3300SU

[Recoveryhill]

Hello all, first post:

I live in the mountainous Virgin Islands and am trying to keep a residential estate of 4 plus acres open to the jungle. We have had, for the past several years, more rain than normal which accounts for phenomenal growth of Elephant Grass (Guinea Grass) and Tan Tan trees; 15" since August 1 with rainy season yet to arrive excepting hurricane water.

I have a quote in Fla. for a B3300SU with FEL, Ballast Box and a rugged 60" Bush Hog "brand name" rotary cutter; +/- $18000.

Any comments on this selection would be appreciated. In addition to bush hog duty, I need to maintain 1/4 mile of mountainous road. The key is keeping the ditch line clear and placing water breaks in appropriate spots.

Any comments?

Thanks,

DonTomas

 

[KU Gator]

As I have sailed a few times in the Virgins, I have some sense for the hills you are working with. Are there any other land owners around you who might have equipment you could try using a bit. The thought being due to the severity of the angle of the land, you might feel un-easy on too big of equipment.

If you feel you will need to do the mowing with a rotary mower, you might be happier with a tractor that has position control. All of the Kubota BX's and all of the B's except the Bxx30 series have 1/4" valve. When using the rotary mower, it has a wheel in the back and the front of the mower is held up by the 3 pt hitch. The 1/4" valve will not hold the front of the mower at a consistent height. It will let it gradually sag down, so you need to bring it back up using the 3 pt hitch control lever or the front of the mower will eventually be on the ground. To avoid this, I put chains on mine to keep it at a height, but a tractor with position control would hold at the height set. The B2630, B3030, or the L tractor series would give you position control in the Kubota line.

I do not have enough feel for pricing to help you as to if that is a good price. I would say that most people do not opt for the ballast box. It is good to have weight on the back of the tractor when using the FEL, but most put an implement back there such as a box blade. A box blade would be helpful for maintaining the road. A rear blade could also help with the road and ditches.

 

[Recoveryhill]

Thanks for your comments. Mountain top St. Croix to mountain top St. John 35 miles to the North has a net altitude change of 21,000 vertical feet with ocean depth of over 19,000! Now that's a hill!

My place is in the mountains but I have a fair amount of fairly level ground. The steep stuff has to be worked with a weed whacker on steroids, Sthil FS250s.

No local 4WD mid size to small tractor bush hog combos around. The flat agricultural land has a lot of Big Blue 2WD Ag. units, that's about it. All the clearing work is done in the hills by hand with a Cutlass (Machete) and an FS250. There are a lot of very tough working guys here who for $120 will work over an acre a day. The issue though with all the rain is I'd have to keep a guy, and myself part time, cutting a couple of days a week to keep up. That's a lot of coconuts!

I carved out a fair amount of land from the jungle, Tan Tan, Guinea Grass, Kasha and vines from ****, but keeping it open without power is just too much as our rains have been more than average for a couple of years now. Guinea grass grows at 4" plus in 24 hours with ample water!

The "bleed" factor of the valve doesn't make much sense to me but since we rig everything else here, a chain keeper will be in my future.

Re: the box on the road, don't think so. It would be Road 1, Box 0. The road is mostly large rock hunks with clay between the chunks. On the steep spots I place crusher run (fine rock and rock dust) mixed with cement powder and compact. The road work is in clearing small rock and clay falls out of the ditch line on the uphill side and keeping water break humps in place and maintained. If water washes down the traveled road, it erodes the clay from between the hard stuff and makes for a very bad ride. As it stands I had to rebuild the front end on a 2000 Ranger 4WD at 16,000 miles, in 2005. We go slow and we don't go far but we take a beating for every mile.

I'm fairly sure that the form factor of the 3300 would work for me here but its hard to write that check for eighteen grand. It will also cost me another couple of thousand for ocean freight, out of Fla.

 

[KU Gator]

For a price comparison, you might check with Barlows in KY. You will find a lot of references to them and they seem to ship all over so could probably give you a price FOB Miami. I did not buy from them, but they seem to get consistantly good feedback from those who did buy from them.

Below is a link to the type of chains I use on mine when I am using the rotary mower. I still bump the control up when the chains get tight, but it gives an easy way to tell when the front of the mower is getting too low.

Mower Deck Height Stabilizer Kit -- Finish Mower & Rotary Cutter Parts

I have the Bush Hog Squeeler mower that you are probably referring to. It has worked fine for me. My tractor only has 21 PTO HP, so if I let the weeds/grass get too high, I have to get down to low range to mow, but were talking tractor hood height. The B3300 25 PTO HP, so should be able to handle that mower pretty well.

The 1/4" valve will not hold a implement at a fixed height. To get a feel for mine, I put the box blade on and raised it to the top. It dropped about 3/4" in 10 minutes. So if I use the rotary mower and start mowing, the front of the mower will gradually drop as I mow. So if I don't have the chains on, I have to reach over and bring it back up whereas a tractor with position control would hold it at the height set. That really only bothers me when I am using the rotary mower. It doesn't bother me when I use the box blade or the MMM.

 

[Recoveryhill]

Below is a link to the type of chains I use on mine when I am using the rotary mower. I still bump the control up when the chains get tight, but it gives an easy way to tell when the front of the mower is getting too low.

