'Nother Hoss for da Farm

samandothers · October 17, 2019, 09:15:39 PM

Yeah, watch out for that limb you think you cleared that catches the ROPS and whacks ya!

East ky logging · October 18, 2019, 06:38:54 AM

Nice tractor.I love my kubota. My grandchildren always wants to go for a ride on mine when they visit.

btulloh · October 18, 2019, 07:57:56 AM

Those ROPS and the exhaust can certainly get you whacked in the woods. I see you've got the fold-down ROPS. Down might be good for woods work. Nothing you can do about the exhaust though. At least that's in your vision. Enjoy your new machine. Looks like it's fitting right in.

Southside · October 18, 2019, 09:15:49 AM

Quote from: btulloh on October 18, 2019, 07:57:56 AMDown might be good for woods work.

Respectfully I am going to disagree with that. Had a guy just a few miles down the road doing some yard work with a similar sized tractor a couple of years back. He was taking down a pine, nothing huge, and from what could be determined using the tractor as an anchor to pull on the tree, well the tree came down and pinned him to the steering wheel as the ROPS were down. His son found him, he was DOA when he got to the hospital. Had the ROPS been up it probably would not have hurt him at all, save for some branches getting him, as the stem did not break when it hit the seat and steering wheel, just pinned him.

btulloh · October 18, 2019, 09:24:18 AM

I understand. Good point. I should have said "at certain times". Or maybe it just shouldn't be down ever. Counter point is that pulling a tree down in a direct line with a rope that's too short isn't a good idea with or without a ROPS. Always use good judgement and take advantage of your safety equipment when working with machinery.

Old Greenhorn · October 18, 2019, 09:40:49 AM

Small side point but when pulling trees, a snatch block (redirect) is your friend and possibly savior. It takes you out of the line of fire and IF something breaks, the resulting vector force is likely not directed at you.

Southside · October 18, 2019, 01:25:20 PM

Both very valid points, but always remember the three tree length rule as it may not be the one you are felling but rather one that gets hit and breaks something free that becomes an issue.

Personally my feeling is that if you are operating a piece of equipment under a canopy then you really need FOPS. It's too easy to bump a tree with the FEL or a tire and knock a dead limb or top out and you may never hear it with the engine noise. At least with a ROPS something is above you.

Magicman · October 18, 2019, 07:29:26 PM

We put all of the seed and fertilizer in the ground today but.....

Marty would not let me use the Big O so I spent the day on the JD. Two tractors is really going to be nice.

I have a factory canopy to install when I get a roundtoit.

And concerning ROPS, it will always be up. The 1974 JD was before ROPS, but I ordered and installed one on it.

WV Sawmiller · October 18, 2019, 09:57:44 PM

I'm with OGH on the long cables and snatch blocks to direct/redirect the direction of fall. it also allows us to take advantage of gravity to add weight and stability to our pulling equipment by pointing it downhill and less likely to flip while pulling the tree uphill or sideways to the equipment. I used mine Sunday to take down a 17-18 inch poplar tree that wanted to fall 180 degrees from where I wanted it. HF and TSC both sell an easy to use double loop type I really like for around $25-$30 last I bought. You just open the loop, insert the rope or cable along the pulley, close the loop and run a chain through both eyes to a convenient stump or tree in the direction you want the tree to fall. The chain attaches it to the tree and closes the block.

YellowHammer · October 18, 2019, 11:04:59 PM

If you are going to take trees down, get a root ripper. It's a 4 foot long, bottom jaw of an alligator looking implement that will sever theroots of trees and allow easy directional pushing.

Here's a video of me clearing some trres with mine.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HcctqGDsKw4

The life blood of a tractor is the hydraulic fluid and oil, I put dealer fluids and filters in my equipment.

I strongly second what Southside says about ROPs and canopy protection. I was doing a little bushogging in the woods, many years ago, minding my own business, and "WHAM!" Somewhere from up above a several hundred pound deadfall limb had broken, fallen from I guess maybe 20 or 30 feet, and slammed into the roof of my cab. It cracked open the fiberglass roof, and bent the ROPs roof brackets. It was quite an impact. It didn't even dent the ROPs bar, and I was stuck under it. I had to stop the tractor, crawl out from underneath the branch and clear the mess off. The ROPs and fiberglass lid most likely saved my life, or at least a sure enough trip to the hospital. As it was, no big deal, just a memory and a $600 replacement roof section. I had no idea the branch had fallen until impact.

