Land plane questions

[woodlandfarms]

My machine is all front mount. Outside of the dust, which sucks, I am pessimistic that a landscape plane that works for a skid steer will work well for a tractor. It comes to geometry. to float a blade out front requires a different angle to push. While I cannot guarantee it, I would think you will be "Riding over top" of the blade a lot as your push point will be higher than the skid steer.

 

[KanakaRick]

My machine is all front mount. Outside of the dust, which sucks, I am pessimistic that a landscape plane that works for a skid steer will work well for a tractor. It comes to geometry. to float a blade out front requires a different angle to push. While I cannot guarantee it, I would think you will be "Riding over top" of the blade a lot as your push point will be higher than the skid steer.

Good point.... the good news is on my driveway it is just asphalt grindings, so I don't know how much of a difference the elevation of the push point would make.... hmmm. I could see that in more difficult terrain, it could be a problem.

 

[Fallon]

Sorry about all the questions. I am getting my neighbors to chip in on the purchase. One neighbor has a skid steer, and I have the Kioti tractor. Is there any difference in finish between using a pull behind 3 point vs the front mount skid steer style? I can do both, but I recognize the front mount will be a dusty mother. If we get the drag behind, then it will be MY tractor doing the driveway, and if we get the front mount, then either of us can do it. Opinions please....

Tractors pull, skid steers push.

The loader on a tractor is a bass ackwards implement. You need ballast on the other end, but the heavy engine is up front under the loader. The weak, complex & expensive axle is under the loader weight while the beefy simple axle isn't.

A skid steer having only 1 interface is balanced properly & has a MUCH beefier loader on comparable sized machines.

Don't plan on a SSQA interface on your tractor making it function nearly as well as a skid steer or being as tough when using the loader.

I love the SSQA in my loader, but it's still a loader, not a digger or pusher.

 

[KanakaRick]

Got it. Thanks

 

[KanakaRick]

So in an ideal world, which vehicle is better for smoothing a road? We have a skid steer and a tractor- which implement shall we purchase- one for the skid steer or for the tractor?

 

[Fallon]

So in an ideal world, which vehicle is better for smoothing a road? We have a skid steer and a tractor- which implement shall we purchase- one for the skid steer or for the tractor?

A tractor is designed for pulling. Dragging, smoothing & longer distances fall into this. A skid steer is designed for material moving, lifting & manuverability.

Skid steers impliments will cost more than tractor impliments in general. Impliments that are PTO powered are half the price of hydraulically powered stuff (rotary cutter, tiller, etc.)

A tractor will be faster by a lot generally driving it around & have a much better ride.

 

[KanakaRick]

Cool, thanks. Personally, I very much dislike driving in the skid steer. I think the road visibility sucks and I can never get used to the fact that I just cannot see around me. Annoys the heck out of me. I will stick with tractor implements so I can see what is going on. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[woodlandfarms]

While I do not have a skid steer, I do have a tractor with front mount implements. Fallon hit the points right on the head. That said, unless you are actively farming (Plowing, dragging, seeding) having your implements out front is fantastic. I would say for the vast majority of the gentleman farmers if they drove a front implement machine like mine they would convert. Just as and FYI,when I have to box blade or use a potato plow, I drive backwards. Not convenient but in reality almost everything I do on my farm has no ground engagement to speak of.

 

[KanakaRick]

While I do not have a skid steer, I do have a tractor with front mount implements. Fallon hit the points right on the head. That said, unless you are actively farming (Plowing, dragging, seeding) having your implements out front is fantastic. I would say for the vast majority of the gentleman farmers if they drove a front implement machine like mine they would convert. Just as and FYI,when I have to box blade or use a potato plow, I drive backwards. Not convenient but in reality almost everything I do on my farm has no ground engagement to speak of.

Thanks for the input Woodland. I could see for industrial uses, the tractor is best suited for dragging. But for light duty stuff, you may have a point. Do you have a forward mount land plane or box scraper?

 

[woodlandfarms]

My box blade is front mounted, but I have to pull it (so drive in reverse). You cannot push a box blade very well with my machine.

I use a landscape rake for maintaining my road and I push it. It has wheels so it won't dig in too bad. What happens when you push and your tractor arms are floating if you build up too much material or you hit an imovable object your tractor tries to drive over the implement.