The good news is that the snow will melt in less than a week. It never stays around very long in the spring when the sun is shining longer in the daytime.
What did you do to or on your Kubota today?
- Thread starter gurn
- Start date
We got 18" Saturday then ended over night. I plowed three times Saturday. Then Sunday morning still 6" with hours of freezing rain on top. My 400' driveway is up hill. My 1/2 ton wouldn't plow it uphill. I had to drive plow up and plow down.
The heaviest storm here in a long long time. The kubota with plow got a workout.
The heaviest storm here in a long long time. The kubota with plow got a workout.
Attachments
Last edited:
I'd go with the wild flowers. We missed the last round of snow but got plenty of rain.
NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
This is probably going to be long and I didn’t take pictures of the job because I thought it would be so piddly and uneventful but it got stupid for a minute and I learned something, not from this site this time but because of it. If you’re like me and don’t like long posts without pics, no offense taken if you skip or even dislike.
We have right around zero rocks on our little 70 acres. Clearly, a prior owner removed them as that’s quite unnatural here. The land 50 yards past our front door wasn’t ours. It had an old (as in mid-1800’s) farmhouse and barn, as well as a later added garage, and chicken coop plus a couple small tobacco fields. All the buildings were abandoned and falling in on themselves. The owner lived nowhere close and never had anything to do with the place other than lease the remaining fields to a local tobacco farmer. They offered to sell it to my father, and later to me, but always priced it like the buildings were built last week rather than being a collection of unsalvageable liabilities. Behind the old barn was a small pile of rocks. Small enough I can roll them around a little by myself but picking one up, not even close.
My wife has coveted those rocks for years. She’s asked me numerous times to just take them because no way anyone cares. I’ve always refused because they aren’t ours and the owner was a first class ass so no point in asking to buy them. I’ve offered to buy some similar size rocks but no go; she wanted THOSE rocks.
Well, the absentee owner sold their 95 acres, which included the area adjacent to us, to a developer a couple years ago. He needed to get to the sewer line that runs parallel to the creek in the middle of our place. One of his developer buddies owns land nearby and could get him 99% of the way there but engineer as he might, he ended up with a choice of putting in a $750K sewer pump or crossing a 25sf piece of our land where we were growing kudzu. After a year and a half of negotiation, he got the 25sf he needed and we got 3.5 acres of flat road frontage that puts his development on the other side of a line of mature trees so I don’t have to look at his development every morning. We also got the rocks my wife has wanted for at least 20 years. Closed on the trade early this month so this past weekend we went to fetch her some rocks.
These rocks were likely in a clear area when they were piled up by some long dead folk. Now they were about 60’ back in the woods. Only way to get them out was to get the L to them. Path of least destruction required taking out about a half dozen little 6’ witch hazel bushes with a saw. There was a long dead pine on the ground in the way but no problem to just shove it out of the way with the grapple.
So I’m driving into the edge of the woods to take the 60’ journey to the coveted rocks and notice the extremely rotten remains of a large old limb laying tangled about 7’ up in a Volkswagen size blob of briar vine. I’m thinking this thing is too close; I’m going to jostle that vine on the way by and this 6’ rotten thing is going to get tangled up with me or the tractor so best to remove it. But it’s 7’ up in a ball of briar vine so of course the grapple is the way to go here. Apparently not. Got hold of it pinching it between a lid tooth and bottom tooth but it was so rotten that was useless. The vines had a hold on it and it was sort of stuck in the grapple too, but in the wrong direction and it was getting tangled up with the left SSQA latch. Didn’t seem to matter what I did; curl, dump, lower, raise, forward, back; it just kept getting incrementally worse like the vine and limb had some malicious AI working against me to remove the grapple from the tractor. After about 5 minutes of screwing around with it, finally got the grapple on the ground with the right side holding on and the left side disconnected. Getting the limb unjammed only required kicking it once which broke it into four pieces. Had to unhook the right side, realign the tractor with the grapple, hook it back up, and on with the job.
Of course the whole time I was doing that, wife was sitting in the Mule watching me with the same question she’s had thousands of times over the past 35 years, “What the hell are you doing??” She didn’t ask out loud, but I know.
After that, it was pretty uneventful. Shoving the entire pine tree 50’ was no issue at all. Found the rocks were about 75% buried. No problem with the grapple. Without the grapple they’d still be right where they were. We’re now decorating the property with them.
So what did I learn? The briar vine. As I was considering this novella of a post, I thought it odd that I have never known the actual name of this plant, which seems to be a ubiquitous presence in the wilds here. I’ve only heard it colloquially referred to as “that (insert expletive of your choice) thorn vine”. Yet someone at some university must have given it a name that’s usable even in church. Apparently it’s Smilax Rotundifolia or Common Greenbrier or a host of other common names I’ve never heard. Oddly, the NC State Ag Extension website did not list the only name I’ve ever heard as one of the common names.
So now I sort of know why there’s so many things around here named “greenbrier” but whoever names their stuff that clearly never had to try to hack their way through a mess of it.
