Bought my 1st Kubota.

[Foxrunfarms]

Hello,

My name is Tony. A little background on myself. I grew up on small WI dairy farm. I met my wife and we bought a 7 acre hobby farm that we've currently been living on for 3 years now.

We grow decorative corn, pumpkins, and haybales we sell along the road in the fall.

I also grow corn, soybeans, and sunflowers for food plots.

My dad and I collect and restore vintage John Deere tractors. These are mostly for leisure but do see some work around the acerage.

Our main tool is an arctic cat 700 tbx atv. It would till the garden with a mini disc, plow snow, and is our " go for" vehicle running around.

I'm a foreman at tree and lawn care company and have access to dump trucks, skidloaders, and backhoes, to fill in the gap of anything we might need.

Unfortunately going on 2 years now when I was on a jobs site in conned off area, wearing a safety vest standing next to a skidloader trailer unchaining the skidloader a 16 year old wasn't paying attention, drove through the cones, up onto the trailer and came off running me over when I was jumping out of the way. I've spent 2 weeks in a trauma center and on surgery #3 now. I have some hardware in my right leg and limitations with it. Friends, family and neighbors really helped out around the property but a lot of responsibility has been put on my wife. Once I'm considered closed to being healed I'm looking at a different carreer that my body can handle better which means no access to equipment.

My wife decided it was time to look at tractors to make things easier for us. I wanted a bigger lawn mower and some sort of classic full size farm tractor with a loader to plow snow. She wanted an all purpose tractor for mowing, loader work, and tilling, something that was dependable and she was comfortable driving. So we decided on a compact. Kubota, John Deere and New Holland are all with in 10 minutes of our place. As you can tell from my collection I'm a JD guy so that was my 1st choice. The wife liked the 1025rs but I knew it was too small for our needs the bucket wasn't much bigger than a wheel barrel. I liked the 3033rs, but looked at a New Holland 30 and a few Kubotas. The wife really liked the Kubotas. A lx2610 caught our eye. I liked the 3310 but emissions and an extra 6k for 6 hp turned me away. We talked to a sales guy, we were able to get the tractor, a loader with 60 inch bucket, a 60 inch deck, quick hitch, and tiller for what just a base John Deere or New Holland would be plus 800 off the attachment combo and another 250 off for coming in during their demo days. We didn't get the tractor yet they need to find a mower deck yet.

The sales guy gave us a couple of hats, shirts, water bottle and 2 6 packs.

At the moment I'm checking out auctions for brush hogs, and rear blades.

We're really eager to put this tractor to use and see what it can all do for us. Hopefully this summer I'll be getting close to normal again, back to work, and be able to play around on this.....if the wife decides to share it.

 

[85Hokie]

Tony,

Welcome to the forum!

And I'll be the first to say -everyone here is jealous of your tractor and your spread!!!

Beautiful.

And we will not hold the green machines against you either!

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Tony,

Welcome to the forum!

And I'll be the first to say -everyone here is jealous of your tractor and your spread!!!

Beautiful.

And we will not hold the green machines against you either!

Thank you. I look forward contributing to this site and making some new friends. I think this color will really grow on me.

 

[85Hokie]

Glad your wonderful wife steered you to the correct color.

I think you will be very happy with the new orange and the site.

Lots of right damn smart people here, I think some of them know a Kubota better than the folks that designed them!

 

[DustyRusty]

Hoping that your recovery is fast and full. As for your choice in tractors, JD is a good tractor, but when it comes to the smaller tractors, I am a firm believer that Kubota has the JDs beat. Welcome to the forums.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Thank you. Lots of life lessons learned from the accident and it's been weird slowing down and just recovering the last 2 years. Usually 4 hours of sleep, coffee, anger and ambition is what kept me moving haha. Compacts were something I never really paid attention to since I'm more familiar with more farm sized equipment. To me all the model numbers seemed like something a 5 year old came up with. So I did a lot of research.....how I found this forum and watched a lot of you tube. Every color has pros and cons, some one might like one thing the next person doesn't.....all their own. I respect whatever color someone owns. If it's cause of family history, the dealer close by, or it was a good deal. It's interesting going through hobby farm books, magazines, searching online the number 1 tractor suggested, mentioned or tractor that came to mind when thinking of compacts was Kubota. I honestly thought the Kubotas would be the most expensive or close to John Deere being so well known and popular but ended up being the best deal for the attachment package and interest.

 

[GrizBota]

Welcome to OTT! I’m a newbie myself.
First off you property and photos look like a set of post cards. Wow! Very nice, and I know that means a lot of hard work and dedication.

