BX25D. Mod #1 and continued.

[4shorts]

Hey Paul, did you stop doing snow removal for others? I know you talked about it but with the record snowfall this season I was wondering if you decided to plow or not. Of course that would be extra income for you. Just curious. Thanks, Stanley

Paul, I live just down the road from Stanley... I guess us locals here are all curious why you aren't out all night, snow-removing for fun and profit? Though it looks like you got enough right there at home to keep busy!

Well guys I'm not doing any commercial snow clearing this winter. I've wanted to take a break from it for the last two years but kept doing it until this fall. The contract requirements changed and I didn't like one of the items stated in it so I said NOPE, NOT INTERESTED!

The item in the contract stated that no matter how much snow fell from Friday evening threw Sunday evening no snow clearing was to be performed on the weekends. Well that meant that I would have to start cleaning up in the early hours of Monday morning then have to still open the shop at 8:30 Monday morning.

Now just think about it. If we had a pile of snow on a Friday night and Saturday it started to rain then froze it would be a heck of a time to try and clean everything up and if it got cold enough I might not have been able to actually get it done so I said " I'm out" and walked away from it.

Glad I did now because we've had more snow this winter than we've had in the last ten years and if I had taken the contract I would have lost big time with all this snow so it actually was a blessing that I didn't go for it.

2012-13 has been record years for us in business and 2014 is looking to be even better so we really don't miss being up half the night pushing snow.

Well you asked :laughing:

 

[dragoneggs]

The item in the contract stated that no matter how much snow fell from Friday evening threw Sunday evening no snow clearing was to be performed on the weekends. Well that meant that I would have to start cleaning up in the early hours of Monday morning then have to still open the shop at 8:30 Monday morning.

Now just think about it. If we had a pile of snow on a Friday night and Saturday it started to rain then froze it would be a heck of a time to try and clean everything up and if it got cold enough I might not have been able to actually get it done so I said " I'm out" and walked away from it.

I suppose someone stupidly decided it was a issue of 'not disturbing the folk on the weekend' or more likely they didn't want to pay for plowing that might not be necessary by Monday morning hoping that the snow might happen to go away by then? Oh, and public safety doesn't apply on weekends... I forgot.

 

[Kubotafan]

Glad I did now because we've had more snow this winter than we've had in the last ten years and if I had taken the contract I would have lost big time with all this snow so it actually was a blessing that I didn't go for it.

I once had a boss, a Moulton from NFLD, who used to say, "You might as well be an idle fool as a busy fool." No since working yourself deeper into the hole.

 

[4shorts]

I suppose someone stupidly decided it was a issue of 'not disturbing the folk on the weekend' or more likely they didn't want to pay for plowing that might not be necessary by Monday morning hoping that the snow might happen to go away by then? Oh, and public safety doesn't apply on weekends... I forgot.

It was a cost saving measure that wasn't thought out very well in my opinion. My argument was:

It's a government rented building owned by a private individual who I was dealing with for over 20 years. This building has an FRC (Fast Recrew Craft) that may be used in the case of an emergency to save lives. If the lot is not cleared on the weekends and an emergency occurs and they can't gain access to the building someone could perish.

My other point is: In the event of a fire if the fire department couldn't gain access to the building due to the amount of snow on the property the building could be lost.

My thoughts were IF any of these situations arose and someone died or the building was lost and there was an inquiry the end result would be the owner blaming the contractor (ME) and I could be held responsible for all loses becuase the owner didn't give me anything in writing, it was all verbal so rather than take the risk I bowed out and walked away.

If I can't do my work properly I won't do it at all and I think I proved this with my actions in this case. .

I once had a boss, a Moulton from NFLD, who used to say, "You might as well be an idle fool as a busy fool." No since working yourself deeper into the hole.

Well I say something similar. I say it's better to be doing nothing than working for nothing, At least it isn't costing you anything.

 

[srs]

The contract requirements changed and I didn't like one of the items stated in it so I said NOPE, NOT INTERESTED!


2012-13 has been record years for us in business and 2014 is looking to be even better so we really don't miss being up half the night pushing snow.

Well you asked :laughing:

Good for you Paul.

