What did you do to or on your Kubota today?

[fried1765]

Today I finished cleaning up an old back blade I picked up for $400. I’m fairly sure the thing is as old as I am (from the 80s) and was in fine shape really besides the surface rust, so this was probably not necessary. But it does look better and this will hopefully prolong its life.

When taking the “Rhino” sticker off, I found a “Rhino by Servis” sticker underneath. I guess it was made right around the time of a corporate change.

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I cleaned off the rust first with a stripping pad thing on the angle grinder, which wore down way too quickly so I switched to wire brush attachment. Then I used some rust spray stuff (Rust/oleum brand spray gel, it worked okay). Then Rust-oleum farm implement enamel spray paint. Which so far seems not all that durable to me (I’ve already scraped some off, oh well).

The blade is nice.
Your two helpers are adorable!

 

[Siesta Sundance]

We headed North and I mowed our new pasture for the second time…shave a little time off the record….i got a little smarter with the pattern.

Are there any apps out there that you can bring up the aerial/boundaries, area calculator, cutting width, that provides a starting point, generates a pattern to cover the area faster??

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

The blade is nice.
Your two helpers are adorable!

Thanks. Yeah I’m pleased with the way the blade adjusts, I was on the lookout for one like this (I know you’ve commented about tool-less offset adjustment, a lesson I learned hard unbolting the moldboard of a LandPride blade I had). I had an older Servis that was SO HEAVY, sold that for $950 and went with this newer, lighter one (it’s used almost entirely for snow).

The helpers are my four year old twins. They were so cute. Days later they’re still saying “dad we wanna get the rust off” haha.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Are there any apps out there that you can bring up the aerial/boundaries, area calculator, cutting width, that provides a starting point, generates a pattern to cover the area faster??

I have no idea…never even thought of it. I am just glad to get to spend some time on the MX in an open field. It’s 78 F here and sunny . I really am just starting to get to know the place…i put it in low and go. I do find the throttle lock pretty handy and very convenient location of the lever. There are lots of trees along pasture edge need a trimming so I am taking it easy on the outer lap until I get them trimmed back. Good news is the pasture is not overgrown.

 

[D2Cat]

Are there any apps out there that you can bring up the aerial/boundaries, area calculator, cutting width, that provides a starting point, generates a pattern to cover the area faster??

Go to Google Earth. You can do all that there including elevations!

 

[Lil Foot]

Dug a grave for a fawn that some predator killed on our property.
Was able to get 3ft deep, 3ft wide, & 3 1/2ft long, without hitting much rock. (unusual for this area)
This was actually the 3rd spot I tried.
I'll spare you the body & interment pics.

 

[fc1]

Wood. It's almost always wood.

Sometimes the approaches are awkward.

This was a monster old widowmaker I got tired of looking at.

 

[KubotaHawg]

My 16 yo proudly sent me this video yesterday afternoon—he’s working for the town grounds crew this summer mowing and weeding all our little town’s city property. He has never shown an interest in learning to use my L2800 but he was sure fired up that they let him run the tractor at the ball fields moving some dirt.

 

[Old_Paint]

2006 L3130, 850 hrs: I lubed front to rear, washed, cleaned and repainted battery bracket, changed engine oil/filter, hydraulic filter, checked many other small items, and... fuel filter/o-rings.

First time since new. Don't be like me. Conquer your fear of getting air in the fuel lines!

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The fuel filter mount SHOULD have a spring loaded valve in the tank side to prevent draining the tank onto the floor. There really isn’t much pressure because they’re gravity fed. I had a stick come over the FEL bracket and hit my filter. Didn’t know until I smelled the fuel. Thought I’d broken the filter housing, but it had just popped out on one side. Removed the bell, and put it back on, good to go. That’s when I learned about the valve. I changed the fuel filter when I changed the oil and will likely do that as long as I have the tractor. Filters are cheap compared to the damage caused by a dirty on.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

We played in the dirt this morning and the I had a tree fall across the drive out by the gate so we made short work of it.

 

[Old_Paint]

Wood. It's almost always wood.

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Sometimes the approaches are awkward.

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This was a monster old widowmaker I got tired of looking at.

I bend teeth on the top jaw every time I grab a log like that. I reinforced the teeth with gussets, but still bend the points a little bit. A few whacks with a deadblow hammer works, though. My grapple probably isn’t the most expensive one, but it does what I need done. I just try to make sure I don’t grab the ends unless I know I’m going straight back without twisting the log in the bite. I pull it out far enough to spin it so I can get in the middle and get a good grip on it. I’ve moved some 16’ x 28” green pine with it. My little LX didn’t even need ballast (other than what’s in the rear tires), but I still keep the BB on when Im moving heavy stuff just to make sure it doesn’t get squirrely.

