Starting over - the allure of country!

[fredzink]

For our 20 acres I bought an L6060 for three reasons:

1. The middle mount PTO for driving a 6-ft snowblower. We live in MN and have a 1/4 mile steep driveway. You can plow down, but not up. Snow blower works both ways.
2. With 60 hp, you can run most anything you can hang off the back. We use a a 6-ft tiller, seed drill, all-crop harvester, 6-ft flail mower. Same size frame as a smaller L, which brings me to my last point.
3. It and the attachments are fairly compact and fit nicely in the back of my 40x60 shop. (attachments stored on pallet racks for verticality)

 

[Milo]

Congratulations on your property "project", it sounds fun (BTW I'm just behind you in age). I had a home in town then bought acreage 25 miles out of town and built a small getaway house for weekends etc. Eventually I got tired of maintaining both so I sold the house in town.
I'm thinking a B01 may be a little small for what you want to do. I think I'd go up to an LX, or since you plan on pulling a field mower and don't need a mid pto, an L2501 won't cost any more or be any larger, but will be heavier and more stable. Someone mentioned "make sure it has a flat floor". The L2501 is not flat it has a hump, I've never paid attention to it myself, but if you want flat look elsewhere. The heavier L01 series would be better suited to an offset flail if you want to mow to the edge of your pond. Personally I do not mow to the edge so that's not a problem, I leave it grow which is actually better for wildlife. My L2501 easily runs a 5' cutter and flail, and shouldn't have any problem pulling a 6' finish mower.

 

[ljjhouser]

Congratulations on your property "project", it sounds fun (BTW I'm just behind you in age). I had a home in town then bought acreage 25 miles out of town and built a small getaway house for weekends etc. Eventually I got tired of maintaining both so I sold the house in town.

As I read your post, I was thinking there must be a lot of us that are drawn to outdoors rather than town. We liked fishing and the outdoors, and now have small acreage near Ozarks. We were drawn to the woods and waterways ( a lot of river paddling). Now that both my wife and I are both retired, we stay here more than KC where we are from. And if you know anything about the Ozarks, it is ALL hills. We have a L4701, mainly because of the wheelbase and largest frame size of the L series. Love that tractor.

 

[Smokeydog]

B26 and M59 TLBs are perfect for us to maintain and improve our place. We both can drive them. Always picking up trees/limbs. Hydraulics, grapples and thumbs are our muscles. Wife makes it challenging waiting to stack large rocks for flowerbeds. Mow our yards, orchards and berry patches. Small fields for the deer and turkeys. Friendly geriatric ergonomics. If we downsize or mini farm out can keep the B26 an option. It’s our work, our joy, our entertainment and we have the best seat in the house.

I fought years with my dad for a ramp into his house till after several falls he agreed. It made such a huge difference not just for him but for care givers, family and neighbors helping him. Decided to make us one too this year for our forever home. Kids love it more than the old folks.
Tractors necessary to make it happen.

 

[ljjhouser]

B26 and M59 TLBs are perfect for us to maintain and improve our place. We both can drive them. Always picking up trees/limbs. Hydraulics, grapples and thumbs are our muscles. Wife makes it challenging waiting to stack large rocks for flowerbeds. Mow our yards, orchards and berry patches. Small fields for the deer and turkeys. Friendly geriatric ergonomics. If we downsize or mini farm out can keep the B26 an option. It’s our work, our joy, our entertainment and we have the best seat in the house.

I fought years with my dad for a ramp into his house till after several falls he agreed. It made such a huge difference not just for him but for care givers, family and neighbors helping him. Decided to make us one too this year for our forever home. Kids love it more than the old folks.
Tractors necessary to make it happen.
View attachment 714597

What a nice place. Give me a comfortable chair on the deck and I would rest so well you won't have to even feed me. I wouldn't complain. Great picture. That place and the woods, with a tractor just suck you in. Way to go. Best of life.

 

[Alien]

I am now 73 and my wife 67. We have 40 acres but could never leave this place and go back to a city. Yes it is becoming harder but the last 18 years we have been able to get 'on top' of the hard work and now we just cruise along. At present we are doing up the house and discovering that it is not so easy at our age but we are persisting and slowly achieving our goals. Luckily only about 6 acres needs maintained as the rest is bushland. I fitted a quiklink on the tractor to make implement changing easier as my hands are becoming a problem. (and my back and my hip and my knee) LOL but we have all day to do everything so who cares.
Good luck with your new property. Hope it works for you. You sound like you would be a great neighbour to have.
This is our Oasis. At present we are building a large American style barn in the foreground near those containers. 15 meters x 12 meters. Try dragging me away then...

