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Time for a new tractor

Started by hackberry jake, March 06, 2013, 07:20:38 PM

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hackberry jake

I have been using a 30hp to do most of my skidding and loading logs. I put a 55 gallon drum of concrete on the three point to help the little guy handle bigger logs. I was dragging a maple log out of the woods yesterday with the chain hooked to the drum. The log caught the tip of a large rock and stopped the tractor in its tracks and my knees hit the steering wheel. Well now the two arms that hold the drum are at different levels an some fluid is leaking out of where the lift mechanism attaches to the tractor. I must've broke the shaft or something. It needs a rebuild as well. I guess I'll fix the little guy and retire it from log handling.... So I begin the search for a bigger tractor...
https://www.facebook.com/TripleTreeWoodworks

EZ Boardwalk Jr. With 20hp Honda, 25' of track, and homemade setworks. 32x18 sawshed. 24x40 insulated shop. 30hp kubota with fel. 1978 Massey ferguson 230.

Ohio_Bill

It's hard to believe how much those little tractors will do. But it sounds like its time to take your game to the next level . About ten years ago I was faced with the a similar decision and I purchased a older skidder which has been a great tool for me .
Bill
USAF Veteran  C141 Loadmaster
LT 40 HDD42-RA   , Allis Chalmers I 500 Forklift , Allis Chalmers 840 Loader , International 4300 , Zetor 6245 Tractor – Loader ,Bob Cat 763 , Riehl Steel Edger

Peter Drouin

GO GREEN :D :D :D :D :D :D ;)

 

Good luck with your search :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

GDinMaine

Jake, You were going so fast that your knees hit the steering wheel?  That is some fast skidding I must say.  Yarding out firewood is about the only thing I find my tractor too small as well.  Skidders are the way to go if you have the volume of wood.  For 4-6 cord (4x4x8) a year I think a tractor will do just fine.
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

hackberry jake

I wasn't going that fast I didn't think. Going from 4mph to a stop instantly is still a pretty good jar.
https://www.facebook.com/TripleTreeWoodworks

EZ Boardwalk Jr. With 20hp Honda, 25' of track, and homemade setworks. 32x18 sawshed. 24x40 insulated shop. 30hp kubota with fel. 1978 Massey ferguson 230.

AdamT

Peter, do you have to put license plates on tractors in NH?

2017 Wood-Mizer LT40HDD35-RA
2011 Wood-Mizer LT40 HD

It's better to have it and not need it then it is to need it and not have it

Satamax

French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

Al_Smith

Ya broke it . :(  Parts ---http://www.andersontractorinc.com/default.htm ,one of the largest salvage yards in the mid west ,about 15 miles from my house .

customsawyer

I would give some thought to having SPD748 dad go find me a tractor. He apparently can steal them legally.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

thecfarm

Your next tractor,have loaded tires and get rid of the counter balance. I like fuild in the tires. Puts the weight where it should be. I just feels it makes the tractor pull better. My FIL has a weight box on his small JD.He has a hard time with it. He always complains about it and think my wifes little NH should be the same way.  ::)  And his hardly sees nothing but lawn and tar.I had the tire loaded on her tractor too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Peter Drouin

Quote from: AdamT on March 06, 2013, 08:46:31 PM
Peter, do you have to put license plates on tractors in NH?



To drive on the road yes, a farmer going field to field the cops don't push it to much :)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Al_Smith

They use something besides calcium chloride now,beet juice maybe .However I've welded up more rims on old tractors from calcium than I can remember .I don't know what it is but it eats up the rims weather the tubes leak or not .

It might be a point of arguement but on the three point hitch if you can get the weight up on it I'm not so certain ballasted tires make that much difference .Once you get enough bite to raise the front end another 8-900 pounds of tire ballast is only going to raise it higher .

I've got two TO-20 Fergys both with big bore kits .One is just a standard tractor,one has a Davis industrial loader .That one has a barrel of concrete for a counter balance held with chains ,not the three point and has a swinging draw bar with wheel weights .

The bare tractor with a load on the three point will pull just as much as the loader tractor using the swinging draw bar .The difference is the weighted tractor keeps the front end on the ground and the other I about have to steer with the brakes at times .

petefrom bearswamp


My Kubota 8540 with a fel and Farmi winch has beet juice in the tires.
I was told the only problem is if is is super cold it may freeze.
Pete
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

thecfarm

Calcium and rusted out rims,just like the oil wars.  :D

I still have my Fathers '54 NAA Ford with the tires filed up with calium and we never done anything to the rims because of the calcium due to rust. But when we had leaks we fixed them too,that day or the next. I'm not the type that can do things others can not either. Most times if others have trouble,than I had it too. I have 1 tractor used just about everyday and one only really used for mowing in the summer time. I do have a snow blower on the back of "her" tractor. They both have calium in the tires. I really doubt the rims on these 2 tractors will go 50 years without having something done to them due to the calium.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

SPD748

Quote from: customsawyer on March 07, 2013, 05:28:00 AM
I would give some thought to having SPD748 dad go find me a tractor. He apparently can steal them legally.

