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

 

[BX25D Rookie]

It was 70+ and sunny today. I cleaned/polished one of my motorcycles earlier in the day.
I thought about taking that bike out for a 2/3 of a day ride, but I resisted the temptation.
I cleaned/polished my other motorcycle yesterday, and took my first bike ride for 2025, about 45 minutes.
We've had out of town company for just over a week, and riding the bike for the day would have been rude.

Out of town company is being dropped off at their departure airport tomorrow.

I compromised, and spent several hours on the BX 2370 that I've been restoring/repairing for the last month and a half. It was anticlimactic. No leaks, no noises, no vibrations.
Mower deck adjustment was perfect! It mows lawn very nicely.
The operator sits a bit higher in the seat compared to the JD X720, the decks were/are both 60", and the Kubota BX has the folding ROPS, the JD didn't have any ROPS at all.

The BX 2370 is just enough bigger than the JD X720 that you really need to be paying attention driving it around trees, bushes/shrubs, and power line pole guy wires. It's a ~ one acre lot at the house.

At the recreational property it's approaching two acres of mowing and considerably more open.
I was surprised what you could actually get underneath with the ROPS folded down.
I figured I would be trimming/removing lower limbs on a bunch of trees, and that didn't happen. (yet)

The grass could have waited another week before it "really" needed to be mowed, however the
80 to 100 hours I've spent restoring/repairing the BX 2370 machine, it was simply "play" time today.
I'm exceedingly pleased with the Kubota BX 2370 project results!

IMG_20250404_150246271_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

 

[JRHill]

It was 70+ and sunny today. I cleaned/polished one of my motorcycles earlier in the day.
I thought about taking that bike out for a 2/3 of a day ride, but I resisted the temptation.
I cleaned/polished my other motorcycle yesterday, and took my first bike ride for 2025, about 45 minutes.
We've had out of town company for just over a week, and riding the bike for the day would have been rude.

Out of town company is being dropped off at their departure airport tomorrow.

I compromised, and spent several hours on the BX 2370 that I've been restoring/repairing for the last month and a half. It was anticlimactic. No leaks, no noises, no vibrations.
Mower deck adjustment was perfect! It mows lawn very nicely.
The operator sits a bit higher in the seat compared to the JD X720, the decks were/are both 60", and the Kubota BX has the folding ROPS, the JD didn't have any ROPS at all.

The BX 2370 is just enough bigger than the JD X720 that you really need to be paying attention driving it around trees, bushes/shrubs, and power line pole guy wires. It's a ~ one acre lot at the house.

At the recreational property it's approaching two acres of mowing and considerably more open.
I was surprised what you could actually get underneath with the ROPS folded down.
I figured I would be trimming/removing lower limbs on a bunch of trees, and that didn't happen. (yet)

The grass could have waited another week before it "really" needed to be mowed, however the
80 to 100 hours I've spent restoring/repairing the BX 2370 machine, it was simply "play" time today.
I'm exceedingly pleased with the Kubota BX 2370 project results!

IMG_20250404_150246271_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

You are doing something right. We bought recreational property many years ago and built a house for a place to retire. We are still trying to find out what's recreational about it?!?

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I've used the Kubota BX 2370 several times for mowing at the house now, but it just isn't a workout for the machine with less than one acre.

Yesterday, I caught a warm sunny day after a week + of monsoon rains and trailered the BX 2370 up to the recreational property. I filled the tractor with diesel fuel on my way up, and again on my home.

Several observations:

With the ambient temperature yesterday near 80 Fahrenheit, I actually got the temperature gauge up to three bars for the first time. (50% of the way to the hot zone)

Fuel economy, it appears the BX uses about half of what the gasoline powered JD X720 used.
Here at my location, diesel fuel is about seventy cents per gallon higher than unleaded regular gasoline.
Also, yesterday really isn't a fair comparison for fuel economy due to having to re-mow windrows of grass clippings for dispersal. But still, a nice decrease in the semi-weekly expenses of recreational property maintenance. I mow at the recreational property/cabin about every 10 to 14 days depending on the season, grass growth rate, rainfall, and actually having a dry day.

The Kubota BX is just enough bigger compared to the JD X720, and perhaps also the design,
it did not accumulate grass clippings/dandelion fluff on the screen below the steering wheel.
The JD X720 required the operator to constantly keep the screen cleared off.
Both machines use reverse direction airflow for radiator cooling.

