BX1770D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

[BenRich]

BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

My neighbor was having problems with water washing gravel down into his back yard from my brother-in-law's driveway. He bought several tons of dirt and had a contractor build a ditch/berm and then he received delivery of 12 tons of rip rap to go into the ditch and one side of the berm. He asked me if I could help him out.

After I saw the size of the rip rap rocks I told him I'd give it a try but didn't know how effective this little tractor would be. Well, the little bucket didn't hold a lot, but this machine was amazing in its ability to handle and do whatever I asked of it.

Herewith some photos; the first photo is after I had reduced the pile of rip rap by about nine tenths (I forgot to get photos until we were almost finished):

Ben

 

[BenRich]

More Photos of the Rip Rap

Here's some more photos of the work we did. My neighbor was happy as a mudlark and so was I. I obtained some very good practice and was able to help somebody at the same time.

The last photos with the rocks so beautifully placed was not my doing. My neighbor was in the ditch and after I dumped the rip rap on either the side of the berm or the ditch sides, he would distribute them in an orderly fashion. In all, we spent about five hours in this.

Ben

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Re: More Photos of the Rip Rap

Awesome job you did on the rip rap, looks like a professional put them down. These tractors are capeable little tanks, you can move mountains if you take your time and pluck a little at a time off.

 

[skeets]

An outstanding job,, and yup your right, take your time and it is amazing how much work they are capable of doing

 

[BenRich]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

Thanks guys. It was fun and rewarding in that I learned quite a bit as I was going. I was also very very impressed with this little 1870; I was operating it around 2700 RPM and that seemed to provide all the power I needed. I was also impressed by how little fuel the machine used. I had started with a full tank; after the rip rap work I hooked the finish mower to it and spent about another hour and a half mowing the frontage area of my property (that's what you can see in the background of my third photo). My fuel level gauge was reading about 3/4 full when I ended for the day.

After cleaning/checking the tractor at the end of the day, I topped it off with fuel and I don't believe it took more than a gallon to top it off.

Ben

 

[hodge]

Great job- I see you had a supervisor, he just needs a junior shovel to lean on.

 

[BenRich]

Great job- I see you had a supervisor, he just needs a junior shovel to lean on.

That's my four-year-old grandson. We are very blessed in that my daughter and her two children (my grandchildren) spend most of every week day with us while my daughter's husband is at work.

Of course that means that Asher (the four-year-old) is pretty much a part of each and every project I'm working on. His brother is only 20 months old and while he gets almost daily tractor rides, he doesn't get to steer like Asher does.

And Asher loves to pitch in and help; whether I'm in the garden or in my garage/workshop, he always asks if there is something he can do to help. Of course, that means getting some things done sometimes take twice as long since I have to instruct/supervise, he is (usually) a delight to have with me.

Ben

 

[skeets]

That's grand,, get all the work you can out of him, cause when he finds out about girls,,,, well all bets are off,,lol

 

[BenRich]

That's grand,, get all the work you can out of him, cause when he finds out about girls,,,, well all bets are off,,lol

LOL! Well, if he didn't he wouldn't take after his grandfather. Alright... I've got some more mowing to do. This time in front of my sister's house.

Ben

 

[hodge]

That's my four-year-old grandson. We are very blessed in that my daughter and her two children (my grandchildren) spend most of every week day with us while my daughter's husband is at work.

Of course that means that Asher (the four-year-old) is pretty much a part of each and every project I'm working on. His brother is only 20 months old and while he gets almost daily tractor rides, he doesn't get to steer like Asher does.

And Asher loves to pitch in and help; whether I'm in the garden or in my garage/workshop, he always asks if there is something he can do to help. Of course, that means getting some things done sometimes take twice as long since I have to instruct/supervise, he is (usually) a delight to have with me.

Ben

That's fantastic. Out of the many problems that we have as a society, some of it comes from little or no intergenerational relationships. Time spent with your grandchildren, even on mundane tasks, will have long term rewards. Never stop teaching, loving, admonishing, explaining, modeling.

 

[BenRich]

Thanks Hodge, I agree completely. Asher's parents do not watch tv (they have a tv, but use it only for occasional movies). Instead of watching tv, they read to Asher; he knows the alphabet and numbers already and can recognize many written words. His parents plan on home schooling him rather then sending him to public school and he's already looking forward to that except he won't relish being indoors most of the day.