Southside · October 18, 2019, 11:35:08 PM

I have had dead tops break out and hit the roof of my feller buncher, mind you "Big Pig" tips the scales at 48,000 lbs, full ROPS, FOPS, and she sports 6' tall, 48" wide tires - it's a very stable, low center of gravity beast. On at least one occasion one of those tops hit so hard that it rocked Big Pig like a Tonka toy as I clearly remember watching one wheel bounce off the ground and come back down. The engine compartment is roofed over the cage with 1/4" steel and before I owned it someone customized the steel with the imprint of a log that bowed the steel several inches. That took a massive amount of energy. There are no second chances with those sort of incidents.

Banjo picker · October 19, 2019, 11:53:09 AM

Lynn, you will like that orange machine I bet. Mine has the fiberglass top on it. I am gonna take it off and put a piece of 1/4 meal on it then replace the fiberglass. I have had some limbs come close, but haven't got me yet while on the tractor. Banjo

Magicman · November 27, 2019, 09:08:19 AM

Tim, this one came with a metal canopy(top) that attaches to the ROPs that I have not installed yet. I know that it will help with rain & sun, but I am a bit concerned about limbs in the woods. This has to be a work tractor and will never be out in open fields doing tillage, etc.

Back in the late Spring we had a dreadful windstorm that downed many very large Oaks on my property. I contacted a Forester and tried to get them logged out but the answer was "not enough". Not enough for them and too many for me. ;D Probably 30 Red Oaks with many of them having 30"- 40" butts.

Anyway, "Big O"came along which will help us to at least clear the ones that fell across the roads. For the past two days Marty and Ben gave Big O and a couple of Stihls a workout.

Just a mess.

Marty is seen here standing in the road.

A success.

A closeup of a winning combination. He said that the Stihl MS 362 was a winner. I think that he is too.

samandothers · November 27, 2019, 10:28:59 AM

Great pictures! I can see a cover or cab would not be good for a tractor used in the woods. I have too many times rubbed branches on the top or sides of the ROPS.

I know you'd like to be with them in the woods.

WV Sawmiller · November 27, 2019, 11:03:59 AM

It won't matter. I hear it is headed north in about 17.3 days. :D (see details on thread about knee replacement - there are apparently miscreants about who would take advantage of a man while he is semi-incapacitated and not totally in control of his faculties. :D :D :D)

sawman · November 27, 2019, 07:27:51 PM

Congrats ,

crowhill · November 29, 2019, 11:34:55 AM

M-4900, I love mine! A 2002 a 5 cyl diesel, 4 wheel drive, 8 speeds forward 4 reverse, 14.9 x 28 rear Ag tires and came with 24" front. If you have FEL with 24" wheels you have a choice, take the loader off or crack the front wheels. I had five pair of 8.3 x 24" front crack! Dealer kept telling me I was putting too much weight on the FEL. A Kubota engineer in Calif. found I shouldn't have the 24" they need be 22" for using a FEL. It does state so in their front end loader manual, not the tractor manual. No major issues other than that.

An engineer I worked with dealt with hydraulics and oils, told me if the manufacturer states a specific hydraulic oil use it because not all hyd oils are compatible with all O-rings and seals.

Magicman · November 29, 2019, 05:03:56 PM

This M4900 e/w FEL, has 14.9X28 rears and 9.5X22 fronts as stated in the Kubota WSM.

The boot on the deck shifter was rotten/cracked so the hydro/trans fluid was contaminated with water when I got it. I didn't understand what I needed to do to completely drain/bleed/flush the system, so I'll have to go another round, this time disconnecting each hydraulic line and blowing them as well as completely evacuating each hydraulic cylinder. That plus the hydraulic cylinder & hoses on the disc will also have to be purged. Not knowing was an expensive mistake because that Kubota hydraulic "juice" is $$$.

crowhill · November 30, 2019, 08:09:47 AM

MM that's the only way to correct it. My 4900 hyd system became contaminated with water, there's a hole thru the floor pan directly in front of the seat and I found water went directly in at that point. There was supposed to be a rubber plug in the top of the casting, it wasn't there! Big problem, the system froze so had to take it to a local shop to thaw out. Cost some $$. I never figured out what caused the plug to be missing but it is now a regular maintenance check and I do have a spare! I am told there are filters available to help collect the moisture in the system. They're still a nice tractor in my mind! I also have the L 3010. Enjoy.

Magicman · February 08, 2020, 06:56:38 PM

Thank You crowhill for that tip.

When I bought this Hoss, it came with a canopy cover but it was not for this tractor. There was no mounting brackets or anything, just the cover. This week I decided to use a discarded ROPS and make this a 4 post top.