Congratulations on the new Kubota tractor. Sounds like you’ve outfitted it nicely. If you haven’t already, consider having the rear tires fluid filled. Your place looks pretty flat. I read a stat years ago the reported more tractors roll over on flat ground than hills. Not sure why, but that’s what I read.

Sounds like you’ve been working hard on your rehab in the last couple years. I wish you all the best in that and as fully a recovery as possible. Glad to hear you have a willing spouse to help pick up the pieces and keep the place going. Not everyone can do that.

I don’t think I saw pallet forks in your listing of equipment. If you don’t already have a set, it seems that the tasks you have with your sales might lend them to the use of pallets and/or Gaylords.

Just a thought, but if the wife won’t share enough, you could get another tractor in a few years. I suspect you might file a Schedule F and be eligible to depreciate or or take a Section 179 election to protect your farm (and maybe even non-farm) income from some portion of the standard federal tax rate. If that’s not something your doing, it’s pretty easy with Turbo Tax, or an accountant/CPA.

Good luck to you!

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Great to have you here, Tony.

I can relate. I crashed my motorcycle 8 years ago and they gave me 1 percent chance to live.

I spent weeks in a hospital. And weeks in rehab. I lived. Kept my job. My wife and God was my mainstay.

Wether you bought Deere or Kubota, I'm glad that you're capable.

It gets better. It gets better. It took me a month to walk again. 5 months to walk without a walker.

Chin up. Love for your God and family.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Welcome to OTT! I’m a newbie myself.
First off you property and photos look like a set of post cards. Wow! Very nice, and I know that means a lot of hard work and dedication.

Congratulations on the new Kubota tractor. Sounds like you’ve outfitted it nicely. If you haven’t already, consider having the rear tires fluid filled. Your place looks pretty flat. I read a stat years ago the reported more tractors roll over on flat ground than hills. Not sure why, but that’s what I read.

Sounds like you’ve been working hard on your rehab in the last couple years. I wish you all the best in that and as fully a recovery as possible. Glad to hear you have a willing spouse to help pick up the pieces and keep the place going. Not everyone can do that.

I don’t think I saw pallet forks in your listing of equipment. If you don’t already have a set, it seems that the tasks you have with your sales might lend them to the use of pallets and/or Gaylords.

Just a thought, but if the wife won’t share enough, you could get another tractor in a few years. I suspect you might file a Schedule F and be eligible to depreciate or or take a Section 179 election to protect your farm (and maybe even non-farm) income from some portion of the standard federal tax rate. If that’s not something your doing, it’s pretty easy with Turbo Tax, or an accountant/CPA.

Good luck to you!

Thank you. I enjoy photography. I took a video editing close in high school where we made psa's and stuff for the local news station. We learned a lot about camera angles, lights, and filter effects. It kind of stuck with me.

Pretty flat area besides 1 ditch which will still probably be mowed with our 46 inch rider......an offset sickle bar or pull behind atv mower might be in the works too for that task.

Nothing filled for the tires. Something I thought of just haven't researched a lot on it yet. Growing up we had a couple of tractors with rim guard. When I was looking at vintage tractors some rims were pretty well rotten from some sort of fluid.

Pallet forks are on the future list. Loader, mower, and tiller were must haves. A brush hog is a close 2nd I'm hoping to find one this week and a blade is #3. We split wood and get logs dropped off here from my employer forks would help move them around or lift them to buck them up. Good point on the fall end. We usually just have enough to fill the flat rake. My dad and I talked about going into a seed business and selling out of a shed but a skidloader with forks might be a better machine for that job. I figured forks are one of those things too you don't know how useful they are until you actually have them.

My wife and 5 year old son have been a God sent through all this and can never repay them for the help and support they've given me.... or tolerance lol. It really makes you focus on what's important in life. Somethings are a challenge, some days I have to grind my teeth, I lag behind walking but I'm still walking and here to watch my son grow up.

Thanks for the future buying advice. There's different programs and stuff out in our area but we're too small, or don't bring in much in come to be considered agriculture profit. We just started to get settled in right before the accident so a lot of things, got put on hold like building repairs, animals, and looking at different programs. Some of my wet land can go into cpr but then have to follow certain protocols. I'd love to get a pond or scrape made for waterfall and the dnr use to do that at no charge. Now unfortunately they got rid of that program.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Great to have you here, Tony.

I can relate. I crashed my motorcycle 8 years ago and they gave me 1 percent chance to live.

I spent weeks in a hospital. And weeks in rehab. I lived. Kept my job. My wife and God was my mainstay.

Wether you bought Deere or Kubota, I'm glad that you're capable.

It gets better. It gets better. It took me a month to walk again. 5 months to walk without a walker.

Chin up. Love for your God and family.

Thanks. Glad to here you're with us yet and you can tell the story and give me encouragement. Good days and bad days and it helps knowing/talking to someone who experienced something similar. I'm very stubborn but the 3rd day at the hospital I asked to talk to someone. 2 days later 2 ladies came in. 1 hid behind the door taking notes and the other was asking me if I'd go on a man hunt after the kid and acting like I was an alcoholic for having a mix drink in my shop wrenching on something as my way to relax. When all I wanted to know was how was I going to support my family, be the man of the house, or be the old me again. So that discouraged me wanting to talk to anyone. I found some really good forums of stories like ours, and it made me feel so much better that I have the same worries and emotions as other similar people. My wife's cousin got into a bad car accident and she vented to me a lot. It felt nice to be able to help her or know how it feels to have a roller coaster of emotion. I was stuck in bed for a month, needed a wheel chair for a bit then upgraded to a walker, then cane, and now walking with a limp. When I came to after everything my 1st thought was " whatever the out come is I can push through it. I had to remember baby steps. Tying a shoe, walking 10 steps ect all little wins. It was frustrating I got back to work last spring from being what I thought was healed and blew out my good knee......the other leg was so bad they over looked the other so that got me down a bit. When I get down or mad I see someone worst off.......one day I took my son out for ice cream and saw a lady eating ice cream with stubs for hands......I figured I have nothing to complain about. I grew up very religious and over time kind of lost my way but I never asked the big guy, cow, 8 armed Egyptian......whatever the right God is why. I figured it happened for a reason and there's a plan. I might not be the old me anymore but I can be an improved me with some limitations. It's crazy how pieces fall into place. That day I had work boots on instead of cowboy boots, brand new jeans instead of my usual ripped up ones which saved me from a lot of road rash and the customers house we were at was a retired nurse who came running out when she heard the noise. I'm to the point I just want to move on, forget that day, not deal with workers comp( so many people play the system then when someone is legit hurt it's a big run around), or lawyers. Most days I can laugh about the accident now instead of getting mad. I blacked out but could feel I was getting dragged and my new cathartt jeans getting burned and ripped and I was mad about them......getting dragged and I'm concerned about my jeans, when I came to my co worker was next to me I said " that was un expected let's get the skid off", carrying me to the ambulance a paramedic handed me my ball cap and I asked if he saw my shades at all, getting flown to the trauma center I asked if I'd be home by 6, the doctors told my wife before flying me to pack me some shorts and tennis shoes, she told them I don't own any, and I need a few enimas to get everything flowing a nurse asked me how bad it felt and I told her I'd rather get ran over again the look on her face was priceless. Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement. Again I'm glad you can share your experience.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

When I asked my doctor if I was going to survive... He didn't answer!! That was a moment I'll never forget.

You will get through this. Someday, like it is for me now... it will be like it never happened.

You can drive your JD's and new Kubota. Love your wife and family and move onward.

God Bless. I'm so glad to hear of tragic situations that turned out well.

Chin up. Few understand like those who lived it.

I got 2 helicopter rides myself. I only remember looking at the ceiling of one of the helicopters, and then the glorious Morphine kicked in.

It gets better. Way better. Never give up.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

When I asked my doctor if I was going to survive... He didn't answer!! That was a moment I'll never forget.

You will get through this. Someday, like it us for me now... it will be like it never happened.

You can drive your JD's and new Kubota. Love your wife and family and move onward.

God Bless. I'm so glad to hear of tragic situations that turned out well.

Chin up. Few understand like those who lived it.

I couldn't imagine that feeling. What got me was the them requesting a 3rd blood transfusion and calling med flight. As much as I'm mad at the kid I put my self in the parents shoes they called the shop to see how I was doing and the office lady said I got med flighted. The office lady told me she heard their phone drop. My wife said at the hospital when she told my boss I was getting flown to a trauma center he dropped to his knees. The word " med flight" around here means worst case and very serious situation.

After this 3rd surgery I'm feeling more like me. It gives me hope that some day it'll just be a distant memory.

Thanks

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I couldn't imagine that feeling. What got me was the them requesting a 3rd blood transfusion and calling med flight. As much as I'm mad at the kid I put my self in the parents shoes they called the shop to see how I was doing and the office lady said I got med flighted. The office lady told me she heard their phone drop. My wife said at the hospital when she told my boss I was getting flown to a trauma center he dropped to his knees. The word " med flight" around here means worst case and very serious situation.

