Compact Utility Tractors

[greglepore]

Those gear levelers making hooking up implements much easier.
I like pallet forks too, but as said, its scary sometimes as you lift stuff it'll tip forward, majorass panic until you learn to just set it down, quick. Its a real problem though if you're moving...

[Evans, Marv]

I won't use pallet forks again. I moved a 6x8 ft. shed with some, and the leveraged weight in front mostly unweighted my rear tires. That was with a 400 lb. box scraper on the back of the tractor. The shed wasn't very heavy. I suppose they are OK with really light weight things. I have an older L frame Kubota, and I can't see using anything smaller. I don't need to mow any grass though.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

To repeat, subcompact tractors are frequently operated at and sometimes greater than their rated limits because nobody wants to accept the notion that that godamned tree trunk weighs a ton but their loader is only rated for 1500# or whatever.

THIS ^^^ describes most of the use I put my 1987 John Deere 955 through. I have done some amazing things with this small capacity tractor, mowing with a 72" belly mower is one of the easier projects my tractor accomplishes.

-Rototilled a 1 acre lot twice.
-Spread 3 triple axle dump truck loads of ground up road pavement for driveways.
-100s of loads of split firewood to the house over the years.
-plowed multiple driveways of snow for many years.
-pulled 1200# roller over 7 acres every year.
-loaded stripped down junk cars onto a trailer.
-pushed/pulled stuck vehicles out of snow, and mud.
-tugged down/pushed down dead standing trees.
-hoisted 36 6x6 posts into holes for horse arena barn construction.
-Used box scraper/loader to level multiple new yards.
-hoisted multiple loader fulls of hay bales into our barn loft (3 at a time).
-cleaned multiple horse stalls, and made large piles of manure.
-actually dug 2 graves for expired horses with only the FEL.
-pulled countless large limbs/dead trees out of our creek ravine.
-started every day of the year for bringing hay to the horse barn.
-multiple loads of burnable trash to our burn barrel/ burn pile.
-Dug 150' long French Drain on sides of our new barn.
-built my own quik attach frame with pallet forks for the FEL.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I won't use pallet forks again. I moved a 6x8 ft. shed with some, and the leveraged weight in front mostly unweighted my rear tires. That was with a 400 lb. box scraper on the back of the tractor. The shed wasn't very heavy. I suppose they are OK with really light weight things.

They're great for things that are more than you want to lift but less than the capacity of the tractor. No reason not to use them, within reason.

[greglepore]

That 955 is pretty much my fave compact. Yanmar quality, Deere parts availability and pretty easy diy repair.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

They're great for things that are more than you want to lift but less than the capacity of the tractor. No reason not to use them, within reason.

Now if only we could find those people capable of reasoning! I don't care what machine pallet forks are on, a guy will lift more than the machine should lift or he'll use them as a pry bar and bend the hell out of A) The Forks or B) The boom OR C) Both.

I had a customer call me complaining that he had bent his forks. His claim was that he was cleaning "loose dirt" out of a trench to clean it up after running a trencher. He didn't bend the forks, he bent the backing plate the forks mount to! And somehow miraculously by digging loose dirt out of a trench!

[MT930]

Vote for the Kubota

2004 B7800 Bulletproof nothing except oil changes and filter cleaning. Pasture mowing and loader work and snow stacking. Best tool I own.

[stevej37]

[QUOTE=cabmando;9970948]Now if only we could find those people capable of reasoning! I don't care what machine pallet forks are on, a guy will lift more than the machine should lift or he'll use them as a pry bar and bend the hell out of A) The Forks or B) The boom OR C) Both

I was standing next to a forklift once that the operator didn't have the forks fully under the weight. One broke in half and it sounded like a gunshot. Didn't bend it at all...he said that they would prob weld it back up.

[IROC]

I'm going today to check some stuff out. I talked to a dealer in Alabama that sells Kubota package deals with very good pricing (about 3 hrs from here and 45 minutes from my in-laws). Going to see if local dealers can do something similar.

It's amazing how much one can learn watching youtube videos.

Question - treadle pedal versus two pedals? My 54" riding mower has a treadle pedal and I don't mind it. The Kubotas have the treadle and the Deeres the two pedals. I've heard that the two pedal arrangement is much better for loader work. Opinions?

