What a difference a large tractor makes!

[defranks]

Last Wednesday I made a lumber run and loaded up my 24' box truck with T&G paneling for the interior of the house I'm building. I decided to just leave the lumber in the back of the truck, out of the weather, then to back the truck up to the porch and pull lumber as I need it. In the meantime I parked the truck over in a corner where I always leave it.

About one this afternoon I decided to move the truck over to the house to have it ready to go tomorrow. But sonofagun, the right rear dual tires were sunk down into the mud after a couple of really hard rains, and the old girl wasn't going to pull herself out. I hooked up my Branson 4220, put my wife in the truck, and tried to pull it out.... no soap. It just happened that a neighbor dropped by, and he went home and got his Kubota tractor, about the same size as mine. He pulled, I pushed, and my wife ran the truck and it went.... nowhere.

I have another neighbor with an old International agricultural tractor, sorry I don't know the model but it's about twice the physical size of my tractor. I called him up, he brought his two-wheel drive tractor over, hooked up a long chain and putt-putt-putt, my truck came out of the hole. Now I'm wanting a big tractor, darn it! There's one sitting in a barn up the road that hasn't moved in years. I wonder if the owner will let it go cheap.....

 

[jeff9366]

Size has almost nothing to do with it. The difference is TRACTOR WEIGHT.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Size has almost nothing to do with it. The difference is TRACTOR WEIGHT.

NOT completely true, tire size and balance has a lot to do with it too!

SR

 

[Code54]

NOT completely true, tire size and balance has a lot to do with it too!

SR

Yep, in that case, size comes with weight!

 

[jeff9366]

NOT completely true, tire size and balance has a lot to do with it too!

From everything I read, Harry Ferguson, the inventor of the Three Point Hitch, figured the optimum balance for a 2-WD tractor is 40% front, 60% rear. Like the Three Point Hitch, 40/60 weight distribution varies only a smidgeon between Three Point Hitch equipped tractors.

Not quite sure if that is exactly the same with 4-WD, which became practical after Ferguson's death, but since the Three Point Hitch virtual hitch point is in front of the tractor, 4-WD may be an irrelevant factor relative to optimum weight distribution for traction.

The new factor is the almost ubiquitous fitting of Loaders on compact tractors. The position of the lowest pivot on Loaders varies. The weight of Loaders varies.



HEARVIER TRACTORS are equipped with larger wheels and tires.

 

[RalphVa]

When you need it; you need it, but it doesn't make sense to buy a big mother of a tractor for the rare, probably <5% of the times you need something like that. You buy what you need for the 95% and hire or borrow for the 5%. Same for tractors, cars, trucks, chain saws.

I ran into this situation of how much difference something bigger makes when it came to drilling the concrete holes for our safety cover for the pool many years back. Tried with my own impact drill and concrete bit. Took forever to do one or two holes. So, I went to the rental place and rented one of those big drills. Ziiiipppp. Hole done. Ziiiiipp. Next one. Buy a big drill and keep it sitting around? No.

Ralph

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Larger wheels/tires yes, but NOT larger to farm tractor standards, and the OP said a farm tractor was used.

Not to mention, I can add lots of weight to one of my tinker toy tractors, get it just as heavy as a farm tractor. Do you REALLY think my weighted tinker toy tractor will pull as much as my farm tractor???

SR

 

[chim]

.............Tried with my own impact drill and concrete bit. Took forever to do one or two holes. So, I went to the rental place and rented one of those big drills. Ziiiipppp. Hole done. Ziiiiipp. Next one.............................................

There's a big difference between a rotary hammer and a hammer drill (maybe what you call an impact drill). I have corded and cordless SDS drills that will do up to around 1" holes in concrete lickety split with one hand and minimal pressure. I have a cordless hammer drill that is a decent drill for wood and steel, but is worthless on any masonry except maybe 1/4" holes for plastic anchors in cinder blocks. With a hammer drill you can hear the bit being impacted and it sounds more like a machine gun. The hammer drill sounds higher-pitched and more like an angry bee. It uses standard masonry bits.

Most of my drilling needs are handled with a 1/4" DeWalt 20V impact driver and a keyless impact-ready chuck. For heavier duty drilling I do go with the hammerdrill (on "drill") or a corded drill.

