Trailer?

[tdenny]

Okie,

I have had my 855 for a couple of months now. I bought it with 275 hours on it. It came with a FEL (requirement for me) and a ripper/rake home made contraption, a small older brush hog, and a Maschio (very nice) tiller. I'm not sure if I'll ever use the tiller as my soil is nothing more than rocks sand (glaciel till). I live in the foothills of the cascade mountain range in the Great Northwest (Seattle Area).

Like you I had great expectations and NO tractor experience. My only seat time until the purchase date was on some rented equipment (big excavator, and dozer when clearing my land). Those were fun. I have found the 855 to be a wonderful tractor. First thing I did was go out and buy a bunch of hydroliuc fluid, oil, grease etc so I could make sure that all of these type things were in order. Everything was already perfect. It starts right up every time and I've found the power to be more than adequate.

I'm going to be doing mostly loader work moving around dirt, bark, rocks, sacks of concrete, some minor clearing, sod pulling, and on...........

I am glad to "meet" someone had also has an 855. How long have you had yours? How many hours do you have? Any problems at all.
Like you I've been trying to add more goodies. I'm currently waiting for a box blade (hope it comes soon) and am thinking about purchasing a RFM and a tooth bar. I really need a PHD but local knowledge tells me that it just won't get the job done in my soil conditions. I have currently put in 300+ posts by hand and I regularly pull rocks out of those holes bigger than award winning pumpkins. Bowling ball sized rocks are common.

As far as tractor size goes - I never even considered a bigger machine - in fact I was about to purchase a brand new Kubota B7500 when I stumbled onto this one. I, like you, intend to use it to mow several acres eventually after the tractor and I clear the areas for more grass.

You have a backhoe huh? What kind and how does it perform with your 855? I would LOVE to have one of those but I'm not sure I can get the CFO to approve that purchase.

 

[lblair]

Ive got a 16 foot dual axle trailor good for 7,000 lbs. Brakes on all 4 wheels. After using it for 3 months now i wouldnt want any thing smaller or lighter made. Dont go with the single axle. My trailor was 1695.00 brand new and well worth it. The ramps self store in the side of the frame. The most i have had on it at one time was My TC21D with 4' KK brush hog on the three point. Loader on the tractor also and my tiller sitting in the bucket of the loader. My F150 V-8 pulled it no problem 1/2 hour away to a job site. Did the job returned home to swap the BH for the post hole digger and headed back to do the holes for their deck....what a days work...Ya gotta love it! sorry i got off track of the question, but tractor work is so much FUN
Larry

 

[Anonymous Poster]

tdenny,
What a small world it is. I grew up with the foothills of the Cascades in view. I was raised in a suburb just north of Seattle, a few minutes from the shores of Lake Washington. My folks still live there and my brother and sister live elsewhere in Western Washington. If you take your time and work the rocks out of the soil, you may yet be able to use your tiller. The Great NorthWest is a wonderful place for any kind of garden.
When my old JD455 died four years ago, I needed something quick to tackle the July grass growing out of control in the yard. My experience with the 455 had been positive and I knew nothing of New Holland or Kubota and I didn't feel like I had the time to research those options so I never even condsidered a replacement other than JD. My local dealer had several compacts on hand, including an 855, a 955 and some X70s. For me, HST was a must. That eliminated all but the 855 and 955. The salesman said that the extra horsepower of the 955 could pull a wider mower, but at a cost of higher fuel comsumption. Even to my inexperienced eye, the two tractors looked similar. I didn't need a wider deck, and the prospect of a lower sticker price and saving a little money on fuel appealed to me. So, I opted for the 855 with loader, mid mower and box blade. The tractor, as I recall, had 1.2 hours on the meter. The 16' trailer I bought for hauling the tractor was just right. No complaints or regrets on the trailer.
As I was test driving the 855 around the lot at the JD store, I noticed an 8A backhoe attachment sitting over in the corner. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. A couple of years later I began shopping for a backhoe to help with stumping in and around our yard at home. That 8A had been sitting there all that time. The JD folks said they had ordered the 8A for a 1070 owner five years earlier. By the time the hoe arrived, the purchaser had changed his mind and backed out of the deal. The JD dealership was stuck with the hoe. They said that in many years as a dealer they had only sold one or two hoe attachments and expected the 8A would continue to sit on the lot for a while. When I asked about trying to adapt the 8A to my 855 they encouraged me (and probably breathed a sigh of relief). They lent me the subframe members and gave me the go-ahead to hack, chop and weld to try and get a fit. I was excited by the prospect of getting a bit bigger hoe than the 7 (which was recommended for the 855), and to get the 8A at good price. They sold it to me for $5300. At that time I believe the 7 was selling for a thousand or two more than that. I got the subframe to fit nicely under the 855. The only compromises I had to make were (1), I have to unmount the subframe in order to mount the mid mower (about a 15 minute job) and (2), I have to live without the drawbar (no big deal, as I use the three-point for pulling).
There is one other thing I did to juice up the performance of my 855, as I found the similarity between the 855 and 955 was more than skin deep. A look through the parts manual shows these two tractors share many of the same parts. One part they do not share is their hydralic pumps, though the pump mating surface/pattern is identical, as is the plumbing to and from the pumps. So, I installed a 955 hydralic pump. Some of the inards of the flow diverter (under the operator.s seat) are different, but the housing is the same for both tractors. I switched the appropriate flow diverter inards which sends a higher proportion of fluid flow to the implement function. I also shimmed the pressure relief valve up from 2100 psi (standard on the 855) to 2500 psi (standard on the 955). This all sounds complicated, but I am not a mechanic and the modification all went smoothly. The 70A loader is used by both the 855 and 955, so it can handle the change no problem. The 8A has its own pressure relief valve, factory set at 1900 psi. From what I can tell, every part of that hoe begs for a bit more pop. The cylinders are all factory pressure tested by JD to 3000psi, so I shimmed the hoe pressure relief valve up to 2500 psi. After a year and a half it is still working like a champ. The down side is the extra pressure could wear the implement out sooner, but with the occassional use a homeowner like myself inflicts, the hoe will last longer than I will. Not only that, the 8A is built like a brute and I feel better when my tools are able to work closer to their capability. Without a doubt, there are jobs too tough for a hoe the size of an 8A to tackle, but it is about all the backhoe my 855 can handle and it does very well for it's size. When I was initially shopping for a backhoe I talked to a few small hoe operators and about the best they could say was, " it beats using a shovel '. I am glad I didn't let those comments discourage me. It definitely beats a shovel and then some.
Enough rambling.

