Implements you regret buying

[bellweather]

Just wondering if others have purchased tractor implements that did not live up to your expectations. Maybe they didn't do the intended job well enough or you ended up not using it as often as you thought you would, or some other reason.

Here's my list:

Bucket tooth bar - used it maybe 3 times over the last 5 years, now it sits in the shed.
Front weights - I discovered that the front loader provides ample counter weight.
Front Loader dolly (Expanded) - I stopped using this because for some reason mounting the loader turns into a %#@%$$ circus act. It now sits unused in my shed.
Telescoping 3Pt Hitch stabilizers - Can't use them because they are incompatible with a few of my implements.

 

[super55]

My list wouldn't buy again list would be:

single bottom plow- My 4wd 25hp tractor at the time could have easily handled a 2-bottom. Plus if you do not know what your doing you can really mess up a field that will take forever to level out.
3 point fertilizer spreader came with the tractor have yet to use it. Do all my spreading with ATV spreader
Flail mower bought this used and has excessive vibration. Will probably buy another one eventually but with this one all I did was buy someone else's problems
sickle mower requires absolutely perfect conditions to function properly. Drum/disc mowers are a much better option
grapple while I absolutely love this implement it's hard to justify the investment for the amount of use it gets. My pallet forks work almost as well and it was 1/4 of the price.

 

[4get gto]

Makes me wonder if any of these purchase's the dealer or salesmen had anything to do with them?

 

[Deere Dude]

I just had to have a 3-point trailer mover for my big GN trailer. But my trailer full can't be lifted anyway by my tractor plus I have my mower on most of the time. If I need a heavy 2 wheel trailer moved I have a receiver mounted to my forks that works quite well. I used it twice in 4 years but wouldn't have needed to use it even then..

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Also my first was the bolt on bucket tooth bar, now have RatchetRake which I'll keep as long as I have a tractor.
The 3 point hitch fertilizer spreader since I don't fertilize but would have been OK if I was a fertilizer kind of guy like my brother next door.
Wish I had my single bottom mold board plow back.
Love my grapple and wish I had bought one years ago.
Never bought a rear weight box since I believe the boxblade is almost a must have and does the rear weight need.
Have to have a FEL and love the SSQA and hated the Kubota pin attach as long as I trade front implements.
Love hate relationship with the bolt on/chain on/strap on front forks. Bought a bar from Titan that attaches between them but haven't tried it yet. May be the great fixer.
Keep thinking I need a disk harrow and my Kubota dealer Barlow keeps convincing me I don't.
Tiller is handy to have. Landpride Front mount hydraulic reversing post hole digger is cool but not much used and expensive. :2cents:

 

[Gem99ultra]

I bought a new Rhino 160 rotary cutter about 7 years ago. At the time I had 3 acres of grassy field to cut and a brand new Kubota tractor. Of course I "needed" the brush hog. Just tack on the cost to the interest free tab, right?

So, 3 months later we moved to another place with lots of land but very little grass area. So, the new Rhino with about 10 hours on it has sit inside all this time; never hooked it up since. One of these days I'll sell it I suspect. Meantime, I just wash the dust off of it every once in a while, give it a squirt of grease, and occasionally even slap a little car polish on it, just to keep it new looking.

 

[Mikefromcny]

4n1 bucket. Doesn't do anything well.

 

[BTDT2]

Three point fertilizer spreader. Hung it from the rafters 30 years ago, should be dead by now:cool2:

 

[kevinwak]

Rear blade and landscape rake. They are used so infrequently, the box blade is probably used 39 times for each time I hook to either of those, and the box blade could probably do the task I hook to that for.

The other thing I rarely use is the 3pt post hole auger. I feel my tractor is to small for it, and I think it is the price of equipment that broke my pto clutch, when I jammed on a rock and the sheer pin broke, and then jammed up.

 

[moriboy]

1- rear blade. Tried it a few times, found out the mini excavator and grading scraper work much better for everything.
2- bucket teeth- I had one small project that required some digging in hard clay and it worked fine. Now it has sat in the barn for 6 years.
3- hydraulic post hole digger. I had plans for a lot of fencing 10 years ago. Haven't used that thing once.

 

[teg]

For me it is the post hole digger, one of the few implements that I paid full price on but went in halves with another couple. ($200 ea.) It's done a dozen holes maybe and unless you plan to do many holes, it's not worth the time to mount it on the tractor. I can hand dig 4 holes faster than it takes to put on and remove the post hole digger...

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I bought a new Rhino 160 rotary cutter about 7 years ago. At the time I had 3 acres of grassy field to cut and a brand new Kubota tractor. Of course I "needed" the brush hog. Just tack on the cost to the interest free tab, right?

So, 3 months later we moved to another place with lots of land but very little grass area. So, the new Rhino with about 10 hours on it has sit inside all this time; never hooked it up since. One of these days I'll sell it I suspect. Meantime, I just wash the dust off of it every once in a while, give it a squirt of grease, and occasionally even slap a little car polish on it, just to keep it new looking.