:D :D :D

I'd be willing to loan him out.

-lee
Frick 0 Handset - A continuing project dedicated to my Dad.

410 Deere, 240 Massey... I really need a rough terrain forklift :)

Sawing Since 1-19-2013 @ 3:30 pm
Serving Since 2002
"Some police officers give tickets, some gave all."

Al_Smith

 :D Yeah I will have to admit it takes a couple of decades to rust through a rim .It's a pain in the buttocks to drain out the calcium and a worse nuisance to pump it back in but I've done it .Brass pump driven from a drill motor with plastic tubing .Where there's a will there's a way .

Problem is you can't get it all pumped out .So there you are trying to pry out the tube with 80-90 pounds of fluid still in it .Then lift that mess up to dump the remainder in a 5 gallon bucket or three .It was bad enough trying to do it a thirty and it really sucks at twice that age  let me tell you .

The last go round after I spent a day gas welding the rims back together I gave it up for a lost cause and just put air back in the tubes .

Brian_Rhoad

Windshield washer fluid works for tire fluid.

tractormanNwv

If you want to add weight without the rust go with the powder, or save some money and be creative with some older IH, or JD wheel weights, with a little creativity you can adapt about anything. Thats what I like about older tractors, they were designed to use wheel weights, and can usually be found at a reasonable price if you look around.

Jim

Handy Andy

  When I bought a new tractor in '81, the dealer told me to add iron, not liquid to the tires, as the vibration from the water going back and forth will wear out your gears.  The old 4020 I bought in the 70's used has never had liquid, still has the original gears, if not the clutch.
My name's Jim, I like wood.

Al_Smith

Since they came out with radial ag tires I'm not so sure they use liquid ballast that much now of days .That plus the fact most if not all newer stuff it coupled with some form of a draft control system and very little is in the form of a conventional drawbar hitch .

Now regarding that 4020 ,that ole boy could drag a fair sized log not matter if it had ballast or not .Might be an oldie but it's still a goody .

DaleK

Quote from: Al_Smith on March 10, 2013, 09:04:57 AM
Since they came out with radial ag tires I'm not so sure they use liquid ballast that much now of days .That plus the fact most if not all newer stuff it coupled with some form of a draft control system and very little is in the form of a conventional drawbar hitch .



Liquid is used pretty regularly in the rears on loader tractors, otherwise not so much. Not sure where you're getting your second claim, the vast majority of new equipment hitches to the drawbar. In fact I've taken the 3pth arms off two of my three tractors because I never used them.
Hud-Son Oscar 330
Wallenstein FX110
Echo chainsaws and a whole bunch of tractors

thecfarm

Good question Al. Seems like weight boxes,  and those new "R" tires  ::)  are the way to go now.  I did buy a used tractor and the tires was loaded with calium and I was very surprised to see that.
Al seem like you can argue about the Oil Wars and I can argue about loaded tires and we both get no wheres.   :D  ;D  :D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Al_Smith

Well it does make for lively conversation if nothing else . ;)

Now as far as drawbar stuff they stopped using the standard old breaking  plow years ago in this area .As a result most implements are carried on some form of a lift hitch . Fact the darned things are so wide you'd almost think you are in Kansas if you saw them going down the road taking up fully from ditch to ditch on a county road .Plus a majorty of  the ag stuff in this area is either front assist or articulated 4WD monsters .100 HP like that gents 4020 JD would be considered a small machine in todays methods .Ha my Fergy is just a garden tractor but then again really it's all it ever was .

yellowrosefarm

When I'm skidding logs with my small tractor, I put a drawbar on the 3 point arms and a big clevis on the tractor's main drawbar. Then, I hook the chain to the clevis, go up and over the 3 point drawbar and hook to the log with a set of tongs. That way, I'm pulling with the strongest point on the tractor and can still lift up on the front of the log if I need traction or to clear a stump or something.

Dave Shepard

I think my Kubota L-48 has potassium chloride, or something like that. Heavier than Calcium, but not as corrosive. No problems in 12 years. My L-48 is ok with the backhoe on, which weighs 2,000 pounds, but with it off it lifts enough to get sketchy really fast. There is 1,200 pounds of ballast in the rear tires, and with the hoe off, it is stable. With the hoe on, it is really stable. :D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

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