Mower Deck Height Stabilizer Kit -- Finish Mower & Rotary Cutter Parts

Nice link on the chains! I'm trying to get a handle on whether LTL or a dedicated 20' open rack trailer is going to be a better deal, and how much, for ocean freight. I have spoken with Barlow's and they have yet to answer a couple of questions but I'm of the belief that as it stands, while they are a bit less expensive on the tractor, shipping a thousand miles inland is going to eat up the difference.

I also will need to pay at least 3% duty here on the Japanese Mfg. unit. We are in the U.S. "sort-of", but in a different Customs Territory. It goes back to the treaty with Denmark when transfer occurred in 1917? Life here is simple and can be cheap if you live it to its simplest but stick your head out of the hut and you pay..pay...pay!

 

[KU Gator]

Sometimes I think the shipping cost in the US is offset by not having to pay state sales tax. I assume you won't be doing that in FL, so probably not an opportunity for you to save. Are there no dealers in Puerto Rico? Also, I am assuming you are on St Croix, which I forgot about. Any advantage to having it go to St Thomas or are all the USVI duty free? By the way, as we are starting to think about snow removal, any whining about the cost of living in paradise will not get you much sympathy.

I actually ordered the chain set I got through Yesterday's Tractor. It was the same product, a little cheaper and cheaper shipping, but that site had better pictures. The other thing I added to mine was telescopic stabilizers like used on the B2630 & B3030. The other B's come with turnbuckles which are a pain to adjust and I bent the bolts a couple of times. Also with the turnbuckles, when there is not something on the 3 pt hitch, the arms sag in, making it harder to use the drawbar. This company sells it as a kit, but it is just a bunch of parts, so maybe where you get the tractor from could change it out if you wanted. Although the B3300SU is not listed, I'm sure it is just a B3200 without the mid mount PTO and a loader packaged in.

Stabilizer

 

[Recoveryhill]

Duty vs. Sales Tax: It turns out to be a wash. I pay 6% duty on the tractor but get the mower with none so I come out just a bit ahead of the Fla. 6% sales tax. My quote for LTL ocean came in right at $1,000.

Duty free is a myth. It exists for tourists leaving with gold, liquor, etc. but we pay U.S. Customs through the nose for everything imported here, even from the states, if it is of foreign manufacture. This stuff isn't supposed to make sense!

No whining about living here although some are made for it, some not. I don't know much else....

I'll wait until I get the unit and sort out the hitch/drawbar/chains, etc. I've made a final offer on the package, including the ballast box and should come to terms on Monday. I don't feature coming to an abrupt stop with a full bucket on a steep down hill pitch without some lead in the arse!

The Sir Frances Drake Passage is a great place for a sail, no doubt about that. St. Croix however has our "island friends" to the North beat by a mile with much lower population density, more agriculture, less push in general.

Best of luck out there in Kansas!

Tomas

 

[KU Gator]

Hopefully all goes well for you to wrap up your deal. That rotary cut mower on the back of the B3300 will cut a lot of grass compared to the machette & weed wacker and hopefully not be as tough on the operator. When my wife & I take our tractor to the other property we have, somehow she ends up on the tractor and I am using the brush blade Stihl combo. Effective, but works up a sweat.

If you have room on your load and it doesn't mess with the shipping too much, might still want to consider a box blade. It obviously will not rip a big rock out, but pretty effective tool, especially if you are going to bring in more rock to spread. Good for creating a crown on a rock drive or terracing. I have a Bush Hog brand SBX60 which weighs about 500#.

Remember to keep your bucket low to the ground and hand on the stick ready to drop it down when on a slope.

I have read about St Croix, but all the sailing when we went was in the other islands. Two crewed charters and a bareboat. We have been from Puerto Rico to Anegada. Great area. But I know what you mean about paradise to visit and live is different having lived most of my life in FL, we saw a lot of people come and go.

Good luck.

 

[Recoveryhill]

Gator:

Deal done:

B3300SU with SQ160 Bush Hog and Ballast Box, inland freight, ocean freight, customs duty included at $20,033.

Electronic money going North and "waiting on the boat".

For a glimpse of my rain situation, which has been going on since May and is now affecting the East Coast, look here:

http://maps.weather.com/images/sat/tropsat_720x486.jpg

AhhhhHaaaHaaaa! I can hear the jungle grow!!!

Tomas

 

[KU Gator]

Congratulations on finalizing the deal. Now the difficult part, the wait for arrival.

Make sure everyone is clear when using that mower. It has a tendacy to throw things such as rocks and branches. When starting mine, I like to have the RPM's of the tractor low, at or close to idle. Push in the clutch, ingage the PTO, let the clutch out slowly and you feel the mower and tractor initially shake as the mower comes up to speed and centrifical force throws the blades out. It smooths out pretty quickly. Then bring the tractor RPM's up to the PTO speed.

For brushier areas, we sometimes back the mower in. Can raise it up some, back in, the set it back down. Once you get the areas tamed, it you can keep up with it, it does a pretty good job.

Good luck. Hopefully it will show up soon for you. And post or email some pictures of Kubby in Paradise. It may give me motivation to get back down to the little lattitudes.