Thinking about a FEL

[bcarver]

I bought my L3200 about two years ago. I pay as I go so I was on the fence about the Front-End Loader. I knew I wanted one but was thinking about getting it later. I bought it with the FEL and am glad I did. I use it all the time. I would say 70% of the time I am using it. Today I built a berm and piled stumps on a fire. I could have done the berm with a box blade but not nearly as fast. And the stumps would not have gotten moved. If you are even considering one go for it.

 

[mdhughes]

The main reason I bought a new tractor was to get a FEL. My old Ford 2000 work for me 20 years, but I kept thinking how much easier it would be to cut firewood with a FEL and it is better then I thought it would be. Set of pallet forks really helps.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

In the entire time I have owners tractors, I have found them to be "super wheelbarrows." People think I am nuts for shoveling into a tractor but out west, much of the landscaping involves raking out native rock and then replacing it with a native multi-color colored rock. We put down rock like people back east put down grass.

Being able to get your bucket into an area where you have spoil to move is so handy. You can drive around and pick up several piles.

When I did my backyard demo, the old yard had 30+ tons of some kind of 1" minus (one inch and smaller) pink rock that absolutely didn't go with what we wanted to do. Even my dogs didn't like walking on it because it had sharp edges. But, I could use that same material near my barn, 500 feet away. Over a weeks time, I raked up and loaded my FEL with all of it and relocated it to where I used it. There was absolutely no choice. It had to go somewhere and paying someone else to come in and rake it up and haul it away would have been pretty expensive.

FELs are what make a tractor so useful. I second the notion that they are "must have" items. My FEL gets 85% of the use on my machine.

 

[Lil Foot]

People think I am nuts for shoveling into a tractor

I get the same from my neighbors. Maybe that's one reason why I can outwork them. For me, you reach a point when there is no longer a large enough pile to scoop with the tractor; out comes the flat shovel. Like CCR, my FEL gets the lion's share of the work. The only way I'd own a tractor without the FEL is if I had another tractor with one.

 

[Dieselbob]

A good friend of mine is famous for saying, "If you don't buy the loader, don't waste your money". I like to say "If you don't think you'll USE the loader, you've never OWNED a loader." 85% of the 900 hours on my BX has been loader work. I don't pick up ANYTHING if I can get that loader to do it for me. I even use it to carry my tools out into yard.

 

[Missouribound]

I have found them to be "super wheelbarrows."

That's a great analogy. I bought my first tractor with an FEL this year and I have used it for hauling just as much as moving dirt. From moving landscape edgers to using the bucket for trimmed branches. I have moved salt from my truck to load the water softener. I have moved tools as well. It's also a jack for some outdoor construction projects. I've pulled trees up with it. It's a helper you don't have to pay. It makes the "how in the hell am I going to do that" projects much simpler. And at my age, 65, I appreciate the help.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

After we moved into our house, I had all the household stuff delivered to the barn. Every morning, I would hitch up the little trailer and load it up with boxes and stuff for the house. I found with a little creativity, the loader would hold about 8 or 9 boxes as well. Some days I just used the loader and filled it up with boxes and odds and ends. And you could adjust the height so lifting the boxes off was easy.

When I do tree trimming twice a year, I put all my chainsaws and tools and a gas can in the bucket and all the cut bits in the Polar trailer. Man! Can you get some work done!

 

[rut3556]

>>I have found them to be "super wheelbarrows."<<

And the wife calls ours "the world's most expensive wheelbarrow", but when you need it it sure does come in handy!

 

[Greenhead]

Delivering supplies on the roof, cement mixer, ladder, ect..
Ray, your tree trimming tasks reminded me of a day.
I was trimming in the bucket and the wife was raising, lowering and moving me around. All is good, then I said lower me a little. She hit the lower detent and the bottom fell out. So here I am like a cartoon in mid air holding a saw she realizes what is happening and stops the bucket. After I pick myself up out of the bucket I ask her if she loves me or what.??.. All she said was oopps.
My son helps me now with tree trimming..

 

[D2Cat]

That, Greenhead, is why I have a Stihl pole saw that will reach 16'. I'd rather be tired at the end of the day then injured.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

GH,

My old Ford had a pretty jerky bucket if you moved the lever fast. I used to throw a carpet scrap in there and lift my 10 year-old up high and then give her a jerky ride up and down for a few minutes. She would scream! She could do that all day.

Ahhh to be young again!

 

[Dieselbob]

That, Greenhead, is why I have a Stihl pole saw that will reach 16'. I'd rather be tired at the end of the day then injured.

I have an electric pole saw, so I strap my generator into the bucket and tow a trailer behind the tractor. I cut my limbs and throw them into the trailer.