Well, I guess I have caught redneckitis....
 

Been living in Wakulla county for too long, I suppose. Used to be I would drool over Corvettes and other fast cars. You know, NORMAL stuff for a guy who thinks he is younger than the number of candles on a birthday cake would prove otherwise. But now, lately, I have been looking at tractors. :face_palm_02: :face_palm_02:

That's right folks. WebSlave has gone full red neck.

Heck, I am even thinking hard about buying one.

But let me explain what happened to change me.

The other day I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard. Our old metal one finally, and suddenly, bit the dust. So we have this concrete one that has been next to the old reptile building nearly forever. It was leaning to one side, so wouldn't really hold water very well. So I figured, heck, why not just replace that broken one with that old concrete one?

First thing I did was to straighten it up and make sure it would hold water. Yep. So far, so good. The bowl came off, and it by itself was pretty heavy. At least for this aging feeble body of mine. I brought one of the wagons over and figured I would just lift the base up, put it on the wagon and roll it over to the spot it needs to relocate to. Eh?? Not so fast Herc. I couldn't even lift it off of the ground, much less the foot or so to go onto that wagon. Connie is away, so I couldn't ask her for help. Actually, probably best I not do that anyway, as I sure wouldn't want her to hurt herself. And she sure as heck would, trying to keep ME from being hurt. She still worries about that heart attack I had last year. And it's not been quite a year since that second heart stent was put in. The stuff she has gone through has really weakened her, so I CAN'T put her in jeopardy of hurting herself.

So what to do?

Now, I have an engine hoist in the garage, but with the small metal wheels on it, it wouldn't get more than a foot once it came off of the concrete garage apron and hit that soft sand. Then I would have to figure out how to get that thing out from being stuck in the sand and back onto hard surface. I would need some sort of big balloon tires on it, but that might be it's own world of problems trying to lift something heavy with those kinds of bouncy wheels on it.

So that got me thinking, I am getting too old to be lifting crap like this. And it will probably get worse, rather than better. So I thought of my friend Rickey, who has a small tractor, and uses it a LOT to help lift and move things around for him. Hmm. Well, can't say I ever thought twice about a tractor before, but suddenly I was thinking hard about one. Connie and I together might never be able to lift the kind of stuff we used to in the past. Sometimes I will have to cut down some trees, and the number of very small pieces I would have to cut that tree into so we could lift them and cart them away, well, that would really wear us out quickly. This past year really changed us. For that matter, it is still touch and go as to whether I will still have Connie around at all for any kind of help for the long term. Four hands have always been better to two, and it is quite sobering to think there might ONLY be two hands in the future.

So there you have it. I just need to be thinking about a helping hand around here, and a tractor might be that help I can see myself needing.

Never, ever pictured myself riding a tractor before.

But probably better than waiting for some sort of AI robot to come along that would crush my skull in my sleep when it went rogue on me from buggy programming.

I just hope that if I do get one (tractor that is, not a robot), that I will be able to find enough things to do with it to justify the cost and the upkeep it will need over time. But one thing of interest. I have watched a lot of videos by people who have gotten tractors, and the general consensus from those people is that they don't know how they ever got along without one before. Of course, they are mostly farmer folk or people doing a lot of work in rather sizeable tracts of land. But heck, I have 50 acres, most of it heavily wooded, and I would like to cut some walking trails through it. So who knows? Maybe it is something I would find a lot more uses for than I can imagine right now.

I think I can afford one. When my mom passed away, she left me a little bit of money that I haven't done anything with. Maybe it would please her to have me use it on something that might save me from my final heart attack some day.

I went and saw my brother last weekend and he had just gotten one of these delivered.

https://badboymowers.com/tractors/ba...d-size-tractor

I don't know the model number or what it cost but it had the enclosed cab with A/C and the Grapple attachment on the front. He already had an old Massey Ferguson with a loader that was very handy on the farm (113 acres) and this one looks even more capable.