I do have a side hill that I mow, the JD X720 almost never needed the differential lock engaged.
I did have to put the BX into four wheel drive on several occasions. The extra weight?

The BX 2370 did the ~ two acres of mowing with very high grass height without complaining,
and with zero mechanical/operational issues. I'm calling it a "keeper" and it appears it will do exactly what I needed.

I brought my new cell phone with me as I had just called the fiber optic internet provider and had the internet turned on for the season and needed to ensure the wired/Wi-Fi internet was up and running, along with the cell signal from the network extender that we generate from inside the cabin.

The recently acquired Google Pixel 9 Pro XL cell phone has an amazing camera with settings in the "Professional" camera mode with ultra high definition photos. Pro mode also allows photos in the RAW format additionally.
50 MP, 20 MB file size, and 8160 x 6144 pixels, jpeg format for the tractor "glamor" shot.

These are reduced size for internet posting.
It doesn't look bad for an old bumpy/lumpy farm pasture!

PXL_20250512_222827861 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250512_222630506 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250512_222634747 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250512_222638912 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250512_222642753 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250512_222651297 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I have been "fighting" with the hinges on my shipping container entry doors since I purchased it.
The day it was delivered at the remote property, the hauler/installer got stuck in traffic accident bumper to bumper gridlock on I-81 and was delayed for arrival for multiple hours.
The installer demos the newly installed shipping container for the customer.
Surprise! The entry doors hinges were very stiff.

The installer still had to travel back to the container yard in the Philly/Trenton vicinity, so I told him I would lube the hinges.
Nothing worked during the years for freeing up those stiff hinges.

Yesterday, with the heat and humidity off the charts, I decided to do something about the stiff hinges.
The hinge pins are welded in place, so it isn't really possible to remove them and free them up.
I have tried all the "rust buster" aerosol products, along with ATF and motor oil.
The only thing that made any difference on those hinges is "Ed's Red" which is a 50% - 50% mixture of ATF and Acetone, and it didn't really free the hinges up for long.

Yesterday, I decided to install grease fittings on all of the eight hinges. It was a pain in the ass job!

1) Because the exterior surface of the hinge is round, first you file a flat by hand.
2) Centerpunch.
3) Pilot drill the hinge body and the hinge pin.
4) Tap drill the hinge body.
5) Tap 1/4"-28 UNF.
6) Install grease fitting.
7) Grease the hinge.
8) Move the door back and forth endlessly.
9) Grease again, continue with moving the door back and forth.

Each of the two entry doors on the container have four hinges per door, eight hinges in total.

One door freed up nicely, you can move the door using just pressure from one finger.
The door that was always the really stiff hinges is better, but needs more greasing/moving.
I stopped yesterday when I about dropped from the heat/humidity.

PXL_20250706_203723301 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

On another matter, I will mention that I recently signed a non disclosure agreement.

 

[Russell King]

More than two hinges can be problematic if they get out of line. Four are needed due to the weight of the door possibly or to hold it in a watertight position to the container face?

I say all that to assume that one or more of the hinges on that door are probably not in line with the others. You might try to see what is bent with a laser level, then try to bend it into place. I don’t think you would have much luck due to the heavy duty nature of the hinges. I guess you could remove the bent hinge(s) and replace them in a better position?

Or eventually you may be able to wear them into alignment by brute force!

You might try to get the seller to repair it for you (assuming they have some experience in repair)

Good luck

And good work on what you did!

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I am not really sure if it is a hinge alignment problem, or not. It doesn't appear bent/twisted.
I can say when drilling through the hinge body and the hinge pin, there isn't any type of lubricant in there.
Just some dry black dust.
Until grease flows out of every hinge pivot point, I'm calling it dry/rusty.
Only one hinge has passed grease.
First, I'm going with a higher pressure grease gun.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I am likely long past the time where the container seller/installer will do anything for the stiff hinges.

 

[Russell King]

I am likely long past the time where the container seller/installer will do anything for the stiff hinges.

I meant hire them to repair it, not do anything for free!

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I tried a Milwaukee battery powered high pressure grease gun yesterday.
The stiff hinges on one door are noticeably better, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
I was visiting a friend of mine several days ago, he's a retired DOT heavy equipment mechanic.

