My NX6010

[MinnesotaEric]

Eric be sure to use some blue locktite or something similar on that FEL bucket level indicator tube. Use it in the jamb nut and the top tube that screws down. They are notorious for coming loose in about the first 10 hours of use. If you don't notice it, you will wad up the indicator rod when you curl the bucket.

True-blue 242 noted, James. Thanks for the tip.

Today I bolted on my sacrificial zinc anode.

I also bolted on the tooth bar I received from BXpanded. It is a little undersized, with the mounting tabs just under an inch too narrow. I also couldn't get it snug on both sides at once before tightening the two hold-down bolts. My solution was to us the ground and the weight of the tractor to get the tooth bar tight against the bucket before tightening.

And if the factory ever did a third function, it would probably look something like this. I'm pleased with the result.

I'm still waiting for components to fuss with the ECU, but I'm taking the tractor up north anyway to find out what loosens up and what needs Locktight on it.

 

[murphy1244]

That machine is much too clean, even those tires are spotless. No dirt in your county? I like your tubing job. Looks good.:thumbsup:

 

[MinnesotaEric]

My first grapple.

I made several videos, but my uploads are limited to municipal bar bandwidth, so here is one video I made bashing down trees.

 

[94BULLITT]

My first grapple.

I made several videos, but my uploads are limited to municipal bar bandwidth, so here is one video I made bashing down trees.

You made a very good choice on your grapple. Is it a 72''?

You probably don't want to be running that fast with the grapple in the ground. If you hit something you could damage the loader or worse. If I am cleaning roots or brush instead of running float I manually work the loader up and down so the front stays on the ground and you have 4WD.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You made a very good choice on your grapple. Is it a 72''?

You probably don't want to be running that fast with the grapple in the ground. If you hit something you could damage the loader or worse. If I am cleaning roots or brush instead of running float I manually work the loader up and down so the front stays on the ground and you have 4WD.

The grapple is a 72" but in the video I'm not using a grapple, I'm using a 72" bucket with BXpanded's piranha tooth bar. I'm in the lowest range and the tooth bar is shearing the trees off.

 

[whis]

You keep running it like that and all them lights you just put on will be hanging by their wires

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You keep running it like that and all them lights you just put on will be hanging by their wires

Whew, if you're worried about that, you'd be freaked about what I was doing today. Number 44 will never look new again. If you can imagine plowing into 1-4" thick material with branches scratching everything up, then you can understand what I was doing today. I used my dash cam to take videos but I don't have the cable to transfer onto my laptop, but I intend to post videos showing what a Woods BB720X can really do!

I did have some weird happenings. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the new driveshaft from the BB720X Brushbull onto the PTO of my NX6010. Eventually I gave up and chased down my new neighbor Bill. With four hands, it slipped on easy. Then, about an hour into running wide open, suddenly, my tractor started making a noise that to my ear sounded like my HST was blowing up. I hit the feed hose that comes from my 3rd function valve with a pyrometer. 112 degrees. I shot the bottom of the three remote valve which dumps to tank, 122 degrees. Nothing wrong with that. So I restarted the engine while outside and the noise was coming from the engine. I popped the hood and there was a sapling stuck through the fan belt hitting the fan. Bl-lr-lr-lr-lr-lr-lr-lrrrrrr. How it got there, I have no idea.

Land clearing update.

 

[k0ua]

A couple of notes on the PTO shaft engagement with the PTO stub.. one trick that can help is to take an appropriately sized bungee cord and use it to cradle and suspend the PTO shaft so that you do not have to hold the weight of the shaft up while fiddling with it to try to get it lined up. The weight of the shaft just wears on you after a while as you try to align the splines.

Also look and feel on the shaft for any burrs. You can remove them with a small file if you find any. A slight burr can make engagement very difficult. You should lube the shaft well with your favorite lube. I use Fluid Film on mine, and it really helps. On my small cutter I can turn the PTO shaft on the cutter by hand to align the splines but if your cutter is too large to turn by hand, you can use a large screwdriver or other bar for a lever when placed in the end of the PTO shaft coupler to be able to turn the shaft to get it lined up to slip on.

Also lube up the end of the shaft well including any buttons or collars. Of course attempt to slip on the coupler straight and square to the PTO stub on the tractor. I know this is all just keyboard "engineering", but hopefully something in this will help you. I used to dread hookin up the PTO shaft, and now it is a total non-issue. Practice hooking it up helps a lot too

 

[k0ua]

Oh, and I bet that stick in the fan blades, really had your heart racing for a bit until you discovered the source of the noise!

