Implements you regret buying

628pm · May 28, 2017

Same for me on the tiller. I bought one when I retired, thought I would plant a garden. Didn't happen, but the neighbors sure liked it. Ended up selling it. Neighbors wondered why I would get rid of something so useful. I just tell them I needed the space in my garage. There are some small projects I could use one on, but I get by fine.

/pine · May 28, 2017

For the most part it sounds like a lot of the blame lies in the implements...
I don't have any regrets...I don't use the sickle bar much (too big and heavy for my tractor) but if I hadn't bought that one I would have another...just to see...

for starters, any type of grading etc. attachment is going to be easier to learn to use with hydraulic top and tilt...T&T greatly mellows the learning curve...

Not sure how it's done with other types of ground base...but in the SE if you don't have some type of ripper/scarifiers...you will never get rid of pot holes by just filling them...

IMO having a tractor with T&T and a box blade is like being a man that can catch flies with chop sticks..."he can do anything"...granted it takes experience but you should be able to learn something every time you mess something up and reverse the action etc...

I completely understand how an operator without T&T...would consider a box blade no better than a boat anchor though...

A landscape rake...with T&T no wheels needed (unless you're really lazy)...yeah they suck using them to do actual "landscaping"...but on a well based and established gravel road a good one is all that is needed for general maintenance and grooming...and extremely easy to master the art of using...

If you have an implement you don't use...why not sell it and give them a deal...it's good Karma...!

buckeyefarmer · May 28, 2017

I used my cultivator very little, and have not used it in yrs. My tiller gets used once a year, but it's worth having.

milkman · May 28, 2017

Kubota bagger for my BX2200, used it three times works really well, but found a ZD21 at a good price, haven't picked up leaves since.

ultrarunner · May 28, 2017

PTO post hole digger with down pressure...

My ground is just too hard

longjohn79 · May 28, 2017

I'm looking for a field cultivator if anyone has one and doesn't like it

Msamt · May 28, 2017

Great thread...
So far my northern tool quick hitch has only sat in the shed - won't fit the finish mower or counterweight barrel, and I rarely use my back blade which I never use lately.
Matter of fact, I haven't used my back blade since my summer project year before last, seems like overkill for my little driveway in the winter too.

Maybe it's time to sell em? Anyone looking for a quick hitch or a 84" heavy duty back blade?

longjohn79 · May 28, 2017

Wish I was closer, I would be interested. What brand are your rear tires? I like that pattern.

boggen · May 28, 2017

sickle mower, just to heavy to deal with for the old allis chalmers CA tractor.
tine rake, to small, loads up to quick, just a pain to use. ended up turning it into a moss remover for lake.

on other side of things...
2 bottom plow, disc, post hole digger, finishing mower, pull behind sprayer, drag harrow, draw bar, custom made draw bar for when finishing mower bracket is installed, lawn roller, rotary mower, weights. while i may not use some of them for a few years at a time. when it comes time to use them. i can not live without them. and most likely already paid for themselves in just labor alone, pain meds, etc...

Oldoak · May 28, 2017

Can't say I regret purchasing any of the implements that I bought over the years. Whether I use them frequently or on a very limited basis, I know I have them when I need them. I do regret not buying some of them sooner than I did.

ccsial · May 28, 2017

teg said:
That's the cool part of the thread... it's individual (personal) choices...

I could not be without my tooth bar, box blade or rake...

I did think of another implement but since I sold it a while ago, I forgot about it... I had to sell my tiller since I have one of the early "Standard" cheap "slipping PTO cams"... My pto was skipping every once and a while and the story of having to replace the old cams with the new square cams ($1000, 10 years ago) I decided to sell the tiller instead.

I get by with single plow and disk harrow...

teg, I had assumed you did the square cam replacement. I remember the tiller fiasco with these L2800 and 3400 HST units from some years ago. A number of people tore up the PTO cams with tillers.

My L3400 is around 500 hours now. I mow and snow blow with the PTO. The only problem occurred around 350 hours when the PTO cable had stretched enough to need replacing.

I have been fortunate enough to have my old Ford 1900 for tilling. It is a very rugged unit. I wish they still made them that good. It is not an HST though. 12 forward & 4 reverse. I am kind of spoiled with the HST for mowing and blowing.

dstig1 · May 28, 2017

Oooo, let's see here...

What I have:
Loader w/ QA
7' rear blade
7' landscape rake
6' BB
Forks for loader
Grapple
Skidding winch (not mine, but essentially on permanent loan...)

The only one that was of limited value to me was the rake. I've used it maybe twice, and I might use it once more for setting up grade in one more area, and then i will probably sell it.