Ben

 

[armylifer]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

Thanks guys. It was fun and rewarding in that I learned quite a bit as I was going. I was also very very impressed with this little 1870; I was operating it around 2700 RPM and that seemed to provide all the power I needed. I was also impressed by how little fuel the machine used. I had started with a full tank; after the rip rap work I hooked the finish mower to it and spent about another hour and a half mowing the frontage area of my property (that's what you can see in the background of my third photo). My fuel level gauge was reading about 3/4 full when I ended for the day.

After cleaning/checking the tractor at the end of the day, I topped it off with fuel and I don't believe it took more than a gallon to top it off.

Ben

I bought a BX1860 in March and I have used it every weekend since then for everything from moving many tons (about 50 tons) of rocks to tilling a new garden and mowing 5 acres of property every weekend. I also have graded my driveway (not a good job for the first time) with a box blade.

These sub-compact machines are amazing tools. They are also fun to operate. As you noted, the fuel consumption is very low. I am amazed at how much work can be done for the cost of just a couple of gallons of Diesel per day. I have not actually measured the consumption per hour but after a full day of work the most that I have ever put in was a little over two gallons of fuel.

I attached a couple of pictures of me moving one of the rock piles that I had on my property. I moved the rocks into the depression at the back of my property. After I finished moving the three biggest piles I created a mountain about 8 feet high by 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. It was a lot of rocks and it took me many weeks to get it all done but this tractor did it.

For the first 50 hours I operated at around 2800 RPM or less. After the 50 hour break-in I started doing some digging and other heavy rock moving with the FEL and I did that at over 3000 RPM. Even though I was operating at times with ambient temperatures over 85 degrees, the engine temperature stayed mostly in the middle of the scale and it never got over 3/4 of the scale. It never got near the red zone.

This is the first tractor that I have ever owned or operated. I am happy that I bought a Kubota.

 

[Bulldog]

That's grand,, get all the work you can out of him, cause when he finds out about girls,,,, well all bets are off,,lol

That's not even funny Skeets, mine is almost 16 and is about to drive me crazy. It looks like a young bull when you turn him in on a lot full of heifers, doesn't know which way to turn, don't know which way to go, just knows he wants to hump something.

 

[skeets]

LMFAO,,,, Name one of us that wasn't the same way at 16,,,,,,

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I've seen pics of his sons "girlfriend" shes one of those thats a hottie already at 16 and you know its only going to get worse from there LOL.

I know when I was that age I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Hell I put the rain coat on backwards the first time, couldnt figure out why it didnt unroll.

 

[BenRich]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

I bought a BX1860 in March and I have used it every weekend since then for everything from moving many tons (about 50 tons) of rocks to tilling a new garden and mowing 5 acres of property every weekend. I also have graded my driveway (not a good job for the first time) with a box blade.

These sub-compact machines are amazing tools. They are also fun to operate. As you noted, the fuel consumption is very low. I am amazed at how much work can be done for the cost of just a couple of gallons of Diesel per day. I have not actually measured the consumption per hour but after a full day of work the most that I have ever put in was a little over two gallons of fuel.

I attached a couple of pictures of me moving one of the rock piles that I had on my property. I moved the rocks into the depression at the back of my property. After I finished moving the three biggest piles I created a mountain about 8 feet high by 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. It was a lot of rocks and it took me many weeks to get it all done but this tractor did it.

For the first 50 hours I operated at around 2800 RPM or less. After the 50 hour break-in I started doing some digging and other heavy rock moving with the FEL and I did that at over 3000 RPM. Even though I was operating at times with ambient temperatures over 85 degrees, the engine temperature stayed mostly in the middle of the scale and it never got over 3/4 of the scale. It never got near the red zone.

This is the first tractor that I have ever owned or operated. I am happy that I bought a Kubota.

armylifer - I'm curious as to your comment regarding the box blade and it not being a good job for the first time. Was it lack of experience or the tractor/box blade combination not being up for the job? I want to get a box blade for my 1870 and so would love to hear from those that have this same combination of 1860/1870 w/ box blade. I know you're gaining experience and perhaps what you learn can help me.

Thanks for the photos. When I was doing the rip rap the air temps were in the mid-nineties with humidity around 85%. The 1870 temp gauge never moved out of the mid zone. I had done my 50 hr maintenance at the 42.x hr point but had run the engine up to 3200 rpm prior to that as it needs 3140 rpm to run the rear pto at 540 rpm. To date, however, with slightly more than 62 hours on it, I have not run it above 3200. The manual stipulated to not run it at full throttle the first 50 hours.

These little Kubotas are genuine workhorses. I've reached the point where I tend to look at all chores as to whether or not they can be done on the 1870. Need to trim the bushes... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to put out more grass seed... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to deepen a drainage ditch... oh yes, that's tractor work, great, I'll get right on it. Maybe I'll trim the bushes and put do the grass seed tomorrow.

