AlmostThere
Member
Hi folks,
Wanted to introduce myself and thank you for all I've learned, or tried to learn from reading here the past few weeks.
My story...
I've been looking at buying some recreational land for a while and recently made an offer on some land near Bedias, TX, about an hour away from home. I knew I was going to need to get a tractor for it so started reading everything I could to learn about tractors. That's how I found this forum and there is a wealth of information here. I'm starting to question my motives, did I really buy the land as an excuse to buy a tractor? Might be so, either way I'm like a kid around Christmas time
I had been trying to figure out what I would want/need in a tractor. My "wants" of course outweigh my "needs." One thing I decided on was I wanted one with a cab. I'm highly allergic to bee and wasp stings so better to be safe than sorry. And I'll admit having air conditioning during the Texas summer was pretty tempting too. While reading this forum a few weeks ago someone had posted a link to a Craigslist listing for a 2011 LS 5020c tractor with backhoe (a "want," not a "need") for sale in Arizona. I looked at the ad and said to myself "that's a dang nice tractor." So I sent a link to the ad to my brother and told him this is what I'm looking for, just I'm not ready yet and it is far away. Unbeknownst to me my brother started looking into that tractor to buy it. He had contacted the seller, then the dealer the seller had bought the tractor from. About a week later he asked me if that tractor I had sent the link to him was one I would like to get. I had nearly forgotten about it by then, but after a pondered it for a couple minutes I said yes. Then he told me what he was up to, said he would buy the tractor since I had enough expenses right now buying the land, then I could repay him later. Could anyone ask for a better brother than that? He arranged the purchase and the transport from Arizona. I had so many concerns about this, I mean buying something on Craigslist "sight unseen" across state lines, relying on someone's word on what he was selling. So many ways this could go wrong.
A week or so later the I met the driver who transported the tractor to my brother's house. I went out while it was still on the trailer and was quite impressed. It looked better than the photos that were in the ad! The driver asked if I would like to back the tractor off the trailer. I had to hang my head in shame and admit I had no idea how to drive it yet (although I had been reading the owner's manual downloaded online). He said he had a Kubota and should be able to figure it out. Some of the controls he was not familiar with but I could help with those since I had read the manual! Between us we got it off the trailer and into the driveway. Nice guy but I know he must have gotten on the phone with his wife while driving away laughing about delivering this tractor to dimwit who didn't even know how to drive it. And that's okay because it was totally true
Since then I've gone to play with the new toy, I mean tractor, when I have time after work. Starting it up, learning to work the controls, checking to make everything works. I've got some basics down but will need a lot more time in the seat to get comfortable with it. So far everything works, the AC blows cold and even played with the backhoe. It looks like it has hardly been used. The tractor has 575 hours on it so decided to go ahead and do the 600 maintenance work while still in the driveway. That's still a work in progress. I did find one problem on it while I was going around greasing all of the zerks this weekend. On the right hand side where the latch pin connects the front end loader (FEL) to the tractor I found what looks like a spacer the pin goes through the weld to the FEL arm has cracked. I'll try to post a photo, I think this is just a spacer since it is just welded on 2 edges and not all the way around so I don't think it is structural. But if it is just a spacer then why did it crack? Perhaps not aligned right? The one on the inside of the FEL arm on this same pin is cracking too. If anyone else has seen this problem I'd love to hear your thoughts. I doubt the seller even knew about this problem since I didn't notice it until I was greasing. Soon I hope to remove the FEL and weld this back on. Any suggestions on removing the FEL? I've read the manual but by God I know they have people in Korea who can speak and write English in a sensible manner, I've met some. This translation must have gone to the lowest bidder. I've looked at videos for other makes of tractors but haven't seen any for an LS.
Next up will be finding a brush hog to use on the property. I won't close on it for a few more weeks but mowing will be my first project, it hasn't been mowed in quite a while.