Look like nice tractors, but there doesn't appear to be a dealer anywhere within a two hour drive for me.

That is one of the hangups I am having with that Summit brand tractor. NO dealerships to do repairs anywhere nearby. Home Depot is selling it, but they sure aren't going to be carrying spare parts, much less have anyone who knows anything at all about repairing anything under warranty.

There is a Kubota dealer nearby that I might check out sometime.

But honestly I am not 100% sold on the idea of even buying a tractor. Cost of implements for these tractors is pretty high for just about all of them. Then there are compatibility issues. Some will say their rear mounting implement will "probably" work, but you might have to trim down the PTO shaft a couple of inches. Yeah, right. Like anyone can do that like slicing a salami.

Just trying to be careful I don't buy just another big headache. Might be best to just consider I have reached the point in life where some things just won't be able to be done if it NEEDS a tractor to do it.

Hey, go for it!


https://www.walb.com/2023/07/12/woma...97th-birthday/

Well, funny you should mention that. My 73rd birthday will be on Friday of this week.

But I won't be able to buy anything for a little while. The credit cards got maxed out from the bills for Connie's trip down to Tijuana for her cancer treatment. So I would have to take a rain check on that birthday.

Well an early Happy Birthday to you! I hope Connie is improving. This getting older stuff isn't for Sissy's is it?!

Just found out a former deputy that I worked with at the sheriff's office has been diagnosed with ALS. Our boys played baseball together on the all stars traveling team. He was their coach. And he's at least 10 years younger than I am!

His outlook isn't good at all. Life expectancy is usually 2-5 years. This is weighing pretty heavy on me. What do you say to someone like that?

Take life one day at a time and tell the ones you love how important they are to you I guess. I think we all should do that, for we never know when our time will come.

Sorry to hear about your friend. I guess the older we get, the more often we get news like that.

Bad news is all around us.

Few people ever really think about their vows taken during marriage and what the phrase "till death do us part" REALLY means about an inevitable future.

Drove down to Crystal River yesterday. On the way back stopped in a couple of tractor dealerships. One of which was John Deere. Seriously, who thought up the color combination? Bright green tractors with bright yellow wheels and seat?

Made my eyes hurt just to look at them.

They're quite proud of that John Deere green and yellow. Especially at the cash register! They do make a quality product though. My brother has 3 or 4 zero turn mowers. One is electric, the others are the 997 diesel mowers. He's gotten good service from them and they leave a very clean cut. I

haven't heard any complaints on JD tractors either. Other than the price maybe, but I don't think the competition is giving theirs away either.

In case some of you haven't guessed this, I am focusing on this tractor idea as a way to keep my mind off of other things going on. I don't know if I will really buy one or not, but pretending that I might helps to keep my mind from galloping off into directions I really don't want it to be going. It sure beats all to hell what reading about cancer every night does to my mind and my soul.

Rickey has a Kioti tractor that he has brought over to our property several times to help us out with things. He told me that it is therapeutic to drive his tractor around and just, as he says it "knock over crap" with it. He has been divorced for a number of years and lives alone. Maybe it is something that he needs, and perhaps I need to be thinking that perhaps I will need it too in the future. But I think I would need a REALLY BIG tractor..........

I live in Miller County Georgia and it is BIG on farming! Lots of serious tractors here. The county only has about 5000 residents but there's a John Deere dealer and a Ford dealer here along with a hospital. There is a 278 acre field full of peanuts in my backyard. It was planted in corn last year. 66,000 acres being farmed here!

Still looking at tractors. Thinking that getting a cab with air conditioning would likely be a real good idea. Kind of means I need to be looking at a larger tractor though, as cabs are not real common on a sub-compact tractor. Plus only having a 24 horsepower engine might struggle with running the AC and the other stuff I would get the tractor for in the first place.

Par for the course. Nothing is as simple as I wish it would be. And tends to get more and more complicated the longer I look at it.