He told me if the battery powered grease gun didn't fix the stiff hinges, to try something they did
in the DOT garage with heavy equipment grease fittings that wouldn't take grease.
He said to make a "L" shaped adapter from the male grease fitting size, up to female 1/8" pipe.
The general idea is remove the grease fitting, screw in the "L" shaped adapter, fill the adapter
using a small funnel with rust buster fluid (Kroil, Liquid Wrench, Ed's Red) and take the pump unit
from a Porta-Power. Remove the fancy quick disconnect on the end of the Porta-Power whip hose,
and then screw the whip hose into the home made adapter.

The Porta-Power pump will push the rust buster fluid into the rusty hinge and flush out the corrosion and in most cases then the hinges will then take grease.

A trip to Tractor Supply and Lowes/Home Depot for some fittings, 1/8" pipe, and a 1/4"-28 UNF bolt
and some time in my shop to machine and weld the adapter together and it's an inexpensive attempt. I have a metal lathe, welders and a Porta-Power so it isn't a big deal or very much cash for a try.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

It's 98 degrees Fahrenheit outside today here in upstate NY, and way too hot for any outside tasks.
Today, I activated/registered/updated firmware for my Cuddeback trail camera system.
I purchased all the hardware components back in late March, 2025.
The warranty period starts the day each camera is powered up for the first time, which was the reason for waiting.

I bought six cameras for deployment in my woods, and one home camera for gathering all the images from the six deployed woods cameras, and the home camera sends all the collected images from the deployed woods cameras via cell signal to the Cuddeback server. The server then sends all the collected images out to ten email addresses/phone numbers maximum.

Lots of tedious entering alpha/numeric characters on their website, registering each device for the warranty.

Cuddeback has come out with updated firmware for the camera system since my purchase.

Previously, each time a firmware update was available, you downloaded the new firmware onto an SD card, and installed it manually in each device. That's what I did today.
If the camera system was deployed in the deer hunting woods, you had to physically go to each camera and install the new version of firmware in each camera from the SD card.
The camera system shipped with Gen 2 firmware installed, and I installed Gen 3 firmware today.
The Gen 3 firmware has several huge improvements, it allows transmission of full sized images instead of thumbnail/reduced resolution images, and also allows camera firmware updates and changing individual camera settings/adjustments remotely from anywhere in the world the user has an internet connection.

Those unfamiliar with the Cuddeback/Cuddelink trail camera system, they generate their own private mesh WiFi network out in the woods, and the cameras all communicate with each other and send photos from the furthest away camera, to the next closest camera, up the daisy chain of deployed cameras, to the home camera which is located where cell signal is available.

In my cabin, I have fiber optic internet, and a Verizon network extender.
The Verizon network extender uses a wired internet connection, and generates a Verizon cell signal for about a 250 foot radius from the extender, just like a normal Verizon cell tower.
Up to 23 woods cameras maximum will interface with one home camera.
The cell phone plan is for the home camera, $16.20 per month including tax for 2000 images per month. With my setup, that's 333 images per camera per month, or about 11 images per day per camera.
I might have to upgrade my cell plan after some out in the field usage.

That's their basic entry level plan, and higher cost options are available for more monthly images.

I believe I now have all the cameras ready to go to the woods for deployment.
One of my deer hunting buddies will go with me when we deploy all the cameras out in the woods,
but that will happen another day when it's cooler.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I mowed today at the recreational property. It's pretty dry now.
The shaded portions of turf are still green and growing, and required remowing for distribution of clippings. The rest of the almost two acres, I was just clipping off the tops of weeds.
We really need some rain, but I would prefer NOT to get 6.5" in under 5 hours like we did at the house back in June. It had been 23 days since my last mowing at the recreational property.
This certainly has been an odd year for weather. The crazy spring grass growth rate started in late April/early May and has continued right up until about three weeks ago.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I mentioned in the post above, the 6.5" of rain in under 5 hours back in June of this year.

