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Circa 2014 in Michigan: had a surveyor divide my 19 acre lot into 3 new, irregular shaped lots through thick forest/brush. Cost $3200, surveyor was kind of mad he didn't ask for more to do the job.

I have no problem with my tractor staying under the metal carport, except lately some critter (red squirrel?) keep packing the engine bay with oak leaves. Cleaned it out for the third time the other day, now I have to keep the hood popped open when parked, pretty annoying. Anything parked...

Yeah this is how it used to feel in southern Michigan, too. We'd often have continuous frozen roads and accumulating snowpack from ~ new years until March. So everyone had to know how to navigate slippery roads daily. But more recent winters? Any snow we get just melts within a week. People...

A coworker of mine borrowed our family's 4x8 utility trailer to move houses. Put a lightweight couch in it and hit the freeway, no straps. He said he watched in the mirror as it levitated up, started windmilling in the air behind him, landed on its feet on the pavement at 70 mph, and did a...

Perhaps your fence design is a bit, uh, over complicated. :)

Heck I would pay $1500 just to hear the noise of the turbo spooling when you cold start the machine, or lay into a pile (add load). I love turbos. While you are quoting a small increase in peak power (14% or 7 hp or whatever), keep in mind that the peak torque increase may be even greater, and...

The chicken wire to the cattle panels? Yeah I used zip ties. Probably some of them are cooked by now, but between weeds/vines/corrosion, its all staying in place just fine. You can buy more substantial quality of plastic zip ties, or even metal ones too. Good selection online with better...

I bought a sack of little mending plates, IE the thin metal strip of zinc plated or galavanized (better) with 2 or 4 holes in them already. Put over any section of wire in the cattle panel, and 1-1/2" deck screws to fasten.

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me. You're definitely over-designing it, but if that's how you like to do things, right on. My 2 cents: Ditch the framing nailer idea and just use outdoor/deck screws, everywhere. This way it is all removable/adjustable if you need to make any tweaks. Also...

Nah not really. Did you fully unbox and assemble it? Sounds like a fun project for a couple evenings in the shop to me.

They look pretty dang similar to me. Sounds like you have no direct evidence yourself, but wish us all to accept your assertions anyway. I mean cripes, they are probably made with the same tooling, in the same factory in China.

Dang, pretty excited to hear your feedback when you start grindin'. Can we get some teaser pics in the meantime? :P

^ haha, looks like a pretty boisterous time We had a cool daytime visitor in the yard recently. I hear these guys a lot at night, but very hard to spot them. Looked like nearly 2 feet tall, large bird!

Next time (hopefully never) find the corresponding connector for the hydraulic circuit on the loader (where you would unplug to remove the loader), unplug, and you can stop the leak completely. I had a branch snap over my bucket once in the woods, blew a bucket curl hose right off the fitting...

The Lowes website is so horrible, that I simply do not shop at their stores, ever. It is truly amazing to me that in the year 2024, Lowes cannot figure out how to let you search for products that are actually physically present in their stores in a functional, efficient manner.

I don't think it offers any good flavors. But yeah you can see the squiggly trails of the emerald ash borer beetle on the trunk of the tree under the bark that fell off.

Yeah, definitely looks like Ash to me. Great firewood!

Same, I thought for sure it would be a tangled brush hog picture, haha.

Wretched stuff indeed. My neighbor decided to use it around the 8' posts to secure his garden. All it does is cut up the deer who jump through it anyway, sad.

I got mine at Tractor Supply a couple years ago, was only $50 for 5 gallons! My Kioti ran smoother and quieter after the 200 hour service and full flush.

I once hauled "two" yards of wet compost that was probably closer to 3 (rookie skid steer operator), in my dad's '95 F150 5.0L w/ 8' bed (probably under 7k GVWR). Sagged horribly but it was already dumped in the truck, what to do besides drive home carefully. The rear end swayed back and forth...

The only Ford F150 spec that I feel is truly misleading in their ads is the "best in class" payload figure of over 2200 lbs, when they are like hen's teeth in the real world. But my 2019 still has 1850 lbs payload, plenty to accommodate a 12-15% tongue weight for my tow rating of 11,000 lbs...

Yeah, heavy towing fuel economy with the ecoBoost engines is a well known weak spot. They have to enrich the air-fuel mixture quite a bit in order to keep the pistons/valves/turbo cool enough. Whereas a larger displacement, naturally-aspirated engine doesn't have the same thermal issues and...

How often do you really move the excavator around? If just a few times per year, I bet you could manage. Like others have already said, the towing stability and stopping power are a bit sketchy with a half-ton towing over 10k lbs, basically due to the weight proportions. But my 2019 F150 with...

always amazing when people have zero concept of weight capacity. Probably an easy 2000-3000 lbs above the rear axle payload rating.

Hey OP, how about some pictures of your land/forest/driveway path already? Let's get some visual context here (please). :)

Yep. He primarily hauled in horse manure from the stables up the road, to amend his garden soil. So not that heavy a load, flat asphalt to get there and back. The trailer itself is still 3k lbs though. Funny addition to the story, he first hauled his 10k dump trailer with a ford ranger...