My brother loves his new Bad Boy with enclosed cab and A/C. Matter of fact he said he was going to use it for all his mowing needs and phase out the big diesel powered Zero Turn mowers over time. He has a grapple attachment too. Keeps him from having to get out to load stuff into a bucket. Never have to leave that air conditioning!

Been looking at the TYM T474HC tractor. Lee's Trailers is a dealer and he is offering one to me at pretty decent price. Little bigger than I wanted, but with my decision to get an air conditioned cab, that kind of narrowed down the field of model options quite a bit. I read somewhere that TYM makes the tractors for the Bad Boy brand.

Yeah, after reading a bit I see they make tractors for a lot of other companies. Reviews seem to be good though.

Was out at Lee's Trailers on Thursday and talked to the guy (Will) who seems to be the tractor guy there. Seems like a decent enough guy. He even told me that when it came time to do periodic maintenance, they would pick up my tractor and then delivery it back to me when finished. I think he may live in Crawfordville.

So I am trying to finalize the options and what sort of attachments I want to get right away with the tractor. Good chance I may be placing an order next week sometime.

Good information to know here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py4DFSyJV0c

You may qualify to get an agriculture discount and/or a farm tax benefit. My brother gets one but he actually has a commercial farm. (a 113 acre horse ranch actually) He deals with a Bad Boy dealer down around Ocala. I had gotten a quote from the dealer in Tallahassee but my brother was in Ocala and stopped to look at one and that dealer informed him of the discounts. The dealer in Tallahassee got really pissed off when I told him that he was buying the mower down there. I said hey, if you had told him about the discounts he would have bought from you.

I think he got $1500 off his diesel zero turn mower, I don't know what he paid for the tractor though. I'll see him in a couple weeks and I'll see what model he got and what it cost.

Yeah, I mentioned to Will that our property is zoned agricultural and we have planted pines for harvesting on it. So I will see if that gets me any sort of discount.

What Tallahassee dealer was it that got all pissed off?

B&T Small Engines on North Monroe. He gave me a price when I asked for a quote on their big 72 inch Cat powered diesel zero turn and my brother was willing to pay that for it but when he stopped to look at one in Ocala the dealer there knocked off $1500 and told him he could get him the tax break so he went with that dealer. So I told B&T to cancel the order if he had already placed it and he gave me a story about it was going to cost him $500 to cancel the order. He didn't have any mowers in stock to speak of so we had to order from the online catalog.

I understand that it used to be a good business to deal with but the owner died and this guy (the owners brother) took over and just saw dollar signs. I was told he ran off the old customers because he's greedy. I actually went back to get a set of new blades for that mower and he looked them up and sold me a set. I went to put them on and they wouldn't fit so I took them back to get a refund. He told me that there was going to be a 20% restocking fee because I had ordered the wrong parts. I was quick to straighten him out on that since he was the one that looked up the part number. He told me to tell my brother that he was still pissed off that he hadn't bought the mower through him. I told him that if he had told us about the discounts and tax breaks we would have.

We stopped doing business with him after that. Had some warranty claims on the mower but we took it to a dealer in Thomasville, Georgia to avoid dealing with this guy.

Sounds like a pain in the ass to deal with. I've seen others like him. Always whining and blaming their poor business decisions and attitudes on everyone else but where it belongs: The guy they see when they look in the mirror.

Never been there myself, and doubt I ever will. Lee's Trailers has a bunch of riding mowers and the like at their place if I have felt the need to buy one.

I checked that video link you sent and went to that guy's website. Seems like they really don't want customers, though, as they don't give you any options to buy from them. Or anywhere else, really They claim they have dealers, but I see only 4 or 5 of them, all located in Missouri. I checked one of the "dealers" but he seems to have his online business solely on Ebay, selling toys and T-shirts.

Sometimes I get the feeling that people go out of business for no other reason than they just don't have a lick of business sense and are completely incapable of seeing it.