During the early morning hours of June 22, 2025 we had a very severe thunderstorm arrive on a path that was rather unusual.
North/Northwest to South/Southeast. We rarely get weather from that direction.
The weather forecast was for some light rain overnight.
We actually got 6.5" in under 5 hours.
Here in my part of upstate NY it's hilly, almost mountainous.
Water runs downhill FAST!
The creek out back was completely out of it's banks and destroyed numerous local town culvert bridges,
and my creek and other nearby creeks did damage to several county highways and county bridges.
For several months it was difficult to get into town due to bridge/road closures.
Just up the road a bit, a farmers barn burned down, (lightning strike from the thunderstorm) and the fire department couldn't get to the location due to the flooding and bridge/road closures. I haven't heard if the barn had animals inside or not.
We didn't get any real damage at the house, just a wet sun room.
(3 season room/entry way at ground level, the house is considerably higher)
Good reason to do some summer de-cluttering...
The recreational property is just far enough away, no damage at all.

PXL_20250622_134159766 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The standing waves in this photo are about 5' to 6' above the normal creek summer level.

PXL_20250622_134227143 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250622_152417166 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250622_210139427 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

This photo is from June 23rd. The day after the flood event. A bit of debris pickup with the
BX 25 front loader bucket, and mowed with the BX 2370 and it was like it never even happened.
Obviously, not my first "Rodeo" with the creek overtopping the banks and leaving debris in the yard.

PXL_20250623_230256183 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

 

[BX25D Rookie]

This long Labor Day holiday weekend has kept me very busy.
Saturday, I got all of my bush hogging done at the recreational property.
We only do it once per year, typically on the Labor Day weekend.
This allows bountiful grass growth for my deer herd before we get snow.
It was mostly uneventful, I didn't get stuck in the mud this year.
I did roll the remnants of a small tree stump up out of the ground and it got under
the rotary cutter deck. A few seconds later I was driving up my woods road heading
for the cabin. I had proper tools in my shipping container and a spare shear bolt with
hardware in the toolbox on the BX 25. I will have to remember to buy another package of shear bolts before bush hogging my food plots in 2026.

Sunday, it was more work, but also interesting and fun.
With several assistants, we installed the Cuddeback/Cuddelink trail camera system.
The home camera (and it cannot take any photos) is mounted inside the cabin.
It serves as a digital photo collection device, and using LTE cell signal, it relays all the photos collected from the deployed trail cameras installed and sends the photos to the Cuddeback server.
The Cuddeback server then sends the collection of photos out to email addresses and cell phones.
You're limited to 10 email addresses.

As you're deploying the woods trail cameras, you set the camera you are working with in a special
setup receiver mode, and it measures in real time the mesh WiFi signal (used for moving pictures from camera to camera) being transmitted from the home camera.
It's important to start with the home camera, then the closest trail camera to the home camera,
and continue working away from home camera. As you deploy cameras, since you are monitoring the WiFi signal strength, you will always have usable signal strength for moving pictures "upstream" to the home camera.

There isn't any setting clocks, or setting camera identifier numbers/names or changing camera settings. The cell connection and the Wi-Fi signal is bidirectional and all adjustments, camera numbering and camera naming is all done remotely from a computer or laptop or cell phone.
I did keep a single page "cheat sheet" paper when out in the woods when deploying trail cameras.
Easy to keep track of camera identifier numbers, camera names, and camera locations.
This proved invaluable when completing the system setup after I arrived back at home.
Because my desktop PC at home has failed, I did all of the Cuddeback/Cuddelink system setup just using my Android cell phone.

The system was fairy easy to setup. I also have the Cuddeback App on my Android cell phone.
The other user interface, is the: camp.cuddeback.com website. Any camera setting or adjustment can be done remotely from home. The system also has several features I appreciate.

1) You can set up a trail camera for property surveillance easily. Giving the selected surveillance camera a special identifier, it allows pictures from the selected camera to be sent virtually instantly to the Cuddeback server for almost real time notification of potential trespassing concerns.
Pictures from the non surveillance cameras (the woods cameras for watching deer) are held in the upload area of the home camera, and uploaded to the Cuddeback server at periodic intervals, adjustable by the user.

2) During setup, you can set up the system to take a picture at each deployed trail camera
once per day. These pictures are triggered by the system and not by motion or heat.
The sole purpose of these daily "proof" pictures is to prove that each trail camera is capable of taking a picture. You seeing the proof pictures proves the Wi-Fi network is operational, along with the home camera picture collection activity and cellular transmission is all functional.
The daily proof pictures are purposely VERY low resolution, and very grainy.
Why? Small digital file size for quick transmission, and proof pictures do not count against your
monthly allowance which varies depending on which photo plan you have purchased.

