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I change the oil, sharpen/replace the blades, grease every fitting and clean the deck of my mower before storing it for the winter. 40 years and I've never disconnected the battery for the winter.

How often do I wash my tractors? Never.

Slow down. I get the washboard effect if I go too fast.

I've been fortunate, many cars and trucks, (even a UPS truck) pulled out of the ditch/snow/mud and I've never had a problem. I know it only takes one sob to turn you into a cynic. I always tell them it's their job to hook up the tow strap. I do my best to be a good neighbor.

I have to run my chains tight on the tractor, otherwise they slap the heck out of the fenders.... I use bungee cords. The UTV has lots more clearance but I still run them tight with rubber tensioners.

When I plow with the Kubota RTV I couldn't do it without chaining up all 4 corners. I use v bar 2 link chains. When I snow blow with the tractor I've never needed more than the rear tires chained up. I have heavy duty double ring chains, they provide great traction in snow, ice and mud. With...

I've done similar sill repairs, laminating/stacking pressure treated 2x10's. Caulk and expanding foam are your friends. :)

When I was in the market it seemed like all the winches came with 50 meters of cable, 50 meters is about 165 feet. I rarely use more than 50' but having another 100'+ on hand is a good thing.

Since retirement 8 years ago I do all the cooking and my wife does all the baking. No red meat and no pre-processed food, all to keep my cardiologist happy. 50% of our meals are meatless. I grill at least once a week, even in the winter. We rarely eat out and never fast food, again to keep...

Corrugated interior is a bunch of riffles just waiting to get filled up with silt, sand, leaves, water, etc. Smooth wall interior is better at keeping everything moving and has a higher crush rating. I'd run a pair of four inch smooth wall lines before using a single corrugated 6". The price...

I've had a 9000# Bendpack extra long, extra tall 4 post lift for 10+ years. I can park the side by side and the zero turn on it and still park a full sized suv under it. I would/could not do that with a 2 post lift. No regrets, although I've seriously considered adding a 2 post for...

Is all of the pipe smooth wall interior? If so, this looks good to me. If not, swap out the corrugated with smooth wall.

I bet I can roll on a coat of oil faster than a Rumba could do it. I use a long handle to avoid getting on my hands and knees.

To get the best price you need to fix all these small issues. I would not expect such a list of problems with a low hour tractor. I know you say you don't have the time or money to do the fixes, but the increased value of the tractor will certainly out weigh the cost of the fixes. Check out...

10 years ago I paid $1,000 for a simple split of a 20 acre parcel, previously surveyed in the past 5 years. The 80 year old surveyor showed up the same week, did the job in a few hours.

I've said it numerous times, "Good neighbors are priceless". We're on 45 acres and can see 4 other houses, (800' - 1000' away), when the leaves are off the trees. 2 are fantastic, 1 is ok/cordial and 1 is an absolute ass. It sounds like your neighbor is in the later category, sorry.....

No problems getting rid of used oil here. The town highway garage will take all they can get for their oil burner. It's not uncommon at mid winter to see posts from people seeking used oil, some pay a few bucks for large quantities.

8 years ago I retired at age 55, six months later my wife did the same thing, at age 55. Being debt free before age 50 opened doors for us. We both have decent pensions, well funded 401K's and other investments including vacant land. So far we're still living below our means and have not...

I had the same issue 20 years ago with a brand new tiller. New lock washers and a tube of locktite fixed the issue, permanently.

I value my time. I can change my oil and filter in less than 15 minutes. The nearest quick lube is 30 minutes away, (one way). I do have a 4 post lift, it's invaluable.

Code here is 100' separation between well and any portion of the septic system, 200' if the well is down hill from the septic. Also both well and septic must be at least 100' from the property line.

I'd install a Fumota valve with black, (permanent) Permatex. That way you'll never need to remove it to change the oil, you simply open the valve. You may need to weld a nut onto the pan if you don't have enough threads left to grab onto the Fumoto valve. I've done this fix more than once for...

~140 hours per year between the two.

30 years ago I would have torn it off and started over. Today I'd simply live with it. Older and wiser? Probably not.

I put 5 5 gallon buckets of sand in the back of my utv when plowing. With vbar 2 link chains on all 4 corners the utv is a snow moving beast. I have the Boss 6.5' vee plow.