I said no pictures but if you’ve actually read this far, you deserve at least a couple. The first is looking out from the edge of our front yard. The development was to be where the taller brown stuff that looks like it needs bush hogging starts. That’s one of the little tobacco fields. Our line ended where the greenish grass ends. Our new line is about 75’ past the tree line. The derelict buildings are all on the left, closer to the public road.
The next two are our new barn. 20 years ago it was standing and much of the original timbers from the old post & beam pegged part could have been saved. Not now. The part that hasn’t totally collapsed is much newer and not structurally sound at all.
We have right around zero rocks on our little 70 acres. Clearly, a prior owner removed them as that’s quite unnatural here. The land 50 yards past our front door wasn’t ours. It had an old (as in mid-1800’s) farmhouse and barn, as well as a later added garage, and chicken coop plus a couple small tobacco fields. All the buildings were abandoned and falling in on themselves. The owner lived nowhere close and never had anything to do with the place other than lease the remaining fields to a local tobacco farmer. They offered to sell it to my father, and later to me, but always priced it like the buildings were built last week rather than being a collection of unsalvageable liabilities. Behind the old barn was a small pile of rocks. Small enough I can roll them around a little by myself but picking one up, not even close.
My wife has coveted those rocks for years. She’s asked me numerous times to just take them because no way anyone cares. I’ve always refused because they aren’t ours and the owner was a first class ass so no point in asking to buy them. I’ve offered to buy some similar size rocks but no go; she wanted THOSE rocks.
Well, the absentee owner sold their 95 acres, which included the area adjacent to us, to a developer a couple years ago. He needed to get to the sewer line that runs parallel to the creek in the middle of our place. One of his developer buddies owns land nearby and could get him 99% of the way there but engineer as he might, he ended up with a choice of putting in a $750K sewer pump or crossing a 25sf piece of our land where we were growing kudzu. After a year and a half of negotiation, he got the 25sf he needed and we got 3.5 acres of flat road frontage that puts his development on the other side of a line of mature trees so I don’t have to look at his development every morning. We also got the rocks my wife has wanted for at least 20 years. Closed on the trade early this month so this past weekend we went to fetch her some rocks.
These rocks were likely in a clear area when they were piled up by some long dead folk. Now they were about 60’ back in the woods. Only way to get them out was to get the L to them. Path of least destruction required taking out about a half dozen little 6’ witch hazel bushes with a saw. There was a long dead pine on the ground in the way but no problem to just shove it out of the way with the grapple.
So I’m driving into the edge of the woods to take the 60’ journey to the coveted rocks and notice the extremely rotten remains of a large old limb laying tangled about 7’ up in a Volkswagen size blob of briar vine. I’m thinking this thing is too close; I’m going to jostle that vine on the way by and this 6’ rotten thing is going to get tangled up with me or the tractor so best to remove it. But it’s 7’ up in a ball of briar vine so of course the grapple is the way to go here. Apparently not. Got hold of it pinching it between a lid tooth and bottom tooth but it was so rotten that was useless. The vines had a hold on it and it was sort of stuck in the grapple too, but in the wrong direction and it was getting tangled up with the left SSQA latch. Didn’t seem to matter what I did; curl, dump, lower, raise, forward, back; it just kept getting incrementally worse like the vine and limb had some malicious AI working against me to remove the grapple from the tractor. After about 5 minutes of screwing around with it, finally got the grapple on the ground with the right side holding on and the left side disconnected. Getting the limb unjammed only required kicking it once which broke it into four pieces. Had to unhook the right side, realign the tractor with the grapple, hook it back up, and on with the job.
Of course the whole time I was doing that, wife was sitting in the Mule watching me with the same question she’s had thousands of times over the past 35 years, “What the hell are you doing??” She didn’t ask out loud, but I know.
After that, it was pretty uneventful. Shoving the entire pine tree 50’ was no issue at all. Found the rocks were about 75% buried. No problem with the grapple. Without the grapple they’d still be right where they were. We’re now decorating the property with them.
So what did I learn? The briar vine. As I was considering this novella of a post, I thought it odd that I have never known the actual name of this plant, which seems to be a ubiquitous presence in the wilds here. I’ve only heard it colloquially referred to as “that (insert expletive of your choice) thorn vine”. Yet someone at some university must have given it a name that’s usable even in church. Apparently it’s Smilax Rotundifolia or Common Greenbrier or a host of other common names I’ve never heard. Oddly, the NC State Ag Extension website did not list the only name I’ve ever heard as one of the common names.
So now I sort of know why there’s so many things around here named “greenbrier” but whoever names their stuff that clearly never had to try to hack their way through a mess of it.
I said no pictures but if you’ve actually read this far, you deserve at least a couple. The first is looking out from the edge of our front yard. The development was to be where the taller brown stuff that looks like it needs bush hogging starts. That’s one of the little tobacco fields. Our line ended where the greenish grass ends. Our new line is about 75’ past the tree line. The derelict buildings are all on the left, closer to the public road.