My purchased picture plan is for 2000 pictures per month for about $16 including tax.
I have five deployed cameras in my woods, and one deployed camera watching the cabin for trespassers.

3) Once per day, the system sends you an emailed report about your systems operational status.
You get individual trail camera battery status, interconnectivity of your WiFi signal strength, and everything a trail camera geek ever wanted to know.

Trail camera photos have started arriving since deployment yesterday.
It kind of nice to see pictures from 25 or so miles away, and if you feel like looking at the arriving pictures from the comfort of your bed, you can!

My desktop PC failed over a week ago. It's replacement is due for delivery tomorrow.
It will take me several days to get it operational and configured, and then I will again have the ability to post photos. I'm doing this post from my phone and never mastered posting pictures from a phone.

So how do I like the Cuddeback/Cuddelink cellular trail camera system so far?
I give it a big thumbs up!

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I'm gaining experience with the new trail camera system.
Note the blueberry bush in the right foreground in this picture.
Light reflected (nighttime flash) from the blueberry bush is causing problems with nighttime pictures at that camera location.
BTW, these cameras were purchased with the "Black Flash" option.
It is invisible to the human eye. You can test the invisible Black Flash using a smart phone camera,
as the cell phone camera image sensor is capable of picking up that particular light wavelength.
Other flash options are available, White Strobe, and IR Flash.
I picked the Black Flash, for the stealth.

IMG_1820783203 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The solution was take the BX 25 up there yesterday, and remove it.

PXL_20250919_174351344 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20250919_182505604 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

9_20_2025_Test by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The camera system can be programmed to take daily "verify" or proof pictures.
The best way to verify the entire system is operational, receive a low resolution, small size picture from
each deployed camera. With the low resolution picture, each has a very small digital file size.
The verify pictures don't count on your monthly picture plan quota.
Note that the verify pictures do not have the black footer/identifier at the bottom.

IMG_1837328397 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1837328396 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1837328397 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1837328396 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1837328395 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1837328394 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

On to the real pictures!

IMG_1821834555 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1834770444 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1824515167 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_1831727784 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

It's a game changer having these trail camera pictures arriving without having to go walk around in the woods and swapping out SD cards. Not spreading human scent in the woods pulling SD cards can't hurt.
You can view your trail camera photos anywhere in the world you can get an internet connection. One of the options during setup is to input email addresses that you want trail camera images sent to. My Girlfriend's Dad lives in Florida. I'm in upstate NY.

He can see everything running around in my woods.
He will be arriving from Florida several days before the start of hunting season and will be hunting with us.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day, and warm. Back at the beginning of this lawn mowing season, it rained continually. I was mowing grass every week at the house and the cabin.

I will admit it, I was getting tired of mowing grass!
Late summer going into fall here, we are exceptionally dry and almost into drought.

The cabin is 30 minutes driving time away from the house, just over 20 miles.
The grass at the house is still green, and I am still mowing every 10 to 14 days.
The grass at the cabin is mostly brown, except where the turf is shaded by trees.

I mowed the grass at the cabin yesterday. The grass shaded by trees was lush & green, the remainder,
the unshaded turf was brown without even a weed stalk sticking up.

Yesterday was 27 days since the last mowing at the cabin.
I do hope all of that brown turf is dormant, and not dead.

I noticed that when I finished mowing yesterday, the hour meter on the new instrument cluster hit
94 hours. I will likely mow twice more at the house, and possibly once more at the cabin before winter and/or snow arrives. I expect to hit 100 hours usage, that will be a new annual record for me.

What about that new to me Kubota BX 2370 with the 60" deck?
I haven't put a wrench on it since starting the mowing season.
I've checked fluid levels and haven't added anything.
I have greased the mower deck spindle bearings and deck wheels twice during the mowing season.

Diesel fuel is $3.80 per gallon here. I mowed twice at the house since the last BX 2370 fill up.
I filled it yesterday before mowing at the cabin. It was $8 for the fill up.
About one acre of grass at the house, so just over one gallon of diesel to mow one time at the house.
I also filled it again after mowing at the cabin, it was $8.85 for the almost 2 acres.

