Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[TonyP]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjbBl..._web_copy_link

Another, bigger, less fun one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfMlKig..._web_copy_link

[j44ke]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjbBl..._web_copy_link

Another, bigger, less fun one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfMlKig..._web_copy_link

Nice way to get rid of the voles.

[htwoopup]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjbBl..._web_copy_link

You could do like how Phil grooms the fat bike trails up in the North Country...



But use multiple tires.

Another way to make this more of a project...up here, to save money while making it safer for cyclists the town uses street sweepers to suck up the gravel from the winter along the shoulders of the road every spring. Perhaps, if the gravel gets moved to the side of the driveway by plowing the snow, you could just plow the gravel back onto the driveway when it unfreezes. I would think it wouldn't be scattered more than just in a pile along the drive as it isn't like you will be speed plowing with an ATV.

[Tom]

Those things look like something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I can see them running amok through the woods accompanied by some mad orchestral arrangement.

I was thinking more along the lines of a roller pulled by the ATV.

[72gmc]

This may be the video that convinces my wife that a skid steer and baby excavator are good tools to have. No luck so far, but I’ll keep trying.

[darkmother]

^That video was a lot of fun to watch.

Nice tubeless install technique-bead to the center channel of the rim!

[j44ke]

This may be the video that convinces my wife that a skid steer and baby excavator are good tools to have. No luck so far, but I’ll keep trying.

Those Kubota mini-excavators are incredible. Next time you see one and you can look into the cab, look at the runtime hours.

We are getting the chorus of moos from across the valley today. Started last night and is still going. Usually that means another batch of calves has been separated from their moms to be sent to the feed lots - but in February-March? I think that would mean calves born in December? I don't know why that should surprise me - I am sure they can get cows to calve whenever they want. Just seems tough time to have calves due.

[j44ke]

Okay, now I am looking at tractors. Specifically subcompact. This is a slippery slope. First quads, then side-by-sides, then tractors. Next stop, mini-excavators.

Anyway, I like the look of the Kubota BX23. Small 4x4 tractor and I can get as complicated a plow setup as I want. They make a manual one and one that has complete hydraulic control, plus any number of after-market options. In the last week I've had 2-3 jobs that I could have used the tractor for. I have two drainage pipes I'd like to add to the driveway, and the list goes on. Splitter on the PTO. Chipper on the PTO. Planting trees which I will do a lot of over the next five years. And I just banged back into shape the stone wall that the snow plow guy knocked 4-6" off-line, so I am pretty committed to plowing my own drive next winter.

Plus it is orange.

Am I wrong? I might not care. I might have to build a second garage.

This one is on Craig's list locally for $23K, and it is the only one that looks like it actually got used.

[sk_tle]

Doesn't it make more sense to rent than to own those kind of things?

Here in europe very few people own thoses, they are mostly rented on demand.

[bigbill]

We're planning our first month in Wyoming. My wife and her sister are eventers (dressage, show jumping, and cross country). The dressage and show jumping competitions are held in a two acre field and arena. The cross country course has been on leased BLM land for the past two decades. That lease is up at the end of June and won't be renewed so we have to break down the course and either haul off the jumps or build a bonfire. All the materials on the course are either rock or wood. The rocks can be scattered and we will re-purpose the wood as much as possible on a short course on our property. This was a world-class course so will rent a skid steer from the CAT dealer for a week or more. Last summer I got pretty good with a blade, bucket, and forks. We have two flatbed trailers available for the ten mile travel between the BLM and our property. As an aside, the area where the course is set up was used for astronaut training because it is similar to the moonscape.

For the remainder of the summer after we build a course on the lower terrace, I'll excavate an old, narrow irrigation ditch that is no longer in use, and fill it with gravel to create a French drain and eliminate the standing water that supports mosquitoes. Our fence lines are overgrown with Russian olives, an invasive species, that I'll work on removing so I can repair all the old fences. I'll bring both chainsaws, gas trimmer, generator, and handtools. I'll be the epitome of "he's brown as a berry from riding the prairie."

