Buying several Kubota tractors, building a Camp, and maintaining 69 acres of recreational/hunting property.

[JRHill]

Enjoyed reading the story and the pictures. It brought back a memory of our current (and final) place. When I moved to the PNW from the Midwest I brought the B7100 and all the attachments. The 'ol machine ran great but I couldn't find the backhoe. At 25 years old I had given up finding one. Around 2009 we had purchased forest land and had picked out the site for the house. I needed a backhoe. There was a medium sized Kubota dealership outside of a town in the area and I bit the bullet and stopped. The machine may have been a BX25 and he was going to give me a trade-in price on the B7100/loader when I brought it in for an inspection. But he gave me a ballpark figure.

As I was gritting my teeth he asked again which model I was trading and I told him. He said "Comon out back" and I followed him. There sitting on an oversized pallet was a B670 backhoe with the brackets, bolts, complete. But not the rotating seat. He had just got it on consignment from a long time customer who was downsizing. My jaw was dragging and leaving a trail of drool. I bought in on the spot. His next words were the most classic line I had ever heard from a sales guy/business owner: "So I supposed I just screwed myself out of selling you a new tractor, huh?" Duh, I think the price was $650.

It was in pretty good shape but was definitely undersized for the project at hand. The JD 410j solved that problem. It can brake up a root ball and push over a 24" Doug Fir in 20 minutes. The "Toy Tractor" and "Big Bertha" make a good team. But I have to be really careful with Bertha as she's so top and back heavy.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I did get the replacement mower deck safety stickers installed the other day when it was warm.
I degreased the newly painted surfaces with brake cleaner before installing them.

The OEM Kubota mower deck Model number / Serial number sticker is an entirely different matter.
I was successful removing that sticker prior to repainting the mower deck.
It was that one time a "rust bubble" was a good thing, it had started "lifting" one corner of the sticker.
It is perhaps at 90% condition compared to a brand new Model number / Serial number sticker.

I mixed up some two part epoxy and smeared some around on the sticker adhesive side.
It isn't nearly as neat / clean / firmly attached as a brand new sticker.
Those factory Mn / Sn stickers just aren't made to be removed and then reattached.

I live in a rural county. There isn't a large selection of available choices for auto body parts stuff.
I started at the north end of town, and heading south, stopped at every business that does auto body work, parts stores, and auto detailing. The last stop, they actually knew what I was talking about.

I decided after receiving a suggestion here from Forum Member @biketopia, that a small square of 3M Pro Paint Protection Film applied on top of the Model number / Serial number sticker will do the job.
This 3M product is commonly called "Stone Guard" in the auto body industry, but that isn't really technically accurate, as 3M sells a stone floor protection product called Stone Guard.

I did investigate aftermarket one-off replacement reproduction stickers, but they are big money.
Simply due to expensive machine setup time expenses, and a production run of one.
I got a quote for a reproduction sticker, and it was $288 plus shipping.

The last place I stopped and looked for the 3M Pro Paint Protection Film had some.
I could have bought a large roll online, and big enough to cover the side of a tractor trailer.
But what am I going to do with the remaining quantity leftover?
I needed a "square" 4"x 4" maximum and anything extra remaining would just be wasted.

So here is a "shout out" to Oxford Motors in Oxford, New York.
They donated a small square of the 3M Pro Paint Protection Film, and when/if it ever warms up again,
I will stick a square of that product over the top of that pesky Model number / Serial number sticker.

IMG_20250414_142357599_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20250414_142334985_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr