Member of the Month: Deathtoblackberries
Your Name: Deathtoblackberries
Post Count: 210 (#2459 of all-time)
Location: Battle Ground, WA
How long have you been a member of TractorByNet.com?
I have been a member for 3 months now and I found TractorByNet.com via Google while researching purchasing my first tractor.
What do you like best about TractorByNet.com?
Inexperienced members like me are welcomed with open arms. Several members jumped in to help me get started and keep safe, and the site is like the encyclopedia of tractor knowledge. Also probably the best behaved forum I have come across on the internet.
What type of tractor do you own?
Kubota B2920 with Kubota BH, FEL, 60” MMM, Landpride 50” rev tine tiller, box blade, and a big mean looking FEL toothbar!
How long have you owned or operated tractors?
3 months.
What do you enjoy most about tractors?
With the Kubota and implements I don’t have to rely on hiring expensive contractors and landscaping companies, and I can do the work myself on my time table not theirs. Plus, who knew operating a backhoe and FEL could be this much fun!
How often do you use your tractor?
Several times a week when its not raining. I purchased a new construction home on 1 acre with a lot of brush, trees, blackberry patches, and years of dead limbs and debris on the ground. I have been clearing and landscaping the property since I purchased the tractor.
Tell us about your property.
I have a new construction, 2-story Craftsman home, with a 3 car garage on 1 acre. Land is mixed flat and sloped on clay. About half the property has glacier deposited cobble stones up to softball size.
Tell us about your vehicles.
I have a 2013 Ford F150 FX4 4×4.
What sort of modifications or customization have you done to your tractor?
Well I added a tooth bar to the FEL bucket and that sped up ripping out the blackberries and landscaping tasks a lot. I highly recommend them.
What sort of tools, attachments or equipment do you use with your tractor on a regular basis?
It didn’t take long for the implements to start piling up. I started with the Kubota FEL, BH, and 60” MMM. I have since added a Landpride 50” rev tine tiller, box blade, lawn roller and seed spreader. I have used all these implements more than once but the majority of hours were BH and FEL work. I also use the FEL to haul my other gear around, chain saw, trimmer, blower, hand tools, hoses—whatever I need for a job, I just throw it in the FEL bucket and roll.
What do you mainly use your tractor for?
Landscaping for now. I have dug well over 20 stumps so far, ripped out the roots, dug deep pits and buried most of them. I recently finished clearing the rear 40 and planted the new lawn back there. When the landscaping is finished, I will evaluate what implements I really need to keep and probably get rid of a few of them.
What do you like or dislike about the area you live in?
I like the low humidity, moderate temps, mountains, fishing, and low taxes. National forests are just minutes away. Washington State is great if you like the outdoors and getting away from it all. I dislike the clay soil in my area and the moles—wow, they are everywhere.
What sort of terrain is common in your area?
Flat to hills to mountains. My property isn’t too bad, but I have some slopes to deal with.
What sort of trees and vegetation are common in your area?
Large fir trees. I had the small to medium ones removed, but still have about a dozen large fir trees over 100 feet tall. Oak are also pretty common here. Unfortunately our area is also infested with this invasive Himalayan blackberry with canes that can grow 40 feet long. I have rid about 75% of my property of them so far.
What’s something most TractorByNet members don’t know about you? I’m related to President Calvin Coolidge.
What are some of your other hobbies?
I’m a treasure hunter, yep one of those guys you see with a metal detector and giant headphones on the beach.
Before anyone starts laughing look at the gold jewelry picture, I could pay cash for a tractor just with the gold and silver I have found the last few years. And that grey clump is two 1778 Spanish 8 Reale coins from a ship wreck off NJ, 2 of 40 coins dating back to 1754. I found them on the beach after the government dragged a dredge over top of the wreck and pumped all the treasure up onto the beach during a beach replenishment project. I also build vacuum tube guitar amplifiers as a hobby.