I'm very happy with my Boss V plow. At close to 400 #'s it's probably overkill for the Ranger.

I have many trouble free hours on my Igland 3501, (7000# pull) winch. I've had it almost 8 years and it gets used hard. Once a year I'll spool out 100% of the cable and respool it under tension. In year one I managed to create a rats nest on the cable spool, I was fortunate to be able to...

There's no seat safety switch on my L3710, I don't know if later models came with one. The PTO lever must be in the off position and the shift lever in Neutral, the clutch pedal does not need to be depressed.

See these all the time in Schenectady, NY - steam turbine and large generator transport.

Your mileage may vary, but many years ago I upped my homeowner's deductible to $10K, saving $800 in year 1. Well worth it to me. Increasing my auto deductible had little impact on my rate.

Raise your deductible if you really want to decrease the cost of your insurance. For me insurance is for catastrophic issues. I've seen people make repeated insurance claims for a few hundred dollars of damage and then complain when they get dropped.

My Grand L3710 is self priming. Yours is newer than mine, I'd assume it was also self priming. Mine cranks for about 15 seconds before firing off, after a filter change.

An hour or two with a landscape rake would do wonders here.

I recently bought a Farm King 655, a heavy duty 6' rear finish mower. I'm quite happy. $1000 cheaper than the lighter duty Woods. The Farm King has a bigger gear box and is significantly heavier. So far I've mowed over 50 acres, no regrets, I'd buy it again.

The shorts are good for blue bird boxes. I have over a dozen....

I've had good success for many years with Durham's Rock Hard Water putty. No shrinking and easy to work with. It's a powder that is water activated. I've used it to fill woodpecker holes in cedar trim boards. It takes solid stain and paint.

I'm a big fan of the Scorpion square drives. Have used many thousands over the years. You generally get what you pay for, "good and inexpensive" is rare.

That's what I did. I hit the pine T&G with Thompson's water seal front and back before nailing it up.

The driveshaft on the ZD21 is like that, but with the mower on the car lift I can rotate the driveshaft and find the very small spot where I can get a locknlube on the grease nipple. It's a very small/narrow window, I'm guessing the zd1011 is similar.

Just buy another compressor. I have a big/expensive compressor in my attached garage and a cheap $100 harbor freight unit in the shop, 150' away from the house. It's worked well for me for 20+ years. I have an even cheaper small compressor in the basement to run a brad/finish nail gun.

I'd seal it, both sides before installation. You'll never get another chance to seal the backside.

I've owned my L3710, (same make/model as the original poster), for 25 years. My treddle pedal has no zerks.

Moisture. Having a solid skirt over a concrete patio simply trapped moisture, resulting in the rot you see.

Tillers need lots of horsepower unless you have really nice soil. If you have 50+ hp, get the larger tiller.

1) There is no zerk on the treddle pedal. I give mine a shot of spray lube a couple of times a year. 2) Same as #1. Mine has no boot, never did. 3&4) Don't agonize over the type of grease, just hit all of the zerks every 10 hours. Don't forget the one on your steering knuckle under the...

Run a pair of drainage pipes, you will not regret it. If you can find it ADS N-12 is the best drainage pipe I've ever used. Smooth wall interior, corrugated exterior with very high crush resistance. It only needs 12" of cover.

I'm not in Florida and my shop is well insulated. "What am I using?" I have a single 10K btu window ac unit that I turn on if I'm spending any amount of time in the shop when it's hot out. It does an adequate job of cooling the bay I'm working in. No way could it cool the entire 1200 sq ft...

I'd knock the 2' - 4' grass down with the bush hog before I did any finish mowing. 1 - 2' is my limit for the finish mower.

I'll second the don't ask for permission advice. I've built two ponds, both in NY state. The first was at our previous house. We had a low, wet spot bulldozed and backhoed out, about 40x60 and 8' deep, (1 day job). A neighbor complained to DEC, and they did an inspection. The officer said...

Probably. I've seen some absolutely ridiculous deed restrictions. 1) Owners must be God fearing and 2) No illegal drug use are two examples. A fairly common deed restriction - No single wide mobile homes.

