Tough Life Being A Farmer

[daytime dave]

Gene, my mower is a 4x4 full time. I chose it that way for the obvious snow blowing in the winter, but most of my two acre + lawn is hills. The 4x4 powers up grades that need the traction.
Your Simplicity is a good machine. The deck is probably a high performance type. Keep it cleaned out and the blades sharp and it will go through with ease.
My Craftsman wears chains to give it the necessary traction on the hills. It's turf tires are fine on flat areas, but they are worn with age and pretty useless going up a hill without chains. I'm using that tractor to mow in pasture areas I'm reclaiming back to grass more than pasture mix.
Your large tractor has roll over protection. Always keep it upright if you have any hills. As you go up a hill, keep the bucket as low to the ground as you are comfortable with. It helps keep balanced.

[BrokenolMarine]

You know we only offer advice because we care Sir...

[Sir Henry]

Gene, my mower is a 4x4 full time. I chose it that way for the obvious snow blowing in the winter, but most of my two acre + lawn is hills. The 4x4 powers up grades that need the traction.
Your Simplicity is a good machine. The deck is probably a high performance type. Keep it cleaned out and the blades sharp and it will go through with ease.
My Craftsman wears chains to give it the necessary traction on the hills. It's turf tires are fine on flat areas, but they are worn with age and pretty useless going up a hill without chains. I'm using that tractor to mow in pasture areas I'm reclaiming back to grass more than pasture mix.
Your large tractor has roll over protection. Always keep it upright if you have any hills. As you go up a hill, keep the bucket as low to the ground as you are comfortable with. It helps keep balanced.

I travel with my hand on the bucket lever always ready to drop it fast even though it’s as low so I can drive without it hitting the ground. Sometimes I’ll just load the uphill side of the bucket. It may take twice as many trips but it makes it a lot steadier.

[cooperhawk]

I travel with my hand on the bucket lever always ready to drop it fast even though it’s as low so I can drive without it hitting the ground. Sometimes I’ll just load the uphill side of the bucket. It may take twice as many trips but it makes it a lot steadier.

As I've stated before, I quit mowing those places that were very unlevel. I also found that if I let them grow they
produced many wildflowers that birds and insects depend on for cover and food.
I only mow a small area around the house and barn. The rest I sowed into wild flowers.
I didn't think risking a roll over was worth it every week.

[Hatchdog]

Yesterday I started raking my atv trail I cut into my woods last year. After putting the trail in I had the thinning project done which left debris all over, including on the trail. I have a 3 point rake for my tractor and I’m finding it is working great for this project other than it’s not self cleaning so I have to leave piles here and there which I move by hand later.

My place has a pretty steep downhill which my trail goes down, makes a u-turn and then back up. Of course these two hills are where the ground is the most uneven side to side. I tried pulling my rake down one side and then back up the other and the pucker factor made me stop and decide to do the hills by hand. My tractor is pretty far above the ground with the Ag tires on it and I fear it tipping over. Fortunately the two hill parts are pretty short and the vast majority of the work will be done by the tractor. I’ll try to remember to take a picture when I’m out there today.

Funny, when I bought the rake I bought a 3’ in order to get in between trees. Now that I’m using it for the trail I wish I had bought the 4’. It looks kinda puny behind my tractor.

I tried to capture the slope of the hill but it’s hard in a picture. This is the smaller of the two hills and the one I’m more comfortable running up and down. The concern ins’t the steepness of the hill but the unevenness side to side while descending. That’s my neighbors house in the background, they placed their house at the side of their parcel and angled it for the view. So they look down on my parcel, it’s very disorienting and until I had the thinning done when I hiked down there I always thought I was on their property even tho I know better.

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The 3’ rake looking pretty wimpy on my tractor.

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This is looking up the steeper hill but again the 2D pics don’t show the details the eye see’s. My neighbors house is straight ahead.

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[Sir Henry]

I bought a rear blade from a neighbor. It sure makes it a lot more stable to have that 258 pounds hanging off the back so low.

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[Hatchdog]

I bought a rear blade from a neighbor. It sure makes it a lot more stable to have that 258 pounds hanging off the back so low.
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Did the dealer put liquid calcium in your rear tires? That’s popular around here to provide both weight for traction and to counter balance the loader. I think calcium is used as I don’t think it will freeze. That blade looks like it will make short work of a snow drift.