And...the Deere has better position control for the 3-point hitch than the Kubotas. Is that a big deal? I will be doing some tilling and bush hogging (and maybe some box blade work) and wonder if the position control thing is actually a big deal or not.

[willtel]

I really like my JD 1025r. Sub compact models are really competitive so prices don't differ that much, buy on the features and dealer support you want. I shopped Kubota, Mahindra, New Holland, and Deere. I liked the autoconnect feature of the Deere mower deck the best and prices were all very close.

Implement by willtel, on Flickr

[IROC]

Originally Posted by willtel

I really like my JD 1025r. Sub compact models are really competitive so prices don't differ that much, buy on the features and dealer support you want. I shopped Kubota, Mahindra, New Holland, and Deere. I liked the autoconnect feature of the Deere mower deck the best and prices were all very close.

Well, it's comforting to get your feedback as most of my "internet shopping" was pointing me towards the 1025R. I am open to other options, but kept coming back to that.

[unclebilly]

Looks like I am trading in my 2013 Kubota M7060 on a M5-111. Its still compact but its 111 HP instead of 71.

I'm not looking forward to dealing with DEF but my boy is sure excited about the buddy seat. The new machine has a bigger loader, 24 speeds and powershift (instead of 12), and only a 4" longer wheelbase than the M7060.

Going from this:





To this:

[tevake]

I had a good afternoon with the New Holland tractor. Used it to pull old tires out of the woods on the edge of the place. A whole bunch of big tractor tries were left here some years ago and got grown into the scrub. They were full of water and would have been great mosquitos breeding spots as summer comes on.
Had to do some clearing go get to them. And there would have been no way for me to get them out on my own without the FEL , what a tool!

The bucket tends to sag in time. Has new hoses. Seller said it may need bleeding.
I did some bleeding yesterday with little effect. I'm hoping is not the cylinder seals.

Is there a particular method to get the cylinders and hoses properly bled?

Those forks mentioned earlier look useful. There is a hitch ball, and a receiver for a boom on the top of the bucket.







Cheers Richard

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by tevake

Cheers Richard

That’s a big plus if you have trailers to move around.
Great that you are finding the NH useful. I’m sure you are going to be glad you bought it.
How fast does the loader leak down? Does it only do it when the engine is off? I’m used to older tractors and not expecting the hydraulics to hold long. Not a big deal to me. I was actually kind of amazed that the loader on my New Kubota stayed up over night. I’d never experienced that before.

[tevake]

The arms hold pretty well, but the bucket sags fairly quickly. I'm wondering if there may be air in the cylinders, and how to get it out?
It had not worked since the new hoses were installed.

Next job is going to be moving solid wood fence panels into position. Some 6' x 8'. Others are 8'x 8'. About 500' of it will be arriving on Monday.

Will probably use a short boom for that job, so I can pivot the panels and have some ability to move them to the spot by hand once they are close and hanging from the boom.

It will take some time to get the posts in place, I'm hoping to get the sag worked out by the time to move the panels.

Oh let me add that y'all were spot on about the need for power steering, very useful in the close in work. I also plan on getting some weight to hang off the back to ballance the weight in the bucket when moving dirt and gravel.

Cheers Richard

[wdfifteen]

Air in the cylinders usually make it jumpy and unpredictable. A slow sag is leaking seals.

[tevake]

Dang, That was my thought after seeing very little air come out when bleeding.
and the sag didn't change. How hard is it to Put in new seals?

Is it something to have a pro do?

[wdfifteen]

The seals are basically O rings. I've never done it, but it doesn't seem like it should be a big deal. How much of a hassle is it to just live with it?

[tevake]

Thanks WD. I'll look into seal kits tomorrow.
It does sag at a rate that will be a hassle when getting the fence panels in place by myself. Need it to stay where I put it while I get to them and get some fasteners in place.

Otherwise this seems to be a pretty sweet machine, nice running engine , good brakes, good trans, etc.
Definitely worth putting some effort into getting sorted.

Cheers Richard

[unclebilly]

Seals are easy to do. Buy one seal kit to figure out what o-rings you need and the. Return the seal kit and pay restocking fees.

I did my old John Deere JD400 backhoe years ago.