Enforcement of deed restrictions is a civil/legal matter. Deed restrictions are not enforced by the town or county, they are not zoning code.

Farm Kings 72" economy mower, (model 630) lists for $2,900. I'm hoping you found yourself the heavy duty model.

I'd say half the cost of new. I'm currently considering a Farm King 655, their heavy duty 6' finish mower. The price new is $3,500.

The L3710 and L4310 are basically the same tractor. The main difference is a slightly larger engine in the L4310, (2.2l vs 1.9l). You will be fine. The reason I went with the L3710 was for the mid mount pto. I thought some day I'd get a front mounted blower and a belly mower.... 25 years...

I would say 26 years is a good run for anything made from plastic. I replace mine when the shutoff stops working, or gets hard to turn, probably in the 10 - 12 year range. Fortunately my plumbing is all copper and my filters are in the basement utility room which has a floor drain. So far no...

In snow country an attached garage is a must have, in my opinion. Mine is oversized and has 8x12 doors, no issues getting any personal vehicle in/out. The detached shop has 10x10 doors, that's the minimum I would have for a shop.

Put the windshield washer fluid in a tube, no rust. Regular antifreeze is toxic, you will eventually get a leak and lose some. I've successfully used calcium chloride for 40+ years with no rusted rims, always used an inner tube. I do need to replace the valve stems every 8 - 10 years, which...

I keep the heavy tractor off mine, better safe than sorry.

Lots of good advice here. We retired 7+ years ago at age 55. We spent a couple of years looking for a place off and on with the intentions of downsizing and getting into a single story home. We even considered building again. We gave up, we cannot replace what we have. Our criteria was...

What's the budget? 20 years ago I bought a commercial mower to handle my 2 acre yard. I went with a Kubota diesel ZD21 with a fabricated 60" deck. The lawn expanded over the years to about 5 acres. I have no regrets and am certain this mower will outlast me, (hopefully another 20...

You answered your own question, "it's a stretch financially". DON'T DO IT!

Sounds like a lot of work. Any chance you have a ravine or low spot on the property? If so, push the logs in and let them rot. In my locale, pine logs on the ground rot away in a few years, leaving just pine knots.

We still have power, which is surprising. Both generators are fueled up and ready to run. 8" of heavy wet snow. Lots of trees are sagging pretty good. It's still snowing, but tapering off. The afternoon will be spent on cleanup. Days like this it's nice to be retired. The neighbors...

Will a 1/2" open ended wrench fit? 12mm is really close. If there's too much slop I agree with BleedingOrange, just use the biggest open ended adjustable you can find.

Stonehaller is dead on. Only thing to add is slow and steady is the key. Too fast and you just make a mess of things.

Buy yourself a cordless pole saw and whittle away at the project. You'll be surprised how much you can get done on a single charge. My Dewalt pole saw was the best Christmas present ever. I have miles of hedgerow to cut back, and certainly need the exercise.

I put up a few LED Ring smart flood lights ~5 years ago, motion activated. So far so good. In the past my motion lights lasted 2 - 3 years. The Ring lights are moderately expensive, (under $100). They are easy to install and program.

45+ acres, 3 is lawn, garden and driveway, the remainder is 1/3 hay, 1/3 grazing land/pasture, 1/3 wooded. It's not enough, I can still hear the neighbor's music 1000' feet away on their party nights, (every Friday, Sat, Sun). Fortunately the other 3 neighbors are good.

I went with a Bosch dishwasher 2 years ago, no issues or regrets. Highly recommended. It's quiet and was rated #1 by consumer reports. My only bump in the road at installation - the Bosch is a plug in, all my previous dishwashers were hard wired. Simple enough to install an outlet, but...

6" of the white stuff here and still snowing. This is the biggest storm of the winter for us. I took the blower off two weeks ago but left the chains on. After lunch I'll clear the snow plow berm at the end of the driveway and assess what needs to be done. I'll probably just pack a trail...

I have a 4 post BenPak 9K extra long extra tall. It has adjustable rails, set to narrow it's perfect for the zero turn, side by side and tractor. Even my cars and small truck fit on, (with ~3" to spare from the edge of the rails) without adjusting to the wide setting. A full size pickup or a...

