I decided about 20 years ago to start spoiling myself when buying things that I intend to use regularly, and will make life better for me.
Every item I have bought with that in mind, autos, z turn, tractors, shop tools etc, has really improved daily life for me, no regrets
I know you are a flail expert leonz, but I have been using a 5 ft Rhino, and a 5 foot Mott with two 30 hp tractors for over 20 years with no problem.
A 4 ft mower on a 40 hp tractor seems undersized to me.
Great job planning and fabricating your ripper, wish I had your shop and skills
I have a single shank that I pull with my 33 hp LS, it can pull it at about 16-18 inches, but as you say, I am only interested in in breaking the hard pan down the vineyard rows
Most of my welding is fixing old equipment, and doing favors for neighbors. I don’t do enough work to justify an expensive machine, so I started with a Hobart 140, but after awhile I decided to get a 220 v.
Got a good deal on the Yes 120/240v unit, and keep it at the higher voltage.
In the past...
I have painted my houses and rentals myself for 40 years or so. My best advice is
Get the best paint you can afford, that probably won’t be available at the big box sores
Prep work is vitally important to a quality finished look, priming bare wood and caulking are essential
Easy on the power...
If you’re using anything corrosive in a spin spreader, you need to be borderline obsessive about cleanup after use
I pressure wash every nook and cranny in the spreader and the tractor. Neither of my tractors show any sign of corrosion after years of use, they are both over 10 years old, stored...
Your experience is similar to what I went through with a free to me Troybilt tiller Hard to start, and sickly when running. Fussed with it for 3 summers.
Over the winter, I noticed Harbor Freight had a good sale price on the Predator motors.
I bought one, super easy to install, and curse...
A couple of years ago, I paid $14 for 12 oz can of Kubota Orange
I bet it’s at least $20 now
Retail companies were quick to jack up prices during the COVID period, and never intended to scale them back after the fact
I really appreciate all that Messicks has to offer, but their shipping charges always eliminate them as a competitive choice.
I assume they are aware of that, and choose extra shipping profit over increased parts sales
I use a subsoiler every spring, when the soil is moist, but not wet, to cut invasive sequoia roots encroaching into my vineyard.
I use my 33 hp LS to pull it, the first couple of years were a challenge, as some of the roots were 4-5 inches thick, and had to be chopped out. Now it sinks in deep...
2008 Kubota RTV 900, hydraulic dump bed is a back saver, only thing it has ever needed was oil and filters. Nothing on my place gets used as much as this does
Neighbor bought a new cabbed one, loaded up like a new expensive truck, $25k.
Not sure I could make myself do that.
Hate to be a downer, but I sold one just like that, no missing parts, in really good condition, for $350
Took forever to sell, guy that finally bought it, didn’t even have a tractor, thought he could pull it with his utv
I put a suspension seat platform on my Exmark z turn many years ago.
Wasn’t that difficult, and improved the ride quality quite a bit.
Though it does help, I still wouldn’t compare it to a Ferris type system though
Your situation is similar to mine over the last 35 years.
There used to be a prune orchard here, and the previous owners hired a bus load of winos from Portland to pick the fruit.
They all came with a couple of 1/2 gallon bottles of cheap wine, and left the empties scattered all over the place...