What did you do to or on your Kubota today?

[ajschnitzelbank]

I haven't seen a grapple like that before, what brand is it?

FrostBite Grapples - Grapple, Log Grapple

FrostBite Grapple Log Grapple for your Skid Steer, Utility Tractors, handling and rocks, brush removal, move pipe culverts, handling steel I-beams & landscaping

www.frostbitegrapple.com

There are similar ones made by Fransgard, and Sundown. And I think a couple other smaller makers.

I bought this kind because I figured my primary uses would be loading the sawmill and cutting firewood from delivered logs. I imagine it’s not as good for brush, but hopefully still works somewhat, I haven’t tried yet. It’s also good for big rocks, not good for smaller rocks (they just fall through).

 

[ctfjr]

Day off from landscape projects because of rain. Yesterday I finished mulching the bed along side part of the driveway with the boxwoods. The Boss wanted the bed wider than I had originally made it. Of course she was right. The Kubota makes a nifty wheelbarrow and allows easy dumping of partial loads. Then i just have to rake.

Also got a start on creating a new bed for the trees / bushes I planted at the edge of the woods / front lawn. That's when I ran out of mulch.

Learned a couple of things. 8 yards of mulch wasn't enough and the Boss wants to change the size of the bed (bigger). Also, if you put down fertilizer the friggin lawn grows like hell.

That lilac tree is a real survivor. I planted it about 12 years ago. The deer are relentless on it every winter. It's finally tall enough that it has significant flowers that make it now.

I can't imagine how I could have spread that mulch without the tractor.

 

[B737]

@ctfjr you're property has come out so nice, all the work you've done in the last year or two!

 

[radas]

Used my diesel wheelbarrow to move about 10 buckets full of firewood from the front yard where I processed it from my woods clearing project to the backyard near the fire pit. Now it can dry and the designated neighborhood Karen doesn't report me for blight.

 

[radas]

Didn’t think of pics…all done now. Not hard to imagine though…set blower on bucket, secure with ratchet strap, secure nozzle in an applicable direction, and BLOW! Of course had to get off the seat and start the blower first…
Best part is you can tilt the bucket for maximum blow (angled more to the ground’for stubborn debris) and also tilt the bucket up for distance blowing. My blower is a very powerful Redmax blower that I used to use for my lawn mowing business.

Who needs a PTO blower when you can strap a blower with throttle lock on your bucket... Genius!

 

[radas]

Day off from landscape projects because of rain. Yesterday I finished mulching the bed along side part of the driveway with the boxwoods. The Boss wanted the bed wider than I had originally made it. Of course she was right. The Kubota makes a nifty wheelbarrow and allows easy dumping of partial loads. Then i just have to rake.
View attachment 80060

View attachment 80062

Also got a start on creating a new bed for the trees / bushes I planted at the edge of the woods / front lawn. That's when I ran out of mulch.

View attachment 80063

Learned a couple of things. 8 yards of mulch wasn't enough and the Boss wants to change the size of the bed (bigger). Also, if you put down fertilizer the friggin lawn grows like hell.

That lilac tree is a real survivor. I planted it about 12 years ago. The deer are relentless on it every winter. It's finally tall enough that it has significant flowers that make it now.

I can't imagine how I could have spread that mulch without the tractor.

Beautiful property! That private drive is pristine!

 

[ctfjr]

@ctfjr you're property has come out so nice, all the work you've done in the last year or two!

Thanks

Its been a great learning experience for me. I've been working from home now for over 2 years. Gives me flexibility.

 

[ctfjr]

Beautiful property! That private drive is pristine!

TY!
Wasn't always. . .
The driveway is about 500' and has a pretty good elevation drop in one area. With my previous tractor I graded truckloads of 3/4 process trying to keep it up. The issue was the rain water would run straight down the fall line and erode some serious ruts.
With this tractor I decided to pitch it all to one side. The box blade / back blade and top n tilt have made it really easy. I am still working on the lower section but don't want to bring in more process until I'm through with most of the landscaping.

 

[Jsjac]

Ran the chipper yesterday for almost an hour clearing low hanging branches off the road frontage.

View attachment 80056

What kind of chipper is that?
How do you like it?

