TBN is awesome.

[dmccarty]

Rick,

I forgot to mention the backhoe operation. I have a JD48. It was hard making the decision to spend the money but I have enough work to do with a hoe that it makes money sense. But it still hurt buying the 48. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif It pretty easy to use the backhoe if you can rent one. I like the JD controls. Some of the older commercial backhoes I have seen had for seperate controls to operate. Yuck. The JD's are very simple. I just read the manual, visualized moving the various parts of the backhoe while moving my hands as if they were the controls. My wife thought I was nuts but it only took me 10-15 minutes to get decent control. Course it takes a few more hours to be able to feather the controls but this stuff ain't rocket science.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I do have a 460 and a small root off a stump bent that pipe. He was bendy! Watch out for the bendy pieces! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

When you are pushing this stuff and the small stuff I think is the more dangerous to you and the tractor since its so much harder to see, just keep you head on a swivel and try to watch everything you can around the tractor. Especially with kids. Don't forget to look UP. I have quite a few window makers on my property that I have to watch. Sometimes strong winds clean them up and sometimes strong winds make new ones.... /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

If I went much faster than A range 2-3rd gear I'm sure I would have broken something by now. I'm working in the woods or ex woods and there is just so much opportunity to mess up me or the tractor.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Hope this helps...
Dan

 

[RichS]

I would love to get a backhoe but not in the budget. The drainage ditch is only 100-125 feet long so couple of days work for most people. Couple of weekends for me. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I generally pull the wood out, cut it in one place, my own little landing, the kids take it from there with the lawn tractor and trailer and pile it in the woodsheds or the splitting pile, while I go back in the woods to clean up the mess.
I only cut down and pull out a couple of trees at a time. See I told you I was pretty slow!

Rich S.

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>Then I use the floor throttle exclusively for safety</font color=blue>

I've found the floor throttle to be too touchy for safety. If I'm using it and hit a bump just right my foot will slip and give it a quick shot of throttle. I do use it a lot with the FEL though, but mostly on flat ground /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[mlmartin]

I don't have much of the problem you describe, though more hysteresis on the throttle would reduce it. I'm usually in 1st gear, second range on slopes so a few hundred RPM one way or the other doesn't affect speed all that much. I find that 1500 RPM in that gear is too fast for the steep slopes I have to deal with. I find any gear in first range is too slow for FEL work.

There are times when an HSTs advantages are obvious. I just hope I don't find that there are no "right" gears for snowblowing this winter.

Matthew

 

[dmccarty]

Rich,

You might want to check the prices of backhoe rentals in your area. http://www.hertzequip.com has a huge list of equipment as well as prices. It does this by your zip code. However it was not working an hour or so ago. I think they have some problems on the site because I tried them Friday and they were kaput as well.

I you have a lot of work to do it might make sense to rent the equipment.

Later...
Dan