Recent content by Fields_mj

Way back when I was running an F2100 for my dad ('93), I ran it full speed into a raised/extended manhole cover. It brought the mower to an instant stop and almost threw me off the machine even though I was buckled in. Cracked the manhole cover but didn't even dent the deck. Just scratched a...

The first time we girdled trees, we had the same experience. My dad did it with my brother in law. I went back with him the following winter and I made 2 cuts 4" to " apart and went the full depth of the bar. All but 26 out of 28 of those trees died as anticipated. The 2 that survived had...

I've never done it, but the best advice I've heard is to girdle the tree so that it dies, and then wait about 2 years to fell it. During that time, most of the thorns are supposed to fall off. This is advise I read concerning honey locust. I presume the same should work for a water locust...

Congrats on the new acquisition! I used to mow roughly 15 acres per day with an old F2100 (it was relatively new at the time). Great machines. I bought a used F2880 for the house a few years ago. I will admit that a ZTR would work a little better for me, but I couldn't pass up the price...

IMHO, the bigger question is why NOT buy a bigger machine? Will you have a place to store it? A way to haul it? Will it be too heavy or too big to do something you want to do with it? If there's no reason to NOT get a bigger machine, then get the biggest machine you can get. As far as...

I pull a 5' brush hog with an old 27-29hp Ford 1710. The ground that I normally bushhog no longer has any saplings left in it (thank goodness). Some of it gets mowed every year, some of it gets mowed every 2 or 3 years. The 1710 has 12 forward and 3 reverse speeds. When I'm running the bush...

The likely reason he's using a 12k or 13k winch is because they aren't that much more expensive than a 4500 lb winch, they are strong enough to pull the tractor with the top layer, and with the loads that the tractor is able to support, they have longer cables, and a 12k or 13k winch will...

I probably should have included this in my first post, but for the intended use of skidding logs, you're MUCH better off using the tractor's drive train to do most of the work in comparison to an electric winch. If you NEED to winch a quantity of logs up out of a ravine, you'll burn up an...

They fit in my little 1710 :) Probably won't fit in anything new though. I'd just build a tray that allows it to sit somewhere else, even if that somewhere is above or below the winch.

I've had that happen more than once. Usually with a bed stack to the top of the cab with firewood (ie +5,000 lbs). Thankfully, it's never been quite that bad. Only once has a tractor struggled to pull me out. Ended up unloading the truck, and laying chunks of firewood in the ruts so the...

Get yourself a Group 31 marine starting battery, preferably the heaviest one you can get. I use one to run a 13k Xbull winch. I use the winch to drag 16' logs up onto my trailer. I can normally drag about 2 cords worth without totally draining the battery, but I'm also doing lots of 8' to 10'...

For that small of an area, use the cutting bar on the bucket to push all the junk (saplings and brush) out of the way. Pile it in the middle and burn it if it can be burned safely. After that, it really depends on how much effort you want to put into it. You go as simple as fabing up your own...

I have an OLD Ford 1710 and I pull a very heavy 5' bushhog with it. Technically, its somewhere in the 27hp to 29hp range. I don't deal with a lot of slopes, and my tires are loaded. I've never had to go to the slowest gear with it. The 1710 is nice because it has 4 ranges. I normally bushog...

Since you already have a bushog, I'd make do with a box blade and a harrow for food plots, especially with ground in that condition. If you have a really big garden, a rototiller is almost a must. My garden is 25'x75' and I find a walk behind troybuilt is better suited for it. If it were...

I've heard of people using old railroad ties or telephone poles. I've also seen where guys have made their own cultipacker by filling a piece of plastic culvert pipe with concrete and fashioning an axle of some sort for it. They seem to work extremely well. I don't have a disk myself, and...