[BrokenolMarine]

Here they put beet juice in the tires. Heavy, and doesn't freeze.

[cooperhawk]

Here they put beet juice in the tires. Heavy, and doesn't freeze.

Beet juice doesn't freeze? I never heard of that.
I have the calcium fluid in my tires. It adds a lot of weight.
I also have a blade on the back, it also adds traction.

[BrokenolMarine]

Here they put beet juice in the tires. Heavy, and doesn't freeze.

Beet juice doesn't freeze? I never heard of that.
I have the calcium fluid in my tires. It adds a lot of weight.
I also have a blade on the back, it also adds traction.

That's what the kubota dealer told us.

[Sir Henry]

I should have ordered the juice when I bought the tractor although the rear blade made a huge improvement.

[graywolf]

I keep some kind of implement on back for ballist. Usually a bush hog. If not I will have weights.

[BrokenolMarine]

I should have ordered the juice when I bought the tractor although the rear blade made a huge improvement.

Next time you have the tractor in for service, see what they recommend. But some weight on the wheels is good. I was thinking of a weight box for ours, hangs on the back and you fill it with rock, gravel, sand....

But it's more compact than the bush hog, blade, etc. Cheaper than a rack of suitcase weights.

[Hatchdog]

I should have ordered the juice when I bought the tractor although the rear blade made a huge improvement.

Another advantage of weight in the tires rather than a weight on the three point is maneuverability when doing loader work. It’s nice to shorten up your tractor if you are working in a tight area. Gene your place looks pretty open so the blade should work great for you. Just use caution (duh, sorry) when working near you house. I was piling snow at my last place with my rear blade on and I bumped my power transformer with the blade. Scared me a bit so I called the utility company and they came out and checked it. Found out it was just the cover that moved not the electrical stuff inside. Whew!

[Sir Henry]

I should have ordered the juice when I bought the tractor although the rear blade made a huge improvement.

Another advantage of weight in the tires rather than a weight on the three point is maneuverability when doing loader work. It’s nice to shorten up your tractor if you are working in a tight area. Gene your place looks pretty open so the blade should work great for you. Just use caution (duh, sorry) when working near you house. I was piling snow at my last place with my rear blade on and I bumped my power transformer with the blade. Scared me a bit so I called the utility company and they came out and checked it. Found out it was just the cover that moved not the electrical stuff inside. Whew!

i like the blade in back so when I park the tractor in the garage with the roll bar down I don’t walk into the bar. You would think I would learn.

[220]

Hard to do the steepness justice in photos I have the same issue, always looks more gentle than in real life and significantly less steep than it feels on a tractor.
I ran into problems with my tractor when I had a load of fertilizer arrive and had to unload it. 1 ton bulk bags, lifted them fine but as soon as I went to reverse the back end of the tractor came off the ground. Temporary solution was the spray tank on the linkage and filled with water that added over 600kg. Loader is rated for 1 ton but with 600kg of counterweight.
Ran into issues again farming on steeper country, only pulling 20 discs that should be well within what a 90hp tractor will do but couldnt get the power to the ground. Wheels would start spinning tractor bouncing and and dig a hole. Water ballasted the rear tires, added enough antifreeze (radiator coolant) to prevent freezing and the anti corrosion properties.
Still playing with tire pressures to find the best balance of bag in the tire for maximum foot print and traction without effecting load capacity and fuel economy.

[cooperhawk]

Here's what I have learned. Your loader is like a long lever in front of the tractor. If you are on
level ground raise the loader all the way up to the top of it's height. That transfers a lot of the
weight back to the rear wheels. It can make a huge difference, but be carful because now it's
a lot more tippy.

[220]

When I am not using the loader farming, slashing, haymaking etc I take the bucket or what ever implement is fitted off.
Reduces the weight and load on the front axle significantly, the whole loader is a quick attach system and in theory can be removed and replace in under 30min but I am lazy so stick with just removing the attachment. It does help with manoeuvrability, stability and should reduce wear on the front end.

[Sir Henry]

When I am not using the loader farming, slashing, haymaking etc I take the bucket or what ever implement is fitted off.
Reduces the weight and load on the front axle significantly, the whole loader is a quick attach system and in theory can be removed and replace in under 30min but I am lazy so stick with just removing the attachment. It does help with manoeuvrability, stability and should reduce wear on the front end.

The front bucket is what I use it for 90% of the time. Maybe in the winter I’ll use the blade more.