 

[varmint]

Paul, you were absolutely right in walking away from that. Even if you had needed the money badly, that sounds like a raw deal, and one that serves no one, except those who don't like their sleep disturbed at all. Lets hope that nobody is harmed because of that stupid policy. We down here are dealing with lots of ice events this winter, but so far, nothing really bad.

 

[WaxMan]

Well guys I'm not doing any commercial snow clearing this winter. I've wanted to take a break from it for the last two years but kept doing it until this fall. The contract requirements changed and I didn't like one of the items stated in it so I said NOPE, NOT INTERESTED!

The item in the contract stated that no matter how much snow fell from Friday evening threw Sunday evening no snow clearing was to be performed on the weekends. Well that meant that I would have to start cleaning up in the early hours of Monday morning then have to still open the shop at 8:30 Monday morning.

Now just think about it. If we had a pile of snow on a Friday night and Saturday it started to rain then froze it would be a heck of a time to try and clean everything up and if it got cold enough I might not have been able to actually get it done so I said " I'm out" and walked away from it.

Glad I did now because we've had more snow this winter than we've had in the last ten years and if I had taken the contract I would have lost big time with all this snow so it actually was a blessing that I didn't go for it.

2012-13 has been record years for us in business and 2014 is looking to be even better so we really don't miss being up half the night pushing snow.

Well you asked :laughing:

Hello Paul, Happy New Year, When I asked, what you said below, why your not plowing it was because you were not making any money? I think the guy just told you that nonsense of no weekend plowing, maybe you were charging too much and he wanted a change? A record snow fall this year? I'm sure that yard is being plowed on the weekends. You brought up two good points on why it has to be plowed.
On the good side At least now you have more time to modify.:thumbsup:

First and for most our tractor is part of our business. If there's one thing I'm good at then it would have to be my business skills. Our tractors are paid for, our business has done well but in the last few years with our booming economy it seems that everyone including their dog got a plow truck or a small tractor. Its great to see everyone doing well but when these guys go out bidding on snow clearing contracts and keep knocking the prices down to the point where its not worth firing up the machine then its just as well to leave it parked.

I won't miss the 4am wake ups either and trying to get all the snow pushed before the rain starts. We are seeing less and less snow each winter. Although its not etched in stone yet that we'll completely give up snow clearing its at the 80% mark that we will.
It will be the first time in 25 years that I can take my wife on a cruise or jump on a plane and go see our two sons when we feel like and not let the winter dictate where and what we do and that sounds really sweet to me.

Also the customer has some blame in this. The last few years we would take on some private driveways to clear. People would beg us to take them on as customers. They knew our record for safety was good, they knew we were reliable so we'd quote a price by the push because they didn't want a contract. Well we'd give them a good price but when the winter came they would only call and ask to have their snow cleared when there was a Hugh pile of snow in it. We would quote them on an adverage snowfall and over the course of the winter it would all balance out but it really didn't when they only called when there was a major dump of snow. Mid way through the winter we told them if the snow is deeper than 15 cm's then the price doubled. That worked out better.

I'm really looking forward to a winter without snow clearing BUT if I do decide to go at it again you can tell yourself "Paul's making money now"

 

[4shorts]

Paul, you were absolutely right in walking away from that. Even if you had needed the money badly, that sounds like a raw deal, and one that serves no one, except those who don't like their sleep disturbed at all. Lets hope that nobody is harmed because of that stupid policy. We down here are dealing with lots of ice events this winter, but so far, nothing really bad.

Thanks Varmint. The property owner and I have been friends for over 20 years but friends or not when I get that uneasy feeling in my gut I have to act on it and if anything happens on that property due to lack of access because of snow someone is in a pile of trouble. It's safe to say it won't be me
The revenue from the snow clearing was minimal to our business so it really won't be missed

Hello Paul, Happy New Year, When I asked, what you said below, why your not plowing it was because you were not making any money? I think the guy just told you that nonsense of no weekend plowing, maybe you were charging too much and he wanted a change? A record snow fall this year? I'm sure that yard is being plowed on the weekends. You brought up two good points on why it has to be plowed.
On the good side At least now you have more time to modify.:thumbsup:

And Happy New Year to you as well. Yes we made money at it although if we took it on this year we would have lost out because this past December was the snowiest December since 1901 so this happening was a real break in the fact we're not wearing out a 150 hour tractor pushing massive amounts of snow for the same money we got for the last seven years.
One company announced today that they are loosing $10.000 a month because of all the snow they are clearing. That's nasty stuff.
There was no argument about pricing, it was about weekend plowing. This popped up two years ago and I refused to stop. I think the real reason the owner wants to stop weekend plowing is to force the government to pay out more money to him for weekend snow clearing. He always stated he wasn't getting paid to do it on the weekends. My question to him that he didn't answer was why stop now after 20 years of doing it.
He didn't answer.
No snow clearing has been done on the weekends with the exception of late one Sunday evening when heavy rains were forecast for the next day. Wise move in my opinion.