My dear neighbor, old man Bob, hauled his 10k dump trailer for YEARS using a 2" ball. I didn't discover it until my other neighbor buddy borrowed it one day and I saw up close what he was doing. Neither of them noticed any issue at all, thought it was fine. I bought them both 10k rated...

^ MTL also deliver Like lineman said, try calling them again and explain that you'll have your DK40 with QA forks (you have those, right ?!?) ready to go, to quickly and easily unload the truck when it arrives. That or see if you know anyone that works at any business in your town with a...

^ correct. However, Pine does spit and pop some sparks, and has relatively low BTU content per log compared to good hardwoods (species dependent of course). Hardwood also creates plenty of creosote if your burn it before fully dry. Millions of folks all across the western states have no...

Definitely on a downward trend here. What I notice most distinctly is that we never get long stretches of true deep winter anymore, where multiple snowfalls can pile up and stay. Instead we're lucky to get any decent snowstorm, and then it typically melts within a week every time. The worst...

Our annual snowfall average is around 50-60", but its very rare to get over ~8-10" at one time. I have no idea what the snow rating is on the carport, but if we got slammed with a blizzard, I might buy a roof snow rake

Quick thoughts. If you really dug out to as much as 12" below grade already to remove organics, you're going to be buying a lot of fill/sand/rock/gravel to get it back up to grade. Do NOT leave the driveway as your lowest area. yes, I always prefer a nice crowned road that sheds water easily...

No problems here with the top band being cut. I can't imagine reaching logs out of the bottom of the tote with that top bar in the way! no thank you. The only thing I will note, is that if you are stacking a FULL tote of wet wood atop another one that is cut out, yeah it can spread a bit. So...

Yeah not so fun to split, definitely no quick pops for easy separation. But it burns well and my family likes how all the strings on it is like "built in kindling". Nice to start a fire with once it's well dried out.

Yeah thats just painful, poor bridge. I drove across a lovely wooden covered bridge in southern PA a couple years ago in my 2500HD without even thinking about it, fully loaded with family and camping gear. Then turned around and the saw the same "3 ton MAX" load rating sign. Was probably a...

I don't jog much, but I switched to Salomon shoes for daily life many years ago and don't plan to ever go back to anything else. Waterproof, rugged sneakers with excellent traction, and the uber convenient zip-tightening system. terrific value for ~$120-140 depending on sales/closeouts. And...

Your pic? Those dashboard tape jobs are BRUTAL, man. Lol. :ROFLMAO:

Lol. Sounds like an expensive gambit. Would almost have to make a dam out of sticks first, so they can see the goal and then improve from there. Whats kind of funny is that I do get naturally occurring log-jam dams in my creek periodically, that can hold back up to 1-2 ft of water. They...

Key word being "imported". I'm rather skeptical that one can unload a beaver and convince it to dam a certain spot.

Ok, mythical imported beavers aside, who here has ACTUALLY constructed a dam? Sounds like basically no one, lotta dreamers (like myself) and folks who inherited one that was already constructed. We need some DIY examples

Interesting diversity of thoughts in this thread so far. I have a small creek through my woods that usually only runs a few inches deep, but can surge up to a few feet deep during extreme rain events or melt-off of a big snowpack. I also would like to dam it to create a pond/swimming hole in...

I agree, that picture offends me horribly. Just such an egregious violation of common sense.

This is too funny not to share. I guess the full story is a trio of wasted dudes repeatedly failing to extract their boat from the water, then trying it this way.

Yikes yeah I just watched that vid for first time. Dude made exactly the wrong decision, forward or backwards would have been fine. What could he even have done if he magically made it into the truck? Nada.

I had to get the special relay to help my retired neighbor be able to consistently start his TC33.

Bummer to hear about that. I suspect that continuing to do heavy duty mowing during regens would make for some VERY hot conditions under the hood. I presume you stay on top of keeping your radiator screen and front grille clear, yeah? If you're happy with the rest of the tractors reliability...

Um, ok? I will probably have a newer, better tractor by then, if I'm even still alive. I didn't buy this machine to last me 40 years, and wouldn't advise the OP to think that way either. Do you drive your cars and trucks for 40 years? Nonsense.

Not bad. I mean, thats a lot of money, but not bad. I took my own advice and made a build on the kubota site, and it was $42,000. Not that many years ago a Kioti CK3510SE with all the same options and similar capacities was exactly HALF that much. Inflation has been bonkers.

First, put your truck in 4WD so that the parking brake ties the front and rear axles together. I carry a pair of jackstands and just put them under the rear frame of my trailer. Like paystar says, gotta leave an inch or two gap so that they dont get stuck once you load anything heavy. Some...

L3901 is a great tractor but the loader is pretty weak, comparatively. L3560 is an amazing machine, strong with the optional LA805, but price it out on the kubota website (with loader, bucket, 3rd function, rear remotes, tire choice) and try not to spit your coffee on the screen. Which is what...

Also curious to hear what problems you had. But thank you for your feedback. I was fully aware that they are a chinese equipment importer who would not likely have good customer service in the event of a warranty need. It's a gamble. Buy some extra grinding teeth up front, and hope for the...