The next two are our new barn. 20 years ago it was standing and much of the original timbers from the old post & beam pegged part could have been saved. Not now. The part that hasn’t totally collapsed is much newer and not structurally sound at all.
I thought I posted this but I didn't hit the post button on Sunday evening. Better late than never
Saturday I moved the tractor down by the house. I figured that when the snow came the little amount of frost would melt.
I let the snow finish before I cleaned the driveway up. That was a mistake. Next time I will do when there is about 6-10 inches instead of 18 inches.
The snow was heavy and wet. I used about a half a tank of fuel to get it all cleaned up.
The picture below is when I went out of start the tractor and let it warm up. The windows were all covered in ice.
Saturday I moved the tractor down by the house. I figured that when the snow came the little amount of frost would melt.
I let the snow finish before I cleaned the driveway up. That was a mistake. Next time I will do when there is about 6-10 inches instead of 18 inches.
The snow was heavy and wet. I used about a half a tank of fuel to get it all cleaned up.
The picture below is when I went out of start the tractor and let it warm up. The windows were all covered in ice.
If the water table gets any higher here I'm going to call my cousin Noah
fried1765
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Spend Sunday morning removing a dozen or so 4x4 posts at the barn. Half were poorly cemented in, but put up a little fight. Nothing wiggling back and forth couldn't solve. Little BX worked hard, but earned its keep. Now to clean them up and turn the posts into jump standards for the arena.
First year I’ve had to do this. Not even enough snow to reload the sleds. Thought this was easier then grass dragging them
Attachments
Of course I couldn't get to assembly instructions until I removed the metal shipping crate, all the loose pieces and the mountain of plastic wrap and cardboard. That's when I saw I had to mount the chipper on the 3 point to remove the metal shipping base (soon to become chipper dolly). Of course its 90 degs off.
Not a lot of room in the basement garage
Managed to use the forks to spin it 'almost' square. Then realized the post hole digger had to come off. Time to see if the PHD holder I erected in the back will work.
all 's
Put back on the top hydraulic cylinder and hook up.
Next - take a break
Not a lot of room in the basement garage
Managed to use the forks to spin it 'almost' square. Then realized the post hole digger had to come off. Time to see if the PHD holder I erected in the back will work.all
'sPut back on the top hydraulic cylinder and hook up.
Next - take a break
mcmxi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25DLB
That's awesome. Just looking at the Canadian goodness makes me wish I had use for one. It looks like it exudes quality. How long did it take to receive after you placed the order?Of course I couldn't get to assembly instructions until I removed the metal shipping crate, all the loose pieces and the mountain of plastic wrap and cardboard. That's when I saw I had to mount the chipper on the 3 point to remove the metal shipping base (soon to become chipper dolly). Of course its 90 degs off.
Not a lot of room in the basement garage
View attachment 125036
all
Put back on the top hydraulic cylinder and hook up.
View attachment 125037
Next - take a break
They shipped in just about a week to the closest branch of the company I work for. One of the drivers then delivered it today with a lift gate. I wasn't anxious to take it off the truck with my forks as the max lift is about 1100lbs and the weight is out a bit on them. Good decision.
I only had the post hole digger on the back so when moving it to the back of the house it was quite the adventure. Felt like 0 weight on the rears.
fried1765
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
I do not have a wood chipper, but I do have........
......An EXACT copy of your pure white helper!
We LOVE our "Sadie"!
Last edited:
mcmxi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25DLB
Congrats. That’s some awesome hardware you just got! I have the size smaller than you. Mine has exceeded my expectations…and makes me giggle. It’s like an angry beaverOf course I couldn't get to assembly instructions until I removed the metal shipping crate, all the loose pieces and the mountain of plastic wrap and cardboard. That's when I saw I had to mount the chipper on the 3 point to remove the metal shipping base (soon to become chipper dolly). Of course its 90 degs off.
Not a lot of room in the basement garage
View attachment 125036
all
Put back on the top hydraulic cylinder and hook up.
View attachment 125037
Next - take a break
. Good luck and enjoy!
Finished the assembly today I am getting old though. Everything seemed heavy
Didn't have to cut the pto shaft. iirc my last WC68 was the same, shaft good the way it came.
Filled it will hydraulic fluid, started it up to let the air get purged and then topped it off. It really took 5 gallons to fill it but couldn't take another pint.
Some final assembly pics. Too bad its been raining. I won't be able to take it out for several days - until the lawn dries out.
I am getting old though. Everything seemed heavy Didn't have to cut the pto shaft. iirc my last WC68 was the same, shaft good the way it came.
Filled it will hydraulic fluid, started it up to let the air get purged and then topped it off. It really took 5 gallons to fill it but couldn't take another pint.
Some final assembly pics. Too bad its been raining. I won't be able to take it out for several days - until the lawn dries out.
Removed the blower and K connect and put the loader back on. Now, if the rain would stop long enough for the ground to dry up I could get some work done.
