Goodbye Kubota, hello EarthForce

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Home-made Soil Pulverizer

Mark

I've been lurking for awhile and really appreciate all the info. you've shared on the EarthForce. Have you checked out whether the machine will handle a hydrolic breaker on the bh? tia

micro

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Home-made Soil Pulverizer

Greetings, Micro, and welcome! Glad to have been of assistance. As a matter of fact, one of the factory options (which I ordered, of course), is a hydraulic rockbreaker connection. There's a button on the dipper/bucket joystick that you use to turn the hydraulics on and off. If you look at the close-up pictures of the backhoe I posted, you can see the spring-protected hydraulic connections at the top of the dipper stick. By definition, the rockbreaker hydraulics provide one-way hydraulic flow. So...

There's also an auxilliary remote hydraulics option (which I also ordered, of course /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) that provides bi-directional flow for backhoe attachments that require it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Home-made Soil Pulverizer

Mark

Thanks for your speedy response. I'm sold. That was the last real question left. I had decided to purchase an EarthForce anyway, but with the option of a rock/concrete breaker it's almost to good to be true.

I was trying to decide between an L35 and a B2910 TLB for a landscape business but didn't like (at least according to my research so far) that they couldn't handle a hydrolic breaker. It isn't often that I need one but when you need one you REALLY need one if you know what I mean.

After researching the EarthForce, I 'm amazed at the power/digging/lifting force. I will be looking into the EF 4 and EF4.

Good luck with your machine and please keep us posted on performance issues.

Mike

 

[bryce]

Re: More EF-5 info, pictures

My only question is does she have a sister that's available?
Bob

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Home-made Soil Pulverizer

micro - You're welcome! I think you'll be a lot more impressed by the machine itself than my yakking about it. Where do you live? (If you'd like to e-mail me privately to avoid telling everybody, feel free to do so.) Jason @ Folcomer Equipment in Baltimore has been absolutely fantastic to deal with. I highly recommend him. (If you want to e-mail me, depending on where you live, I might have another idea that could save you some money.)

In your message, you said EF-4 and EF-4 - did you mean EF-3 and EF-4?

Don't worry, I'll be giving more details on the actual usage of the machine and implements than most folks here care to read... /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif (Though I have to say I have been surprised at the amount of interest in a machine that is such a departure from "conventional" tractors that I didn't think many people would be able to get past it.)

 

[MChalkley]

Re: More EF-5 info, pictures

Bob - Does who have a sister that's available? The EF-5 or the pine tree? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[MChalkley]

Re: EF-5\'s first real

Today, I got the quick-attach backing plate welded on the Brush Brute (pics coming...) and tried it out on the EF-5 a little bit. I was plucking 4" diameter pines up out of the ground easier than you could run over them - it was amazing. Several times, I had 4 or 5 trees and shrubs in the teeth at once. On the smaller stuff, I just skimmed the Brush Brute along a couple inches off the ground and the EF-5 sort of pushed them over and pulled them up at the same time. With the bigger ones, it worked best to lift a little with the loader at the same time. It worked great! I pushed over some bigger ones 6-7" in diameter and ripped them up with the teeth of the Brush Brute, but I never did get it to spin the tires, and it never really acted like it was doing any real work. I used it about an hour doing this, and the hydraulic oil temperature gauge never moved. I would have suspected it of being defective, except that I saw it move on a much warmer day in SC when I was running it around, and there's a second hydraulic oil temperature gauge on the side of the tank - the glass bulb type - and it read very low, too.

Then, a friend called and said he had two HVAC units that were being delivered that needed to be unloaded. They were supposed to come on a flatbed equipped with a forklift, but showed up in a van-style 18-wheeler. Since they didn't have any way to unload them he asked if I could do it. So I put the forks on, and we took it over and unloaded them. Only problem was: They only weighed 700 pounds or so each, so it didn't even know they were there. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I'm still reallly impressed with the smoothness of the loader controls, though. A huge improvement in usability over what I'm used to.

 

[Woodbeef]

Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

See,I told you guys they were unbelievable,for something that looks so simple but works so well!! Go ahead and laugh about them taking off moose season,but was the wait worth it or not?

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Woodbeef - I believed you! Otherwise, I'd have given up on them after the second week of moose-hunting season (I'm sorry, but that still cracks me up /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) and I wouldn't have one now. I do really like the idea of having something for brush removal that is absolutely zero maintenance, and with the knowlege that, if I break it, I'll really have a story to tell! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Actually, the truth is, I use it with the knowledge that there's not a chance I could break it if I tried. There's some comfort in that. I don't think I have another single tractor implement I can say that about, in fact.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Mark,

Can you get a Brush Brute 72" wide... how much... what is the standard mount... how heavy... what is the depth...?