 

[4570Man]

There's a big difference between a rotary hammer and a hammer drill (maybe what you call an impact drill). I have corded and cordless SDS drills that will do up to around 1" holes in concrete lickety split with one hand and minimal pressure. I have a cordless hammer drill that is a decent drill for wood and steel, but is worthless on any masonry except maybe 1/4" holes for plastic anchors in cinder blocks. With a hammer drill you can hear the bit being impacted and it sounds more like a machine gun. The hammer drill sounds higher-pitched and more like an angry bee. It uses standard masonry bits.

Most of my drilling needs are handled with a 1/4" DeWalt 20V impact driver and a keyless impact-ready chuck. For heavier duty drilling I do go with the hammerdrill (on "drill") or a corded drill.

I have a cordless SDS drill, a corded SDS max and a few of the hammer drills with a chuck. ( not impact drivers ). The hammer drills with a chuck are almost useless. They hardly hammer and won’t hold a bit very long. I haven’t tried any big holes with the SDS but it does a great job for little holes for concrete anchors. It’s also great with a chisel for tile removal. The SDS max is the only way for big holes.

 

[defranks]

When you need it; you need it, but it doesn't make sense to buy a big mother of a tractor for the rare, probably <5% of the times you need something like that. You buy what you need for the 95% and hire or borrow for the 5%. Same for tractors, cars, trucks, chain saws.

I ran into this situation of how much difference something bigger makes when it came to drilling the concrete holes for our safety cover for the pool many years back. Tried with my own impact drill and concrete bit. Took forever to do one or two holes. So, I went to the rental place and rented one of those big drills. Ziiiipppp. Hole done. Ziiiiipp. Next one. Buy a big drill and keep it sitting around? No.

Ralph

You're right about this, of course. I'm not really looking to buy another tractor, as my Branson is just about the perfect size for what I need. It's small enough to fit in some tight places, but large enough to do almost everything I need. But it sure wasn't budging that truck.

I'm very fortunate to live in an area where neighbors help one another. I just moved here a year ago, and while I might need to grow my beard a yard or so longer to really fit in with the hillbillies here, everyone has been friendly and helpful and welcoming. It feels pretty great to know that folks help one another around here, which wasn't quite the case where I moved from.

 

[Katahdin]

Did either of you with the smaller tractors remember to apply the diff lock?

 

[searcyfarms]

and that is why i have big tractors and little tractors - different jobs for different units - we can debate tires/weight and distribution, footprint, power, on and on and on...........but would you use a toothpick with braces to make trusses?

real is real

 

[crazyal]

Why stop at a bigger tractor. Just think what you could pull with a long skidder. Seriously though, there will always be something bigger and better that will do a larger job better. As for getting a vehicle unstuck a pickup or larger car with a good hitch and a recovery strap will do wonders.

 

[jjp8182]

... beard a yard or so longer to really fit in with the hillbillies here....

I've come close to resembling that remark a time or two .... though I've come to the opinion anything more than 6 to 12 inches just gets in the way. Though whatever the length it is, there's generally more hair hanging off my jaw than their is on the top of my head...... need to keep the insulation factor down to avoid becoming a hothead :laughing:

 

[defranks]

Did either of you with the smaller tractors remember to apply the diff lock?

Yeah, I used the diff lock, but the real problem was that I was pulling on a gravel driveway and all four tires spun. And the differential of the truck was right down on the ground, which added a good bit of drag. I used my backhoe to dig in front of the rear tires (a bigger machine couldn't have reached under, I don't think) and built a ramp to make it a bit easier before the neighbor with the big tractor arrived.

 

[ruffdog]

NOT completely true, tire size and balance has a lot to do with it too!

SR

Yeah, I've run some heavy and tired tractors too. Power comes in handy when you are moving a bunch of weight.

 

[hosspuller]

When applied to tractors, in most cases, too big is rare. Too small is more common.

 

[LouNY]

When applied to tractors, in most cases, too big is rare. Too small is more common.

sometimes;

 

[airbiscuit]

The only problem I see is that he is not using his hydraulic top link.

 

[ruffdog]

sometimes;
View attachment 648336

Ha! Good one! :laughing: