Buying a Kubota tractor and building a Camp

[BX25D Rookie]

We deployed the mobile hunting shack in the woods on Saturday. It's reasonably level, and supported by five cinderblocks with wood cribbing.

IMG_20240928_132345735_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20240928_132420434_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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IMG_20240928_132526663_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20240928_132534454_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I've cut down several thorn apple trees in that interior field that would have been in the way when shooting. I also cleaned up several shooting lanes.
Just before leaving on Saturday, I tossed a rock at the wasp nest and several flew out of the nest and buzzed around.
We planned on returning on Sunday to do some ladder stand work.
On Sunday, I remembered the 12 gauge shotgun and a box of birdshot for the wasp nest.

Using an extension ladder, it was easy to get the old damaged 20' ladder stand down from it's tree.
The new 18' two person ladder stand went up in the former location for the old 20' ladder stand.
That Honda Pioneer made it easy to get all the tools/equipment/and ladder stands moved around.

IMG_20240929_113513950_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

15495 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

15494 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

We brought the seat frame section of the old 20' ladder stand home for some refurbishment.
It is "tweaked" ever so slightly. ie: twisted. No broken welds, no bent tubing, structurally it's fine. It's just not perfectly "plumb" but it is safe and serviceable.
I had a "take-off" John Deere seat sitting around, I bolted it onto the 20' ladder stand seat frame.

IMG_20240930_153904074_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Just before leaving the property on Sunday at dusk, I went back to the edge of the interior field and the wasp nest, and fed them five rounds of 12 gauge 7-1/2 birdshot from about 20 feet away.
The nest disintegrated.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Several days ago I called my lawyers office and asked for an update. They were awaiting notification from the process servers that the two corporate defendants had been served with court papers.
Yesterday the lawyers office called back. One of the process servers did their job and served the power company with the court papers. I bet they remember who I am now.
The tree trimming corporate defendant is a LLC, so a slightly more complex process for serving them.
Progress!

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Another phone call this morning from the lawyers office. The second corporate defendant has been served. Both of them have 30 days to respond.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

We got the final ladder stand installed at the property today for the 2024 deer season. It was in the low 40's early this morning and it warmed up to almost 70 by noon.
The stand we installed today is the one that I knocked down with the Kubota. After inspecting all the steel tubing and welds, only the lower section of the ladder was destroyed.
It was a 20' stand (to the shooting rail) and now it's about 16' so it's still quite usable as is. It certainly is comfortable with the take-off John Deere tractor seat instead of the small OEM foam pad.

There is a portion of the recreational property in the geographical center we always leave alone. We call it the "Honey Hole" as it holds deer during the hunting season.
Food, bedding, and water is available in the Honey Hole, and if the deer aren't pressured they stay there all day, and try and sneak out at dusk.
We never walk through it. We do walk around the perimeter of the Honey Hole on our trail/road system.

We had a ground blind at the northern edge of the Honey Hole that was quite productive, but some years ago that ground blind was made unsafe due to the large Hemlock tree the ground blind was under
got hit by lightning and the tree died. It's been shedding the tree top and large limbs for years and we took that stand down so nobody would get killed/injured by falling Hemlock tree limbs.
The ladder stand installed today will close off the northern end of the Honey Hole. It's also under 150 yards from the cabin and you can sneak into that location when life gets in the way of deer hunting and you only have a few hours available.

IMG_20241006_125810329_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241006_125757121_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The next three are from the seat in the refurbished ladder stand. When the leaves are fully down it will have better visibility. (about 6 weeks remaining for the leaves to fully drop)

IMG_20241006_122435775_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241006_122440979_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241006_122431740_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

We are getting so quick at putting up ladder stands this year we finished early and had time before departing for some recreational riding with the Bulldogs in back.
The little guy is recovering from a cauliflower ear, that's why his left ear is down. (head shaking/ear flapping from a minor ear infection which has been treated)
We use the Honda Pioneer side by side to pull the ladder stands up into the trees when setting them up. It's faster and easier than assembling a large crew of muscular men and doing it by hand.

IMG_20241006_133551010_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I wanted all the major projects at the recreational property completed by October 1st. I didn't quite make it as today is the 6th. Good enough for deer hunting.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Four or five years ago I was gifted a new eight foot section of HDPE culvert road pipe. This is commonly used for state highways when a small stream is routed under a road.
It is available in multiple diameter options, and is made from high density polyethylene plastic and is double wall construction.
For highway road usage, it needs several feet of tamped fill on top of the culvert so it can support heavy vehicle loads.

For my usage, I'm only running human foot traffic, whitetail deer, and light vehicle traffic (ATV, side by side, and sub compact tractor) across the culvert.
I did a special trip, installed the backhoe on the rear of the Kubota, and installed the culvert.
I had a naturally occurring mound of fill material in the interior field close to the culvert location so the job was relatively easy and quick.
We have a small stream that drains a piece of the adjoining neighbors woody wetlands. It never has a high flow rate, but it keeps a small section of my woods chronically wet, difficult to travel across
in wheeled vehicles, and we even had a hunter have a hunting boot pulled off of a foot from stepping in the deep mud.

While I had the Kubota at the recreational property, and after installing the culvert, I cleaned up several shooting lanes.
From inside the new mobile hunting shack, you could only see the trail to the culvert from one of the hunting shack windows.
I removed several trees, some brush, and now there is a clear non obstructed view of the culvert trail from both of the hunting shack windows.

I also cleared a new shooting lane through the brush so the culvert trail is visible from the new 18' double seat ladder stand.

We've had some remarkable weather for this time of year, and a day spent out on the Kubota proved to be productive.
Tomorrow, we are planning on taking the two 20 pound propane tanks up to the property and setting them up in the two heated hunting blinds.
With three weeks remaining before opening day of rifle season, it is a good feeling to have everything completed.

IMG_20241021_111552803_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241021_160937447_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241021_160935410_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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IMG_20241021_160809295_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241021_160902137_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Deer season (Nov & Dec 2024) was a bust this year. We still had some venison in the freezer from 2023
so we were only after trophy bucks. The nearby neighbors are aging out and no longer participate in
organized deer "drives" which is now resulting in reduced deer motion / activity during daylight hours.
Outside of hunting season, the trail cameras show deer all over the property. Once hunting season starts
it turns into a ghost town.

i will need to step up my food plot activities. Initially, I think a pumpkin patch for a good start.

The legal proceedings are ongoing, with the two corporate defendants indicating a desire to
settle without a trial. Lawyers being Lawyers, if it was any slower, it would be in reverse.

Some years ago I decided that having a dedicated tractor for mowing lawn at the house and
recreational property was the smart move. Several years of practical implementation of that plan has
proved to be correct. Not having to remove the loader and backhoe from the BX 25 TLB is a win.
No more chronic sore back and skinned knuckles from shuffling implements around.

My John Deere X720 & commercial 7-Iron 60" deck is a wonderful machine for mowing lawn.
But even with electronic fuel injection, the JD is thirsty. (745cc gasoline, liquid cooled V-Twin Kawasaki)

I had thought about buying a second Kubota BX and using it strictly for mowing.
But my local Kubota Dealer cautioned me that resale residual value of a Kubota BX without a front
end loader would take a severe hit. It made sense, so I acquired the JD X 720 instead.

I've located a very nice used Kubota BX 2370 with ~ 350 hours on the clock.
It is factory plumbed with the loader valve / joystick & four hydraulic lines.
It has no front end loader or loader mounts.
It has the three point hitch and a 60 inch deck & turf tires.

I haven't seen the BX 2370 in person yet, the seller is arranging transport to a closer location so I
can inspect it and check it out mechanically.
If it checks out mechanically, I'm going to trade in the JD X720 and buy the BX 2370.
I've always been amazed at the fuel efficiency with the Kubota D902 engine.

Being used, the BX 2370 original purchaser took the financial "hit" for having a BX not equipped
with a loader.

I will post some photos if I end up making the BX 2370 purchase!

BTW, my BX 25 TLB is a 2011 model. (BX 2360)
I will keep the BX 25 TLB for woods work, loader, backhoe, and bush hog tasks.
The potential incoming BX 2370 is a 2013 model.
The BX 2370 will be for mowing lawn only, and being significantly lighter than the BX 25 TLB,
i will be able to haul the BX 2370 on the single axle aluminum trailer for hauling the machine
to the recreational property for lawn mowing tasks.