skipmarcy
Veteran Member
The pollen sure is heavy this year but it's nice to be in Spring again - getting some varied tractor time in the past couple of weeks. I always get to use my tractor a little during the winter but it sometimes goes a month or better inbetween times, this time of year it rarely sits more than a couple of days. Just about ready to click over to 1800 hours soon, a little more tilling and another grass cutting will do it.
Been clearing some smaller trees and brush out in the woods right behind the house, the ground is still fairly moist and the trees are going over well, got some up to 8" diameter fully uprooted, then shove it out the rest of the way with either the bucket or boxblade. My neighbors were up from Florida last week and I cleared a short "road" thru their woods in the same manner - they were tickled to death. They can now get from the front to the back pastures thru the woods. I also installed some culverts & gravel for their driveway entry.
I busted-up about 1/2 acre of my front yard this year for my first go at a cash crop - used my 2-bottom plow, then bog disc, then the "new" used 5' tiller I bought back in the fall to finish it out. Am trying 2 types of sweet corn and will do some yellow squash and some watermelons I think. This is all seperate from my house garden - I've had it going for 4 years now, it's a 50'x100' and we grow all kinds of stuff in it.
Yesterday was my first grass cutting of the yard for the year, I have about 6 acres of yard minus the gardens. I now have a 6' finish mower that I bought used back in fall when I got the tiller - makes a nicer cut than the rotary but is quite a bit louder - my rotary has always been nice & quiet in operation - other people have even commented on it, it's an old Howse 6'.
The old 4110 is still workin' hard. I can't believe some of the posts I read in the various forums here about how you shouldn't push in reverse with your boxblade, or back drag with your loader bucket, or pick up on one side of your loader etc etc. Compared to alot of these guys I've really abused my tractor terribly but why is it my loader isn't bent - bucket still sits nice and level. My cylinders don't leak and aren't bent. My rear hitch arms aren't bent or broken - the draw pins on the implement are the sacrificial component that I've seen. I have to change them on my boxblade a few times a year but I accomplish huge amounts of work and nothing on the tractor is bending. I might change them once a year on my rotary from backing a little too quick and tapping a tree or something, sometimes I can just straighten them with my 10# sledge and get a little more life out of them. I can't count the times I've lifted the rear of the tractor off the ground with the loader bucket. I back drag dirt and gravel all the time - on a tall pile I'll drag the top back until I can climb it in reverse and catch it with the boxblade and then I'll use the float and back drag to smooth some quite often. Many times I'll reach in a tight spot in the woods with the bucket and back drag a stump out or large rock, the front wheels off the ground at times. I've dug quite a few good-sized stumps out of the ground with my loader bucket - just keep working all around it and popping the smaller roots until you can loosen the stump with the bucket. I guess maybe some of these other brand of tractors aren't built quite as heavily as my 4110. And no, I'm not still breaking front axles like I used to all the time, not since I changed tire size a couple years ago. I thought maybe my work habits were causing them to break all that time but it seems to be holding up fine since the tire change. I've still got my spare 2 axles just in case ....
I'm hoping to get quite a few more years out of my tractor, doesn't use any engine oil between changes, or any other oils for that matter. Got some good rust going on some sheet metal and the base of the ROPS, might have to do something about that one winter soon. The plastic fenders are busted all over but still intact and attached. Have repaired the plastic tail lights many times but they are also still attached and operating. Will probably have to replace the ignition switch and light switch this year - the light switch has been on it's last leg for a couple of years but so far is working. The ignition switch has to be teased a dozen or so times to engage the starter sometimes - it's definitely the switch. I can use my remote starter switch at the starter terminals and works like new every time. I'll just get an aftermarket HD start switch - probably just a push button type, no key to keep up with. The original switch still engages the glow plug timer great and seems to be operating the accessories just fine. Everything else on the tractor seems to be operating OK so hopefully I won't have to start looking anytime soon for a replacement. Prices sure have gone up since I bought mine in 2002 !!
