My Tractor

[Darryl Gesner]

Here's are some pics of my "big" tractor. JD 855, hydro, 24 HP Yanmar, 4 wd, power steering and cruise control. I've got the JD 70A loader, #7 backhoe, the 513 brush mower and a Kioti landscape rake for it. Nice little machine, but at the PTO it's only got 19.5 HP which is a little bit low for some implements.

I need to get a bigger trailer for it. I have to borrow or rent one to transport it with the hoe on. Either that or run it down the road.

[AssistSuper]

That's a great looking tractor Darryl. We really need something like that at the course. A front end loader and a backhoe would be really nice to have. We usually borrow really big ones. :) Did you buy it new?

[Darryl Gesner]

Henry - Thanks. No, I bought it 1.5 years old with 140 hours on it. I'm actually the 3rd owner.

The first owner was a nursing home...no idea what they bought it for. The guy I got it from bought it for personal use but decided to get a Kubota L-35 instead. He's a post & beam building contractor and wanted something a little bigger that he could do the excavation work for small additons with too. I beat him up a bit on the deal.

With the turf tires on it, it's pretty easy on the turf...something you could use on the course with a little care. Just gotta watch the tight turns in 4WD.

[Lawngodfather]

Just need a AREAvator for the back of that........

Looks good, I want one.

[Darryl Gesner]

Just need a AREAvator for the back of that........

Looks good, I want one.

It's that sort of implement that it could use some more HP for, but their smaller unit would work. I looked into it a one point.

I'm really trying not to buy any major equipment this year though.

[AssistSuper]

We rented a huge JD tractor with areavator on it last year for the course, it had a hydrolauc leak, so we got another one to use this year. Huge tractor.....rear tires were probably at least 4 feet tall. I wanted to play on it. :)

[yardman1]

NIce john deere, I have always wanted one, but I want alot of things.. :l)

[greenman]

Sweet! When was that pic taken? I noticed the green carpet. :l) Nice.

[The Mowerdude]

I noticed the green carpet. :l) Nice.

I noticed that the truck looks pretty much rust free. And it's from the NORTH?

Naw, that can't be right!

[Darryl Gesner]

Sweet! When was that pic taken? I noticed the green carpet. :l) Nice.

The pic was taken in mid May last year while installing mulch. It won't be long now before the lawn looks like that again.

The tractor sure comes in really handy for mulch jobs...sure beats a wheelbarrow. In general, if it's 6 yards or less I just haul the mulch in my pickup and cart it with a wheelbarrow. Over 6 yards I have delivered and use the tractor.

Mowerdude - there's a good amount of rust on the rocker panels and cab corners...starting up the doors now to.

[MikeGamb]

Darryl get rid of the 70 loader and get a HARDY loader.I had the same setup on my JD790 which is a bigger tractor but not by very much.my loader max lift was around 104 inches which was just enough to dump in a 350 dump bed.but anyway thats pretty nice that she fits on that baby trailer.its to bad they no longer make those models

[Darryl Gesner]

Mike - Mine will dump in a 350 dump bed too. Except, it would be a 3500, not a 350. Did you forget I'm a Chevy guy? The problem is that when the bucket is up that high, it doesn't stick out very far, so I can't reach the center of the truck. So I end up with mounds on the sides instead of one mound in the middle of the bed. Having the hydro gearing is nice when creeping up to the truck to dump. You don't have to worry about your foot slipping off the clutch and sending you ramming into the truck.

What I'd really like is one of the 4-way buckets. You know, the kind with the jaws that also work as a dozer blade and loader. I think I'll settle for a bolt on tooth bar though. Mine is toothless. Great for loader and grading work, but not so good for grubbing out brush or digging. However, because I've got the hoe, I rarely do any digging with the loader anyway. And a wider bucket for the hoe would be nice too. I think mine is only 9 inches.

As far as fitting on the trailer. Yes it does. But it's a little heavy for it. The gate doesn't like it much and it puts me really close to or a little over the GVWR. And it's definitely too heavy with the hoe on. I was thinking about getting a 16 or 18 foot heavy duty dual axle trailer made by the guy who built my smaller one, but he wanted $2,800 for it which was more than I wanted to spend. He's one of those guys that gives you a different answer every time you ask him a price, so I just keep asking until I hear one I like, LOL.

[MikeGamb]

i just got my new bigtex 60sp 7x16 trailer for $2150. it holds my bobcat real well but mr baby f250 is over loaded with the skid steer on the trailer.so looks like more miles on the 350 this season..lol.

the hardy loader will fix that problem.the bucket sticks out farther and is much bigger.the boom arms are about a foot longer than the 70.

oh yeah trailer prices are going up because most companies are buying steal from other countries and those countries jacked up the prices

[AltaLawnCare]

Nice.
How does that #7 back hoe do?

[Darryl Gesner]

The backhoe does a good job for what it is, a small backhoe. I really don't use it very much...haven't put it on in over a year. It digs well, but the boom lift and swing don't have much power...can hang up kind of easily. All the power is in the bucket curl and dipper stick. The thing that drives me nuts in that the dipper stick control has a little too much travel in it and will physically hit one of the outrigger controls and cause it to lift the outrigger while digging....kind of dangerous.

I'd have to think long and hard if I was to buy the hoe new. Retail price at the time was about $7,000, selling for about $6000 locally. But I got a pretty good deal on the machine used, so no regrets.