So that's what that lever is for!

[N80]

I remembered one other thing. The FEL. I don't mow without it. No rocks or hidden objects but some of the ant hills really cause a ruckus with the mower. Some of them are huge.

Right after I got my tractor I just mowed right over them without too much trouble. Now they play heck with the mower and I realized the difference is dry vs wet mounds. The dry ones just sort of vaporize. The wet ones bog down the tractor and the mower!

So I keep the FEL blade about 3 inches off the ground to knock them over.

 

[N80]

Okay, here's a pic just for fun. This is a 4430 used for pulling the spreader. The spreader is used to spread turkey manure. Turkey manure is loaded into spreader with a NH 865 skid steer with an enourmous scoop. The 4430 is also the tractor used to pull the baler. I think the 4430 is from about 1975. He uses a JD 2355 with a JD FEL to load and move bales. He has another JD to pull the hay mower.

 

[SCDolphin]

George did you use a polarizer on the avitar picture????

 

[N80]

George did you use a polarizer on the avitar picture????

I don't remember, but with that dark blue sky it sure looks like I did, and I do use one frequently.

 

[RobT]

N80:

What kind of jeep is that in the third picture? It looks like an old Army-style one, but can't really tell. That is sweet looking.

robt

 

[N80]

That is a WWII era Willys (or Ford). He has a dozen of them.

 

[Soundguy]

Is your tractor a hydro? If so.. don't you leave the throttle set and just vary ground speed? or if gear.. do you actually vary rpm to maneuver vs choosing a gear range that is safe to operate in? reason i ask is that a mower will not be as efficient run at a lower rpm.. etc.

Would love to se ethe pics when you get a chance.. especialyl of that nice old case.. and that mower.

soundguy

I love the hand throttle now too. But like I said, the stuff I normally mow is tight, bumpy and often on an incline. I think the Case has a hand throttle only.

The 14' mower is an old JD pull type. You can still see a little green if you look in the right place. I say its 14', it might be 12. It is cobbled together. More welds than original metal. You do not want to walk on the deck, you'd fall through the rust. He has two, the other one is up at the shop and looks considerably worse. They have both been broken at every point you can break one.

He wanted his thirteen year old daughter (his youngest) to start mowing with that Case, but his wife nipped that in the bud. His daughters can outwork most men and are very proficient on horseback, but momma drew the line at that big old tractor.

I've got pictures of a number of his machines, I'll post a couple when I get home. I'm into photography and he is too to a certain extent, but he thinks I'm an oddball taking pictures of his old tractors. He sees them only as tools. I like good tractor pics though.

 

[daTeacha]

So when you hunt turkey from a blind, do you use a shotgun or a bow? A lot of turkeys are harvested with a bow around here.

 

[N80]

Soundguy, my tractor (Kubota L4400) is a simple gear drive. And you are right, when working in tight bumpy areas I have to use the foot throttle to vary speed continuously. This means pto speed frequently drops below optimal and I'm sure mower performance suffers. The only other option is a very low gear to keep rpms up but that often translates to a ground speed that is even too slow for me.

In the big flat fields in the picture above, I set a good brisk ground speed and kept the pto rpms right at 540. So nice and easy.

Teacha, I'm not a bow hunter, but most of my shotgun shots are under 30 yards, so it isn't necessarily _easy_, but it just isn't as fun, to me, as woods hunting. A bow would make field hunting a lot more sporting. But I still love the active pursuit of one in the woods when it takes tactics, good calling (or more often so-so calling in my case) and good concealment. Frequent failures just make it that more interesting!

 

[Soundguy]

No problem.. I wasn't pik'in on ya.. just wonderin. I realize we all have different circumstances, and hafta deal with them as they are.

And i couldn't remember if you had gear or hydro.. ( I'm a gear person myself.. )

Soundguy

Soundguy, my tractor (Kubota L4400) is a simple gear drive. And you are right, when working in tight bumpy areas I have to use the foot throttle to vary speed continuously. This means pto speed frequently drops below optimal and I'm sure mower performance suffers. The only other option is a very low gear to keep rpms up but that often translates to a ground speed that is even too slow for me.

In the big flat fields in the picture above, I set a good brisk ground speed and kept the pto rpms right at 540. So nice and easy.
!