 

[WaxMan]

Paul, I came across this the other day and it put a smile on my face, I thought I would repost it.

I'll bet, Paul, if you and I got together on mods we can get a Kubota cab to look like this in no time,:thumbsup: we'll make it a two seater, I can go plowing with you, when you get tired, I can take over plowing and you can watch the gauges.

Wax.. notice all the cars pull over when we go by, that's because they want to get a better look at the tractor, ......yeah you're right, look at that ?.wait ? Paul ! we got the off road led's on, they'er blinded ...thats why there pulling over ?Oops

Oh boy I can see the arguments now back in the shop. Paul we don't need a gauge to tell us how long the backup alarm is ringing, we need one to let us know the vacuum cleaner bag quality.
Wax we need six switches for the backup alarm, I want six switches ?.. Right sound, left sound, just lights, lights and sound, no sound, quiet sound. Ok but I want a backup alarm master switch?..
So ... seven switches it is .... Did you bring lunch?, I thought you did.
Check the gauges, I think we have a gauge for that somewhere. :laughing:

 

[Kubotafan]

Paul, I came across this the other day and it put a smile on my face, I thought I would repost it.

I'll bet, Paul, if you and I got together on mods we can get a Kubota cab to look like this in no time,:thumbsup: we'll make it a two seater, I can go plowing with you, when you get tired, I can take over plowing and you can watch the gauges.

Wax.. notice all the cars pull over when we go by, that's because they want to get a better look at the tractor, ......yeah you're right, look at that ?.wait ? Paul ! we got the off road led's on, they'er blinded ...thats why there pulling over ?Oops

Oh boy I can see the arguments now back in the shop. Paul we don't need a gauge to tell us how long the backup alarm is ringing, we need one to let us know the vacuum cleaner bag quality.
Wax we need six switches for the backup alarm, I want six switches ?.. Right sound, left sound, just lights, lights and sound, no sound, quiet sound. Ok but I want a backup alarm master switch?..
So ... seven switches it is .... Did you bring lunch?, I thought you did.
Check the gauges, I think we have a gauge for that somewhere. :laughing:

Is that the new Kubota Cab???? Wow!!!!!! Tier 4 DOES make a difference!!!!

 

[4shorts]

Paul, I came across this the other day and it put a smile on my face, I thought I would repost it.

I'll bet, Paul, if you and I got together on mods we can get a Kubota cab to look like this in no time,:thumbsup: we'll make it a two seater, I can go plowing with you, when you get tired, I can take over plowing and you can watch the gauges.

Wax.. notice all the cars pull over when we go by, that's because they want to get a better look at the tractor, ......yeah you're right, look at that ?.wait ? Paul ! we got the off road led's on, they'er blinded ...thats why there pulling over ?Oops

Oh boy I can see the arguments now back in the shop. Paul we don't need a gauge to tell us how long the backup alarm is ringing, we need one to let us know the vacuum cleaner bag quality.
Wax we need six switches for the backup alarm, I want six switches ?.. Right sound, left sound, just lights, lights and sound, no sound, quiet sound. Ok but I want a backup alarm master switch?..
So ... seven switches it is .... Did you bring lunch?, I thought you did.
Check the gauges, I think we have a gauge for that somewhere. :laughing:

Well the first thing we'd have to change is the location of those back hoe levers between the seats
You've got a wonderful imagination there Waxman :laughing:

 

[4shorts]

Ok. Let's go off topic for a minute. I've got two sons. Both play guitar. I asked my older son to do "Baby Blue" by Badfinger. I've always loved that tune so he did it. The American Strat he's using is one I bought new for him a out 17 years ago while he was in high school and yes even that got a lot of custom mods done to it. I consider it one of the best investments I ever made.

