chim
Elite Member
I find myself trying to convince anyone looking for a tractor that they need what I have or they'll be unhappy. It is a big but honest mistake. Most of us have spent may years and perhaps many dollars going through different machines finding what works perfectly - for us and on our properties. The problem with the insights we offer is that the person we offer it to doesn't live at our house. There are lots of discussions on tractors vs. zero turns, brands, horsepower requirements, etc. One of the things my Grandad told me is that any tool made to do more than one thing doesn't necessarily do anything extremely well. I have taken a lot of his wise advice. May have strayed a bit by choosing a tractor instead of different machines, but I'm very fond of the flexibility. Here's where I am after living on this property for 30 years:
* Used open station (1989-2012) and until then couldn't understand why the girly men needed cabs.
* In 2012 I became a girly man when I built a heated cab for the L3200.
* Last year it got even worse. It wasn't enough to have heat in Winter. Now A/C for the hot days of Summer seem like a great idea.
* Grooved R4's are better all-around tires than the R1's and turfs I've had. Full disclosure - the turfs were on a 2WD tractor.
* Had a belly mower on my first tractor and didn't like it.
* Tried a Zero Turn and didn't like it.
* Tried a Ferris and didn't like it.
* Rear finish mowers rule.
* Your RFM isn't wide enough till there's one small spot that gets scalped when you're not paying attention. Three or more spots? Reduce the cutting width by at least 6".
* Never keep the loader on unless you need to use it for something.
* If the tractor you want is too tall, trim the trees and build a larger shed.
* There is an upper limit to tractor size and HP for a given application, but it's a good bit higher than most people think it is.
* There's no such thing as overkill when doing auxiliary lighting. (Remember when MTV played music videos and their slogan was "Too much is never enough"?)
* Bought a 3-point quick hitch and never got around to using it. The smaller implements aren't too difficult to wrestle with. The larger implements go on the larger tractor and it has telescoping lift arms and stabilizers. Probably use it for some ill-conceived front SSQA project one day.
* Front mounted snow plows are the best snow removal tool. (Exception in first sentence below)
* A snowblower is a lot of fun, but unless there's absolute lack of somewhere to push the snow, it isn't the right tool for snow removal if time is of the essence. They're awful if you need to re-blow the snow a few times to get it all the way off the parking lot.
* A wife with a poor memory may not be a bad thing. Mine just reminded me I said I'd sell the L3200 when we bought the L4240 last December. Thankfully, she still hasn't recalled a similar deal that the Ford would go when we got the B7500 in '02.
* Buy a couple lynch pins each time you get into Tractor Supply. Those little buggers have a way of escaping from whatever storage spot you provide for them.
There ya go. Pure honest and accurate advice for anyone who lives at my house. Could be different for the next door neighbor
* Used open station (1989-2012) and until then couldn't understand why the girly men needed cabs.
* In 2012 I became a girly man when I built a heated cab for the L3200.
* Last year it got even worse. It wasn't enough to have heat in Winter. Now A/C for the hot days of Summer seem like a great idea.
* Grooved R4's are better all-around tires than the R1's and turfs I've had. Full disclosure - the turfs were on a 2WD tractor.
* Had a belly mower on my first tractor and didn't like it.
* Tried a Zero Turn and didn't like it.
* Tried a Ferris and didn't like it.
* Rear finish mowers rule.
* Your RFM isn't wide enough till there's one small spot that gets scalped when you're not paying attention. Three or more spots? Reduce the cutting width by at least 6".
* Never keep the loader on unless you need to use it for something.
* If the tractor you want is too tall, trim the trees and build a larger shed.
* There is an upper limit to tractor size and HP for a given application, but it's a good bit higher than most people think it is.
* There's no such thing as overkill when doing auxiliary lighting. (Remember when MTV played music videos and their slogan was "Too much is never enough"?)
* Bought a 3-point quick hitch and never got around to using it. The smaller implements aren't too difficult to wrestle with. The larger implements go on the larger tractor and it has telescoping lift arms and stabilizers. Probably use it for some ill-conceived front SSQA project one day.
* Front mounted snow plows are the best snow removal tool. (Exception in first sentence below)
* A snowblower is a lot of fun, but unless there's absolute lack of somewhere to push the snow, it isn't the right tool for snow removal if time is of the essence. They're awful if you need to re-blow the snow a few times to get it all the way off the parking lot.
* A wife with a poor memory may not be a bad thing. Mine just reminded me I said I'd sell the L3200 when we bought the L4240 last December. Thankfully, she still hasn't recalled a similar deal that the Ford would go when we got the B7500 in '02.
* Buy a couple lynch pins each time you get into Tractor Supply. Those little buggers have a way of escaping from whatever storage spot you provide for them.
There ya go. Pure honest and accurate advice for anyone who lives at my house. Could be different for the next door neighbor
