Tractor or new kitchen?

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations on your tractor and all the progress that you made. It's nice hearing your update on what you decided to do.

 

[Racenut]

Thanks for the tips...
We don't have many muddy areas, and the couple we do have, I know where they are and it's only for a few days after rain. And I do expect I'll be making some brush guards. For sure on the front "grill guard". We chose the XR partially for it's easier to access fuel tank, but that also puts it in a vulnerable spot for sticks. I'm not sure how yet, but I hope I can figure out how to add some protection there. And I've read and watched videos of the dangers of hills, and while most of the property is gently sloped or flat, it does get a little steep toward one back corner and I know to if I go up there it's tread carefully and only up and down the hill, not across, and I'll wait till I have some seat time before even thinking about it. I figure I have a couple weekends worth of wild berries to rip out down on the open flat area, seems like that might be a good thing to start out on.

 

[radios1]

After much deliberation, we ordered an LS XR3135H, Will order a wicked grapple on Monday. Tractor manufactures are smart.. once you decide on a model, you end up with the.. well for a little more money we can get more THIS.. and then for a little more we can get s little more THAT.. lol. But stopped at the XR3135 because I think anything bigger is going to start getting tricky in the tree areas. The local dealer has been great to work with so far. Even suggested I have the grapple shipped to them so they can make sure the third function has the right connections and everything works as it should. They had grapples available, but nothing that I'd rather have over the wicked one. They were totally fine with that, no pressure.

As Mr Walker suggested above, I did end up hiring pros with big yellow machines to come in for the big stuff. Took down 35-40 big pine trees that were close to Mom's house. The cleanup guy will get his equipment on site next week. He'll cleanup all the slash from the big trees and clear defensible space around the house. That will give us a good place to start working on the rest of the property and then just keeping up on it so it doesn't end up the same way it was.

I think I've learned a lot reading stuff here the last few months, will keep on doing that as well. Once I actually get to play with the new toy, I'm sure I'll have more questions to find answers for... and I'm grateful to those here willing to share their knowledge and experience.

Oh, and this morning my wife brings out a little blue tractor tree ornament.

I'd get a hard cab and a manual transmission though..

 

[sodamo]

Congratulations on your purchase! Now start a savings program to fund the kitchen!
I remember when I first started driving a tractor, there were things that I now know to avoid. Watch where you put the tractor!! In my case, muddy areas love for a tractor to come visit, and they keep the tractor there for a longer visit. Second, with clearing and cleaning up brush, you will have a tendency to get in a hurry and that will not be good, because brush has a tendency to reach out and bite anything from hydraulic lines to radiators, and grills, to tires and others. Take your time, as short as seat time will be, or you will have added expenses you were not expecting! There is a reason people buy skid pans when doing that type of work!
David from jax

Excellent advice.
And don’t get lulled into familiarity. Been using my tractor 14 years without major incident when one day, after a couple hours working recently brush hogged area I managed to snag my hydro filter on a high spot and rip it off. Doubly sad as all that hydro fluid was less than 10 hours old. Was just too much in hurry to get that last hundred feet. Then I had to get help towing back to shed and took 2 weeks to get new housing.

 

[Bikewanderer]

I知 going to disagree with most of the responses here. You致e got no business keeping a tractor 250 miles away. When you go out there you will find that the battery is dead or that mice have chewed on the wires. He will spend all your time trying to fix a tractor instead of working on the property.

 

[sodamo]

250 miles or 250 feet, as long as secure not much difference. Likely, use will be in more concentrated blocks of time.

And then there is my rodent modified Tundra, lives in garage not 50 ft from where I sit typing this. None of my tractors, 150 ft away were apparently appetizing thank you very much.

 

[shovelmike]

Congrats on the tractor purchase, Racenut!

 

[Racenut]

I知 going to disagree with most of the responses here. You致e got no business keeping a tractor 250 miles away. When you go out there you will find that the battery is dead or that mice have chewed on the wires. He will spend all your time trying to fix a tractor instead of working on the property.

Gonna get a shipping container to keep it secure and while we don't have much of a rodent problem, it should keep it off the menu. I'm no stranger to battery tenders, my RV batteries are always ready to go. We've been getting up there every 3 or 4 weeks, just need to keep up on that and all will be good.