The BB is no longer of use, as we paved our driveway last fall, but I used the heck out of it for a few years. Will probably sell that too.

I got the forks as the dealer told me they were "great for hauling brush". Well, not so much. I mean they are better than a bucket, but the only way you get anything to stay on them is to hand stack it. Kinda kills the benefit of the power tool (tractor) a bunch. That said, I use them as forks at various times, and I will never get rid of them.

Loader - a CUT w/o a loader seems near useless to me. Yeah I know there are people who just mow or some such, but still...

The rear blade is my snow removal, so heavily used that time of year. The rest of the year it is my counterweight.

Grapple can't be beat for firewood and brush work. Never sell

Skidding winch is really nice for logging and pulling trees around. Considering it really isn't mine, never sell, but never would either.

And definitely with slash pine on the T&T - the real utility of many of these things only occurs with T&T.

My 2 cents..
-Dave

cat fever · May 28, 2017

The only thing I regret is not being more informed when buying my tractor, with a back blade and disc harrow. They are both Land Pride and the lightest models they make. The back blade is fine I really only use it for snow removal. However the disc is a total piece of crap. It mounds the soil to the middle of the disc and then I have a %^&%% of a time getting the field leveled out again. So I used it 1 time and it's been sitting in the barn ever since. I talked to a Land Pride representative and was told the cheaper/lighter models do that. The more expensive upper line models will not do that. Wish I knew that small detail before buying.

ultrarunner · May 29, 2017

^^^Would it help to add weight to the disc?

I've seen a lot of really old ones that are used seasonally around here that have added weights... one has concrete to add weight.

cat fever · May 29, 2017

ultrarunner said:
^^^Would it help to add weight to the disc?

I've seen a lot of really old ones that are used seasonally around here that have added weights... one has concrete to add weight.

The disc works OK as far as "discing up the dirt. The problem is; it moves dirt to the center of the disc in windrow fashion. Then a pain to level out again.

super55 · May 29, 2017

For everyone that has issues with their landscape I highly recommend taking half of the tines off the implement. I did that to mine and it made a night and day difference. I hated my rake before I did that and had the same issue as everyone else with it piling dirt. Now I use mine all the time for leveling out fields and can do it almost as fast as I can do it with my field drag.

jeff9366 · May 29, 2017

cat fever said:
The disc works OK as far as "discing up the dirt. The problem is; it moves dirt to the center of the disc in windrow fashion. Then a pain to level out again.

You probably need to space your rear gangs farther apart. Rear gangs should be spaced a little less than pan diameter apart. If you have 20" pans, trial space rear gangs 18" apart. Approximately that spacing will end center windrow.

The rear gangs throw soill inward. Too closely spaced rear gangs create the objectionable windrow. The faster you Disc, the worse the center windrow.

Decreasing the gang angle of rear gangs will also decrease center collection. Generally speaking, rear gangs should be adjusted two increments less aggressively than front gangs.

LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=

Tomtint · May 29, 2017

I would say my Ratchet Rake is at the top of my list. ..although I used it a number of times, it wore out far to fast making it now just scrap metal. I also have a PTO chipper I bought used and have only used it 1 time myself. ( I find it easier to just burn the stuff ) I have a 6' rear Rake that I used to grade my lot and driveway when it was gravel.. now I have a grass yard and paved driveway...i.e. More scrap metal.. sold my 48 brush hog after it sat for18 months un used. .. I guess the implements I get the most use out of are my grapple bucket and forks..

jeff9366 · May 29, 2017

ultrarunner said:
^^^Would it help to add weight to the disc?

I've seen a lot of really old ones that are used seasonally around here that have added weights... one has concrete to add weight.

The front gangs on a Disc Harrow are the cutting gangs.

The rear gangs on a Disc Harrow are the smoothing gangs.

Every time I have seen weight added to a Disc Harrow it is on the back, when weight is needed on the front. (Difficult to weight the front because of Three Point Hitch tower.)

Occasionally I have seen weighted Discs with the Top Link shortened, WHICH REALLY STRESSES THE DISC FRAME AND THE TOP LINK.

The technique to make a marginally effective, UNWEIGHTED Disc Harrow cut marginally better is to shorten the Top Link until the rear gangs are just barely touching the ground. Almost all rear gang weight is then bearing on the front, cutting gangs. A second pass with front and rear gangs working is necessary to produce a reasonably smooth bed.

Disc after a soaking rain when soil is softest.

Don't weight a Disc Harrow. Sell the one you have that is too light and buy one with larger diameter pans.