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

John - I'll find the specifics and let you know, but just to give you a brief summary: The depth (or length of the teeth) is about 30" - I'll measure it to be sure. I originally wanted the 72", but the lady who runs the company (the moose hunter...) talked me out of it. She said she would sell me whatever I wanted, but she claimed most of the larger ones end up getting cut down, so there was no need to waste my money and end up wishing I'd gotten the smaller one. I told her I thought I wanted one that was as wide as the track of the machine, and she said I was thinking like it was a bush-hog, which it isn't. She said the reason they end up getting cut down is because you often need to be able to get between trees you want to leave, and the shrubs and saplings the Brush Brute is made to clear aren't usually so thick that you can't drive through them if you clear a path 2/3 or so as wide as the tractor. She really impressed me as someone who knew what she was talking about, so I took her advice. From what little bit I used it today, I'd say she was dead on - I'm glad I didn't get the bigger one. I did get the "heavy duty" model, which is made of 1" plate instead of 3/4" - I think that was a good decision, too. What were you thinking of putting one on?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

I was thinking of putting it on my JD, but I need the 72" width to protect the tractor...

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=jdown&Number=77492&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=JohnMiller3&Match=Username&Searchpage=1&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=75543>My Mini 72” Brush Brute /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=safety&Number=71139&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=JohnMiller3&Match=Username&Searchpage=2&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=69988>Some of the brush I go through…</A>

 

[MChalkley]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

John - Some great pics! I think the 72" (or 74"?) was just a little under 900 pounds - with that much weight, you wouldn't have all that much left to lift trees with, would you? The 58" weighs a little less than 600 pounds. Either way, I still think you'd want to use the Brush Brute to clear the saplings, etc. and mow the other stuff. So, the smaller one would work better there, too.

BTW, you asked about mounts and I forgot to answer. They'll put whatever you want. Mine was shipped without a mount, but they put on an extra heavy tube frame that was the right size to weld a universal quick-attach plate to.

 

[Woodbeef]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Geez Mark just be glad that they are not avid bowhunters. Deer bow season up here lasts from October to the end of the year!!

Like I said before the biggest limiting factor with them is your loader lift capacity,and hydraulic power. If you have lots of both they are unstopable. As you'll soon learn. I've heard of guys running them on TLBs and crawler loaders digging them into bigger trees (10 to 12") and just poping them out of the ground

I have the widest one 88" it is,back when I bought it all they made were hd models. I 've never wished I had the narrower one myself . It makes a path wide enough to drive through,which is what I wanted in the first place.

It is the 2nd best purchase I've ever made next to my 8080a Steyr!! Now If I could just find a used Valmet Mezzo in my price range I'd have 3 best purchases.

 

[Thomas]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Oh I see your Deere in the brush. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Brush hogging like that I guess you wear eye or full face protection also hand protection.
When the brush really gets thick,do you chop the brush going backwards,for protection for you and the equipment.
Hope you haven't encounter any bee's brush hogging in such a grown up area.. ouch.. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Stay safe and warm,and Happy New Years.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

<font color=blue>...I have the widest one 76" ...It makes a path wide enough to drive through,which is what I wanted in the first place...</font color=blue>

Can you post a picture of your unit... and what size brush hog do you use?

What is your loader's lift capacity and what is your hydraulic horsepower...?

 

[Woodbeef]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Ok John,

I just went out and measured mine. Now remember I ain't no fabricater,or welder so here is my gist on the subject.

Mine is 88" wide. So it is made from a 88" wide piece of 1" plate. With a 4"x4" tube on the back

There is 25 teeth that are 15" long. They are 1" wide at the open end and 4" at the tube end. There is about 3/4" of material left not cut out before the tube

There are 3/16' pieces 14" long welded to the teeth on their edge. These are 2 1/2"at the tube end and taper down to not much at the open tooth end. These are welded in the middle of each tooth,and are 4" outside to outside between each one.

Now Mark's is 5 years newer than mine,and could be totally different.

Now I bet I got you totally confussed,eh?

 

[Woodbeef]

Sorry John,my mistake on width.

I use a 7' rotary mower. Should have known the BB was wider duh.....

It's mounted on my Steyr which is 70 hp and has a Frey loader with a front mounted pump. For lift I'd have to say around 3000 to 3500 lbs or so.

I'm only a trained ape on these here now electronic brain thingies. I'll see what my b-i-l can do about a pic though.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Yup,ain\'t those Brush Brute\'s great!!

Hi Woodbeef,

Sometimes the pictures don't do the implements justice...

I first saw some pictures of a Brown 7' rotary cutter... and thought... ah... just another mfr... seen one... seen them all... WRONG!

In person... it's a completely different story... you see the mass of steel used, you feel the mass of steel used... you know right away... here's some equipment that will do some everlasting damage... and built to be used for a long long time...