[j44ke]

Doesn't it make more sense to rent than to own those kind of things?

Here in europe very few people own thoses, they are mostly rented on demand.

For a handful of jobs a year, yes rental makes sense. But even just 10 times a year, delivery and pickup starts to eat into the advantages. And if you are going to use it for plowing snow, then scheduling a rental is not usually workable.

[mjbabcock]

This one is on Craig's list locally for $23K, and it is the only one that looks like it actually got used.

We got a BX1860 included with the house we bought 4 years ago. Super useful little machine, but it didn’t take long to wish I had a larger machine. The bx series has little wheels and narrow axles. It can get tippy with the bucket on the front of those small front tires. I would love something with ~30+ horsepower and the larger size 3-point and the more powerful pro would be a bonus.

As for attachments, that’s where a bigger machine would also be nice. I feel like I’m always pushing mine more than I should. I have linkage pins with lots of play in them on the bucket, and dragging a 5’ lane plane on the dirt road can make it struggle at times. If you’re gonna spend the money, throw an extra $4-5k and get a bigger machine.

[Too Tall]

Okay, now I am looking at tractors. Specifically subcompact. This is a slippery slope. First quads, then side-by-sides, then tractors. Next stop, mini-excavators.

Anyway, I like the look of the Kubota BX23. Small 4x4 tractor and I can get as complicated a plow setup as I want. They make a manual one and one that has complete hydraulic control, plus any number of after-market options. In the last week I've had 2-3 jobs that I could have used the tractor for. I have two drainage pipes I'd like to add to the driveway, and the list goes on. Splitter on the PTO. Chipper on the PTO. Planting trees which I will do a lot of over the next five years. And I just banged back into shape the stone wall that the snow plow guy knocked 4-6" off-line, so I am pretty committed to plowing my own drive next winter.

Plus it is orange.

Am I wrong? I might not care. I might have to build a second garage.

This one is on Craig's list locally for $23K, and it is the only one that looks like it actually got used.

that is the EXACT tractor I have been borrowing for the past two years. It is small enough to be called cute. That said it is unbreakable and a workhorse. Learn to use forward/reverse like a brake because hydraulic small machinery with hydraulics on all wheels only have a trans brake eg it suks. You'll learn to use the bucket and / or an outrigger for extra stopping power blah blah blah.

Bottom line, it is a great machine.

Last, get the backhoe. You want it for the massive lifting power.

[j44ke]

that is the EXACT tractor I have been borrowing for the past two years. It is small enough to be called cute. That said it is unbreakable and a workhorse. Learn to use forward/reverse like a brake because hydraulic small machinery with hydraulics on all wheels only have a trans brake eg it suks. You'll learn to use the bucket and / or an outrigger for extra stopping power blah blah blah.

Bottom line, it is a great machine.

Last, get the backhoe. You want it for the massive lifting power.

I have to say, if you can fit and work on a sub-compact tractor, that's good enough recommendation for me.

[72gmc]

The customization is in the add on gear. Skid plate, thumb attachments, bucket teeth, extra hydraulic circuits, sun shades,
AC in a cab, tool carriers, wheel spacers, pallet forks, PTO generators, counter weights, winches. Not to mention the attachments. The list is extensive and expensive lol. There's a cottage industry of tinkerers and fabricators orbiting around these things.

Yes. So good for gear heads. Which leads to the day when you have an arsenal of accessories and a seat that’s held together by several kinds of tape.

[lumpy]

Our next door neighbor is a farm that's been in the family about 100 years. The owner regularly goes to equipment auctions and has effectively one tractor for each implement. He says he gets more done when he doesn't have to hitch up and unhitch machinery.