Those EBITDA numbers are impressive, if true. I'd love to run a company that profitable (on paper).

My suspicion would be: because they didn't actually finish the building, because they ran out of cash. And then simply found a contractor to blame. Pure speculation on my part here, but we've all seen it before.

Sometimes you do just get dealt some bad luck, or a bad hand to play. But it seems to me that this situation was all within EAs control, and they blew it. A stubborn contractor changing spec means you can't get a certificate of occupancy for months? That's ridiculous, change contractors and...

This is a tractor oriented web forum that mainly has homeowner and hobby farm participants; this is clear and not lost on us. But EA didn't only make super heavy duty attachments. Their 55" wicked grapple was ~245 lbs of steel, for $3000. Meanwhile an MTL was $1200 and a bit heavier. If you...

But, dude. He built a 10 million dollar glass lake house while simultaneously collecting multi-thousand dollar payments for customer equipment that he couldn't get built in his shop for 4-6+ months. Welders who could have been making customer equipment that was already PAID for, were instead...

WTF man. License revoked. So stupid it is making me irrationally angry to look at

I want to add one more distinction here: Babies and small toddlers have no place on running tractors, I do agree. My daughter was 4 years old, intelligent enough to reason with, and sturdy and agile enough to take car of her body and motions already by the time I felt it ok to make this buddy...

Man, I sure hope they were making some margin when asking three THOUSAND dollars for a grapple that is only marginally better than a $1200 one from MTL, haha. EA did have some very sturdy rear blades, box blades, land levelers, etc. Heavy stuff, lotta steel and a lotta welding to get those made.

While these kind of child vs equipment accidents do happen with enough regularity to come across on the news/internet/word-of-mouth to keep them in mind, I think it's also important to look at the big picture. The vast, vast majority of kids coming near or on a tractor are having a blast...

My dude, this is not a riding mower. I do not have a mower deck on this tractor, and if you'd read my posts you'd see that this is for gentle cruising only. Also, tractors ARE fun, and important tools to be treated with great respect. But your point is still well taken, losing or maiming...

Yeah, good point. I don't even have one full day of grinding to do at the moment. But I'm typically willing to pay a premium to avoid the hassle of rental, scheduling a tight window for the work, etc. Owning such a tool, I could pick away here and there at stumps without any pre-planning at...

Nice work, hope this solution is sustainable for you. I know in my garage/barn/shop, that much floor and wall space just for durable attachment storage would become prioritized for other tools and items (shelving, cabinets, etc) before too long. I hope to build an outdoor lean-to/shed with...

Guess I might have to try it. The mechmaxx site looks legit enough, they have warehouse addresses and real phone numbers to call. Not sure the wifey would appreciate a $1900 hit in the checking account for a tool I'll only use a couple times.... haha.

Hey y'all, Anyone purchased one of these basic stump grinders from MechMaxx? https://mechmaxx.com/products/mechmaxx-24-cutting-wheel-stump-grinder-for-tractor-3pt-hitch-540-rpm-pto They look a LOT like the woodland mills WG24 (even use the same number, 24 in the product name) but are a...

Seems like it's been a pretty educational thread here, eh @Forest_Man ? Can we get some more pics of the driveway and property? Maybe even a video of you sloshing your way through it all? :)

... You have to put your foundation down to or below the frost line. Here in Michigan that is 42" down south, and even deeper up north. If you didn't have your structural posts down to frost line, you then need a complete concrete footing to frost line instead. Now you are adding five figures...

The Kubota B3200 sounds impressive at 32 HP, but it only weighs 1700 lbs. Without wheel spacers, only 53" wide too.

In my opinion, a multi-adjustable HD rear straight scraper blade is definitely the most versatile and useful, BUT, you really need a bigger, heavier tractor in order to do a lot of work with them. A small, light tractor can't carry and pull the 800+ lb blade that you need in order to cut into...

That low end price is nearly too good to be true. My suspicion is that a big dump truck would show up and tell you it has 15 yards in it, but in reality it spreads more like 10-12. Been there. The truck capacity is in CUBIC yards. If you spread to 6" thick, thats 1/6 or 0.167 of a yard deep...

Yeah he's more popular then sometimes seems he should be. Some good content though. He gets discussed here (dedicated thread if you search) but never seen a comment. He's too busy building stuff and buying huge machines. https://camaratapropertymaintenance.com/

Like, catskills or adirondacks? If catskills, maybe Andrew Camarata could make a new video out of tuning up your road. He gets so many view per youtube video that it pays him big bucks, dunno how that translates to his job pricing. https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewCamarata

I got a 7 footer for my Kioti, but it weighs twice as much as your Kubota. 6' probably better for your machine - I'm also thinking about heavy snow removal now that we know the location.

Is this a camp? or do you have a real house back there? So, just curious, if you have a house fire, do you just let 'er go? Never get deliveries by truck or van? I thought my own 1000' driveway was long to get hacked in and installed into my own woods, but mine had to support cement trucks...

I'm gonna chime back in to STRONGLY recommend you stick with a 5' box blade for your B3200. 32 horsepower of engine can drag a 6' unit well in the right conditions, but your machine is very lightweight. Inertia is often what keeps a heavy pull moving through soil, not just rated power...