 

[ljjhouser]

Hi Alien,
I am 77. And as I age, I question whether or not I can complete certain tasks. When I was 75, I decided to build a garage for the tractor. I poured the foundation - had to mix all concrete in a mixer and wheel it to the forms. Then I thought - can I still do this stuff. It sat for a year. (which was ok with me. ) Ha. Then, my urologist told me he wanted to see me again psa was high. I thought - I better get that garage finished if I am going to be sick. So I did. My wife now says - If I want something finished quickly, I'm sending you to the doctor after I talk to him. Thank God, all the test were negative. I guess I have discovered for the first time in my life, as I grow weaker and more tired, it is ok go get someone to work with me. Best Wishes, Good photo, such a nice home. Keeping us working on stuff keeps us working on stuff ------Which is a good thing.

 

[Jstpssng]

You retired guys talking about and showing your homes is encouraging. I hope that I am fortunate enough to be able to live as well as I get older.

 

[ljjhouser]

You retired guys talking about and showing your homes is encouraging. I hope that I am fortunate enough to be able to live as well as I get older.

I hope you are able to also. I wish everyone could. I never thought I could ever retire. I am thankful everyday. My wife one day said you me. "You always wake up with a smile. - Why." Because after all those years, I finally have
only have one boss, and I love her.

 

[ljjhouser]

I spent half of my live being broke, and the other half learning why and how to fix it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Hard to say but many I know are waiting until Medicare eligible...

 

[nikerret]

Are you still in the same County you were in, in 2007?

If so, I’m not too far from you.

 

[thunderworks]

Are you still in the same County you were in, in 2007?

If so, I’m not too far from you.

Yes. Douglas County.

 

[Jstpssng]

Hard to say but many I know are waiting until Medicare eligible...

That will be one consideration for me. I don't have enough set aside to cover the cost of a decent health insurance policy on my own.

 

[thunderworks]

OP here . . . just an update.

My project is off to a good start. A local excavator company is building a pond, and a machine storage building (28 X 36' with an additional lean-to on the long side) has been built. I've also already started planting native grasses and forbs and have ordered for Spring delivery oak and cedar trees from the Kansas forestry department.

I ended up ordering a new L3301, grapple, mower etc when I was unable to find a good used tractor anywhere close to Kansas. Kubota really sucks you in in with zero percent financing. Buying used didn't make any economic sense, even if I had found a machine spec'd reasonably close to what I decided on.

I'll try to get a few pictures posted soon. We've named the place "Camp Freddie" after my goofy dog who seems to love the place even more than I do.

 

[Jstpssng]

Thank you for checking back in. You'll like your new tractor... I've worked the out of mine doing more than I should with it.
Just remember that it isn't your old 5030...

 

[tradosaurus]

If I had 30 acres to play on I'd want an L because it would set a bit higher and get around a bit better. Where is your acreage, I might come and help!!

I got rid of my L3301 and went to a MX5400, not only for the added PTO hp but the underside protection. I bent 2 hydraulic filters on the L3301.

 

[rScotty]

OP here . . . just an update.
SNIP
My project is off to a good start. I've also already started planting native grasses and forbs and have ordered for Spring delivery oak and cedar trees from the Kansas forestry department.
SNIP

I remember ordering a "few hundred trees" native trees from the State Forestry Service.....That was a few decades ago. Then one day I got a message at work to come pick them up at the fairgrounds. So I rounded up a friend and took our farm truck to an address literally coverd with trees in pots. It was like springtime in a garganuan Home Depot tree nursery department.

I backed up the truck, showed them my receipt, and in a few minutes a clerk brought out my "hundreds of trees".....and handed then to me a couple of shoe boxes. Turns out I'd ordered "bare root seedlings". I could hold twenty in one hand....

My buddy couldn't stop laughing. He insisted that the "hundreds of trees" all ride home with us on the front seat. Which they did.

Once planted, it turned out that since they were "native species", every plant and bug already living there was born knowing all about how to compete with and defeat our seedlings. The ones that made it a few years at least lived and thrived long enough to be eaten. After five years all that remained was a couple of hundred bare spots...spots about the size of a small tree.

Maybe next time I'll ask the Forestry Service if they have a nasty "Invasive Species Mix". Something you'd find growing in a bar ditch.... I'm still looking to grow some hedge rows & wind breaks. But for doing that we need plants with an attitude.

rScotty

 

[dodge man]

Sounds like you got a nice machine. Good luck on the project.

 

[thunderworks]

I want to add some pictures of the pond build but can't figure out how to do that . . . can anybody help?