OkieG

 

[tdenny]

Okie,

Glad to hear your a NW local. It is a great place to live. I am on the South side of Seattle (near Maple Valley) I was born and raised here. The area where your folks still live is rapidly growing. Everywhere North of Seattle (and South for that matter) have grown massively.

I'm working on the rocks and hope to get a chance to use that fancy tiller for something. What I'm really waiting for is my new box blade. That will really help me clear some of those rocks. I've decided that I'll use the rocks for landscaping. Nothing like free landscaping supplies.

I finally got my old brush hog to work this weekend and although it doesn't cut as nicely as the DR Mower that my buddy left at my house last summer it sure is much friendlier to the body.

I'd love to increase the power in my pump but it sounds like more mechanical work than I'm capable of. I don't think that the mating of the pump would be a problem but this shimmying of the valves thing has me kind of worried. I used to do a lot of work on automobiles but even that has become more of a pain than just dropping it off at the nearest shop.

It sounds like you have a great machine. I have found that my little 855 has plenty of power for all the tasks that I could put it up against. A backhoe would be the cats a--.

It really is a small world out there. Have you been back up here much lately? The area has changed dramatically and the property taxes just keep getting worse and worse.

What do you pull you tractor around with?

Gotta run - here comes the boss. (Wife)

 

[OkieG]

tdenny,
With 5 kids it gets expensive to pay family fares to Wa. State. We visited two summers ago. My folks come to visit the grandkids a couple times a year, so there is at least some contact. But, I miss the NW. It is in my blood, and even with all the Californians that have moved north, I still love to visit and feel like I am finally home when I arrive.
I have a '95 Chev 1500 extended cab, short bed pick-up. It is my only vehicle, so it gets the duty for all my chores. It works fine with the tractor/trailer combo.
I agree, the 855 is a great tractor with or without tinkering. I'm glad you are enjoying yours.
Let me know what you decide for trailering your tractor.

OkieG

 

[tdenny]

I'll let everyone know when I get the CFO to allocate my resources to the trailer. Five kids. You are the man. I only have three and cannot imagine having more. I'm surprised you get any seat time with that 855.

Take Care.

 

[Dave41]

Has anyone converted a horse trailer into a utility trailer? I see a lot of fairly new, dual axle horse trailers advertised for very reasonable prices. I think the average horse weighs at leat 1,000 lbs. A dual axle horse trailer should be able to handle a small CUT. Any thoughts?
Dave

 

[Soundguy]

A friend has an old stock trailer ( read: cattle ) that his father converted to a utility trailer. He hauled a smaller ford tractor in it. Guess all you need to do is find out what the axles are rated for, and if the frame for the deck boards is decent enough to carry tractor weight..... if it was a good HT, it should be fairly stout.

Soundguy

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Yesterday morning I saw a compact tractor inside a horse trailer at the local convenience store.

The downside on horse trailers for tractor trailers is the axles are not as wide as those for trailers designed for hauling equipment. Another thing to consider is the livestock trailer is engineered as a unit. So when or if you start whacking like taking off the roof and upper sides you're losing a lot of the strength in the floor and frame.

I watched the old boy with the small Kubota and brushhog in the horse trailer yesterday go through a regular obstacle course to fuel the tractor. You might consider that too if you're over the age of being a teen. Getting the tractor is only half the fun. Getting yourself out will be the thrill factor.

 

[tdenny]

Dave,

I was wondering the exact same thing. My neighbor has a couple of "extra" horse trailers and it seems like my tractor would fit in there.