Well hey, kudos to you sir. I don't understand how we don't see crazy ruts all of that drive in your pic, if you do drive on it daily? Sorry if my first reply was harsh, I've learned over the years here to be blunt with newer members to get their perspectives aligned with the true challenges...

Holy crap, thats your driveway? No offense intended, its just so, so far away from being ready for daily automobile/truck traffic. Is this your future homestead? Beautiful forest! You need an excavator first, not a box blade for your tractor. (ok you need that also, but not as tool #1). You...

Metal barns like that are just so economical vs a full pole barn or foundation/stick frame. Looks great, congratulations. I know you built a lovely home that we all followed along with, but your property never felt complete. It needed a proper barn. Shame its only for goats, haha.

I was afraid it would be a lot more. Getting ready to make a basketball court pour for my kiddos, bracing for the cost. Probably never see $100/yd again, eh.

@rs191 , any updates on your barn?

^ yum. What did the concrete run you per yard these days? Whats the shop for? Whats the old one for. and what's it full of now?

Hey @dbchaplin03 , is this your tractor? Just kidding, its listed as a 2013 model. Basically the same as what you had though, right? low hours on this one. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/kubota-grand-l6060-tractor-for-sale.475758/ Buy a 6060 again, why not?

I like it. For a bucket or blade on a tracked skid steer, like shown. NOT for a flimsy CUT loader.

Yeah I actually had a piece of heavy foam ready to glue onto it, but after my daughter rode around on it a few times and said it was fine, I sorta gave up on the idea. Great link, how can they profit by sewing me a custom outdoor fabric seat cover for just 3 bucks?!? thats insane.

Ah, foot throttle. So you perhaps rev the engine up and down a lot? Maybe you've noticed on older diesels or anything without a DPF, that a puff of smoke typically comes out when you rev up. This is the soot that clogs the DPF. Most of us hobby tractor guys on here have smaller hydrostatic...

Shed is holding up well. A note of advice to anyone else who erects one of these - pay attention to the so-called "S" hooks that are pre attached on the ratchets for the cover straps. I don't know why they didn't bend the S of the hook down to a normal curve, but those stupid things barely get...

How many hours do you have on the machine now? That surprises me, I thought Kubota had things sorted out a little better than that. Do you do a lot of idling, or at least very low load operation? My Kioti is always in the 35-45 hour range between regens, which is not to brag about, but this...

Good record keeping. Every 10 hours on average is not great at all, but certainly better than every 2 hours.

That recent shed video is funny, he does a nice job and it's a fairly large building, but he still only gets a couple pieces of equipment in it. Then turns around at the end to pan across the 25 machines "really, none of this should be outside". Good luck with that idea, Andrew, haha.

You're back! Didn't read the whole thread yet but I remember chatting with you because I fairly seriously considered buying your L6060 back then. It would have been a lot of machine for my limited uses, and the price felt higher than I could stomach (very fair, though). But then I ended up...

Nice job of finishing and enclosing his big equipment shed. Previews the "new" castle project again at the very end. Busy guy.

Thanks. It was a fun project but she is growing so fast, might not work for too much longer. Plus she's no longer a terror when left alone inside the house, so she doesn't have to always come along on tractor chores as much. (IE mom doesn't kick her out the door to "go help dad" quite as much...

hahaha, he couldn't resist the sale pricing on that leftover warped lumber. I get tempted myself sometimes, Home Depot sells their cull lumber at 70% off.

:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: Definitely some good patina on them machines. More pieces of equipment then we knew about!

Always amazed at those "put a whole scrap car into the truck bed" shots. The amount of energy, time, fiddling, and rigging it must take to get it plopped in there and secured. Combined with the surely high amount of damage sustained to the truck bed and rear end. All to avoid borrowing a...

Huh, really? MTL shipped mine to my workplace for free. Of course after I confirmed that we had a loading dock. Do you have any buddies who work somewhere with a loading dock and at least a pallet-jack, if no forklift? Or most mixed-freight semi trailers are driving around with a pallet jack...

The only reason I have the Kioti backhoe for my tractor is because I bought a used package of tractor, backhoe, a few implements, and trailer. I would never have spent the $7k+ myself otherwise, because my feelings were confirmed when I first went to use it - pretty weak, too easy to drag the...

Monsanto is paying a settlement of 11 Billion dollars, with a B, because glyphosate clearly causes lymphoma. I understand it still has appropriate uses - just dont let any of it get on your skin, or inhale any vapors, etc. Bkenobi, your driveway looks great! Maybe the best place to start is...

Good observation, there's no visible grease at all. My backhoe is covered in grease because I pump it well through every joint every 5-8 hours of digging work.

^ for sure. I know this, whenever I run my Kioti KB2475 backhoe hanging way off the back of my little CK3510 tractor, I am acutely aware of how much potential for damage there is. It's a light duty digging machine, as is any CUT backhoe. My rule of thumb is, if you are jerking the rear of the...

Oh dear. Thats a pretty scathing review. Sorry to head about all your troubles. Second pic didn't load for me. But the first one just looks like a normal view of a backhoe bucket... is it broken in that pic?

