quote:

Originally posted by ThunTiger:

.....So new question is:

Those of you that use quads for property maintenance, what do you ride?

As I mentioned I replaced both of my ATV's with SXS's, a medium size MULE and a small Pioneer 520..





But if I for some reason I had to replace my SXS's with an ATV right now it'd be the one I recommended to my friend which is the same as you're now considering; a Rubicon 520 with power steering and a little trailer to pull behind it when I had to haul stuff.

So after traveling to both the JD and Kubota dealerships in addition to the Japanese bike shops and some things were immediately apparent.

1). I’m not going to be able to hop on an ATV and manhandle it like you have to forever. The Honda salesman was adamant the power steering would solve all that. It would be really convenient to have though.

2) SXS are popular for a reason. We are probably going to get a used Mule or Gator. This is JD country so Gators come up for auction more than the Mules.

3) Tractors in JD’s 1 and 2 series are not big enough leaps in utility for the price IMHO.
The X series is just a huge lawn mower. Also, the load rating for some of the front loaders was surprisingly low. A neighbor has an older JD 4110 I am going to check out. I realized I would be yanking trees around a lot and that’s not happening with the X series.
Kubota makes some really nice machines for the money. They will get my business if I buy new, but, that’s a huge investment.

Thanks for all the input

Enjoying this thread and learning. I will be needing something in a year or 2.

quote:

Originally posted by ThunTiger:

2) SXS are popular for a reason. We are probably going to get a used Mule or Gator. This is JD country so Gators come up for auction more than the Mules.

For reliability I would suggest a MULE over a JD Gator. I'm not anti Deere I have a Deere tractor but I hear more complaints on Gators than MULEs, and Gators generally are more expensive. Having said that if shopping used for about the same money, I'd pick a nice low hour Gator over a marginal higher hour MULE. Just for reference you can buy a MULE Pro MX with power steering brand new with 3 year warranty for under $15K.

When you test ride one take notice of how smoothly (or abruptly) they start off. Some are jerky which can be really annoying, particularly trying to back up to a trailer or inch up to something say in a garage. Others utilize a wet clutch along with the CVT and are very smooth starting off.

From my experience having both, a lockable open rear differential (sometimes referred as "turf mode") is very desirable and something most if not all ATV's do not have. Every time you turn an ATV or locked SXS it's skidding one tire and the sharper you turn the harder it is on the trail or lawn. One thing I don't like about the Pioneer 520 is its always locked rear axle.

You already mentioned wanting power steering which I think is wise
.

quote:

3) Tractors in JD’s 1 and 2 series are not big enough leaps in utility for the price IMHO.
The X series is just a huge lawn mower. Also, the load rating for some of the front loaders was surprisingly low. A neighbor has an older JD 4110 I am going to check out. I realized I would be yanking trees around a lot and that’s not happening with the X series.
Kubota makes some really nice machines for the money. They will get my business if I buy new, but, that’s a huge investment.

Not sure how much a 4110 has but another problem with many of the smaller tractors is they don't have a lot of ground clearance for taking them over stuff in the woods. For instance I'd avoid Kubota's BX and start with a B or L series. For my tractor, that sees time in the woods, the most useful implement by far is a grapple on the loader, much more so than the bucket. But as mentioned grapples are pretty expensive.

TBH I've never encountered any tree too much to drag because if so just section it in shorter lengths. The only time I drag a tree is if I just want it off a trail and it won't be cut into firewood, such as a rotted one, a pine or soft maple. I carry a strap and Stihl saw in my SXS just for such use. I'm impressed how large a downed tree the MULE in low range and 4WD can pull, and it's a little smaller and more maneuverable pulling between other trees than the tractor.

If I can get the tractor in the area I sometimes cut downed trees to 6-7' lengths and move them with the tractor. Here I was cleaning up a couple cherry trees that a storm took down near a trail. I used the grapple to gather and pile up the cut limbs then carried sections back to the house to process for firewood.




Here I was reopening a trail from the same storm damage. There were 15 or more larger oaks that were uprooted like the one barely showing in the bottom left which I've just left. But there were 3 like that which fell across that trail I've already cleared and I still have 2 remaining. That's where the tractor is really helpful because with the SXS even if I sectioned some of the trunk pieces to 16-18" I wouldn't be able to lift them up into the bed or on to a splitter. The trail is wide enough I could carry 6-7' lengths back to the house. The smaller limbs and branches were just piled up.
I should add that I could have managed to drag the trunk off the trail with the MULE if I cut into short pieces.

A tractor, skidsteer can actually do the work. Atv's and SXS's. You have to do the work. They can get you to it and in the case of a SxS can haul stuff. But you have to actually load it. So it really depends on what you want to accomplish. What the type and volume of what you want to do. You can do things like trail ride with atv's and SxS but that is not work.

MACHINE PURCHASED!

My neighbor was selling his JD 445 AWS and gave me a killer deal. He even threw in a JD pull behind leaf broom. $1200 delivered.

The 54” deck is a noticeable improvement to my current 48” deck. The AWS is amazing and the linkage is tight. The Yanmar diesel is solid and strong. The locking rear diff has already pulled a stump for me. It’s over 1100# with the current deck. I’m planning on adding front wheel weights for the inclines. But as it stands this thing is very solid with all the weight low.

No, it’s not a compact tractor but it will bridge the gap until I can afford. I really wanted the ground clearance of a 4110 but the price difference is huge. I don’t have a trailer to fit anything bigger than this too, so, it came home. This will be enough until I can afford something with a loader.

