Winter 2019/20 In The Rear View Mirror

[mgstevens]

I know many of you have been through this seasonal-changeover process many times, but this is my first year with the GC2410, and the process of changing over from FEL/BH mode to Blower/Ballast Box mode and back again.

Before getting the machine in May last year, I had a Bolens with a loader and blower, but the process was quite a bit different. The loader structure did not come off, so adding the blower was purely mechanical (pinned lift rods/PTO/detach bucket) whereas this one has hydraulics to connect and a loader that fully removes and needs handling, along with the backhoe removal and using the 3-pt hitch for the new ballast box, whereas the old ballast was a bolt-on box with nothing to remove.

The handling of the main attachments meant designing and building dollies capable of handling the shape and weight of the loader and backhoe and the gravel floor of my storage shed. A LOT of firsts. And that includes getting a new snowblower and getting to learn its limitations on my gravel/dirt surfaces and how much it took to take out $10 shear bolts (not that much..). Those limitations changed with the temperature and the hardness of the ground, and went from a great mover of snow to a driveway re-grader in no time flat! But now the blower is off, the loader is back on, and I'm close to finishing the cycle with the change from ballast box to backhoe, which I have experience mounting, but not from its dolly-based storage position, so a bit more fun to go...

I'm starting this thread to see what others are experiencing and if there are things to learn to make the process any smoother. First I want to sift through the process I experienced and see where the friction points occurred.

I'll probably edit this later to add that info... hopefully others will chime in.

 

[MF RED in MT]

Well, as for the Winter of 2019/20 In The Rear View Mirror, I'm still looking straight ahead as the forecast for this Saturday/Night is:

"Snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. High near 39 / Low near 9. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible".

Now thinking back 11 years ago, the new GC2410 was my first experience with a tractor, soooo many levers, hoses, zerks, & implements.

I would bring my manuals with me every time I had to make a swap of implements to follow a long step by step instructions.

Oh, I remember the stress, but our GC owners here at TBN were always ready to help out.

In the early years, I do remember the snowblower spitting rocks/ice so much (operator error) that I cut plywood for each of the windows on the front porch and would hang them up before snowblowing.

I've had not used those pieces of plywood for about 6 years now...

KC