Woah. That's a big log. Quit impressive it managed to pick it up. How heavy is your grapple compared to the pallet forks frame? I noticed a quite a few grapples are actually closer to the pivot pin than forks so wouldn't that technically be able to pick up more despite being possibly heavier than the forks? I've always wondered that.
Correct. The farther away from the boom pivots the larger the negative affect on the boom lift. Same for the curl as the load moves away from the curl knuckles. The boom “pushes” to lift with a little more force than lowering because fluid is being pumped into the head end of the cylinders which have a larger cross section than the rod end. The curl function usually retracts the cylinders (pulls) to curl up meaning it can push down harder than it can pull up. The model number on Kubota FELs is also the weight rating in KG. That rating is what the loader can (safely) lift at the curl knuckles. The‘breakout’ force is somewhat less. There’s some extra geometry going on with the shape and position of the cylinders, but generally speaking, it’s basically a lever and fulcrum. The closer the load is to the fulcrum, the more force the lever can produce to lift it. Kinda like the fat kid on the playground has to sit closer to the pivot on the seesaw.
The owner's manuals are kind of vague about it so I still have much to learn.
Good day.It was a cold but sunny day yesterday and I made some progress on getting the lower driveway prepared for winter plowing. The edge is all cleaned up (used the M6060 and rear blade) and the surface is about as good as I can get it with the EA land leveler. I'll bring in some more gravel next spring to fill in a couple of low spots.
It was cold and foggy today but nice conditions to make a few more passes. I removed the land leveler and don't plan on using it again until next spring. I need to get the blower back on but that's a five minute job.
I should add that I've been playing with draft control on both tractors pulling the land leveler and rear hydraulic blade but I have no idea what I'm doing, or if it's working.
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I had that same thought about running the hydraulic snow blade on the front of the M6060 with the hydraulic rear blade out. It would be great on the lower gravel driveway but I also have 9,000 sq.ft. of asphalt to clear so the MX with the front blade and rear blower is my main snow removal machine.Good day.
Looking at that pic the front blade seems like it will clear a pretty good swath by itself…do you plan to use the new rear blade offset in tandem with the front blade? Seems like that would clear your drive in single pass almost. If that is the plan I bet that will move some snow quick fast and in a hurry.
Looks like Curtis hasn't changed the basic design of that blade in decades.
That's exactly how this one started out on the owners first tractor. He upgraded to a Kubota with quick attach and had the assembly welded to a quick attach mount later. It seems very well made and fits my tractor nicely. It is quite old but was always stored indoors on a dolly it came with. Nice how they have the blow off have that prevents overpressuring the hydraulic system by bypassing oil to the non pressurized cylinder. A nice plow That's not to heavy.
The grapple is 302 pounds, and the pallet forks are 308 pounds.
I'm definitely interested in getting a grapple and setting up 3rd valve but I'll give the forks a try first while I save up! haha.
It was a cold but sunny day yesterday and I made some progress on getting the lower driveway prepared for winter plowing. The edge is all cleaned up (used the M6060 and rear blade) and the surface is about as good as I can get it with the EA land leveler. I'll bring in some more gravel next spring to fill in a couple of low spots.
I should add that I've been playing with draft control on both tractors pulling the land leveler and rear hydraulic blade but I have no idea what I'm doing, or if it's working.
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Spending a few hours with the new to me rear hydraulic blade helped a lot. I'm still figuring out draft control and not sure if it's working much, if at all. I'm still considering rear gauge wheels for next year to end up with a poor man's road grader. That said, I realize that it takes time to get this stuff figured out, and time to get good at grading. Many of us only spend a few hours a year doing this stuff so don't have the experience to know why it's going wrong or how to correct it.
My understanding of draft control says it's not going to help with road grading. DC works by sensing the force exerted on the top link to maintain a more-or-less constant load on th tractor. This works well when the object is to pull a plow as deep as the soil conditions allow, adjusting to the tractor's capability. But if you're grading a washboard, you want the blade to knock the tops off, not raise each time it hits the resistance.Spending a few hours with the new to me rear hydraulic blade helped a lot. I'm still figuring out draft control and not sure if it's working much, if at all. I'm still considering rear gauge wheels for next year to end up with a poor man's road grader. That said, I realize that it takes time to get this stuff figured out, and time to get good at grading. Many of us only spend a few hours a year doing this stuff so don't have the experience to know why it's going wrong or how to correct it.
What I'm learning is to allocate more time to the driveway, realize that it takes quite a lot of work, have a plan or an idea of what I'm going to do or want to achieve, think about what I need to do in order to get the results I want, and then stick with it. Because the lower driveway is used by my neighbor and their tenants (they have an easement), I feel some pressure to get it done quickly, but I'm learning that "quick" and "good" are often opposite sides of the same coin.
Yes to the carhartt bibs, their arctic chore coat with hood along with some lined leather mittens are this old guys tractor cab when plowing with the 8N! That combo has been keeping me warm working outside for years.