After this 3rd surgery I'm feeling more like me. It gives me hope that some day it'll just be a distant memory.

Thanks

Yep.

When in rehab they brought in a teenager who broke his neck in a ATV accident. He could not move his body at all. He never will.

When we are faced with calamity we must do the best that we can.

Never forget that you are loved. Never forget that people need you.

It's hard to get 'normal' back. I thought that it was impossible. I did it by the grace of God. And love and support from family. You can too.

Your new Kubota waits for you.

 

[PaulL]

Every day better than the day before, or at least every month better than the month before (two steps forward, one step back). That's all you can ask for. Hell, to be honest, all you can really ask for is every day above ground.

I personally am not a fan of filled tires. Makes your machine ride rougher, and sounds like that might not be ideal for you. I wouldn't fill unless you have a specific problem that requires them filled, which to me is usually hills. Everything else you can handle with ballast.

You'll need lots of dollies and a flat concrete area to take implements on and off. Horsing implements around to connect isn't what you want to be doing if your body isn't 100%. A quick hitch is the alternative, but in an LX sized machine most of your implements will roll fine on concrete and a dolly, and it's much more pleasant and slow to do your hookups.

That big John Deere looks identical to one my neighbour had - he bought it fully restored because it was made the year he was born (1944 perhaps? He's 87 this year). To be honest he left it outside at his place and never really drove it - sold it recently as he's started tidying up his affairs. Neat machine though. I pull started it a few times with my old BX.

The LX can take a 72 inch deck. Your property looks pancake flat, so scalping shouldn't be an issue - you sure you don't want the larger deck?

Do you really need a brush hog? I mow quite a bit of community property with my B2601, it's halfway between lawn and pasture. The decks on these tractors are pretty strong, they're not a ride on. I mow woody stuff up to probably a half inch. Your pasture looks to be mostly (entirely?) grass - probably you could just mow it with the MMM set on the highest setting. I sharpen my blades more often than I'd like, because the property I mow is not flat, so we scalp a bit, we mow some gravel on the road side, and my blades get a hard time. But the deck has never remotely looked like it cares, I just sharpen the blades and keep going. (Actually, that's not entirely true, I had to panel beat it once when we ate a rock that got stuck between the deck and the blade, and bent the rim enough to rub on the blade. But a big crescent spanner bent it back into shape)

For lifting logs forks can/will work, but if it's firewood I think it would be a lot more pleasant to lift them with a grapple - then you can chainsaw the rings off at hip height, ideally directly onto a trailer. From there easy to horse them onto the table of your log splitter, you're never physically lifting your rounds. I don't have a grapple (don't have enough use to justify one, and they're not common in my country). But I can see them being incredibly useful. I use my forks in a similar way, but the logs have to balance right, so you have to saw a ring off each end to keep it balanced. And even then it still falls off as you get towards the end, then you have to saw on the ground. A grapple should let you saw right to the last ring. I don't do a lot of firewood, our fire is mostly decorative (we have central heating). If you're doing more than a little firewood, it's worth thinking about how to do it with the least body strain. I got used to that towards the end of Dad's life, he farmed way longer than we thought he'd be able to, as he just got really good at using his machinery to do the lifting, and using leverage and tools and brain power where he used to use muscles. Potentially that's something you may need to get good at too.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Welcome to the Orange Life!

 

[jimh406]

I hope the rest of your recovery goes well.

In general, it's not recommended to leave a mid mount mower (MMM) on while doing other tasks. From a practical matter, it means you have to put it on/off each time you use it. Others have noted it's harder than attaching a rear finish or brush hog.

Of course, the MMM costs a lot more than most other mowers, too. There are advantages of mowing with a MMM vs a 3 point mower, but there are disadvantages as well. While you are looking for a mower, also look at flail mowers as well.

Here's a comparison between flail, rotary, and finish mowers.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

Every day better than the day before, or at least every month better than the month before (two steps forward, one step back). That's all you can ask for. Hell, to be honest, all you can really ask for is every day above ground.

I personally am not a fan of filled tires. Makes your machine ride rougher, and sounds like that might not be ideal for you. I wouldn't fill unless you have a specific problem that requires them filled, which to me is usually hills. Everything else you can handle with ballast.

You'll need lots of dollies and a flat concrete area to take implements on and off. Horsing implements around to connect isn't what you want to be doing if your body isn't 100%. A quick hitch is the alternative, but in an LX sized machine most of your implements will roll fine on concrete and a dolly, and it's much more pleasant and slow to do your hookups.