 

[radas]

TY!
Wasn't always. . .
The driveway is about 500' and has a pretty good elevation drop in one area. With my previous tractor I graded truckloads of 3/4 process trying to keep it up. The issue was the rain water would run straight down the fall line and erode some serious ruts.
With this tractor I decided to pitch it all to one side. The box blade / back blade and top n tilt have made it really easy. I am still working on the lower section but don't want to bring in more process until I'm through with most of the landscaping.

Sounds like a lot of work went into that, the hard work definitely paid off. Do you have any old photos of what the road used to look like?

I decided to go back outside again a few hours after setting all my smaller wood branches on fire and threw a giant buckthorn stump the previous owner decided to bury on the property in a terrible location. Used the FEL to scoop it up and eased it into the fire pit being careful to keep the hydraulic lines and anything flammable away from the short flames. The stump is starting to catch as the 5' pile I had is turning to ash.

 

[forky]

Nice looking fire pit, but I wonder if those landscape stones will be able to take the heat?
I'm thinking they are going to crumble from the extreme heat. Time will tell.

 

[radas]

Nice looking fire pit, but I wonder if those landscape stones will be able to take the heat?
I'm thinking they are going to crumble from the extreme heat. Time will tell.

Thanks! I've used it regularly for 2 years now with no issue. The retaining wall blocks sit on an 8" bed of clean limestone with geotextile fabric underneath to prevent them from heaving in the winter. There is a 10 gauge steel ring inside the pit with about a 1" air gap between the blocks and the ring that I've filled with slag sand to insulate the blocks from heat. Hopefully they don't fail but you're right, time will tell..

 

[forky]

Excellent prep job. I'm sure those precautions will make a heck of difference in regard to the longevity of the stones. Just stacking them up without the prep could cause problems...way to go!

 

[DustyRusty]

 

[radas]

Excellent prep job. I'm sure those precautions will make a heck of difference in regard to the longevity of the stones. Just stacking them up without the prep could cause problems...way to go!

Much appreciated! Yeah I always laugh when I see folks in Michigan stack block over dirt without any prep or fire ring (unless you're building a quick campfire)... Those blocks end up wavy after one season and fall apart from the heat. I figure if I go overkill, this thing may last a while as I'd hate to have to build another one

 

[ctfjr]

Sounds like a lot of work went into that, the hard work definitely paid off. Do you have any old photos of what the road used to look like?
. . .

Sorry couldn't find any 'before I started' shots. Actually only have a few from that project.
This one is using the back blade to move the material from the edge of the low side back toward the center. The box blade was used first to soften up the really packed ground.
The process was run through a section with the box blade then use the back blade to create the pitch and move the excess to the high side.

The driveway is constructed on fill, some of it 10' deep. Without the offset I never could have gotten to the edge.

an near the end of the job

 

[mdhughes]

What kind of chipper is that?
How do you like it?

It is a WoodMax WM-8m.

It has done everything I have asked it to do. We had 16 trees pushed out to build our garage and I chipped all the tops up with it. I have a post with some pictures of the piles of chips I had. I'm very happy with it.

 

[ken erickson]

My neighbor next to me at my home has about 3.8 acres which he built a rustic cabin. He has a part time firewood processing business along with sawing/drying rough lumber.
Over the weekend we swapped materials and labor. He supplied the materials and labor to build a stout workbench in my tractor shed and also to block in the rafters on my deer hunting box blind. In exchange I used my L2501 to pull about 17 or 18 stumps and then move and level dirt. He will be putting firewood drying racks in this area. I spent as much time pulling one relatively large elm stump (12 diameter) as I did the remaining smaller stumps. The elm was a job for a backhoe etc but I took my time and was able to get it out.

The picture is a screen shot from my action cam when I first arrived.

 

[radas]

Sorry couldn't find any 'before I started' shots. Actually only have a few from that project.
This one is using the back blade to move the material from the edge of the low side back toward the center. The box blade was used first to soften up the really packed ground.
The process was run through a section with the box blade then use the back blade to create the pitch and move the excess to the high side.

The driveway is constructed on fill, some of it 10' deep. Without the offset I never could have gotten to the edge.

View attachment 80095

an near the end of the job

View attachment 80096

You aren't kidding, I can see the slope change significantly by the trees in the first photo. Great work man.

Who makes that blade? It looks real stout.

 

[ctfjr]

It's an EA - its well built and the best feature is that offset