Ben

 

[armylifer]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

armylifer - I'm curious as to your comment regarding the box blade and it not being a good job for the first time. Was it lack of experience or the tractor/box blade combination not being up for the job? I want to get a box blade for my 1870 and so would love to hear from those that have this same combination of 1860/1870 w/ box blade. I know you're gaining experience and perhaps what you learn can help me.

Thanks for the photos. When I was doing the rip rap the air temps were in the mid-nineties with humidity around 85%. The 1870 temp gauge never moved out of the mid zone. I had done my 50 hr maintenance at the 42.x hr point but had run the engine up to 3200 rpm prior to that as it needs 3140 rpm to run the rear pto at 540 rpm. To date, however, with slightly more than 62 hours on it, I have not run it above 3200. The manual stipulated to not run it at full throttle the first 50 hours.

These little Kubotas are genuine workhorses. I've reached the point where I tend to look at all chores as to whether or not they can be done on the 1870. Need to trim the bushes... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to put out more grass seed... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to deepen a drainage ditch... oh yes, that's tractor work, great, I'll get right on it. Maybe I'll trim the bushes and put do the grass seed tomorrow.

Ben

Ben,

The poor driveway grading was lack of experience on my part. I just need to learn how to use it. I saw a post on this site somewhere that actually explained how to adjust the box scraper to get a crown in the middle of the driveway. Next time that I need to level out some pot holes I'll try the advice that I read on this site. The part that I have to learn is how various adjustments to the 3 point affect what the scraper does. Also, it would be a lot better if I had one of those hydrolic valve systems that move the implement just an inch at a time. I think that someone on this site called it an inching valve. Anyway, unless I decide to buy one of those inching valves I'll just have to learn how to finesse the valve when I am making adjustments to the box scraper so that I do not over adjust it.

I have the Land Pride BB1548and that seems to be the perfect size for the BX1860. I have put that thing on the tractor a time or two just to add ballast against some of the heavier bucket loads of rocks that I hauled. That box scraper weighs 382 pounds and it sure makes a big difference when lifting heavy loads in the FEL.

I have also used the box scraper to level out some hard packed dirt / rock piles in the yard. That did not take any level of skill on my part. That was so easy that a green city kid could have done it. I have plans to use the scarifer blades on it to dig up my garden next spring and to remove another few tons of rocks from the garden.

If you are thinking about purchasing a box scraper, I don't think that you can go wrong with the BB1548 for your BX18xx. I know that I am happy with mine.

 

[BenRich]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

Thankee for the info, armylifer. I do plan on getting the Land Pride BB1548 and I'm glad for your endorsement of it. This probably won't happen until fall when I hope to start landscaping our back yard.

Regarding inching the 3ph... on my 1870 you can move the hitch in 1/4" increments by pulling the control all the way to the left while you're moving it up or down. There are two small bolts on the inside of the control housing that limit the travel of the control stick. I don't know, but I would be surprised if your machine does not have this same feature. In the manual its called the quarter inching valve but it is not really a valve, just a means of limiting full movement of the control stick.

Ben

 

[armylifer]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

Thankee for the info, armylifer. I do plan on getting the Land Pride BB1548 and I'm glad for your endorsement of it. This probably won't happen until fall when I hope to start landscaping our back yard.

Regarding inching the 3ph... on my 1870 you can move the hitch in 1/4" increments by pulling the control all the way to the left while you're moving it up or down. There are two small bolts on the inside of the control housing that limit the travel of the control stick. I don't know, but I would be surprised if your machine does not have this same feature. In the manual its called the quarter inching valve but it is not really a valve, just a means of limiting full movement of the control stick.

Ben

Ben,

I think that only applies to the FEL. My joy stick for the FEL has the same feature. However, the 3 point is not on a joy stick. It is on the right fender and is a simple lever. Push forward for down and pull backward for up. That lever controls the mower deck as welll as the 3 point.

 

[DanDan]

Re: BX1870D and 12 Tons of Rip Rap

These little Kubotas are genuine workhorses. I've reached the point where I tend to look at all chores as to whether or not they can be done on the 1870. Need to trim the bushes... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to put out more grass seed... I wonder can I do it on the tractor. Need to deepen a drainage ditch... oh yes, that's tractor work, great, I'll get right on it. Maybe I'll trim the bushes and put do the grass seed tomorrow.

Ben

That's the spirit!
Actually, even if you don't "need" the tractor for project X, you will find that it lends an air of importance to the project and that the project just goes off better having it around... to, you know, hold tools, or keep the tarp down, or...