What did you do on or to your LS Tractor today?

[sodamo]

Finally got around to filling the rears with washer fluid..... 5 hours later (including breaks because it was 96+ degrees) they are filled! I can definitely feel a difference, and was able to get a heaping bucket of dirt scooped up from a pile while in 2wd. It only took 82 gallons....

Care to share the how?

 

[Mrsig]

Finally got around to filling the rears with washer fluid..... 5 hours later (including breaks because it was 96+ degrees) they are filled! I can definitely feel a difference, and was able to get a heaping bucket of dirt scooped up from a pile while in 2wd. It only took 82 gallons....

I can't be leave how much better it rides & the work load it can do since I did mine too.

 

[Avenger]

Changed engine oil and filter, also changed hydraulic filters last week. Used the vacuum method when changing hydraulic filters and that worked great, didn’t loose hardly any oil. Removed FEL for my first time and that went easier than expected, re installing the loader was very easy . Used the tractor and a hydraulic dump trailer to haul 2 loads of firewood about 5 miles one way. Now have total of 74 hours on the new tractor and I’m very happy i bought it. The hours sure seem to add up fast, as close as I can tell it seems to be using about 1.6 gallons of fuel per hour.

Awesome!
Removing the FEL is great for doing any kind of maintenance. It typically only adds a few minutes to the job, but probably saves several more by not needing to work around the darn thing. Not to mention the frustration levels are lower.
Glad the vacuum trick worked for you as well! Simple tricks go along way!

 

[Avenger]

Something like this ?

21" Backhoe Ripper (fits BHM & BHSM Series~6’7’8′) | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service:

betstco.com

Yeah. Something like that. Though, that looks like a shank for a subsoiler mounted up as a ripper tooth.
This is that rather expensive one I was referring to:

BACKHOE RIPPER TOOTH | miemachinerydivision

www.miemachinery.com

But was thinking of making something like this:

SABRE TOOTH STUMP & ROOT RIPPER | TRK ATTACHMENTS

sabre tooth stump & root ripper excavator attachments

www.trkattachments.com

only a solid unit.
The teeth is what Im after. So I can saw though the roots if needed. Much like the BXpanded, a solid unit with teeth.

I was all about the BXpanded tooth, until I found out how small they are. I was planning on purchasing one, modifying it to work with my BH, but the tooth part is too small by about double.

 

[Cycledude]

Awesome!
Removing the FEL is great for doing any kind of maintenance. It typically only adds a few minutes to the job, but probably saves several more by not needing to work around the darn thing. Not to mention the frustration levels are lower.
Glad the vacuum trick worked for you as well! Simple tricks go along way!

I had watched your video about taking the loader off a couple months ago and that was a big help ! THANKS !
My tractor also has a custom skid plate that I removed in order to make it easier to get at the hydraulic filters. Haven’t re installed the skid plate yet and suspect it’s going to be a big job but I will manage, with all the hoses and filters somewhat protected I feel a little safer taking it in the woods.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Care to share the how?

Sure! I was able to get a 55 gal drum of -25° WWF from a local auto parts supplier (Parts Plus) for $125.... then another 20 gals from Walmart. Picked up this adapter at TSC:

Air/Water Adapter Kit

Ballasting your tractor tires shouldn't be hard. In fact, we think it should be a cinch. So we came up with the Air/Water Adapter Kit. It fits onto a standard garden hose, and can easily connect to all types of valve stems. Featuring fast flow valves and large bore valve extensions, you can...

shop.slime.com

I was originally going to use a submersible pump that I have, but decided to get this pump from HF:

1/10 HP Transfer Pump 320 GPH

Amazing deals on this 1/10 Hp Transfer Pump 320 Gph at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

It comes with a 6' suction hose and a weighted base for the hose, so I figured I could use it for the pond cleaning chores also....

The valve adapter made it super easy.... I jacked one tire of the ground, turned the tire until valve stem at 12 o'clock, and removed the valve core, deflating the tire (I heard some war stories of the weight of the tractor popping the tire bead off the rim). Hooked the hose / pump to the adapter and started filling.

At about 4 minutes, you could hear a difference in the sound of the pump, so I would turn off the pump and bleed the air using the little button on the adapter. After doing this for the first 20-25 gals, I found it was faster to unscrew the adapter from the stem.... much faster to drain the air... probably about 30 seconds using the button, maybe 5 seconds to remove the adapter.

Basically rinse and repeat until the tire was full (excess draining from valve stem). Reinstalled the valve stem and inflated to 25 psi. Then tackled the other side. Not hard, just really time consuming.

 

[sheamus]

Dumb question, but why WWF and not water +antifreeze?

 

[Avenger]

Dumb question, but why WWF and not water +antifreeze?

Think about it this way, if you get a flat tire, and the liquid leaks out, what would you rather have in your soil, WWF or antifreeze?

They both weigh about the same, but antifreeze a bit more expensive, worse for the environment (if spilled), and WWF does not freeze, least it shouldnt.

However, when filling my tires, I opted for Rimguard, or Beet Juice. Way heaver, slightly more expensive, never freezes, and not harmful to anything if spilled.

 

[xBBx]

So, ironically enough...I had my first experience with an LS tractor over the weekend. It's been bugging me since. I saw this post and thought "what timing!". Plus I need to get my experience off my chest. First off, my experience was very limited. An in-law has a pretty much new LS 7 series. Nice big tractor that looks pretty sitting there. Doesn't get used all that much, basically carrying occasional round bales and some FEL work, very little brush hogging. The thing probably has less than 50 hours on it and it's shy of 2 years old.

They needed to remove the bucket and put on a bale spear. The quick attach pins were stuck pretty good down in the bottom slot area. A bit of a lack of maintenance and cleaning contributed to this, but I've seen worse. So, he grabbed a pipe for leverage and put it over the QA pull handle. One side came out with a lot of coaxing. The other side, not so much. First the handle bent pretty easily. Like, surprisingly easy. Then a bang. The top of the pin where the handle connects snapped. There went the spring and some other parts. Turned out that the materials used on those quick attach handles, springs, etc. is something more like nickel or alloy, not steel. After looking at this, I noticed other similar items were made with the same stuff. Now on my machines (kubota, gehl, takeuchi CTL) that stuff is strong and made with steel. Like real steel. I would have taken a heck of a lot more to bend it or snap it off. Not like the cheap material that was installed on the LS. I also didn't see grease zerks for them, but it was getting dark so maybe I just missed them? Regardless, it was pretty disappointing. Right when that all happened the owners says "aw this thing is a piece of crap!". Turns out the A/C quite working after about 5 hours and he's had no luck w/ service or repair. Partially somewhat due to lack of follow up, but still.

I don't mean to be harsh on the LS, but has anyone else experienced this sort of thing w/ this brand? For my first time around this machine I was pretty unimpressed. Just felt like they cheaped-out on things. Hopefully you (all) have had better experiences with yours.

Oh, and yes we did (after much pounding and cursing) get the remainder of the pin out and the bucket off.

 

[JCoastie]

I have a MT240 series, the QA pull handles are pretty easy to do by hand, I've never needed a helper bar, and I switch between bucket/forks/grapple fairly regularly. That said, I do grease the pins by hand, and I do wish they had a grease fitting and they do not. The handles feel pretty solid, but I have no idea what the metal composition is, feels like steel, rusts like steel, magnetic like steel. Mine are also factory bent into shape, they are not cast.