I just ripped up my entire 1000' gravel driveway using the scarifiers (rippers/shanks) on my land plane. Conditions were right for doing a full "reset" on the drive - pull all the stones up, smooth everything back out, and weeds? None to be seen anymore. So that's one option, just till up...

Yeah those do look pretty nice. Everything that Michigan Iron does looks pretty nice. The "second stage" grapple lid is an interesting design too, but adds a lot of weight for minimal capability effect. Nearly double the price of an MTL, but competitive with most other offerings.

^ excellent advice, the rated payload of many new 1/2 ton trucks is pretty sad. A ram, or tarted up F150 will often come in ~1200-1400 lbs of total payload. Consider the weight of yourself and passengers, some gear in the cab, a few things in the bed, and what do you have left for trailer...

Did you read the listing? lol. "Elevate your experience by taking the elevator to the second level—a true spectacle awaits!" A real spectacle, indeed.

Call them on the phone. Have them tell you out loud that they have eyes on the exact piece you are buying.

Daaang, nice equipment! And nice storage for everything, too. What company is the loader mount chain box from?

Pretty light winter here. Kind of a bummer to be honest, not much sledding for the kids, I never went x-country skiing, only downhill snowboarded twice at a local smaller hill. So naturally the shed is holding up perfectly. I tried parking a couple different things in it over the last week or...

I'm still very happy with my cheapo ssqa trailer hitch. Used it the other night to bring my camper back over to the house, since winter looks pretty over with. And then shuffle my car hauler trailer as well, which I now sort of use as an attachment/implement drawer.

Yeah I already removed the 1.25" spacer blocks from my rear spring perches (4wd with FX4) to sort of "level" the truck and remove some rake. And partly in anticipation of getting roadmasters. I've only read good things about them.

You need to separate those two ideas, though. Sure, the RV dealers like to use them as a band aid on overloaded half-ton trucks. But go out to your 1/2 ton pickup and read the owners manual. It probably says that "in order to two over 5000 lbs, a weight distributing hitch is REQUIRED". My...

My 20' car hauler is like this also, axles set pretty far back. However this is the correct way to make and use such long trailers. If you put the axles right in the middle, there would be a huge potential for negative tongue weight, which we all know is a terribly dangerous situation. If you...

Yeah, walnut blasting the intake ports and backside of intakes valves is an accepted best practice for higher mileage GTDI (gasoline turbo direct injected) engines, some of which are more problematic for carbon-buildup than others. But this is a targeted cleaning operation, intentionally using...

OP posted that on Jan 22.... 6 weeks later and no update from them, eh. So maybe people join here to ask one question and then never follow up (edit: he said long time member, but only has 3 posts). Meanwhile, the TBN forum regulars just keep hashing it out for weeks, lol. In case it helps at...

Yeah. But the point of the dpf is to accumulate particulates, then to fully combust them during regeneration. So convert solid particulates (like PM2.5 partially burned hydrocarbons, nasty stuff) into CO2, which is inert and harmless to you. Not 100% effectively, of course. My Kioti, like...

I find that pretty fascinating. So your manager at the equipment dealer told you to do this, and you did. Ok then. But of course, absolutely nowhere in your master tech or Ford tech certification process was this process ever recommended, whatsoever. Right? Why did your dealership feel the...

Fair point. I suppose I'll just be pedantic and say that the purpose is not technically to make the particles smaller, it's to eliminate them completely, IE convert to gaseous form. I'm also not really feeling your final point, to be honest. I run my Kioti at ~1500-1800 rpm usually. Is that...

For real. That 6.0L was a great engine, zero problems ever. I just wish it had been given more than 4 lousy gears behind it in the trans. I bet with the newer 8-spd it could have picked up a couple more mpg.

Yes sir, 5-6k oil changes for life. I also typically do the Ford "flood-start" if it has been sitting for more than 6 hours (extra cranking before it fires to build oil pressure). And always disable start/stop.

Last year I finally bit the bullet and plunked down what felt like a LOT of money for a newer pickup. After 7.5 years of supreme reliability, I said goodbye to my '03 Sierra 2500HD (6.0L LQ4 gas). An absolutely bullet proof truck; not very fast but plenty of power to tow 10k lbs with ease...

Very clean! Nice to look at, too bad you also have to drive it and sit inside the Chrysler interior also. Lol, I kid, I kid.

I can't seem to find any cross reference news articles to confirm this posting from Jeff. He didn't cite his information with anything or give us a link. Is anything really changing any time soon for our tractors? I doubt it. EPA "announcements" do not immediately translate into machinery...

Right, the term "rated" means the engine speed at which maximum power is reached. IE the engine speed at which is is "rated" for its HP output. It's no problem to spin the engine a bit faster than rated, but there's also no real reason to do so on a tractor. Sometimes I spin up to max rpm...

Haha, nice connection fellas. Any snow left at Schuss? Was pondering one more trip north to ski... getting dicey.

I meant in a calm and rational chat between loving family members, not in a court of law. But you are absolutely right!

