work just fine. It required drilling two holes in the back of the back hoe bucket just below the dipper knuckle. I also had to modify a drop ball mounting bracket a little by drilling a couple of extra holes and changing out the ball mounting arm. It will have to come off when digging with the excavator bucket but it bolts on and off in just a few minutes. It gives me a whole lot more distance between the front wheels and the ball connection with the boom and dipper both tucked all the way in. The if needed, I can always boom out several more feet with the out riggers down but I doubt I'll have to do that. Like most boats, my trailer tongue weight was originally around 100 lbs. I mounted a set of steps on my tongue, for getting in and out of the boat off the tongue, so my weight might be little more. I was about to head down to the lake and give it a test run but it looks like it's about to rain/snow so maybe another warmer day. Anyway after playing with it here at the shop it's working just fine so I think I'll be good to go with my front wheels & drive system high and dry.

 

[Michael In Tennessee]

I have a 10' length of the 2 inch tow hitch tubing...

I'd stop right here. Make a boom for a 2" tongue and be done.

 

[goeduck]

What was this guy up to? I saw it in the link in post 16


Clever way to haul a lot of apples