[bigbill]

For farming, I spent several days a week and my summers on my grandfather's farm in the DFW area. He had not bought any new equipment since 1950 so I grew up driving death traps with no roll bars, any kind of safety features, and one tractor that you had to handcrank to start. I mowed ditches with a Farmall B (gas) tractor with a tricycle wheel setup (front wheels are paired like nose gear on a plane). I look back and can't believe I didn't roll it over on me. At times, I would walk about 20 feet in front of the thresher looking for flood debris that would tear up machinery. I started driving at 9 years old and one tractor in particular, a Farmall D, I had to climb the wheel to get on it.

My grandfather was one of FDR's "Scientific Farmers" during the depression, and if the machinery was good enough, there was no need to upgrade. He lived 1900-1997 and died in the room where he was born. I always looked like older pictures of him, so here's what I'll look like at 97.

[mjbabcock]

For farming, I spent several days a week and my summers on my grandfather's farm in the DFW area. He had not bought any new equipment since 1950 so I grew up driving death traps with no roll bars, any kind of safety features, and one tractor that you had to handcrank to start. I mowed ditches with a Farmall B (gas) tractor with a tricycle wheel setup (front wheels are paired like nose gear on a plane). I look back and can't believe I didn't roll it over on me. At times, I would walk about 20 feet in front of the thresher looking for flood debris that would tear up machinery. I started driving at 9 years old and one tractor in particular, a Farmall D, I had to climb the wheel to get on it.

My grandfather was one of FDR's "Scientific Farmers" during the depression, and if the machinery was good enough, there was no need to upgrade. He lived 1900-1997 and died in the room where he was born. I always looked like older pictures of him, so here's what I'll look like at 97.

Dude has disproportionately big/strong hands…at 97. I’d be wary of a handshake as he might crush a metacarpal.

[gregl]

I'll pile on about the value of a small utility tractor. I grew up on a large, CNY dairy farm. The local tractor/implement dealer sold Oliver (later White) and New Holland, so that's the equipment we operated. When my father sold the farm to pursue other business interests, he kept an Oliver 550 as a utility tractor. The Oliver was a great small tractor, but a bit cumbersome for hobby farm chores and not terribly versatile. Later, we purchased a Kubota L245DT. For a small rural property, the Kubota was a much better fit than the old Oliver. Even though it only had half the horsepower of the Oliver, the diesel Kubota had more useable low-end torque. With 4-wheel drive, the Kubota could put the power to the ground very effectively. I was always amazed at how easily it would pull cars out of ditches, snow and mud. We equipped it with a front dozer blade that did double duty for winter snow removal and summer dirt moving. The blade had a float detent in the hydraulic control and removable bolts in the spring trip mechanism which made it very effective for snow removal, yet did not damage the driveway surface. In the summer, I would re-install the bolts to lock out the spring trip mechanism for dirt moving. On the back, the Kubota had a standard PTO and Cat. 1 3-point hitch. We used a Mott flail mower for summer lawn and pasture duty. Posthole augers, plows, and other implements were used often. With a radiator hose coolant heater, the tractor started easily in below zero temps. The Kubota was a great machine and I would get a similar tractor in a second if my property needed one.

Greg

[bigbill]

Dude has disproportionately big/strong hands…at 97. I’d be wary of a handshake as he might crush a metacarpal.

He was still farming at 97, he contracted pneumonia a month after his birthday and died six weeks later. He died three days after I returned from four months submerged on a submarine, and I was able to attend his funeral. He was also a dairy farmer and the milkman until the late 50s. He went to the cemetery in his old milk wagon pulled by a single Clydesdale. He was Texas A&M class of 1921, and received a masters degree from Baylor in 1923. He taught regional farmers how to rotate crops, terrace their fields, and to preserve topsoil from erosion. His younger brother was a professor at Baylor at the outbreak of World War 2. Joining the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the younger brother (1903) directed logistics for USO shows all over the Pacific. After the war, he started a travel agency that specialized in taking tourists behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn't until he died of leukemia in 1974 that we learned that he was more than a travel agent when some old guys from the CIA attended his funeral.