Luckily my neighbor is a traveling heavy mechanic and this has been his wife’s mower when he usually uses his 3 series. It’s solid mechanically but needs some cosmetic TLC. It needs the typical replacement body panels for the 4X5 series and some tires. I am going to rebuild the deck at the end of the season and address the rust then. There is a small hydraulic leak. But, I’m looking forward to the project.

This is my first diesel and will be running year round with clearing the lane.
Any tips for not running into issues with diesel in the different seasons?

NICE! and you flat stole it at that price. VERY nice neighbor.

Things to watch for if you're not used to diesels:

1. Fuel. Diesel fuel doesn't do cold. It'll gel and ruin your entire day. If you're in cold country, get in the habit of running fuel conditioner. Pump fuel from the station is treated seasonally, but I always add conditioner both to prevent gelling and to combat algae growth. On the same subject, change the fuel filter regularly.

2. Cold weather starting. What constitutes "cold" varies from engine to engine, but in general, below 50°F it's a good idea to use the glow plugs.

3. Diesels use different oil and coolant than gas engines. Use diesel-rated for both.

4. AVOID RUNNING IT OUT OF FUEL! It's not a total disaster, but it IS a pain in the ass, requiring the system to be bled before it will restart.

That Yanmar diesel is a beast. I had one in my John Deere 750 for 28 years and never put a nickel into it outside fluids and filters.

Yea, an older JD with a diesel is another animal than one with a gas engine. You did good. It should serve you well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Thanks for the tips and kind words.
I figured that even after budgeting $500-1,000 for service and cosmetics it would be worth it.

I’m going to get it set up to push snow this winter unless I can find a thrower.

Are any diesel fuel additives (stabilizers not octane boosters) worth the money? I always use Stabilizer with my gas for equipment.

I got the JD leaf sweeper cleaned up. All it needs is some new brushes and a little massaging with a lead hammer.

quote:

Originally posted by ThunTiger:


Are any diesel fuel additives (stabilizers not octane boosters) worth the money? I always use Stabilizer with my gas for equipment.

I use Power Service.

Howes isn't bad either.

I use Pri-D and the Optilube products in my Kubota lawn tractor and Dodge 2500 Cummins:

Pri-D
https://priproducts.com/retail-consumer/

Optilube
https://www.opti-lube.com/

Did a full service on it and things look good.

Some mouse had made a nest in the dirty air intake so that and new air filters made for noticeable increase in power. The valve on the intake was missing so it made a nice little nest.

The other filters were all newer and the hydro fluid was clean. Some water in the fuel filter but it had been sitting. The Yanmar 3 cylinder is easy to work on.

The tranny needs to commonly failed seals. Very common and easy to address.
New Carlise tires up front. It’s the AWS version so I going to have to do an alignment and tighten up the tie rods.

Got lucky and the body work only needed a new hood at $98 delivered from eBay.
The decals are about the same amount sooooo…pass on those.

I’m going to upgrade the headlights with some basic 12V headlights from NAPA. The factory lens are toasted and I will need the light come winter.

You may find that the turf tires are marginal for pushing snow with a plow.
I added R1 "ag" tires on one of my Kubota BX tractors, along with a homemade rear mounted ballast barrel filled with concrete.
I bought the set of four "ag" tires already mounted on new wheels from Amazon for the best price.
The backhoe for my BX actually weighs slightly more that my ballast barrel, but it's much longer rearward and when mounted on the tractor, it is clumsy around vehicles and buildings.
Yes, the BX is four wheel drive and your JD appears rear wheel drive so you might need rear "ag" tires, weight box or barrel, wheel weights, and tire chains.
Don't even fool around with headlights, get a China LED light bar from Amazon. Make a front grill guard out of steel channel or angle, and the light bar goes on top of the grill guard.

IMG_20190706_163105975 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20230920_164800040_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20230908_144139291 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20230829_161059710_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

9495 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
You may find that the turf tires are marginal for pushing snow with a plow....

My experience is turf tires work great in snow, certainly better than the R4's I had. I always assumed the wider and deeper lugs on the R4's would work better in snow so every fall I took the wheels with R3 turf tires off and put on the wheels with R4's. One fall I didn't and we got a heavy early snow and it was still piling up. So rather than change to the wheels with R4 industrial tires I went to work with the turf tires that were on it and was amazed how much more traction there was with much less spinning and skidding sideways on slopes. Turf tires are more like actual snow tires in that they hold snow in their grooves and snow against snow is better traction than snow against rubber.

Cee kamp, that is a nifty ballast barrel you made there. May have to copy that, my Kubota gets a little tippy moving rocks.

I didn't get the three point hitch geometry exactly right when I built that ballast barrel.
After using it for a while, I raised it up excessively high one time without watching it and the corner/rim of the barrel bent the three point hitch top link.
Kubota doesn't sell individual parts for the top link and so I purchased another top link. I recall "wincing" as it was over $100.

The "fix" for the problem was take a right angle grinder and cut a "V" notch in the steel and concrete barrel rim, so the top link had a "groove" for laying in when fully up.
The lesson to be learned is you can adjust the three point geometry easily, right until the point that you fill the barrel with concrete.
I should have tipped the two chunks of angle iron further forward at the top.
Many ballast barrel builders will add a piece of PVC pipe in the concrete additionally. A nifty place for a tool handle. Rake/shovel/axe
For my build, weight was more important to me.

I did the weight calculation for the cubic feet of concrete, it's 440 pounds of concrete plus the steel.
After the barrel was filled with concrete (leftovers at a commercial job site) a guy "hit" that concrete with a cordless hand held concrete vibrator, and the level in the barrel dropped four or five
inches. The concrete truck driver then needed to add a bit more into the top of the barrel.