Incidentally, some of the guitars you see in the background were hand crafted by his younger brother Daniel.
Check it out :thumbsup:


Short Guitars | Hand Crafted Guitars

 

[WaxMan]

Very Nice Job, you play the guitar to that song effortlessly. Just got thru watching Breaking Bad with the family on Netflix. Love the song, love the show, perfect ending song.
Nice job on the Crafting of the guitars, well displayed. Paul I'm sure your as proud as you can be with your sons.

 

[4shorts]

Very Nice Job, you play the guitar to that song effortlessly. Just got thru watching Breaking Bad with the family on Netflix. Love the song, love the show, perfect ending song.
Nice job on the Crafting of the guitars, well displayed. Paul I'm sure your as proud as you can be with your sons.

Thanks. I asked him to do it for me. He never played it before so he leaned it in 1/2 an hour and did the video. He's a B-med in the military and just a great guy. He's so full of life and a joy to be around. The younger guy Daniel is more of a serious type and also military. He's Air Force now but was Navy. He just builds mind blowing guitars. He gets his talent from his mother and he's so kind hearted. We are very proud of our boys for sure.
I never heard of Breaking Bad until this past Christmas. They had a marathon on of the show, well I made the mistake and watched one episode, well I was hooked. Really enjoyed it. Still got a bunch on the PVR to watch if I ever get the time.

 

[number two]

Wow,he did a great job in 1/2 hour of time!One of my all time favorites as well!Remember hearing it on AM in the '67 Tempest.
Always enjoy your projects and posts.

JIM

 

[4shorts]

Wow,he did a great job in 1/2 hour of time!One of my all time favorites as well!Remember hearing it on AM in the '67 Tempest.
Always enjoy your projects and posts.

JIM

Thanks Jim. Ya that song is a classic. Tragic what happened to the band though. My boy is in a band and fills in for a number of other bands. He's well known for his guitar playing. Glad you enjoyed it and the projects and posts. Thanks for that :thumbsup:

 

[ericdube]

Just checked out the photos on your thread and they are FANTASTIC! You got the set up there now buddy, not much you won't handle with that beast.

Like anything a Newley designed machine will have a few things that needs to be tweaked once it gets out in the real world and I'm sure it will get sorted out. It's just a pain having to bring it back to the dealer and not having safely at home.

Now let's talk about your voltage issue. First off all IF your radio is cutting out when the flashers are on then it's my opinion it's a ground issue. I've don't a lot of electrical repairs over the years and I've always said that if you got stuff going on electrically that looks like it's processed by sprits then look for a bad ground.

That being said. If you have everything turned on at idle such as the heater heater (up on high), wipers, defog there's no way the alternator can keep up, it WILL go in discharge mode. The only way to have all of these items on and to be able to keep up with the demand is to step up on the throttle.

Now if your only getting 11 volts at idle with nothing extra running, example heat on low and radio on then I'd suspect an internal issue with the voltage regulator and just maybe that's where all these electrical issues are. That would be where I'd be looking anyway.

Well it's been a crazy winter so far. Record snowfall, actually the most snow since 1901 for December. To make matter worst we've been having major electrical outages island wide. Sure happy I put in a back up generator last fall. It's been a great comfort having it.

Keep us posted on what they find you you new machine. It's a beauty!

Now that's some serious snow! I see you were able to make use of both your Kubota's to clear the snow away! How cool is that and thanks for posting the pictures - nice action shots! :thumbsup:

As for the L4760 voltage issue, I actually spoke to my dealer today and they were finally able to get to the bottom of it. From what I was told, even at full throttle the alternator on the new L60 tractors just can't keep up with load being placed on it with when you have all the factory options installed (they specifically mentioned having the rear + side window defrosters option installed.) Based on what Kubota said, at full load, the electronics end up consuming around 68-amps of power, but the alternator is only rated at producing up to 60-amps.

Even though I was running the tractor at throttle (not just sitting idle) most of the time when I was plowing during the night (when all the cab accessories would be turned on) - I was essentially draining the battery little by little the more I used it. If my memory serves me well, right before the dealer picked up the tractor the battery was measuring just under 12 volts at rest (well below the 12.6v or so it should have been at for a full charge.)