I just wanted you to know there are options as to what attachments you may need. Most dealers seem to have one choice and that just happens to be what they are trying to sell you. But I know you enough to know that you'll do research on whatever you need. The internet does open a big door to choose from. Have fun!

I'll see my brother next weekend and find out what model he bought and how much it cost.

Yeah, I have been burning up the internet looking at attachments for tractors. Seems like nearly an unlimited array available.

Now this attachment looks like it would be REAL handy for digging up and yanking out small trees..

https://www.machinerypete.com/detail...h/ntp/20793570

Yeah, that looks like something handy. Look at where the dealers are located for any service issues on whatever brand tractor you decide to go with. Are you going to buy a trailer to tow it with?

Lee's Trailers is just a mile or so inside Capitol Circle on 61, so about 20 minutes from me. They are the only TYM dealer within about 90 miles of me.

Not planning on buying a trailer. Lee's Trailers said they will pick up and return my tractor whenever I wanted service on it there. And the guy (Will) said that when I ordered additional implements he would deliver them to me too.

Not planning on taking the tractor anywhere off of my property, and if I did, my friend Rickey has a trailer and said I could use it anytime I wanted to.

So unless somethings change quite a bit, I don't see a need to buy a trailer at this time.

Lee's has been in business for a long time and have a good reputation. I don't know how long they've been a tractor dealer but my wife and I bought a car from them about 30 years ago when they were just a used car lot. I knew they were selling trailer after that.

Well, I placed the order for the tractor yesterday. Connie and I stopped by the place after our cardiologist appointments. Put a deposit down on a TYM T474HC. Options I am getting on the tractor are:

• Front 3rd function kit
• Double rear remote with detent

Only getting the pallet forks with it, as it comes with the front loader and bucket. Still trying to decide on which type of grapple and flail mower I want to get. And I want to get a combination root bucket/tree puller attachment for the front loader too. I want a flail mower heavy enough that I can keep it on the tractor most of the time to use as rear weight ballast when digging out stumps or pulling small trees out of the ground. The weight of the cabbed tractor itself is listed as being 3,660 pounds.

I think that will be enough to get started cleaning up around the planted pines a bit and taking out any dead ones back there, as well as putting in some decent walking paths all through it.

Guess I need to figure out a good way to store a modest amount of diesel fuel around here. At least 20 to 30 gallons. And some sort of pump to put the fuel into the tractor. The fuel tank on this thing is in the back and kind of high. High enough that I sure don't want to have to be trying to lift and hold up 5 gallon containers at chest high. 5 gallons of diesel fuel should weigh around 35 pounds, which doesn't sound like all that much to carry, but holding it steady at arms length trying to pour it into the tank will be a challenge for me I would rather avoid. The fuel tank on the tractor holds 9 gallons.

I have seen people hint that running out of diesel fuel in the tractor is a bad thing, but no one has explained why. :shrug01:

Honestly, this is all being really therapeutic for me, helping to keep my mind off of other things.

Looks like you have a pretty good start with the listed equipment. See what else you may need as you go.

NO! Don't run out of diesel! It's a closed, high pressure fuel system and if you run out (or even too low) you'll get air in the lines and injectors and then you will have to bleed the system before it will start. If you've ever had to do this you likely won't repeat the mistake again.

Rich, if I were you I would get a 30 to 60 gallon toolbox style tank mounted in your pickup truck bed. You won't have to deal with cans or places to store it. You can fill it at any station that sells diesel and you can drive right up to your tractor or drive the tractor to where the truck is. Get one with an electric pump obviously. They make some that are actually a toolbox on the top and the fuel sump is built in below.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36420218661...6b10e37dc58dcc

May I ask how much that tractor goes for?

Not sure Connie is going to want a big diesel tank sitting in the bed of her pickup truck. That would be a VERY hard sell for me.