So, what do you get accomplished with your tractor and how is it doing for you ? Is yours a piece of equipment to work or a "Yard Corvette" you keep waxed and in the garage ?
Been clearing some smaller trees and brush out in the woods right behind the house, the ground is still fairly moist and the trees are going over well, got some up to 8" diameter fully uprooted, then shove it out the rest of the way with either the bucket or boxblade. My neighbors were up from Florida last week and I cleared a short "road" thru their woods in the same manner - they were tickled to death. They can now get from the front to the back pastures thru the woods. I also installed some culverts & gravel for their driveway entry.
I busted-up about 1/2 acre of my front yard this year for my first go at a cash crop - used my 2-bottom plow, then bog disc, then the "new" used 5' tiller I bought back in the fall to finish it out. Am trying 2 types of sweet corn and will do some yellow squash and some watermelons I think. This is all seperate from my house garden - I've had it going for 4 years now, it's a 50'x100' and we grow all kinds of stuff in it.
Yesterday was my first grass cutting of the yard for the year, I have about 6 acres of yard minus the gardens. I now have a 6' finish mower that I bought used back in fall when I got the tiller - makes a nicer cut than the rotary but is quite a bit louder - my rotary has always been nice & quiet in operation - other people have even commented on it, it's an old Howse 6'.
The old 4110 is still workin' hard. I can't believe some of the posts I read in the various forums here about how you shouldn't push in reverse with your boxblade, or back drag with your loader bucket, or pick up on one side of your loader etc etc. Compared to alot of these guys I've really abused my tractor terribly but why is it my loader isn't bent - bucket still sits nice and level. My cylinders don't leak and aren't bent. My rear hitch arms aren't bent or broken - the draw pins on the implement are the sacrificial component that I've seen. I have to change them on my boxblade a few times a year but I accomplish huge amounts of work and nothing on the tractor is bending. I might change them once a year on my rotary from backing a little too quick and tapping a tree or something, sometimes I can just straighten them with my 10# sledge and get a little more life out of them. I can't count the times I've lifted the rear of the tractor off the ground with the loader bucket. I back drag dirt and gravel all the time - on a tall pile I'll drag the top back until I can climb it in reverse and catch it with the boxblade and then I'll use the float and back drag to smooth some quite often. Many times I'll reach in a tight spot in the woods with the bucket and back drag a stump out or large rock, the front wheels off the ground at times. I've dug quite a few good-sized stumps out of the ground with my loader bucket - just keep working all around it and popping the smaller roots until you can loosen the stump with the bucket. I guess maybe some of these other brand of tractors aren't built quite as heavily as my 4110. And no, I'm not still breaking front axles like I used to all the time, not since I changed tire size a couple years ago. I thought maybe my work habits were causing them to break all that time but it seems to be holding up fine since the tire change. I've still got my spare 2 axles just in case ....
I'm hoping to get quite a few more years out of my tractor, doesn't use any engine oil between changes, or any other oils for that matter. Got some good rust going on some sheet metal and the base of the ROPS, might have to do something about that one winter soon. The plastic fenders are busted all over but still intact and attached. Have repaired the plastic tail lights many times but they are also still attached and operating. Will probably have to replace the ignition switch and light switch this year - the light switch has been on it's last leg for a couple of years but so far is working. The ignition switch has to be teased a dozen or so times to engage the starter sometimes - it's definitely the switch. I can use my remote starter switch at the starter terminals and works like new every time. I'll just get an aftermarket HD start switch - probably just a push button type, no key to keep up with. The original switch still engages the glow plug timer great and seems to be operating the accessories just fine. Everything else on the tractor seems to be operating OK so hopefully I won't have to start looking anytime soon for a replacement. Prices sure have gone up since I bought mine in 2002 !!
So, what do you get accomplished with your tractor and how is it doing for you ? Is yours a piece of equipment to work or a "Yard Corvette" you keep waxed and in the garage ?