I planted mine on the north side of my deck, so far the deer have avoided them. I put in a few additional plants every year. I mulch them heavy in the fall with pine needles. The birds get a few, but that's ok. I have a 1/2 a cup of blueberries every day with my morning bowl of cheerios.

I agree with Cliff, don't get one, get them both. It looks like you have plenty of room. I've had a Bendpak 4 post 9K XLT for 10+ years and am very happy with it. I plan to add a 2 post lift this summer. They both have their pro's and con's.

I replaced my blown out HF compressor head gasket with a home cut cork gasket 10+ years ago. Still working fine. Used blue permatex on the crankcase at the same time. The original gasket was simply paper and lasted less than two years. It was a backup compressor so I figured I had nothing to...

What do you have to lose? The seal kit is discontinued. I'd use the black Permatex and throw in a bottle of Lucas power steering stop leak. Give the permatex 24 hours to cure. I recently used it when I replaced the sight glass in my Kubota.

As others have said, go heavy and get gauge wheels. I have 100's of hours on my heavy 7' Leinbach.

Don't do it, you don't have the capacity. 2800 pounds at the pins only works when the load is in the bucket. At the end of the forks you have significantly less than half that capacity. Even at the front of your bucket you are significantly less than 2800 pounds of capacity. Been there, done...

Mine was a Kubota, you'll need search on your make and model. The parts from the dealer were $200+, I found them as a kit, (timer + relay) on Amazon for under $30. The dash removal was a pain, install and dash reassembly went fast.

Could be timer issue. Time to pull the dash apart and start testing or replacing parts. I'm guessing you'll have a timer, controller and a relay in the glow plug circuit. My glow plugs would come on for no reason while brush hogging and shut off after 10 seconds. For less than $30 I changed...

Even the big dairy farms are taking it on the chin. The biggest in town is counting on a large solar installation to save the day. With a 30 year guaranteed income stream by leasing half farm's acreage. I've seen other upstate farms get saved by leasing land for wind turbines.

So true, I'm fortunate to have an Amish machinist as a neighbor. :)

A few chewed up/missing teeth might be repairable. A good machinist can cut you a new ring gear, but it will not be cheap.

We had the same issue here with the two south bedrooms being too warm while the rest of the house was nice and cool. The fix for us was to leave the fan on 24x7, that equalized the entire house.

Ouch.

Late fall/early winter - I use a cordless hammer drill to drill 1/2" x 8" holes to set my 40 - 50 driveway markers. In the spring the garden is soft enough to simply push the stakes into the ground 8"+

Feb 19 - Gas $3.07, over the road diesel $4.19, off road/home heating oil $3.49.

I turned my 30 yard manure pile yesterday, less than an inch of frozen crust. Hot and steaming on the inside.

I would not fill a tire with putting a tube in first. I've seen no damage to the rubber tubes from CaCl, just the metal valve cores eventually rotting out.

I have 25 year old filled R4's, with no splitting/cracking. I did have to replace the tubes ~15 years ago and will do the same this spring. The calcium chloride rots out the valve cores.

I have an Igland 3501, (7700# capacity), and have no issues with 30"+ hardwood logs. I also have a 2300# 3 pt hitch lift capacity.

I see water around the edge of my pond, we've had 40's - 50's the last few days. No real winter so far. There is a winter storm watch for Tues, with up to 7" forecasted. That means we'll get one or two inches... the Amish did cut ice last week, it was ~6" thick. My pond is no where near...

Timely and candid - just drive the kid to school and deal with the car later.

Nobody around me wants to pay for tilling by the hour. They expect to pay the same fee for an established garden and a virgin plot. If you could get $100/garden plot I think you'd be doing well. I cannot get that with a much larger setup.

You'll need chains and rear weight. The B7300 will do just fine.

How many gallons do you need to move? I helped my brother out with a similar project but the tank was less than 1/3 full. We filled 5 gallon jugs straight off the tank's filter line, and lugged them up the stairs and out of the house to a truck with a couple of 55 gallon drums in the back. By...

"What would I choose?" I'd save my money and use what I have. With two decent sized tractors you surely don't need another for dedicated driveway maintenance, even if it is over a mile. Do you have a front end loader, box scraper, landscape rake and rear blade? If not, those are the...

