Deere 450B with hoe and 4 in 1 bucket...

[movindirt]

Interesting read! Got any pictures of your machine?

 

[Willie B]

Well, people tend to underestimate their needs and overestimate the capability of a machine. Also, they fell safer in buying new instead of leaving how to operate an old tractor with possibly degraded operations, they buy a new small tractor, and then bend that up manhandling it. Maintenance of heavy equipment can be scary to some people.

I am not installing flower beds or placing underground sprinkler lines, I will be building a large, personal park to live in. There are culverts to install, large, dead hemlocks to remove, haul and dig stumps, mudholes to be drained, road to be built and if I thought I could accomplish those tasks with a mini-tractor I would have bought one. I see too many people trading up from garden tractor to compact to utility and finally after six iterations end up with something useful for their particular needs.

Two of my main needs are to maintain fire roads and breaks and design, install and maintain a proper drainage system.

As for older men, retiring from cushy inside jobs, that would be me...July would be 30 years as an engineer and eligible for retirement. But I have a younger wife who is still working, so I will work a while yet and bolster my retirement pay.

Howard

My best story is the business owner who passed his business to the younger generation. He bought a small TLB in the 35 hp range. I won't name names, it's orange. We drove by his home, an extensive spread frequently for about two months. He owned an abandoned apple orchard of about an acre. The trees were neglected long enough to be of no value. He was going to dig them out. Meadow, or new orchard might have been the plan. He hired people to cut the trees, and haul it all away. Then, day after day, he'd be out there digging out the first stump. Ultimately he painted a face on the stump, and left it there. Had he bought a tractor like mine, it'd have cost half as much, and he'd spend 15 minutes per stump.

Another man I've known many years bought one even smaller at retirement age. His plan was to busy himself doing little excavating jobs. He'd keep busy, and make a little money to supplement retirement income. His first job was to restore an overgrown area of lawn on a big rural lot. There were lots of 6" trees. He soon understood it wasn't going to work.

 

[hetkind]

With the Deere 450B I expect to be able to extract root balls six feet in diameter...and if the tractor is unable to achieve that result, rebuilt the hydraulics until I can achieve that.

I have spent enough time on large construction jobs to understand the limitations of equipment!

Howard

 

[Willie B]

I think you've made a good choice. The three bar shoes you likely have will be gentle to lawn, the backhoe is big enough to tackle any job. The loader I'd prefer not to use as the only one in a big aggregate facility, but a bit slower it'll load anything.

I will urge you to figure out a way to keep it under cover. Do not let it sit on the ground. I have a hidden spot I'm installing an old oil tank as a cheap makeshift garage. I'll lay plastic on the floor, cover it with 6" of crushed stone, and park on tires to avoid moisture. The dry clutches need protection from moisture when not in use.

Willie

 

[hetkind]

I have a well drained gravel pad with a large concrete floored pole barn, dry and safe from over 1000 feet of underground french drain...

As for lawn, we have little!

Next step, dig out raised bed garden for the hot tub.

Howard

I think you've made a good choice. The three bar shoes you likely have will be gentle to lawn, the backhoe is big enough to tackle any job. The loader I'd prefer not to use as the only one in a big aggregate facility, but a bit slower it'll load anything.

I will urge you to figure out a way to keep it under cover. Do not let it sit on the ground. I have a hidden spot I'm installing an old oil tank as a cheap makeshift garage. I'll lay plastic on the floor, cover it with 6" of crushed stone, and park on tires to avoid moisture. The dry clutches need protection from moisture when not in use.

Willie

 

[hetkind]

Yesterday was finally a "day off" and we ran the tractor most of the day, installing a hot tub no less in our old raised bed garden. ...while I took a few days off from my day job from Thursday to Tuesday, I had family business to attend to 1,500 miles away and ended up repairing the fuel injection on my daughter's V6 Honda in a shade tree in a parking lot! It seems that no one locally could find a bad idle air valve located just below the throttle body. Bought a set of tools, left them with my prospective son-in-law.

Anyhow, I tried the high power grease gun methodology in the very dry and un-greaseable clam cylinder pins and broke the new grease gun. And the joint got taken apart on one side, pins are SHOT, bushings look good with the oil holes rotated. I figure I can drill new grease holes in the bushing, in situ, and make new pins out of 3/2" drill rod, using tool steel and heat treating in my propane powered blacksmith forge. The other side is getting a oil soak and will get wacked with sledge later on tonight.

Since it is a drott bucket, Case handles the parts and the local Case guy doesn't like the Deere part numbers! I found the original data plate, with layers of paint and rust on it, but for a job this simple, why bother buying factory parts. I will get the data plate clean for when I really need parts.

Now to order a 1' bar of tool steel, 1 and 1/2" in diameter...

Howard