Gallon for gallon, the BX 2370 uses almost half the gallons compared to the John Deere X 720
27 horsepower gasoline fueled liquid cooled Kawasaki V- twin engine.
With diesel fuel (road taxed) here being roughly 70 to 80 cents per gallon higher compared to unleaded regular gasoline, I am still saving a considerable amount for mowing fuel expenses.
I haven't found anyplace that sells red dyed off road diesel from a gas station pump.
With the tiny amount of diesel that my machines use in a year, it's just easier to stop and fill them when they are on a trailer being hauled to/from the cabin. I do have a five gallon container for winter snow removal diesel fuel for the BX 25 & loader, it lasts all winter.

I do like that Kubota BX 2370 with the 60" deck.
It is somewhat bigger than the JD X 720. Especially with the ROPS.
The larger sized machine is noticeable when mowing at the house, and with the more open terrain at the cabin, the increased tractor size is unnoticed.

I think I will change the antifreeze on both of my BX machines before winter.
The freeze protection point is good on both, but the anti corrosion additives in the antifreeze is getting tired.

 

[BAP]

Strange in upstate New York you can’t find any stations that sell Off Road Diesel. Here in New England, many of the stations that sell diesel, sell both on and off road diesel. Many contractors now buy their off road diesel at stations and fill up the portable pickup tanks, because it is easier than maintaining a storage tank in their yard.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Next time I am near my local heating oil/diesel fuel supplier, I will stop and ask them about ORD fuel available nearby that is sold from a traditional "gas station" pump with a card reader for payment.
It absolutely irritates me that I am paying diesel fuel road tax on my diesel fuel for my tractors and using them exclusively for off road tractor purposes.

With the tiny amount of diesel fuel used by two Kubota BX tractors in a year, It just doesn't make any sense to acquire a bulk diesel storage tank.

I was texting my brother recently about how well the BX 2370 had worked for me this mowing season and how I hadn't done anything to the machine in just under 100 hours of operation so far this year other than pouring in diesel fuel and several squirts of grease.

I spoke too soon and had a failure the last time I mowed at the house.
I mow a small pull off area across the road from my house. Shoulder of the road.
As I was crossing the road to park the machine when done, I hit a small bump on the shoulder of the road, bounced off the seat, and the tractor quit and blocked half of the road.

I disengaged the PTO, turned the key for a restart, and it didn't crank.
I shifted into neutral on the range selector lever and coasted backwards back onto the shoulder out of the road. It did restart then and I drove it over in front of my storage/shop building.

Generally, I let my machines idle for a few minutes after running them at rated RPM so exhaust valves can cool and engine coolant temperature can stabilize.

After cooling down, I turned the key off and the tractor continued running.
Then I popped the hood and looked at the stop solenoid and by hand, manually moved the stop lever on the injection pump and the engine shut down. You need to be careful here, the engine driven cooling fan is very close to the injection pump stop lever.

I remove the screen below the steering wheel when using compressed air for removing grass clippings and dust & dirt from the radiator screen. I knew the fuse box is in there also.
The fuse labeled timer/relay which is ten amps was blown.
I replace the blown fuse, and everything operated again as expected.
I started the machine, and then turned the key off and it turned off with the key.

I restarted the machine, engaged the PTO/mower deck, and stood up/sat down on the seat repeatedly
and the operator presence system functioned perfectly. The wiring to the seat safety switch wasn't pinched or chaffed. The timer/relay fuse didn't blow again.

I will have to use the machine for a period of time before I consider the failure resolved.
With mowing season about finished here at my location, failure resolution may not happen until next year.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

I was up early today.
Today is the beginning of the fun season!
My hunting/motorcycle riding friend, my son, and grandson are meeting me at the recreational property.
My Girlfriend got pulled in for some overtime today on her highway bridge construction project.
She's a DOT Bridge Engineer, and additionally, a hunter.

It's stands & blinds day!

The Honda Pioneer side by side is on the aluminum trailer and strapped down.
I have enough gear and equipment in my Jeep for a Mt. Everest climbing expedition.
We will spend most of the day checking the property, fixing anything that needs attention.
Posted signs, shooting lanes, ass pads in the stands, propane tanks dropped off.
Fabric pop-up blinds setup and chairs as needed.

The main woods road between the field with the cabin, and the interior field/food plot/hunting shack
has several hung up "widow maker" deadfalls that are stuck overhead.
I am going to try pulling them down from overhead with the Honda and a REALLY long nylon rope.