Yikes. I agree with others that your siblings must be forced to consider the real VALUE (emotional and financial) that you caring for your mother provided for all these recent years. You have the moral high ground if it comes to real argument. I live local to my 75/74 year old parents and can...

BOOOoo to your real world data. I agree with rScot, we wanted to keep arguing about this for a while. I still think it would have done it. 🤪 Were you at max engine rpm? Why couldn't you curl the palletized equipment/material being delivered back? Are you going to tell us what it was...

It'll do it. Forks all the way in, lower them down in the pallet as much as you can, first CURL back as much as is reasonable within the pallet, then lift up a few inches, tell the driver to pull away. No need to drive around with the load that high up.

Wow, that's a lot of machine. Looks like you have a nice stable of automobiles as well. Congrats! What lake are you building on? I'm really jonseing to grab a lakefront parcel and start saving for a cabin build myself. Something close to Traverse City / Sleeping Bear would be ideal. But...

I will add this, though.... pulling the pin to lower the brush guard is actually quite a bit MORE difficult with the broken anvil guard in place. Have to reach behind it and have less space for your fingers to turn the pin while you pull on it. I don't disagree overall, it is a pain.

But it's designed, assembled, and working exactly as Kioti intended. ... right? Just lack of your preferred design. Sorry, I don't need to be in here arguing with you, was just trying to understand if you actually had another QC issue on your new tractor. I wanted the broken anvil guard...

Which is why you always, always use 4WD for working on hills.

Yeah those 3000-series E Deere's are really some flimsy junk. The loader ratings tell the tale. But look at this first pic. Seems to be taken right where it happened, no? The bucket is way down in the dirt! This buffoon was slamming his front loader into frozen ground trying to dig, for...

The backhoe on an M62 is no small toy! Lotta weight up in the air for sure. Might be more tippy than a 4710, dunno. Overall I would say its a good fit for your property and projects - just don't drive it on crazy slopes, lol. But seriously, its the exact right machine to fix your trails and...

You're missing the nuance here. Requiring payment up front is completely legitimate - for a legitimate business that produces and ships product in a timely manner. The shady part about Everything Attachments requiring payment up front during the last two-three years, is that they would not...

That is just not what "quality control" means, so I misunderstood you. Quality control means whether the product was assembled and working correctly. You are instead talking about your preference for features to be engineered in a different way. Glad you like the machine otherwise - a seat...

Geez. If I am reading this thread correctly, the comms lines are running parallel to the road and surely have an existing right of way to do so. OP needs to cut down into a hill to get his driveway started, and thats where the comms lines already run. Sounds like a total headache. Hand dig...

You guys up north are lucky. One inch of slop down here yesterday, now back to green grass. Wish I was up north skiing this weekend, wife wanted to go to Florida next week instead. 🤨

Haha yeah he spends all day on his ol' blue machine just crawling in 1st gear and tilling away. I just meant he overdoes it for the soil condition, not great for the plants to grow in. The soil compacts over the season and then the roots cant breathe. Just gets waterlogged to hell. hence why...

The majority of these posts are definitely beating a dead horse, or going in circles, or just petty banter back and forth. BUT! The more active this thread is, the higher it should stay for SEO on a web search, so that other folks can find this and avoid paying for nothing. Plus, I keep...

Scarifiers/rippers can be adjusted for depth and are designed to pull themselves downward under forward motion. In any looser materials, they will gladly dig themselves down enough to stall your machine right away, if you engage too far. But on dry clay that is "like concrete" they may more...

What an interesting dichotomy in this thread, of EA defenders vs bashers. I hope I'm not perceived in either camp. Multiple things can be true. EA has existed for a long time with a ton of satisfied customers. And even when their lead time on deliveries grew long, they still delivered a high...

I think you have a good plan. Does your box blade not have scarifiers/rippers? I think a 40 HP tractor with a 6-foot PTO rototiller might be better. Is it thick with grass now? The root clods are going to mess you up, not matter which way you try. In a perfect world I would rototill it when...

Nice truck! I've always wanted a 350/3500 dump truck, to support my personal landscaping projects and open up the possibility for side-hustle income. But I'm not ready to go there yet. How is the market and pricing for 1/3 cord/facecords in "Near Johannesburg MI but in the middle of nowhere"...

Congrats on your new equipment! Thats a big investment. I want to play devil's advocate just a bit: - Can you seriously not see the SSQA plate if you just stand up a little? Have not heard this gripe from other Kioti owners, and I don't believe much has changed from the '10s to the '20s. Are...

Burned through about 3.5 face cords here in southern Michigan so far this winter. Really only had about 10 days of actual deep winter, during late January. I normally toss my logs into a pile and cut away at them over time (see behind the tractor). But I had a bigger diameter maple log my...

Torch it up nice and hot and it would have moved for ya.

I dunno, we just got an ex-employee coming in with fresh data here! The recent news articles were also very good context. Heck who knows, maybe Travis wants to join in and trash on Ted

Wow. Thanks for joining the forum to share this perspective with us. Folks, take this with a grain of salt, but it's pretty damning, like many of us thought.

Eh. Maybe a new business name, new website, new round of paid advertising on all the top forums, and the money will start flowing in again. They have good products, that people want!

paywalled. Can anyone summarize the allegations and current situation?

