Your best additions to your tractor

[Henro]

I figured it was because if Bob got sidetracked and made a mess of something he could blame it on the horses A??...whoops I mean tractor's Butt that was riding with him...

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Nice day here...just pulled the laptop out back to visit while enjoying a could drink...before getting back to work... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[pajoube]

Spinner knob by is the best.
PJ

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My best addition to my tractor is ME!!!!! )</font>
Sorry Henro, but BubbaJr had already beat you to that one by saying "adding my butt to the seat," on page 1 of the thread, UNDER a response from you!
I have to say for me:
Loader
toothbar
Backhoe
and then all the other implements I've added.
My tractor came with handle grabs on both sides
John

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Sorry Henro, but BubbaJr had already beat you to that one by saying "adding my butt to the seat," </font>

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif If I could remember whose sig says something like "By the time I get to the end of the shop I forget why I went there..." (to paraphrase)...Oh well, I guess I'll still use that as my excuse!

Now I'm off to sit in the corner... if I remember why I went when I get there...

I just put a little mirror on the tractor yesterday as a test and it looks like a mirror on each side may be real handy sometimes...might be my next addition. Mounted just above the FEL frame it gives a good view of the rear tire and beyond.

 

[shoppintractors]

<font color="blue">...if I remember why I went when I get there....
.....I just put a little mirror on the tractor yesterday as a test and it looks like a mirror on each side may be real handy </font>

Henro, The best thing about a mirror is.....

You'll always know from where you've come.. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif...and in case you have forgotten, you can always trace back to where you've been. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Don /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[oliver28472]

I have no FEL on my Satoh or Mitsubishi so a front hitch on both comes in handy.

 

[jimgerken]

That's an easy question. Answer is: Grapple. It makes me want to cut down tree after tree, just for the fun cleanup. I can't get enough. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[chucko]

Ear plugs so I can't hear the wife calling me

 

[NIXON]

While it's not a "must have "item . I think that the addition of top and tilt has made my tractor more useful . It's a pleasure to be able to adjust the angle of my 3ph attachments on the fly , so to speak . I'd also recomend a tooth bar for the FEL .
It makes a world of difference when digging . It also helps with dragging out brush,etc . John

 

[rdbrumfield]

I know that I have mentioned that having a winch mounted in my loader has been one of my most used tools for some of the work I do. If you have ever tried to pick up a tree to have it try to tip forward as you try to lift it out of the ground, here is one reason that the winch is so handy.

 

[txdon]

rdbrumfield, could we get a closeup of the winch mounted in the loader! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( here is one reason that the winch is so handy. )</font>

HOLY SMOKE! You can go straight up a 90° hill and carry a tree too? ...just by adding a winch? I gotta get me one of those. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Nice picture rotation.

 

[rdbrumfield]

here you go, not a real good pic, but you get the idea

 

[Cliff_Johns]

My favorite addition?
Well, I was bothered by how hard it is to get my Quick Hitch hooked up after I took off my backhoe and connected the 3pt arms. To solve this problem I bought another Quick Hitch. Now, after I've hooked up the new quick hitch, I can just back up to the quick hitch and wha-la, I'm connected! Very Cool.

Cliff

Actually, I've mostly only used the backhoe. I worried the decision to pay the money for a BH all over the place and now, it's the lonly thing I've really used.

 

[RandyBX]

I mowed some yesterday with the Sun Shade on, and it is quickly becoming a favorite addition to the BX2230. I would have to go with the FEL as #1 and Rear blade as#2.

 

[California]

Ballast. I don't care if I wear out the tractor, my safety is more important.

My environment has side slopes so I tried to ballast as low as possible. The scraper box adds 450 lbs near the ground plus the tires are ballasted with water to 3 inches below the top of the rim (225 lbs per side) to make their weight as low as possible.

I found it rock-steady when I stopped here and tried pushing and rocking to see if carrying this punky tree, maybe 250 lbs, might get spooky. No problem.

Adequate ballast made the biggest improvement to my enjoyment of this tractor. It enhances peace of mind - priceless!

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> funny how all of us with a FEL just take it for granted that it's part of our tractor? </font>

Mine is. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

(But I had to buy a bucket)

 

[stephan]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I don't care if I wear out the tractor, my safety is more important. )</font>

So where is the ROPS and the seat belt?

 

[California]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ROPS and the seat belt? )</font>

A ROPS would continually tear off limbs. The orchard is trained by pruning to grow outward so overhead space in the mature parts is 5 ft or less. I often have to guide branches by hand to get them over the hydraulic hoses at the loader controls.

I do think I will trade down to a tinier tractor, a YM1400D or similar, after completing some major projects - driveway realignment etc. That might allow a ROPS without excess height.

My neighbor is a third-generation grower and recommended massive ballast as the only practical way to set up a tractor for low-clearance orchard operation. He said they have had only one incident in three generations, when a trailer ramp collapsed with no injury beyond a badly spooked operator.

I continually get down and size up the situation like in that previous photo. And use low crawl gear at idle where there is noticeable slope, to allow plenty of time to see what the wheels will be going over. I also have to stay slow most of the time to give time to think so I won't run my head into a limb. The overhead situation is the daily obstacle.

There are parts of this orchard in cultivation for 80 years where I won't go. In the previous photo I am clearing the entrance to a terrace that has big apple trees covered by blackberry jungle on the uphill and downhill side. That terrace and the next parallel one downhill were groomed 15-20 ft wide in grandfather's era, but I opened only a 5 ft wide lane hugging the uphill side to make access for blackberry picking. No way am I going to work near the edge without ROPS. I can't imagine how they cut those terraces in the first place.

The little Oliver in the photo is about 4 ft tall at the radiator, and the operator is continually lifting branches over his head as he moves slowly down the row.

 

[stephan]

I didn't realise you had tree issues. From the first photo I would recommend a folding ROPS but you can also get some pretty low centre of gravity european tractors.

Anyhow, the best addition to my tractor, not that there have been many, are small rings welded to the rims around the valve stem to stop the stems being ripped off (been there done that). Simple idea been around for years and it works a treat.