Go ahead and sell it so you can move where you'll need it. :laughing:

For me it is the post hole digger, one of the few implements that I paid full price on but went in halves with another couple. ($200 ea.) It's done a dozen holes maybe and unless you plan to do many holes, it's not worth the time to mount it on the tractor. I can hand dig 4 holes faster than it takes to put on and remove the post hole digger...

Agree, had a 3ph PH digger and sold it and bought the front SSQA hydraulic Landpride PH digger so I can just pull up to it and tilt and lock and hook up hoses and dig by myself with no help.

 

[EddieWalker]

Interesting thread!!!!

My biggest regret was the box blade. I bought it brand new with the tractor and spent hours and hours trying to smooth out trails, level piles of dirt with it, and fill in ditches. I'm sure it's just me, but I found that I can do more with the loader bucket dragging it backwards then I ever could with the box blade. After sitting for ten years, I traded it to a guy for some chickens, guineas, ducks and geese.

Maybe even worse was the landscape rake. It seemed like a great idea. Just drag it across the ground to pile up all the loose branches after clearing an area of land. I found that it fills up with debris in about 20 feet and then your done. I spent one day realizing it was a total waste of money. It sat for years until I cut it up and used the metal for other projects.

 

[jeff9366]

King Kutter Rotary Harrow, no longer produced.

Purchased for walking trail maintenance. A ground powered implement, Rotary Harrow's spinning was intermittent due to unevenness in ground, which a harrow is supposed to level.

After selling the Rotary Harrow, I roll trail with Cultipacker I use as everyday Three Point Hitch counterbalance. Occasionally even up trail surface and clear leaves and twigs with my Landscape Rake.

Rotary Harrows are frequently used for horse arena maintenance. Probably excellent for evening and aerating sand surfaces.


The marketplace sorts out useful from less useful implements over time.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

Kubota-branded front suitcase weights and bracket for the BX24. Wanted it so I could balance the tiller with the loader off, and navigate some very tight spaces around my gardens. Expensive.

Bracket and weights aren't compatible with each other. After extensive modification they work but are such a PITA to swap on and off I never use them.

(Surprised to find bucket tooth bars on the list. I put mine on and won't ever remove it. Maybe it's a BX thing...)

Z.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Interesting thread!!!!

My biggest regret was the box blade. I bought it brand new with the tractor and spent hours and hours trying to smooth out trails, level piles of dirt with it, and fill in ditches. I'm sure it's just me, but I found that I can do more with the loader bucket dragging it backwards then I ever could with the box blade. After sitting for ten years, I traded it to a guy for some chickens, guineas, ducks and geese.

Maybe even worse was the landscape rake. It seemed like a great idea. Just drag it across the ground to pile up all the loose branches after clearing an area of land. I found that it fills up with debris in about 20 feet and then your done. I spent one day realizing it was a total waste of money. It sat for years until I cut it up and used the metal for other projects.

I totally agree on the landscape rake. I bought an 84" from TSC and had an additional 10% coupon. I had "convinced" myself that it would by just the thing to gather up small sticks and branches when I push over dead trees. Nope!

I even bought some gage wheels from Rural King, which did make it work better but, still not great. It still gathers up more dirt than sticks.

I need to find another fool to sell it to.

 

[teg]

....Surprised to find bucket tooth bars on the list...

That's the cool part of the thread... it's individual (personal) choices...

I could not be without my tooth bar, box blade or rake...

I did think of another implement but since I sold it a while ago, I forgot about it... I had to sell my tiller since I have one of the early "Standard" cheap "slipping PTO cams"... My pto was skipping every once and a while and the story of having to replace the old cams with the new square cams ($1000, 10 years ago) I decided to sell the tiller instead.

I get by with single plow and disk harrow...

 

[FTG-05]

My list:

- 6' Bushhog
- 6' Box blade
- 6' Rock Rake
- 6' Disc
- Ratchet Rake
- 10' grader blade

Anyone see any common attribute for the first four items. Yea, I listened to the "conventional" wisdom and the owner's manual and bought 6' implements. With my rear tires widened to their widest point, they sit 76" outside to outside. I used the Ratchet Rake once, then turned it into part of my weight block for my BB.

The 10' grader blade is all on me: After he loaded it and took my money, the seller (a farm store owner north of Florence, AL) tried to talk me out of it. I bought it anyway. Now I'm gong to replace it with a no name XD HD brand out of Newton, NC, from someone none of you guys have ever heard of before.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

My bucket.

I bought my tractor 7 months ago, as soon as I unloaded the tractor the bucket went into the barn and it's sat ever since, all my tractor tasks are done with front forks and a rear blade.

This summer it will get some use on re-graveling my driveway to the barn, after that I may throw some paint on it and put it back in the barn lol.

Edit: I do plan on buying a tooth bar for my bucket, I need to dig up sod to expand and make a gravel turn around by the barn, I figure a tooth bar will make it much easier, then back to the barn the bucket will go lmao. Any task I would use the bucket for in the future, a tooth bar would be useful over not having it.

 

[psvines]

For my BX2660, I bought a tiller for the garden and possibly other areas. The garden is only 20x30 and the tiller did a great job but was way too much effort for such a small area. Later, my neighbor gave me a small 2-cycle tiller for clearing snow on her driveway. Sold tiller.