We've had Newfies that did that. Had one that wouldn't even tolerate two people hugging. She'd get between them to break it up.

My last large pour, (40 yards, 15+ years ago), I used chairs made from concrete with a built in wire tie. Very handy. I searched and cannot find them now. It seems like plastic or wire are the only choices. I used #4 rebar, 24" on center in a grid format. I have no cracks, I did not use...

If you are even moderately handy and have the time, go for it. It's not a hard or complicated job.

Still required in Massachusetts in 1985.

Lots of good advice from Bird.

I vote it's time to shut this poll down.

There's a reason old, old timers called them misery whips. I have several, both one man and two man saws. I've used one man crosscuts many times.

I bet you can get your wish. Here in NY private burials are allowed. We had to look into this a few years ago when the Amish moved into town. Almost no regulations.

Permit fee here is $50. I've done several by myself, using an engineered plan. The fine if done without a permit - $5 plus the permit fee of $50. And you'll need to have an engineer sign off that it was done properly. No short cuts, they will bite you in the a$$.

Tapcon's are the best concrete screw you can buy. If the concrete is good, they will hold just fine. Is the closet flange bad? They make stainless steel repair flanges.

50+ years ago we had a neighbor who used his tractor as his everyday vehicle, rain or shine. For medical reasons he could not get a driver's license. Round trip to the store in town was over 20 miles.

Make sure there is no bug issue, the woodpecker was after something. After treating for bugs, bondo and paint will make it right.

Many years ago I built on a 30 acre parcel. When the adjoining 10 acre lot came up for sale I snatched it up. Same thing for another 10 acre parcel one lot over. I like the buffer. 20 years later, no regrets. I've had several good offers to buy the vacant lots over the years, the answer is...

Still have the old land line #, via fiber. Copper was abandoned when the fiber line went in.

Considered it a few years ago, too pricey.

I agree sand. or fine gravel. Something well drained that cannot freeze.

We had DirectTv for years, it was ok. Switched to streaming 3 - 4 years ago on fairly slow DSL with few issues from time to time. The telecom hounded us for over a year to switch to their new fiber, for free. We finally did. It's $50/month cheaper and 100 times faster than the old DSL. We...

It doesn't hurt to ask. I bet you'll get it for less than the advertised $3K. Looks to be in great shape.

Step father plowed with a one ton 4wd dually dump truck for years. Nothing but headaches, even with snow tires and chains on the duals and thousands of pounds of sand in the back. He went through 2 transmissions before the truck saw 10K miles. He'd get stuck bad at least twice a season, where...

19 degree high today, 2" of snow yesterday, the forecast was 5 - 8". I got bored today and went out and plowed, (played with the UTV). 4 more days of cold and then 10 days above freezing with lots of rain.... Not much of a winter so far, more rain than snow. We usually have had at least 40...

I have the ZD28's little brother, the ZD21. 800 hours and it looks and runs like new. Bought new about 20 years ago. I've changed the front tires, other than that just routine maintenance.

Yes, you can simply bolt on a new edge. There's no need to cut off the original. When I bought my Kubota 25+ years ago I had the dealer bolt on a skid steer cutting edge. It's 8" wide, stiffen up the bucket really well and it's reversible. I don't foresee reversing it in my lifetime, it's...

Chain up the rear, that should be all you need unless you have a very steep driveway with lots of ice. I live in the snowbelt, use a rear mounted blower and chains on the rear tires. Works great for me.

I compost my horse manure, killing most of the weed seeds and producing great compost. I've been tilling composted horse manure into my clay soil garden for 20+ years. It took years to develop a nice garden. I can turn horse manure into nice almost weed free compost in about 6 months, turning...

Don't buy the extended warranty. Put the 10K into an investment account, if you ever need a repair, pull the cost from the investment account. I'm betting you will be more than 10K ahead in 5 years.

We got ~5", and might get another inch or two before it's all done. I'll plow out the hump left by the town plow and pack the rest.

I'd leave it alone. We're expecting 6 - 12 overnight with an inch of rain to follow on Tuesday. It's going to be a mess for sure. We're in the same boat as you, there's less than an inch of frost in the ground.