That big John Deere looks identical to one my neighbour had - he bought it fully restored because it was made the year he was born (1944 perhaps? He's 87 this year). To be honest he left it outside at his place and never really drove it - sold it recently as he's started tidying up his affairs. Neat machine though. I pull started it a few times with my old BX.

The LX can take a 72 inch deck. Your property looks pancake flat, so scalping shouldn't be an issue - you sure you don't want the larger deck?

Do you really need a brush hog? I mow quite a bit of community property with my B2601, it's halfway between lawn and pasture. The decks on these tractors are pretty strong, they're not a ride on. I mow woody stuff up to probably a half inch. Your pasture looks to be mostly (entirely?) grass - probably you could just mow it with the MMM set on the highest setting. I sharpen my blades more often than I'd like, because the property I mow is not flat, so we scalp a bit, we mow some gravel on the road side, and my blades get a hard time. But the deck has never remotely looked like it cares, I just sharpen the blades and keep going. (Actually, that's not entirely true, I had to panel beat it once when we ate a rock that got stuck between the deck and the blade, and bent the rim enough to rub on the blade. But a big crescent spanner bent it back into shape)

For lifting logs forks can/will work, but if it's firewood I think it would be a lot more pleasant to lift them with a grapple - then you can chainsaw the rings off at hip height, ideally directly onto a trailer. From there easy to horse them onto the table of your log splitter, you're never physically lifting your rounds. I don't have a grapple (don't have enough use to justify one, and they're not common in my country). But I can see them being incredibly useful. I use my forks in a similar way, but the logs have to balance right, so you have to saw a ring off each end to keep it balanced. And even then it still falls off as you get towards the end, then you have to saw on the ground. A grapple should let you saw right to the last ring. I don't do a lot of firewood, our fire is mostly decorative (we have central heating). If you're doing more than a little firewood, it's worth thinking about how to do it with the least body strain. I got used to that towards the end of Dad's life, he farmed way longer than we thought he'd be able to, as he just got really good at using his machinery to do the lifting, and using leverage and tools and brain power where he used to use muscles. Potentially that's something you may need to get good at too.

Thanks. I was concerned about laying down and hooking up /unhooking the deck if I needed the tractor for other tasks. Hooking up wagons, tongue implements, or trailers are hard for me to bend my knee or bend a certain way.

Good eye. It's a 1951 B.

We have a few obstacles, like trees, a swingset, and tight spots we figured the 60 inch was perfect. The dealer agreed. While I was laid up the father in law brought he x540 out to help more. It really sped up the process but he had some spots only our 46 inch deck could get into.

I definitely want a brush hog for mowing down my corn stalks or mowing thick brush in our wetlands for hiking and atv trails. I'm sure the Kubotas deck can do all that but looking for the right tool for the job.

The neighbor usually cuts the hay but we might turn that into lawn or a nice gathering area so ( our place is the go to place for gatherings, the kids can ride atvs, run around, and we do hayrides) we'd be using the Kubotas on that.

I thought of a grapple. Where I work they're too cheap to buy them and we use forks to lift logs and dump them into the trucks. Lots of broken skidloader doors or dented hoods from rookies......not safe or smart.....non on my watch yet. I think forks would be better justified. Moving work, totes of wood, produce, moving stuff around the shed, etextensive.
Thank you for all your feedback.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

I hope the rest of your recovery goes well.

In general, it's not recommended to leave a mid mount mower (MMM) on while doing other tasks. From a practical matter, it means you have to put it on/off each time you use it. Others have noted it's harder than attaching a rear finish or brush hog.

Of course, the MMM costs a lot more than most other mowers, too. There are advantages of mowing with a MMM vs a 3 point mower, but there are disadvantages as well. While you are looking for a mower, also look at flail mowers as well.

Here's a comparison between flail, rotary, and finish mowers.

Thanks. The dealer mentioned a rear mower cause of price and me laying down to hook it up. You're right pros and cons to it. I don't think looking back, and getting into tight spots with a rear would be fun. I go to a lot of auctions and been keeping my eyes out for an old 2 row stalk chopper, or green chopper I can use with my full size tractor for trails and mowing plots.

 

[B737]

A farm, new orange machine, and an aptitude for photography. Looking forward to your future content here

 

[555]

Sorry to hear about your injury's hope you get back to good health. Don't look back you guys will love your Kubota. Life is crazy these days, but things will get better for you. Congrats.