What attachments do I want?

[rcrcomputing]

I'm about to dump for a ck30 kioti with a fel and backhoe. I've never had a tractor before. My question is, what are the top 3 0r 4 attachments you guys like. No matter if bought, homemade or what. What do you find usefull?

Lastly, do I get a fel with teeth or smooth and buy a tooth bar????

 

[DK35vince]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Lastly, do I get a fel with teeth or smooth and buy a tooth bar???? )</font>

Without a doubt toothbar !!

Your already getting the loader and backhoe, so your set there..
My most used attachments are
rear finish mower
tiller
brush mower
boxblade

 

[elad]

Get the smooth fel and buy a toothbar. You can always
remove the toothbar.
I have RB, FB, Ballast box, toothbar, rear flood lites,
front flood lites, tilt-meter, tire chains, loader level indicator,
canopy, wheel weights, and filled rear tires. I find all these things useful. Will add additional attachments when money
is right. I also have a flashing yellow warning lite so when
I am plowing snow with the FB.
Hope this gives you some idea of useful additions to start.

 

[JOELENAHAN]

Get a toothbar, I probably wasted 20 hours trying to remove a stone wall without it. I think it is the best investment I have made for my FEL. My next best buy was a box blade. Although I only used it to level out my yard, it is a great source of ballast. The next best investment I would buy is a landscape rake with guage wheels. Although I do not own one, I have borrowed the father-in-laws and hate to return it every time.

 

[notamustang]

Nice start ! Tooth bar is a wise choice.
Box Blade
Auger
Landscape rake
Batwing mower (weeds)

 

[KiotiJohn]

A removable toothbar is probably one of the most used tools I added. I also use my boxblade with rippers very often. The loader you're already getting, it's the number one, but becomes much more with the toothbar. John

 

[GuglioLS]

Fill out your BIO with more detailed information. Doing this will help you and others. By knowing where you live climate, geography etc better recommendations can be made.

Tooth Bar for sure. Box blade or just a plain old blade for smoothing & leveling. It really depends on what projects you plan on. Of course really once you have a tractor it's more a question of what projects can you come up with to get seat time (Play) on the tractor.

 

[rcrcomputing]

I must admit, I expected to see a grapple, or forks or something like that in your favorites.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I must admit, I expected to see a grapple, or forks or something like that in your favorites. )</font>
Well, I personally have forks, but use them only occasionally. Great to have when I want them. They help a lot when moving large brush piles, and cut firewood on pallets, but I use the loader/toothbar and boxblade far more often.
Of course, what we have is not what you necessarily want, and if you can buy them, get all the implements you want!
If I had more money, there probably wouldn't be an implement that would fit on my tractor that I wouldn't have! John

 

[SnowRidge]

Most important: A heavy boxblade for use in its own right, and to balance the FEL, unless you are going to keep the BH on all the time. Pay a little extra and get a heavy duty BB. It will be worth it.

Not having any other information, I would say:

Rotary mower (brush hog)

Depending on your needs, any of these

Rear finish mower
Tiller
Post hole digger
Pallet forks
Boom pole

 

[viking65]

I use my rear blades, 6' for snow, 5' for everything else, (gotta have a couple of blades /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif) and my newly acquired landscape rake quite a bit. My box scraper doesn't get as much play time as the rear blade. A carry-all comes in handy too.

 

[rcrcomputing]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Of course, what we have is not what you necessarily want, and if you can buy them, get all the implements you want!
If I had more money, there probably wouldn't be an implement that would fit on my tractor that I wouldn't have! John )</font>

To be honest, my wife is starting to balk on me (I'm sticking to my guns though) and I'm addmittedly spending to much already, so I'm going to have to REALLY prioritize the attachments. It sounds like the toothbar is a must and I'll prolly have to let the other stuff ride for now..

I think I do want a trailer that might serve two purposes, haul the tractor with, and pull around with the tractor to load stuff..

Of course, my wife said "landscape rake"? and perked up a bit, so I'll have to go see what that is.

She's really rather silly and thinks her car should be worth more than the tractor. Silly girl....

 

[Dartagnan]

Landscape Rake,

My most used attachment, (I don't count FEL as an attachment, it's part of the tractor) will be adding gage wheels before next fall so I can rake leaves and such without destroying the grass.(hopefully anyway) I use it for small leveling jobs rather than changing to box or rear blade, takes more seat time, but not more than the changing of implement back and forth would. For larger areas it is always the last item to touch the ground, makes a terrific seed bed for lawn seed. For cleanup work,I can grab a 6" base diam x 30' white pine (already down of course) and drag it to the burn pile without ever getting off the tractor. It's also great for re-stirring the gravel drive to bring the fines back to the top and take the whoopdedoos out.

Drawbacks..
tines will bend with misuse...but not so bad as I need to replace them yet...
pretty heavy piece, you want to make sure you park it on fairly level ground and something under the front before you unhook
it will load up with dirt/mud if it's damp out,
You tend to watch it work instead of where you are going.... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Size:
I have a <font color="blue"> TC30 </font> w/industrials and pull a loaded w/mud and lawn waste six footer with no problem, when its angled it still covers my tracks.

Dart

 

[thegreatrandini]

It all depends on what u use ur tractor for.... I would'nt have encough use for backhoe to justify the cost......plus they are a nuisance to store hook up etc... I can rent a little excavater for a weekend if I have a big project.....never have needed one.....If I was a master plumber I would go into the sewer line repair business cuz it is un believable what those guys get for that......anyway then I would want at least one backhoe....... I don't dig with loader so I have not got a tooth bar yet..... I just load horse pooh and snow and scrape a little with it.. If it snows nothing works like a rear blade. If you want level ground then box blade is a good tool...For me a bushhog was needed so I could mow the pasture. If I had turf tires I would get finish mower... We have a garden and a round pen so I got a tiller...... Just all depends.....

 

[rcrcomputing]

So do most folks leave the backhoe on? I was thinking it would counterbalance the FEL???

If not, I guess I need to weight the back end?

 

[SnowRidge]

<font color="blue"> If not, I guess I need to weight the back end? </font>

Absolutely. That's one of the reasons I recommended a heavy duty box blade. Lots of weight helps the BB work, and it helps to keep a loaded FEL from tipping or rolling the tractor. Since a BB is relatively short, it has minimal effect on maneuverability, compared to longer implements.

A loaded FEL without something to counterbalance it is an accident waiting to happen. Lots of threads on TBN discuss FEL safety. They are all worth reading.