While this issue hasn't been publicly disclosed to my knowledge, I'm also not the only owner who has been experiencing this problem. The issue was actually just recently was uncovered by Kubota when folks like myself were using their L60's in the winter for snow removal and found the main battery was discharging during regular use. The good news is that there's suppose to be a kit to address the problem (perhaps a new high-capacity alternator?) Although, I'm not sure if the kit is available yet or if it's still in development (or what the lead time is for it?), but I should hopefully know by Monday. I'm just happy they were able to figure it out!

I really appreciate you taking the time to weigh in on this and provide some assistance with the issue. Thanks again for all your help!

Finally, your son did a *killer* job with the song! Thanks for sharing!

Update: Looks like I won't have to wait long. The new higher capacity alternator should be in by next Tuesday. Should have the tractor back by next week.

 

[4shorts]

Now that's some serious snow! I see you were able to make use of both your Kubota's to clear the snow away! How cool is that and thanks for posting the pictures - nice action shots! :thumbsup:

As for the L4760 voltage issue, I actually spoke to my dealer today and they were finally able to get to the bottom of it. From what I was told, even at full throttle the alternator on the new L60 tractors just can't keep up with load being placed on it with when you have all the factory options installed (they specifically mentioned having the rear + side window defrosters option installed.) Based on what Kubota said, at full load, the electronics end up consuming around 68-amps of power, but the alternator is only rated at producing up to 60-amps.

Even though I was running the tractor at throttle (not just sitting idle) most of the time when I was plowing during the night (when all the cab accessories would be turned on) - I was essentially draining the battery little by little the more I used it. If my memory serves me well, right before the dealer picked up the tractor the battery was measuring just under 12 volts at rest (well below the 12.6v or so it should have been at for a full charge.)

While this issue hasn't been publicly disclosed to my knowledge, I'm also not the only owner who has been experiencing this problem. The issue was actually just recently was uncovered by Kubota when folks like myself were using their L60's in the winter for snow removal and found the main battery was discharging during regular use. The good news is that there's suppose to be a kit to address the problem (perhaps a new high-capacity alternator?) Although, I'm not sure if the kit is available yet or if it's still in development (or what the lead time is for it?), but I should hopefully know by Monday. I'm just happy they were able to figure it out!

I really appreciate you taking the time to weigh in on this and provide some assistance with the issue. Thanks again for all your help!

Finally, your son did a *killer* job with the song! Thanks for sharing!

Update: Looks like I won't have to wait long. The new higher capacity alternator should be in by next Tuesday. Should have the tractor back by next week.

Gee Eric it's great to hear your getting somewhere with your charging issues. Good lord I've got to say that I'm really disappointed in Kubota building a new tractor and not designing it to handle some basic electrical components that it has.

Couldn't have been much r&d done there :shocked:

Hope they stay on top that issue for 60 series owners now and don't drop the ball. This is another reason tractor manufactures need to start using the latest technology such as L.E.D. Lighting. It would make it much easier on their electrical systems.

As for our snow. It's gone! All of it! We had record amounts of snow in December and in the last 12 days it's been warm with rain and wind and we lost over 101 cm's of the white stuff. We actually walked out on the bare grass and picked up our Christmas decorations last week. Crazy weather.

It was so warm here yesterday I decided to do a job out in my shop that was intended to be done this coming spring and it was just like spring outside. :confused3:

 

[bandaidmd]

Your son does reverse karaoke very well. Most folks buy the music to sing along but you Shorts always have to be different.
He sure makes that 6 string sound good.

There's a noreaster supposed to form up down here early in the week so you should get it by Thursday, In case you were needing some more snow.

 

[WaxMan]

Ha, I knew it, your wife is the brains of your operation, :thumbsup:I'm surprised you admitted it. seriously though you can't think of everything.
I think your wife should be in more of these videos, I would very much love to see her telling you what to do. or should I say showing you how it;s done. you two make a good team. Who does all your Christmas decorations ? you did a great job in another video I watched. I like that Christmas video. You two certainly know how to enjoy life. Once the kids are grown, Christmas is not the same, but for you guys, you keep it going. It was nice to see your yard decorated so well.
For other TBN members, Paul makes some nice videos, if you haven't checked them out on Youtube, you should.