You're right. I got a little too fired up about this yesterday and my language choices were a bit inflammatory. I just hate seeing good hard-working people pay for items they'll never receive. Again, EA could easily put a notice on their website, and prevent people from attempting to check...

No, I was not going to find out. I jokingly asked if someone else would be brave enough to (and then of course cancel the CC charge afterwards). But in my experience, when a merchant website lets you proceed all the way to the 3rd party payment page, thats not where the transaction stops. You...

Same boat. My tractor package came with a wicked 55". It was great! but I wanted a grapple with longer lower jaws for holding multiple logs, etc. The wicked 55" was up to $2400 on the EA site when I sold mine used for $1900, i think it was. Then got a 54" MTL grapple for ~$1100 delivered...

I wonder if the EA site sends you an automated "Thanks for your order! We're getting started on it and will provide you an exact shipping date soon!" kind of response, that would placate a buyer into sitting back relaxed and waiting patiently. And maybe even forgetting about it in the...

Right. Google takes in many sources of information to attempt to properly convey the status of a business to its users. Meanwhile Ted or others at EA could easily put a simple note on their site and suspend taking orders, but they instead choose to continue taking money for products that may...

Because you have to pay your welders to make them. And instead, you are more interested in continually siphoning profit from the business in order to spend 10+ million building a garish metal and glass box house on the lake. And probably many other silly and awful ways the money has been...

Where does it say that? I just went right now, the site looks normal. And you can add a $3500 grapple to your cart, and pay them immediately. I just did this and got all the way into the checkout process. To any normal person, their website implies they are open for business, and you can...

Can you... not understand the difference between a merchant charging for an order of in-stock items that they just need to package and ship, vs a manufacturing company that may not plan to even start making your component for months in the future? Do think Cabelas is about to go bankrupt...

Yeah, don't disagree there, but you were responding to rockinbbar talking about "going into the process", not "after the sale transaction was completed" Anyway. I personally consider the onus to be on myself, to be an educated consumer.

Not sure we would all agree with that. Many people simply clicked to order things directly online through their website, and only after their CC being immediately charged did they learn the item would have a months-away shipping date. You can go to their website right now and give them...

Why are all you guys nitpicking each other about semantics? Bunch of toddlers in here. :ROFLMAO:

Well, pretty sad situation overall. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm really not, at all. That 6 million dollar lake house (he probably has more invested into it than that, too. Sometimes you sell for half your investment on an all-custom abomination like that) is a sad...

Wahoo! Bet you've got some early-spring weather feels down there also, eh? Get after it!

Oh dear, is that a shepherd/cattle dog? Hope Lauren has the energy to train that thing to be a good helper. Our neighbors have an Australian, didn't train it too well, and it barks at everything that moves and bites kids sometimes. Those dogs need a strong bond and a daily routine of things...

This thread about geothermal turned into an excellent discussion about heat-pump performance. Thanks everyone!

Right. I would not trust my "24k" mini split to adequately heat my entire home when outside temps are zero or below, it would be running flat out and probably not hold 65F inside. I don't plan to find out. We also have some cheap toe-kick and baseboard electric resistive heaters in the...

Yes, when outside temps are much above 40°F, it's a little harder to keep a steady draft in the woodstove, and the house easily gets too hot from wood fire. So with the better performance of the mini-split in this temp range, it's very easy and cost effective to just flip it on to 68 or 70F...

Sorry, but I have no idea. It's the DIY Gen 3 system, 24k BTU capacity (cooling). Came as a complete package, bought it off amazon.

congrats, post some pics of both machines!

You could consider building some roof overhangs/awnings. Awnings could even be hinged for seasonal adjustability. Curtains might block some of the heat, but a ton of it is still coming through the glass and being trapped inside. You really need to just keep the direct sunlight out. Here's a...

mini splits aren't too bad at all, and they are soooo much better than a window unit. My MrCool DIY 24k BTU system was only $2200, and cools my entire 1650 sq ft house just fine. Whisper quiet, too.

Haha, great rescue. Did you have a helper driver? I just stay out of the muck, personally, so never been stuck. Nice sandy soils here, no pressing need to go exploring when it's super wet out. But I'm not a farmer.

I'm sure you have Consumers for electric grid up there, right? We have DTE down in the southeast, but the billing games are similar, I believe. The nominal grid connection fees if you consume zero kWhr is not that much, maybe $9/mo? At least for my DTE, which is how my bill looks all summer...

Agreed. Of course it has water in it... it's a tree, that's how they work. Only big dead ones left here in southern michigan. They do dry out quite a bit when standing dead and proud in the woods for years after the borer's been through.

First time I'm hearing someone who dislikes burning ash that much. If you think Ash leaves a lot of woodstove ashes behind, try some thick-barked walnut! Leaves a poofy mess behind (good BTUs int he meantime though, and one can always pull the bark off before burning). When we built our house...

Agreed, the idea of hanging a tool off the side of the chainsaw bar, or meticulously measuring and painting logs, seems pretty ridiculous to me. But different strokes, and whatnot. You have a nice barn/shed/wood setup! Where's your approx location, to calibrate that "3-1/4 face cords"...