Again I want to thank everyone on this forum for sharing their knowledge and experience. I know I'll be back with more questions
Wanted to introduce myself and thank you for all I've learned, or tried to learn from reading here the past few weeks.
My story...
I've been looking at buying some recreational land for a while and recently made an offer on some land near Bedias, TX, about an hour away from home. I knew I was going to need to get a tractor for it so started reading everything I could to learn about tractors. That's how I found this forum and there is a wealth of information here. I'm starting to question my motives, did I really buy the land as an excuse to buy a tractor? Might be so, either way I'm like a kid around Christmas time
I had been trying to figure out what I would want/need in a tractor. My "wants" of course outweigh my "needs." One thing I decided on was I wanted one with a cab. I'm highly allergic to bee and wasp stings so better to be safe than sorry. And I'll admit having air conditioning during the Texas summer was pretty tempting too. While reading this forum a few weeks ago someone had posted a link to a Craigslist listing for a 2011 LS 5020c tractor with backhoe (a "want," not a "need") for sale in Arizona. I looked at the ad and said to myself "that's a dang nice tractor." So I sent a link to the ad to my brother and told him this is what I'm looking for, just I'm not ready yet and it is far away. Unbeknownst to me my brother started looking into that tractor to buy it. He had contacted the seller, then the dealer the seller had bought the tractor from. About a week later he asked me if that tractor I had sent the link to him was one I would like to get. I had nearly forgotten about it by then, but after a pondered it for a couple minutes I said yes. Then he told me what he was up to, said he would buy the tractor since I had enough expenses right now buying the land, then I could repay him later. Could anyone ask for a better brother than that? He arranged the purchase and the transport from Arizona. I had so many concerns about this, I mean buying something on Craigslist "sight unseen" across state lines, relying on someone's word on what he was selling. So many ways this could go wrong.
A week or so later the I met the driver who transported the tractor to my brother's house. I went out while it was still on the trailer and was quite impressed. It looked better than the photos that were in the ad! The driver asked if I would like to back the tractor off the trailer. I had to hang my head in shame and admit I had no idea how to drive it yet (although I had been reading the owner's manual downloaded online). He said he had a Kubota and should be able to figure it out. Some of the controls he was not familiar with but I could help with those since I had read the manual! Between us we got it off the trailer and into the driveway. Nice guy but I know he must have gotten on the phone with his wife while driving away laughing about delivering this tractor to dimwit who didn't even know how to drive it. And that's okay because it was totally true
Since then I've gone to play with the new toy, I mean tractor, when I have time after work. Starting it up, learning to work the controls, checking to make everything works. I've got some basics down but will need a lot more time in the seat to get comfortable with it. So far everything works, the AC blows cold and even played with the backhoe. It looks like it has hardly been used. The tractor has 575 hours on it so decided to go ahead and do the 600 maintenance work while still in the driveway. That's still a work in progress. I did find one problem on it while I was going around greasing all of the zerks this weekend. On the right hand side where the latch pin connects the front end loader (FEL) to the tractor I found what looks like a spacer the pin goes through the weld to the FEL arm has cracked. I'll try to post a photo, I think this is just a spacer since it is just welded on 2 edges and not all the way around so I don't think it is structural. But if it is just a spacer then why did it crack? Perhaps not aligned right? The one on the inside of the FEL arm on this same pin is cracking too. If anyone else has seen this problem I'd love to hear your thoughts. I doubt the seller even knew about this problem since I didn't notice it until I was greasing. Soon I hope to remove the FEL and weld this back on. Any suggestions on removing the FEL? I've read the manual but by God I know they have people in Korea who can speak and write English in a sensible manner, I've met some. This translation must have gone to the lowest bidder. I've looked at videos for other makes of tractors but haven't seen any for an LS.
Next up will be finding a brush hog to use on the property. I won't close on it for a few more weeks but mowing will be my first project, it hasn't been mowed in quite a while.
Again I want to thank everyone on this forum for sharing their knowledge and experience. I know I'll be back with more questions