I broke down and put the blower on. The weather people are calling for 6" - 12". So far this season we've had about 3 inches, only had to shovel the walks and decks once with about an inch. All nuisance storms so far. Normally by now we've had 30 inches or more, with at least 3 or 4...

Is the Honda rebuildable? That would be my first choice. My FIL got a free wood splitter with a blown Honda engine, the previous owner never checked or changed the oil. After 5 or 6 years he cooked the Honda motor. The Harbor Freight Predator was a direct swap. I don't know if the OEM Honda...

Any good machinist could make you one fairly quickly. A lot of hobby guys will do this kind of work for a few dollars + materials.

Zero plow days and only one shovel day, about an inch. No significant snow in the extended forecast.

I was in the same boat with clay and compaction until I added an enormous amount of compost and lime. I've added so much compost to my garden that it's now a raised bed and the soil is like potting soil, (black, crumbly and well drained). It took years to get to this condition.

Just a small fish story/exaggeration here regarding the $3 million paid into ss.... I max'd out for 40 of my 45 work years and my total employer and individual contribution is under $400K. Not an insignificant number, but nothing close to 3 million.

GETEH got it right - "A Better muffler and insulated air intake and exhaust chases". Make sure the exhaust leaves the shed.

Will the dealer provide a loaner? Had a similar issue with 2 Honda cars, air bag recalls, with long wait times for parts. My dealer provided 2 new loaners, one for 6 weeks and the other for 8 weeks. I know you are talking about a tractor, so not an apples to apples comparison, but, you should...

"My biggest problem now is loading the ash into the spreader. In my younger years, I was able to hoist a 20 gal can and dump it into the hopper." Dump it into the hopper when the can is half full. :)

I've been running chains for 30 years with an abundance of rubber straps, never lost a chain and they are tight. Without the rubber straps the chains are loose and slap the heck out of the fenders.

I jack both tires off the ground at the same time. It takes me longer to attach my bungee cords than it takes to get the chains mounted. Easily under an hour for both chains and ~20 bungee cords per tire, (10 inside and 10 outside). I run my double ring chains tight. Loose chains slapping...

I simply get the grain bucket and they follow the tractor/utv home. The neighbor's beef cows are pretty tame.

We've had several nuisance snow storms, less than 2" each. The ground is not frozen and there is 40 degree temps and rain in the forecast. Looks like no real snow until 2024. So far not much of a winter, and no complaints from me. Normally we get a good 30" of snow by now.

I simply use a 60% concentrate to compensate for what's left in the block. After it gets to operating temperature it's thoroughly mixed. A double check with a coolant tester shows I'm good to -50.

Recycling used to be free here, now we pay. Almost all of the recyclables near me end up in the landfill, nobody is buying dirty cardboard/paper/tin/glass. Since it's just the two of us and we run the dishwasher every night our recyclables are clean, but that's not what I see at the recycling...

My zero turn has a built in lift for accessing the blades. Pull a pin, turn a crank and the front end rotates until you have full access to the blades.

I change mine along with the filters every 400 hours, (about every 5 years). Same for the coolant and front diff fluid. Air and fuel filters are every 200 hours. Oil changes are annual.

We dropped the DSL and copper land line this summer with a switch over to fiber. We've had 2 VOIP outages in the past 6 months for a few hours each. The copper land line was 99.9999 reliable, maybe one outage a year for an hour. DSL was a different story, multiple outages every few months for...

If you replace the line, bury a spare. It's cheap insurance for next time.

Take a smaller bite. You were doing better in the video when the bite was 50%.

I've had great success with getting old style hardware from here - Home Restoration & Improvement Store | Van Dyke's Restorers

I jack the rear of the tractor up in the heated garage, layout the chains behind the tractor and spin the wheels be hand, pulling the chains on as I spin the tire. Easy peasy. Once upon a time I'd simply throw the chains on the top of the tire, but those days are long gone. I'm running...

I've been using Defender for many years and its never had an issue with the TBN site.

I don't plow before the ground is frozen and/or I have a layer of packed snow/ice on the drive. Otherwise I move too much gravel.

Offroad today - $3.30, diesel fully taxed at the pump - $3.99.