 

[Jim’sMX]

 

[Old_Paint]

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Pretty slick using the carryall full of fire wood for ballast.

 

[Siesta Sundance]

Go to Google Earth. You can do all that there including elevations!

It does not allow you to input what your cutting width is and determine the best best patten to cut the fastest.

 

[mcmxi]

Had an early start at 6.00 this morning getting the pallet forks on the MX, then a 2" ball on one of the tines, followed by moving the boat and trailer into a better position to get the new outboard installed. The fuel gauge was below E so I figured I'd better get fuel in before the motor was hanging off the forks.

I was disassembling the outboard crate as the fuel was being pumped and then I heard the sound of "water" splashing only to realize that the auto shut off wasn't working because the nozzle wasn't far enough in the filler neck!

Next up was picking up the new outboard and getting it bolted to the jack plate. The process went better than I could have hoped for with no damage done and all bolts aligned and torqued with no fuss. Then the weather stopped cooperating so on to something else.

 

[NCL4701]

Had a hydraulic top link for 3 years. The one minor disappointment has always been the range of motion for the boxblade. Not the quantity of degrees, but placement in the arc. Forward rotation is more than is useful. Rearward rotation is not as much as I would prefer. Mild enough issue I never spent any time or effort trying to improve it, partly because the boxblade is the only implement I have that is impacted at all.

Was walking by the boxblade a couple days ago and, for the first time in the five years I’ve had it, noticed the toplink structure for the hitch has optional mounting holes. The bolts were installed in the holes that put the toplink furthest from the tractor (the empty holes on the left in the pics). Moved them to the holes that put the toplink about 3” closer to the tractor.

Now it doesn’t tilt forward quite as much, but still plenty far enough, and it tilts back further which makes the rear facing blade more useful. Felt kind of dumb for not noticing the adjustable hitch feature a long time ago, but it was a happy little discovery.

Have used it once since. Just a few minutes leveling a spot for a small above ground pool. It was a nice improvement.

 

[In Utopia]

It's all in the geometry. When the top link on my tractor is fully extended the forward blade is about 3" above the ground and that means the rear pusher is like back dragging.
Bet if you keep playing around you can get the desired effect you want.

 

[S-G-R]

Vacuumed the floor. Opening the doors was causing a local dust storm in the cab. Need to wipe the inside down and clean the windows but that will be a project for another day.

 

[ctfjr]

Tower Time!

I finally reached the point where I can start my amateur radio tower project. I made the mistake of asking the zoning department if i needed a variance - I'm putting up a 60' tower. I should have just done it, like I did for the last 3 I put up.

So, after filling out the zoning application I was directed to the health department. Why the health department one might ask. . . I put on the zoning app that I have a septic system and well. Must get approval from health department.

Ok, they look at it and sign off Now back to zoning. They tell me there will be a hearing, sometime (probably 4-6 weeks) and I will need a building permit. Off to the building dept.

There I meet with the assistant building inspector who doubles as the electrical inspector. He tells me I will need an electrical permit in addition to building permit. He is not sure of the code requirements, will have to research and will get back to me. . .

A week later I get an email from the town engineer. He has questions. I suggest we get together at his office and I can show him data o the proposed tower. We met last week with the building/electrical inspector.

They turn out to be be nice guys. The town engineer even had a sense of humor when I reminded him that civil engineering is 'easy engineering'. I was well prepared and showed them the tower specifications from the manufacturer, Rohn. I also showed a sketch of the electrical grounding / ground rod / surge suppressors / grounding block / bonding.
My read was they just don't run into this type of installation and have very little, if any, experience. In the end they were happy to approve it. Now just waiting for the zoning blessing.

So, since I am going to use 12' long I Beams planted in the ground 5' to anchor the guys, I may as well start clearing those areas. There are 2 that are 'in the woods so trees need to be removed. Got to play with my Ego chain saw and the WC88.

 

[DustyRusty]

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. I built my home with only the permit for the foundation. Eventually, the building inspector came to the home while in the process of being framed and asked when I was going to take out a building permit. I replied, "when we can come up with a figure that we both can live with". This was 40 years ago in a small Connecticut town where the building inspector kept the full amount of the building permit as his pay instead of it going to the town. That system has since been replaced with the building inspector being paid a fixed salary from the town.