New tractor

[davec]

I just picked this up. Looked at it a couple weeks ago from a guy selling it nearby, made the deal and finally got it in hand Thurs night. Took Friday off and took it out in the woods to get some work done. I've never driven a tractor for more than 5 minutes before, so this is new to me but it couldn't be much easier (hydro). Got a set of (new) forks to go with it too, and the trailer (very used).

The trailer is still causing me fits as a deck board broke loading it up the first time and then I found the brake controller isn't seeing the trailer brakes, so there must be a wiring issue back there. I will fix that tomorrow, along with the deck, and then I should be good to go. But I think I got hosed a bit on the trailer. Ah well... At least I can use the tractor to lift the trailer up to work on it (and then place jackstands)

32 hp, 4wd Kubota L series with loader and hyrdo tranny. I'm loving it.

1st pic was when I was working on getting chains and binders set up, so it is only partly secured. 2nd pic is unloaded and ready to go at the land.

We finally started pulling out wood today too. Got 3 full loads in the F250, with raised sides. Almost all red oak. Damn that stuff is heavy. Couldn't quite fill up the 8' box with it, as the truck was sitting pretty low before we got that far. I'm tired. Ground is still pretty soft and the truck and tracor were leaving some good impressions. The future driveway path is now pretty much clear to the top, near the house landing.

:greenchainsaw:

 

[Ductape]

Wow, nice tractor! Looks in nice shape. I'm on my second Kubota and I think they are great tractors. Did the trailer come with it..... or you already had it? It looks a bit short for that particular tractor, but no doubt will get you by.

 

[davec]

Thanks! I bought the tractor from a private individual but he was in quite good with the local Kubota dealer, and so I got the forks and trailer from the Kubota dealer. I'm still kvetching about the trailer, but if I can get it all working correctly tomorrow, it will be fine. It's 16' which seems OK for the tractor, but you need to be a bit careful where you place it. You need to back the tractor on for tongue weight balance and the bucket just sticks out a couple inches, as you see. An 18' would probably be better, but as I said, this will do. Live and learn.

-Dave

 

[ryan_marine]

Nice score.

Ray

 

[TreePointer]

Congratulations!

If you are new to tractors, make sure you read up on having counter weights and being careful on slopes. If you have something heavy in the bucket, you better have something (implement, ballast box, etc.) on the back end to counter it.

Most tractors I've driven are more top-heavy than they look. Slopes that seem harmless can cause a tractor to roll over. A slope with a load in the bucket can get a rear wheel in the air and cause instability real fast.

 

[davec]

Rear tires are filled for ballast. I can always add ballast on the 3pt if need be, but I doubt I will need it. When I first went up that ditch slope, I backed up it for safety, which was probably necessary at that point (it felt a bit tippy...). Then the first thing I did with the tractor was knock down the crest of the ditch on the upslope so it wasn't so sharp a slope. Now you can go up/down any way you want, with tractor or PU's.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[luvsaws]

Nice rig!
What does one of them weigh?

 

[davec]

Round about 4000-4500 lbs with forks and bucket, plus the trailer must be another 1800-2000lbs. You feel it back there. ...And without the trailer brakes working, you get very cautious.... I only drove it once that way, and it was only a couple miles. Found out it wasn't working too late the first time and had to go. Fixing that issue tomorrow AM...

 

[stihl sawing]

Awesome tractor, Friend of mine has one like it. He loves it. Don't know how many hours he's got on it but it's a lot. He lives it.lol

 

[Benning]

Nice!

Major league jealous !!

 

[Turkeyslayer]

Very nice tractor A small 4wd tractor loader is ultra handy. Make sure you keep the loader well greased, it will save you money and headaches in the future.

 

[Curlycherry1]

Congratulations!

If you are new to tractors, make sure you read up on having counter weights and being careful on slopes. If you have something heavy in the bucket, you better have something (implement, ballast box, etc.) on the back end to counter it.