On my L3710 the dash is two parts. The steering wheel does not need to come off, mine has tilt, so I could drop it to its lowest position, out of the way. It took about an hour to get it disassembled and 10 minutes to put it back together. The top of the dash rotated out of the way with no...

I have the same setup, a good sized open tractor with a rear blower and a 1100C with a Vee plow. The tractor does the heavy/deep snow work, the RTV does the small storms after the ground is frozen. At 62 it's nice to have the heated cab. I could not do snow removal without the tractor, but...

My tractor is currently sitting on my 4 post lift getting its 400 hour service, (I'm almost at 1600 hours). I bought the lift 15 years ago, one of the best investments I've made.

I like to do my brush hogging before everything goes to seed, much less material in the radiator screen. If it's dry I can get 90 minutes of cutting done before I need to blow out the radiator. It's a good reason to stretch my legs and get a drink.

Working hard is what tractors are made for, I think you are fine. 68 hp should be more than enough for a 7' blower and brush cutter.

.5" of snow here, then turned to freezing rain for awhile then all rain. Just enough that the highway guys had to sand/salt.

I don't store much more than a few 5 gallon buckets of sand/salt mix. When I need it I simply stop at the town garage and get what I need, it's never frozen.

Spinning utv tires with chains should not tear up decent pavement. You'll get a few scratch marks in the sealer, but not torn up blacktop.

I can tell you how I built mine. Raised the frame, sheeted the entire frame with 1x6 tongue and groove knotty pine, (2x6 T&G for the roof/ceiling), then framed it out with 2x6's for wiring and insulation, then sheeted the outside with shiplap and finished it off with cedar clapboards...

Check with your local Kubota and John Deere dealers, that tractor would make a heck of an advertisement for what not to buy..... Sorry for your bad luck.

Do you have an Amish community near you? Their labor quotes are often very reasonable. I'm fortunate to live in near 3 Amish communities. They've done concrete and roofing work for me. I work along side them, (typically my job is oversight and to run the power tools). I've been very happy...

Isn't the goal to have one tractor per implement?

Looks good to me, my side chain is much closer to the rim than yours. Maybe mine are too big, but they;ve served me well for the last 25 years.

I'm a big fan of the Fumoto valve. The first oil change in my vehicle I recycle the drain plug and replace it with a valve. It makes the next 30 oil changes go so much quicker, saving time and crush washers.

I stand corrected, my install was for a 75" tv, weighing 45.4 lbs.

Are you sure it weighs 110#'s? I installed an 80" by myself a few months ago, I don't think it weighed over 50#'s. If it's more than you and your wife can handle, get two friends to give you a hand for a few minutes. Once the wall bracket is mounted, it's literally a 60 second job to set the tv.

I'd go for it, but I have the time and experience to pull off a rebuild. If you have to farm out the work you're probably better off finding a good working machine.

"Doesn't it introduce yet another type of weed seeds to your garden? Regular manure is bad enough in that regard." I've never had a problem with winter rye reseeding itself, and I've been using it as a fall cover crop for over 30 years. Benefits - Improves Soil Texture, Boosts Soil Fertility...

Is the tractor in neutral? Is the PTO disengaged?

12-35 hours, spread over 4-10 days.

I removed ~6" of heavy clay topsoil/sod, put down ~6" of fist sized cobbles, (bank run) and top dressed with another 3-4" of crusher run 30 years ago. It's held up well. If I were to do it again today I'd add geotech fabric as the first layer.

Hay Dude, If you find a $15 Disston hand saw, buy it. Last time I looked for a decent new hand saw they were over $100. I had my 50+ year old Disstons tuned up, (sharpened and set), pine boards now cut like butter. :)

I wouldn't worry about 2.5 inches of tire. I'd be more concerned about the high horse power needed by a tiller in tough ground. My tractor is a little over 72" wide, I'm pulling a 6' tiller in creeper mode when the going gets tough. I sure wouldn't want anything bigger. I have HST and 30 pto...

Hay is my first choice, but straw is better than nothing.

Make sure they cannot find the keys... :) My 100+ pound lap dog would ride all day long, with or without me.

25 years and 2000 hours on the originals for me. I did change the glow plug relay and controller this year.

