The one thing that you wonder why you didn't buy sooner?

buckeyefarmer · Jun 25, 2023

ArlyA said:
Doing trail work yesterday, I was sure happy to have a mini makita battery saw along.View attachment 807657 View attachment 807658

I just ordered their 16" saw.

dodge man · Jun 25, 2023

This is about my third post to this thread, I guess that makes it more than “one thing”. I bought one of those cordless Dewalt impacts a couple of days ago. I bought the 3/8” drive size because I wanted something smaller and handier than my air driven impact. I’m impressed with it, it’s got enough torque to loosen lug nuts. I did all four brakes on my daughters car and it came in handy for that. It’s on the bottom shelf of my rolling cart in the picture.

scootr · Jun 25, 2023

dodge man said:
This is about my third post to this thread, I guess that makes it more than “one thing”. I bought one of those cordless Dewalt impacts a couple of days ago. I bought the 3/8” drive size because I wanted something smaller and handier than my air driven impact. I’m impressed with it, it’s got enough torque to loosen lug nuts. I did all four brakes on my daughters car and it came in handy for that. It’s on the bottom shelf of my rolling cart in the picture.
View attachment 807739

I have a 3/8 drive and a 1/2 inch Both Ryobi 18v.
I buy all Ryobi so the batteries fit all. Handy stuff indeed.

ArlyA · Jun 25, 2023

buckeyefarmer said:
I just ordered their 16" saw.

please post a report after a few tanks of oil are used.

gtunney · Jun 25, 2023

My tractor! We built our house in 2002. I wish I had the brains then to go ahead and invest the money in diesel subcompact. I didn't get my X585 (technically a garden tractor) until 2016 and I lament not having bought something similar much sooner.

two_bit_score · Jun 26, 2023

A 10-ton Blackhawk Porta-Power. Not something I use every day but sure has come in handy when I did need it.

This is something I keep in my side pocket almost every day, very handy: Knipex 6.25" CoBolt S Compact Bolt Cutter

JasperFrank · Jun 26, 2023

Bought MS and Apple stock in the late eighties.

tradosaurus · Jun 26, 2023

pmsmechanic said:
I tell the young guys that it's a lot happier to be single and unhappy than it is to be married and unhappy.

You got that right. Reading horror comments on Rich Coopers "Entrepreneur in cars" Utube channel is enough for a young guy to avoid marriage.

I got lucky 35 yrs ago but there were more marriage inclined women back then.

tradosaurus · Jun 26, 2023

ArlyA said:
A 6x6 atv for us. Bought the 1st one 6 or so years ago and now we are on our 2nd. Gosh they are handy! View attachment 807019 View attachment 807020

Why wouldn't a SxS be more advantageous?

tradosaurus · Jun 26, 2023

hosspuller said:
Like several others... A set of ramps. For 40 years, I reached under the vehicle to wrench the drain plug.

Last year for the new SUV with the underbody air flow cover, secured with a dozen & half bolts, I bought the ramps. As an aside, when I purchased the SUV, dealership convinced me to prepay for 10 oil changes. Never again, as long as I physically can DIY. After 5 years of dealership oil changes, I did the 11th change. I found several missing bolts from the underbody. Either they fell out or dealership misplaced them over the 5 years. I expect the dealer tech to replace the bolts. Doing the oil changes allows me to do an underside inspection of the vehicle while I'm there.

I'm the same. I have a set of ramps for the past 15 yrs and it definitely quicker to get the clearance than dragging the jack and jack stands out.

tradosaurus · Jun 26, 2023

WinterDeere said:
When I first moved to my present address, I bought the biggest, baddest backpack blower Stihl made at the time (2011). But I found it just did not work for my needs. Too big to get into gardens and behind shrubs, and too weak to blow a pile of leaves across the lawn.

I traded it for a pairing of Stihl's largest handheld BG-86 blower and an Subaru EX27-powered walk-behind Optimax from Little Wonder. Much more useful, in that the handheld blows all the leaves out of the gardens into the yard, and the Little Wonder carries them across the yard to the woods. I even got a JRCO Blower Buggey for the Little Wonder, so I can mount it on my zero turn and cover several acres of hilly terrain.

I've owned a few Little Wonder blowers since my parents bought out first one around 1983. Most of them have had enough power they can pull the grass out by its roots at full throttle, depending on how you aim the chute. Wet leaves are no obstacle.

Sthil makes various sizes of back blowers. I bought in 2021 and it has more than enough power to get the job done 5 times as quick as the handheld blower I was using.

ArlyA · Jun 26, 2023

tradosaurus said:
Why wouldn't a SxS be more advantageous?

More weight, larger wider machine, less HP per pound. Poor operator visibility over the winter and while operating towed implements.

Eagle1 · Jun 26, 2023

tradosaurus said:
Why wouldn't a SxS be more advantageous?

In my case, width and height of the machine dictate where you can take it. The extra size of a SXS make it next impossible to get into anything other than BIG trails, essentially roads through the trees. My little rancher can weave through the trees and is able to turn around in a small space.
Just like the BX will go place I could not take my much bigger LS.

ArlyA · Jun 26, 2023

Eagle1 said:
In my case, width and height of the machine dictate where you can take it. The extra size of a SXS make it next impossible to get into anything other than BIG trails, essentially roads through the trees. My little rancher can weave through the trees and is able to turn around in a small space.
Just like the BX will go place I could not take my much bigger LS.

Small spots like this?

pmsmechanic · Jun 26, 2023

ArlyA said:
More weight, larger wider machine, less HP per pound. Poor operator visibility over the winter and while operating towed implements.

In your situation and for what you do with your 6x6 I agree. But I'm sure happy I have a quad instead of a sxs or 6x6.

WinterDeere · Jun 26, 2023

tradosaurus said:
Sthil makes various sizes of back blowers. I bought in 2021 and it has more than enough power to get the job done 5 times as quick as the handheld blower I was using.

Yep. Definitely. I hadn't said anything that disagrees with that, the backpack is indeed more powerful than a handheld.

I was arguing that, while more powerful than a handheld, the backpack is really weak when compared to a walk-behind. I found the backpack to be a poor, really almost unusable, compromise between portability and power. Much better having two tools, one that's portable for patios and gardens, and another that actually a knee-deep pile of damp leaves a reasonable distance in a reasonable time.

Others are using the backpack, instead of a handheld as their weaker portable machine. To each their own, but I found what works for me.

Eagle1 · Jun 26, 2023

ArlyA said:
Small spots like this? View attachment 807861

That is pretty open and flat... I just pulled fence on 300' high ridge line, up down and across about a 40 degree slope of woods. No way I could get a brush hog in to cut...
But yes you can get that 6x6 in places a bigger SXS would not go and I'm sure the 6x is nice in the snow. I've managed more than once to run out traction in 4*4 when we get more than few inches.

tradosaurus · Jun 26, 2023

WinterDeere said:
Yep. Definitely. I hadn't said anything that disagrees with that, the backpack is indeed more powerful than a handheld.

I was arguing that, while more powerful than a handheld, the backpack is really weak when compared to a walk-behind. I found the backpack to be a poor, really almost unusable, compromise between portability and power. Much better having two tools, one that's portable for patios and gardens, and another that actually a knee-deep pile of damp leaves a reasonable distance in a reasonable time.

Others are using the backpack, instead of a handheld as their weaker portable machine. To each their own, but I found what works for me.

I can see that walk-behind blower being advantageous for large open areas. If I was in the landscape/mowing business I would definitely get one.
For just around my property it would be over kill.