Cliff_Johns
Elite Member
As some of you have noticed, I just bought a JD 4110 with a Backhoe and a loader. I got it delivered yesterday and had an interesting day.
First let me say that this tractor has a lot of power, and that story about the tractor flipping over when the rear wheels are stuck to the ground is true, but more on that later. By the way, tool box lids should be closed and secured when operating your tractor.
The dealer rolled the tractor off the trailer for me. I was too nervous, and I worried that I might do it wrong. I've never driven a tractor onto or off of a trailer before. He pulled it up onto my driveway and explained all the knobs and levers and told me to read the manual carefully before trying anything other than driving around the yard.
So I drove around the yard for a few minutes enjoying the wind in my hair, then I decided to pull a stump with the backhoe. First I needed to push over the small tree (only 8") with the front loader which took a few good running starts, but the tree eventually tipped over.
When it tipped, the roots popped up under the tractor and lifted the front end off the ground far enough that I slipped off the seat backwards, dropped through the ROPS and landed with my head in the backhoe bucket. I'll have a strange hairdoo for a while. Wear seat belts, it could save your hair.
But the tree was down! I then pulled the tractor off the tree using the FEL and the BH. Now I wanted to yank the stump, so I turned the tractor (which by now I'd named Arnold) around, switched seats and tried to pull out the stump.
Stabilizers have their uses. I recommend them. After a couple neighbors tilted Arnold back up on it's tires I put the stabilizers down and tried again. This time, Arnold stayed steady, but the stump did too. I decided to turnaround and lift the stump out with the FEL.
I didn't know tractors could make that kind of noise. I think the FEL was not installed right. The stump wouldn't budge.
Now, I hooked some rope to the FEL and looped it around the stump. I started backing up, but the rope kept stretching and stretching. Finally, the rope snapped. OK, so I've learned that one should use chain for things like this. Nylon rope snaps back with enough speed and force to make for a bad hair day, just like sticking your head in a backhoe bucket, only it involves more blood.
By now, it was getting dark, but I turned on the lights, focused them on my nemisis stump (well, actually the whole tree, but all I could see was the stump.) Suddenly I realized that I was going about this all wrong. All I needed to do was roll the thing clear of the hole. I mover Arnold to the side of the tree and with three sharp rams, it suddenly flipped right out of the hole. On that final ram, however, the half the tools in the box flew past me going about 40 miles an hour and landed on the hood an banged into the FEL bucket. Arnold's momentum carried his back tires into the hole.
The backhoe had fallen off a few yards back, aparently poorly installed, the loader bucket rolled away entangled with the root system and the smell of diesel fuel permeated the ground beneath me, but I thought Arnold had one more burst left in him. At least enough to get back to garage, so I pushed up the revs to 2800 intending to power my way out of the hole. But the hole was deep and narrow and the wheels hadn't so much rolled into the hole as fallen in. The torque wrench left a final impression on me (above my left eye) just as I was unbuckling my seat belt.
So there I was, front end pointing toward the starlit sky, deisel fuel dripping on my face like rain off the edge of a umbrella, washing my blood into the hole and I thought to myself, This is what it's all about. I love my tractor!
Cliff
PS. Although my imaginary tractor was delivered, the real one is still a week away.
First let me say that this tractor has a lot of power, and that story about the tractor flipping over when the rear wheels are stuck to the ground is true, but more on that later. By the way, tool box lids should be closed and secured when operating your tractor.
The dealer rolled the tractor off the trailer for me. I was too nervous, and I worried that I might do it wrong. I've never driven a tractor onto or off of a trailer before. He pulled it up onto my driveway and explained all the knobs and levers and told me to read the manual carefully before trying anything other than driving around the yard.
So I drove around the yard for a few minutes enjoying the wind in my hair, then I decided to pull a stump with the backhoe. First I needed to push over the small tree (only 8") with the front loader which took a few good running starts, but the tree eventually tipped over.
When it tipped, the roots popped up under the tractor and lifted the front end off the ground far enough that I slipped off the seat backwards, dropped through the ROPS and landed with my head in the backhoe bucket. I'll have a strange hairdoo for a while. Wear seat belts, it could save your hair.
But the tree was down! I then pulled the tractor off the tree using the FEL and the BH. Now I wanted to yank the stump, so I turned the tractor (which by now I'd named Arnold) around, switched seats and tried to pull out the stump.
Stabilizers have their uses. I recommend them. After a couple neighbors tilted Arnold back up on it's tires I put the stabilizers down and tried again. This time, Arnold stayed steady, but the stump did too. I decided to turnaround and lift the stump out with the FEL.
I didn't know tractors could make that kind of noise. I think the FEL was not installed right. The stump wouldn't budge.
Now, I hooked some rope to the FEL and looped it around the stump. I started backing up, but the rope kept stretching and stretching. Finally, the rope snapped. OK, so I've learned that one should use chain for things like this. Nylon rope snaps back with enough speed and force to make for a bad hair day, just like sticking your head in a backhoe bucket, only it involves more blood.
By now, it was getting dark, but I turned on the lights, focused them on my nemisis stump (well, actually the whole tree, but all I could see was the stump.) Suddenly I realized that I was going about this all wrong. All I needed to do was roll the thing clear of the hole. I mover Arnold to the side of the tree and with three sharp rams, it suddenly flipped right out of the hole. On that final ram, however, the half the tools in the box flew past me going about 40 miles an hour and landed on the hood an banged into the FEL bucket. Arnold's momentum carried his back tires into the hole.
The backhoe had fallen off a few yards back, aparently poorly installed, the loader bucket rolled away entangled with the root system and the smell of diesel fuel permeated the ground beneath me, but I thought Arnold had one more burst left in him. At least enough to get back to garage, so I pushed up the revs to 2800 intending to power my way out of the hole. But the hole was deep and narrow and the wheels hadn't so much rolled into the hole as fallen in. The torque wrench left a final impression on me (above my left eye) just as I was unbuckling my seat belt.
So there I was, front end pointing toward the starlit sky, deisel fuel dripping on my face like rain off the edge of a umbrella, washing my blood into the hole and I thought to myself, This is what it's all about. I love my tractor!
Cliff
PS. Although my imaginary tractor was delivered, the real one is still a week away.