Davec has me there to give him pointers and help with the learning curve on some parts of navigating a tractor in the woods. I am not good with a bucket but I can dance the big dance in a woods on a tractor. Gave him some pointers yesterday like when one goes through trees and then backs out (after dumping dirt) make darn sure the bucket does not catch on a tree. Easy to do if the front end turns at all after going into the trees and one backs straight out. Also showed him that when backblading one has to steer with the back tires and not the fronts as the fronts are off the ground.

Between the two of us we are starting to move wood and lay down some roads in his woods.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Its a great tractor Enjoy!!!

Like Treepionter said. Be careful and take your time until you get used to it. When you have something heavy in the bucket keep the bucket close to the ground and be ready to drop the bucket to the ground if the back end lifts. Usually one tire will come up and it will tilt at a angle forward. I lifted a big ash tree in the bucket of my dads 90hp kubota a few weeks ago and my cheeks pinched the seat really fast! And I had a three bottom plows on back for extra weight. When possible go strait up and down hills not sideways. Dirt is a lot heavier than you think be carefull with a full bucket.

Billy

 

[Beefie]

Congratulations on the new tractor, I can see a Carry-all in your future. It looks like the trailer should be rated for 10,000lb, just by looking at the bolt pattern. Get the brakes fixed and it will be a nice trailer. How do you like the forks so far.


Beefie

 

[Rookie1]

Nice tractor. I know 3 people who have Kubotas and they are top notch machines.I dont think you can go wrong with one. Make sure you put the rollover hoop up and keep it up. My cousin rolled his and had the hoop up,it saved his butt and tractor too. Keep the pics coming too.

 

[indiansprings]

Nice set up. You'll find that you'll wonder how you ever did without it. You were smart picking up a 4x4 tractor woth loader, it's amazing what you can do. The trailer is a good one, it appears that it is 5" channel running all the way under the frame back to the axles. Here you could buy enough tread wood to completely refloor it for a couple hundred. We often pull our little 45hp Deere 4x4 w/loader around with one almost identical.
Weld you three chain hooks on top of the bucket, one on each side and one in the middle, you'll find them very handy securing things to the bucket.
You'll find a box blade makes excellent ballast, we welded a 2" reciever tube to ours so we can put a hitch on it and pull the trailer around while having the box blade on.

 

[ryan_marine]

Nice set up. You'll find that you'll wonder how you ever did without it. You were smart picking up a 4x4 tractor woth loader, it's amazing what you can do. The trailer is a good one, it appears that it is 5" channel running all the way under the frame back to the axles. Here you could buy enough tread wood to completely refloor it for a couple hundred. We often pull our little 45hp Deere 4x4 w/loader around with one almost identical.
Weld you three chain hooks on top of the bucket, one on each side and one in the middle, you'll find them very handy securing things to the bucket.
You'll find a box blade makes excellent ballast, we welded a 2" reciever tube to ours so we can put a hitch on it and pull the trailer around while having the box blade on.

Very good ideas. Got me thinking now as well.

Ray

 

[Walt41]

Like Turkeyslayer said, grease is your friend, don't forget the fittings underneath and use a quality grease, like green grease. As others have said, be careful and Wear your Seat belt! You'll be glad you did.

 

[davec]

Lots of good tips here. The PO did weld a chain hook on top of the bucket for lifting stuff. The bucket is Kubota's "light material" bucket so it isn't a real tank. I also have the forks for lifting stuff as it has the skid-steer quick attach setup. Haven't used the forks yet, but probably will today if I get the trailer brakes sorted out. The placard on the trailer was totally obliterated so I have no idea what it was rated at.

As for grease, is some special kind is recommended? I typically use a good quality suspension and bearing lube in my vehicles, and was assuming I would use that. The manual of course only recomends things like "Kubota brand super duper grease" so that doesn't help much. It was well maintained by the PO, so it is starting off in good condition.

-Dave

 

[Turkeyslayer]

I agree with Walt in the fact the high quality green grease is the best imo. Right now I am using Mobil Unirex EP2 with good results, but any high quality suspension/bearing grease should be fine. I also recommend greasing the loader daily if you are using it alot, grease is cheap compared to pins and bushings