Dang, Peter nailed it on the first response! Should have closed the thread right after this post. I would say that yes, geo-thermal will still be more efficient in mid michigan (especially with wet soils as others have noted) BUT, the install expense will take a lifetime to pay back. Even...

Lol ok bud. Much of the UP hasn't been over 100 degrees in decades. Here's data from Marquette, for example. Most years top out in the low 90s, and even those kind of heat waves typically only last a few days at most. Plenty of summer days that don't even hit 75. Depends on proximity to the...

Not much of a "pile" if you ask me! haha. Looks more like layout for grading a timber sale. Do you cut on the ground, then? And then you have an SSQA Splitter? Or does the SSQA splitter also have the saw built in? And your tractor has enough GPM of hydraulic flow to run it well?

I've never found it difficult to eyeball the firewood length when cutting. If I'm way out of practice, I just turn my saw 90° a few times when getting started to quickly re-train my eyeball. I really don't care if many pieces end up 13, 14 or 15" long (I try to aim for 15-16", which is ideal...

Thats really not bad at all. Nice work. I'm not about to toss out my tractor just because it's naturally aspirated, but I really wish I had a 35-40 HP turbocharged engine instead. Something about the auditory, whistling feedback that corresponds to power delivery is just exciting in my brain...

I know, it was a joke.

Hi Mike, Great job overall on developing, testing, and commercializing this turbo setup. Did you ever share a total package price (assuming self install), and/or are you willing to? Now you just need to find a way to turbocharge the loader's lift capacity also, and the 2501 package will...

It's sad but my sister lives in San Francisco (bro-in-law got in early with google), and I have enjoyed multiple visits there in the past. And my two kids would surely love to go visit their cousins and stay with them for a vacation, but I really am reluctant to even consider taking my children...

My 10 cents says that wasn't the goal. The goal was probably to extract maximum cash from an inherited, or long-owned piece of timbered land, with no care to the effects on nature, future forest quality/management, or especially not what some random dude driving by thinks it looks like.

I dunno, it certainly stems from poverty and the absence of time/resources, but it's also a display of stupidity. You are risking all that "precious" cargo by strapping it onto your vehicle in such a ludicrous way.... it could all fall off at speed and you lose it all. But obviously some form...

What in the f$^&%g world do these extreme furniture haulers do this for? Must be 100+ pics like this across the web. Someone moving a household across state lines or something? Sometimes you see a truck with a dozen used couches on it. How can that possibly have enough value to make it worth...

Honestly that is a dirt-pushing bulldozer blade, poorly suited to cautious snow removal. I don't really even understand why people manufacture those super robust, fixed blades for SSQA - they ought to be able to float independently of a 1200 lb loader assembly. Adapted truck plows (as others...

Crap! Sorry. I made sure to say to use a “not-sharp” thing from inside because it’s true, it can definitely cause some localized stress to do this.

Oh I should have clarified: you push up from INSIDE the shed. Basically you just flap the cover up a few times in each section, and it’ll be mostly clear. It does feel a bit sketchy if there’s a foot of wet snow above your head, though.

With a pole of some sort. Something non-sharp on the end. I was using a rake yesterday for mine. Just gotta poke upwards in the middle of each unsupported cover section. A few quick prods generally convinces the snow to bounce down and over the side cross bars.

This cheaper and basic 10x17’ harbor freight tent shed is at least 9 years old, possibly 10-12 years (i bought used on Craigslist from a guy finishing his home build). Loads of snow, ice, rain and normal storm winds in Michigan. Note: this is two 10x17 sheds combined into one; double tent...

Nah I'm not as cool as most of y'all, I really wanted a car-hauler, and it came in a package-deal with my tractor, but I honestly have no real need for it, so it has sat around languishing. I can't bring myself to think about selling it though. Someday I'll need to take my tractor across town...

That’s exactly what i did, loaded all my ssqa and 3-pt implements onto the trailer, all on pallets and using my ssqa forks. It would take me 20-30 minutes to get the trailer ready for some random use. But after it sat still for 2+ years, I figured i could take that risk, haha.

Same here, except my garage is unheated and varies from 15-45°, or i work outdoors, and then I come inside to 75+° after my wife has been stuffing the woodstove all day (or the sun was out). We’re all so used to 70+ inside that when it gets down to 68, everyone has hoodies on and yells at me to...

Its a zombie thread, but still pretty topical (minus any raw barn costs being discussed as "recent" or "current"). Regarding the way to finance a pole barn, I went with a home-equity loan myself. Even though my equity had only risen from about 20 to 22% in the first couple years of owning our...

Sounds like a somewhat similar list to my house, haha. Really though, you are lucky to have such a short list of gripes. You can fix the sink lighting (eventually), right? Lauren needs to learn about sweaters, lol. Or even a nice fuzzy robe and some slippers.

We elected not to run a gas line to our house build (800' from the road plus unknown connection fees) and went all electric. This basically forced our hand to go with a heat-pump 50-gallon electric. Ours is an AO Smith, zero issues for nearly 9 years now. The only thing I don't like about it...