As pictured above, with cab, front end loader and bucket, it is costing me $32,700. Which, from as best I can tell, for a 48 horsepower compact tractor, is a pretty good price. I talked to a guy in Ocala selling TYM tractors, and his price was substantially more. When I asked him about it, he told me that TYM has a promotion going on with new dealers where they basically get the front end loader and bucket for free to try to move inventory quicker. So I kind of figured the price I was quoted wouldn't last forever. Plus the way inflation is pushing prices higher and higher, well, I figured I shouldn't dawdle.

That price sounds very reasonable compared to one of my brother's John Deere diesel mowers. The 997's that he uses (3 of them) run about $30K a piece now. He plans on using his new tractor for the majority of the mowing duties.

As for diesel fuel, I can tell you, hauling it around in 5 gallon cans in the back of your truck is a lot more dangerous than transporting it in a secured, approved container that looks no more menacing than an aluminum toolbox. It's less flammable than gasoline. Heck, we carry 300 gallons of it everywhere we go! :hehehe:

And then you get to heft those 40 pound greasy cans up and spill them all over the tractor. Having a nozzle with an electric pump is a much cleaner, safer way to dispense fuel. My shoulders still ache when I think of all the times I did this when I was younger. :ack2:

Or you can buy a 250 gallon tank and have Eli Roberts deliver it to your "farm" for a nominal fee. :eek:

Either way, you should make it a point to take advantage of the off road diesel so you can save around fifty cents or more per gallon. And if you have to drive all the way to Woodville or Tallahassee to get it, you may as well buy a large enough quantity so you don't have to do it so often.

Trust me, spilling diesel fuel into the back of Connie's truck will be a WHOLE lot more dangerous to me. :dead:

Well, got the new tractor on Friday. Haven't really done much with it yet, though. Figure I'll just drive it around in the yard and get used to the controls before I actually try to do anything with it. Of course, I really don't have any implements or attachments to do much of anything yet anyway.

My friend, Rickey, says that pretty soon I will wonder how I ever got along without one. I dunno, about that. But I was out in the yard today using the handheld hedge trimmer to kind of mow the law in front of the garage, and I did find myself thinking I was getting too old to be doing it that way any longer. So maybe some labor saving devices might be just what the doctor ordered.

Looks good! Did you get a grapple for it?

Got one on order, but it will be a while.

Haven't been able to do much with the tractor lately, though. Connie's condition is worsening, and I have not wanted to be away from her for very long. Both of her sisters are here helping out, but still................

Sorry to hear that Rich. I lost my best friend from my Navy days to cancer the day after Christmas in 2020. We had stayed in touch and visited each other over the years. He was like a brother. And it being during the COVID days, they wouldn't let me into the hospital. It's tough knowing how hard it is on the family when something like this happens. I can't imagine my wife going through this. Prayers to you and the family.

So how are you liking your new tractor Rich? Did you get the grapple yet?

Been spending time with it clearing around the well pump and tank.

Since last posting, I bought a tree puller and a flail mower for it that is doing great clearing the land.

As for the grapple, I ordered it mid September and was told it would be "fourish" months before delivery. The company Everything Attachments seemed to have an excellent reputation, been around for a good while, and everyone raved about their products. Only fly in that ointment is that apparently they have folded up shop and evaporated with lawsuits and tax collectors after them. Good chance I am just out that money. Sent off dispute forms via snail mail to my credit card company, but since it has been longer than 120 days since I placed the order, not sure anything will come of it.

In the meantime, I ordered another grapple from a company called Top Dog Attachments, that I already have a tracking number for, and is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday.

Oh yeah, had a big wood chipper that runs off of the tractor PTO shaft delivered this past Wednesday. That is going to come in real handy dealing with all the small trees and brush I am pulled out of the ground with the tree puller.

So.... just trying to keep my mind occupied to suppress the darker thoughts swirling around in my head.

It sounds like you have pretty much everything covered as far as attachments go. I'm seriously considering buying a small/medium size tractor myself. I have a guy that's been mowing my yard (3.25 acres) for the past three years and he's reliable and reasonable ($300 a month).