 

[oldpilgrim]

I'm always concerned when I start to push over saplings and drive backward back over them. There's many places and things to get hung up on or stuck into under that tractor...likes hoses, belt, wires, etc.

 

[Threepoint]

[snip]
Land clearing update.

Livin' the dream! (Well, at least one of them!) :drink:

 

[Threepoint]

I'm always concerned when I start to push over saplings and drive backward back over them. There's many places and things to get hung up on or stuck into under that tractor...likes hoses, belt, wires, etc.

+1 on this. For me, backing up in broken saplings and brush is when the underbelly seems most vulnerable. The bent-forward debris acts like angled punji sticks.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

+1 on this. For me, backing up in broken saplings and brush is when the underbelly seems most vulnerable. The bent-forward debris acts like angled punji sticks.

I was taken back by the noise but since I'm in trials mode, I'm tool heavy (thus having a pyronometer to look for hot spots that point to hydraulic restrictions), I wasn't caught flat-footed.

My solution to the bungee stick problem was to raise the cutting deck height. Instead of bending over and laying flat, mete rial bends over and springs back up, and gets cut. So far this technique seems to be working. I'm also using just two wheel drive and when I get stuck, I lock the rear end and flip into four wheel drive. That seems to be working as well, but I'm not yet near the sphagnum moss area out on the point where I'll likely always be in four wheel drive.

 

[Scooby074]

Glad to see you using that tractor. Im not much on trailer queens. Scratches rule!

One thing though, you gotta protect your rad and underbelly if your going to go blasting through the brush. Sticks will find their way through unbelievably small holes.

Check out these tractors if you want to see what a full on brush mowing conversion looks like. Cobb County is one company that does these conversions. Home

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Glad to see you using that tractor. Im not much on trailer queens. Scratches rule!

One thing though, you gotta protect your rad and underbelly if your going to go blasting through the brush. Sticks will find their way through unbelievably small holes.

Check out these tractors if you want to see what a full on brush mowing conversion looks like. Cobb County is one company that does these conversions. Home

Interesting. Today I winged off half of my fuel cap.

And I punched a hole through the front grill on a brush pile.

I think I'll make some measurements and make a front brush guard insert to better protect the front end.

I also tripped over a genuine design flaw today: it is impossible to remove the front screen as the low side AC tube covers it making it impossible to remove in the field. Furthermore, the radiator screen needs a bit more space to make it easier to access, remove and replace, IMO. As soon as I get the tractor back home, I'll sort this issue out.

Put the rotary cutter to rest today as there are piles of deadfalls I need to grapple.

Taking Thursday off from land clearing to run around setting up some business stuff in Park Rapids, MN, as well as looking at an example of one contractor's new construction.

 

[fieldman12]

I see most guys driving over the saplings and such going forward. I am picky about nice looking equipment. When I do my clearing with the Bush Hog I mow them down in reverse so the cutter takes all the beating. It works really well. It is slower but at the end of your day your tractor looks like it was never in a jungle at lease as far as scratches go and damage.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I see most guys driving over the saplings and such going forward. I am picky about nice looking equipment. When I do my clearing with the Bush Hog I mow them down in reverse so the cutter takes all the beating. It works really well. It is slower but at the end of your day your tractor looks like it was never in a jungle at lease as far as scratches go and damage.

In my defense, I'm mowing a 25-35 year old forest. Mowing backward is the only way I can mow and then branches are scratching up everything.

Today I went to the auto parts store to get a replacement gas cap where they were nice Enough to allow me to rifle through their entire stock. I thought one of these had a chance to fit and it turned out that both fit. I now have a spare gas cap.

Although James warned me that if I didn't locktite the lock nuts in place, my bucket indicator would fall off. I forgot about the warning, and sure enough, it fell off within the first ten hours. Today I fixed it and locked it down with 242 Locktite.

 

[k0ua]

Told you so!

 

[k0ua]

Also be sure and check those little bolts that hold on the grease zerk end caps for the pins on the loader. I found several of them loose on mine, and some continued to loosen up until I cleaned them up and locktighted them. Seems the worse are the ones nearest the bucket.

 

[Green Power]

Great looking tractor Eric! Hopefully it serves you well for many years to come!