I dig a hole next to the stump and pull the stump in and bury it. Unless you are looking for a finished yard this works. Otherwise you end up with a pile of stumps you need to get rid of. I've not had any luck with burning a pile of stumps or waiting for them to rot down.

I transfer my bar oil to 1 quart bottle, so no funnel required.

I bought the Echo 680 6 years ago, I'm still a happy camper. It starts with 2 or 3 pulls and has more power than I need.

As a timber framer I'd go the extra mile and notch the post on a pole barn. Every single joist/beam/girt I cut goes into a housed mortise joint. Otherwise the strength of the timber is limited to the strength of the tenon, or in the case of a non notched post in a pole barn, the strength of...

Old timers call winter rye green manure. It serves two purposes for me, the deer feed on it and I'll till it under in the spring. You cannot add too much organics to my heavy clay. It survives the first few frosts and will be knee high by Thanksgiving.

I'd try a couple of wraps of teflon tape as a bandaid.

Yesterday I pulled the electric fence, brush-hogged the garden, tilled everything under and planted winter rye. I'm done with the garden for 2023. Not a bad year. Bumper crop of winter squash and pumpkins and sun flowers, (and weeds). Ok year for peas, zuchini, cukes and yellow squash. Not...

Welcome to TBN, you are going to look forward to the first big snow storm.

My neighbor solved the problem of being the only person in the house to handle 50# bags. Once a week during the heating season he dumps 5 bags of pellets into 10 5 gallon buckets. His wife can easily handle a 25 pound bucket of pellets when the stove needs to be fed while he's working 16 hour...

15 years ago I recycled the 30 year old pressure treated posts and stringers from a privacy fence I took down and built a 4'x3'x10' box culvert. My investment - a few hours of time, about 20#'s of lag bolts and 30' of threaded rod, well under $100. It's still doing its job and I've had 10 ton...

As an technology professional I would recommend you hit your caplock key, found on the left side of your keyboard. It's pretty obnoxious to see a post in all caps. All caps is the equivalent to YELLING.

3" of rain here yesterday, the pond is topped off and the creek is running full bore. I'm glad it was rain and not snow.... Minor flooding in the valley with a few wet basements. I'm high and dry on the hill.

When did I get so old?

I'm old school and have loaded tires. In 25 years I've only had one rear tire issue - a tube change due to a puncture, (of course helping a neighbor, no good deed goes unpunished....). If I'm doing serious loader work I'll have a rear implement mounted, most often an 800 # box scraper.

Vintage for cars is 25 years and older, Antique is older than 50 years.

I used Armor All on my collector car. Don't know if it really worked or not, but the tires looked like new for the shows.

I've had good success with Wet&Forget, simply spray the moss prone areas every couple of years.

Yesterday diesel was $4.45 here. Gas is $3.75.

I'm a fan of Rustoleum for painting metal. Second choice is POR-15, especially for areas that will never see a second coat in the future, (like a truck/trailer frame).

Nobody around me is plowing a 1 mile road for $100 per snow storm. My neighbor with a 200' driveway just got a quote of $200/call out or $1,600 for the season. 30 years ago I had to pay for a plow out and it was $100 for my 800' driveway.

Time for an Oil filter relocation kit.

And that's why most of us have a pile of ratchet straps... :)

I'm a fan of the old pounder rigs, slow and steady. I've had two wells pounded and one done with a fast rotary rig. The pounders do 40 - 50 feet a day, the rotary rigs can do 400'+ in a day. I have a neighbor who went rotary, 800'+ in two days, barely gets a gallon a minute. I'm at 200'...

My 25 year old diesel mower has at least another 25 years of life left. My gas mowers would last 10 - 12 year before they became money pits. I'm mowing 3 - 4 acres weekly for a 6 - 7 month mowing season. I'd never go back to gas. No repairs, just regular maintenance, new blades every 5 years...

About a week ago my 25 year old Kubota L3710 started having an electrical problem, the glow plug light on the dash would come on, (I'm guessing the glow plugs were also on). After a few seconds the light would go off. This happened a few times over the course of several hours of brush hogging...

Tap it and put it on with either locktite, teflon tape or gasket adhesive. It's a shifter knob, not a structural member, don't over analyze it. If it come loose, upgrade the adhesive.