He has a small John Deere that I have employed him to use in clearing my fence line and removing some huge branches that fell from the hundred year old Pecan tree in the front yard (taking the power line with it :face_palm_02:).

But with the addition of another 1.2 acres and the work it's going to need, coupled with other trees on the property that I want to remove, I believe I might be money ahead getting my own equipment. I've already spent nearly $4000 with him and at $100 an hour the prospect of a monthly tractor payment looks better and better.

I have looked at a few and have since been inundated with ads as far away as Washinton state and New York. What dealer did you use? Obviously I want to stay local so that any warranty or service matters could be expedited. And then there is what brand to choose. John Deere is way overpriced in my opinion, especially if you need repairs and you are out of the warranty period. My brother has three or four JD zero turn mowers (diesels and an electric) and the repairs and parts prices are outrageous in my opinion.

So looking at options, and with the current state of the economy, those with 0% interest have the upper hand. But reliability is important too and I really don't know much about these foreign brands although I'm aware that several "American" brands are using their engines and more these days. Really, there is nothing "American Made" anymore is there? :shrug01:

I bought the TYM T474HC tractor from Lee's Trailers. Only problem I had with it was a minor fuel leak. Will came down here, and tightened some hoses on the fuel/water separator and that seemed to fix that problem. He also delivered a 6 ft. land plane for me too.

I really like the cab. Especially when using that flail mower as it is basically a shredder/mulcher that kicks up a LOT of dust that the cab keeps on the outside. Plus gnats are kicking up around here, and the cab proves to be a welcome barrier to them. Haven't had much of a problem driving the tractor between trees, although I did have to trim a few branches off of a few trees I didn't want to scrape against.

TYM makes a T25 tractor which is what I originally thought I would buy. But it only came with a heated cab, and that would be pretty senseless here.

The T474HC seems to be proving out to be not what I wanted, but what I really NEEDED. But I think in retrospect I should have considered harder the manual one instead of the hydrostatic version. But it is no big deal, all things considered.

If you ever want to stop down to take a look at it, let me know.

Did you buy that in a package deal? I see them offered with a bush hog, loader and box blade. Some even with a trailer. I didn't really want to buy new but with the interest rates being around 7-8%, getting a new one at 0% interest may be the better option.

Renovating the house was moving slowly as we ran into some unscrupulous tradesmen that we had to weed out. they were either gouging on prices or just flat out lying to us. I had the upstairs A/C unit replaced at a premium price, they did a good job, but they charged as much for that one unit as both downstairs units cost. But then later they told us we needed surge protection and I asked what that would cost and was quoted about $1100-$1200. I put it off at the time as we were driving over the road back then and were only home every 6-8 weeks. So they came to do the quarterly maintenance check and hit me with the surge protection again but this time said it was $4200! Tried to say that we needed one for each unit but I had asked the first guy point blank if all units needed it and he told me no, that only one was needed. So I invited them to leave.

Then another guy installed the new hot water heater I had bought, charged me $475, and had to come back out because one of the lines leaked. It only took him an hour and a half to remove the old one and install the new one. And I have a dumpster so he didn't have to haul the old one off.

I had an electrician come out to install a new line and he didn't bring enough wire with him. I paid him $800 and never saw him again.

Since then one of the EX-employees of that company approached me and has been very helpful in getting things moving and his prices are more in line with what we were expecting. So now I'm try to juggle stuff that needs doing inside the house along with what needs to be done on the outside.

With a tractor and equipment I can get much of it done myself. Of course once it's done I likely won't really NEED a tractor anymore but, what do you do, right?!

And I may take you up on coming down there, thanks!

Sure seems like the entire world is going insane.

Got a half-way hare brained idea that I might want to buy a Dodge Durango Hellcat. But damn, the worst part about buying a vehicle is dealing with the salespeople. So I probably won't.

Yeah, just let me know if you want to drop in. Nothing planned except perhaps having my grapple delivered on Tuesday.