I must be wearing her down

[Jim Timber]

I changed my search approach and went for the 2.9L engine instead of the tractor model and it turned up a lot more informative results. At least in 5103 trim, you adjust the power by the injection pump plate. Bingo! :D What's more interesting is how many owners seem to think the engine is too heavily de-tuned in the 45hp setting with the turbo, and they used to make the same power without boost at all in previous generations of this line.

 

[Jim Timber]

Small... :confused: :p

This one's the 55hp tuned one, but otherwise identical to mine.

 

[foggy]

Didn't realize you had responded to my post about "small"....lol. "Small" is a relative term. Yep, your tractor is great for your purposes....nice sized. Fantastic really! I love that front tire size on your tractor. Lots of grip there. I doubt you will be "light" on power or size to do the things you need done. Might feel a bit large in the woods at times (for me)....but they are nimble.

When I was saying "small" I was referring to the lightweight of most of the CUT tractors today.....up to tractors of about your size. None have the heft of tractors with this kind of horsepower of days gone by (think 4020). In the past a 50+ HP tractor in "field ready" condition had some pretty big tires, lots of cast iron and was all about weight and pulling big plows and disks. Now we have higher hp engines, with lots of hydraulic capacity, many using the PTO to power implements. The game has changed some.

 

[Jim Timber]

She's tipping the scales around 6Klbs without ballast. Just at the bleeding edge of being too much for my truck to tow. I'll be looking into getting a 3/4-1T for pulling it and firewood anyway.

Size wise, it's a big one to me. :D I know it's little in the pto HP arena, and wouldn't make a good field tractor at all around here (they're wildly popular in SE Asia). But for food plotting she'll do fine, and I mainly got it for logging and saw milling operations. Being able to lift a 24'x16" oak up onto the mill to cut beams out of is very do-able without needing to add another CUT worth of ballast out back.

My main trails are all plenty wide to drive this through. Bucket is 73" which is really only another 12" either side of the atv now. None of my trails need to stay that tight (some of them are close to that tight, but only because I haven't trimmed them). I plan on having my shooting range about 50' wide, so there'll be plenty of room to turn around in there.

Despite the wheelbase, this thing is quite agile. Kinda reminds me of my Jeep Wrangler days.

 

[foggy]

Yep....that's a lot more tractor than I own. I think mine weighs in bare at about 3000 lbs.....then add the loader and bucket and put some fluid in the rears.....and I get the weight up to about 4500 lbs or so....plus whatever implement I got hanging on the 3 point. You will have quite a beast there Jim.....and should be good to do everything you want.

I haul mine on a 16' PJ car trailer behind my SUV (rated to about 6500 lbs). I'm up at the edge in the GVWR.....but my Jeep doesn't know the difference....It seems to handle the loads just fine. I do like to be able to take my tractor in for any needed service or to go over to my house or my BIL's place to help him out at times. My trailer is licensed to 11,000 lbs.....but could be a bit longer, in a perfect world. I bought for a reasonable price (slightly used off C/L)......and it works well for my purposes.

 

[foggy]

One thing I have learned.....is that they make these tractors to turn so short.....that when I do lots of loader work in tight quarters, I am constantly pushing the front tires off the rims. If you have the front wheels cramped tight with a load in the loader....it can be easy to pop the bead. Very annoying. I finally put a tube in one of the fronts....and will tube the other front when I get around "tuit". I wish I would have tubed the tires when I put fluid in the rears......could have saved me lots of time by now. Tubeless tires are easy to plug if you get a thorn in em.....so I (mistakenly) held back.

 

[tooln]

So Jim have you gotten any use from it yet?

 

[Jim Timber]

When you're turning that tight, do you brake the inside wheel? Could be part of your problem if you're not. The steering geometry is based on being spun around one hub locked in place. Too much traction from the load and the rear end pushing straight will cause your problem.

 

[Jim Timber]

So Jim have you gotten any use from it yet?

Haven't even signed the paperwork yet. My loader's last ETA was Feb 13th, but my salesman thinks it'll more likely be here in another week or so.

 

[tooln]

Haven't even signed the paperwork yet. My loader's last ETA was Feb 13th, but my salesman thinks it'll more likely be here in another week or so.

I bet your like a kid at Xmas and can't wait.

 

[Jim Timber]

Been busy trying to figure out my 3rd and 4th function hydraulics for the loader, hydraulic top link, and how I should configure my grapple. :)

It's actually a good thing I don't have the machine yet - December was awesome for STD sales and I'm embarrassingly low on inventory (I thought I was good through Feb). So I'm in the shop working to make more so I can have some money for the machine payments. :D At least my neck is feeling better after the ablations.

 

[foggy]

I've considered adding a hydraulic top-link for a long time. A guy over at TBN makes a nice kit to fit your tractor model (check it out). Would be nice for a few of my implements......and would speed hooking stuff up. I only have one set of remotes (a single SCV handle) and would need to put an electric splitter valve on the remotes in order to have a functional hydraulic top link.....or do a more time consuming upgrade of the SCV via John Deere.

I currently use my SCV to control my grapple cylinder.....and that works very nicely. I do wish I had another set of remotes. It would make it much easier to power a few things.....but when I add up all the costs......it just does not seem worth it for my limited use.

I'm just a bit frugal. ;) .......and there are always other things I need or want more. :D

 

[Jim Timber]

If I was going through Deere, I'd be a whole-nother tractor into the hydraulics system upgrades I'm doing. ;)

I'm going to add more valves, more functions, more hard lines, and still probably won't approach what the second rear SCV kit costs through the dealer.

Solenoid valves (not diverters) are only a couple hundred bucks. It might require some flow control to make things smooth, but well worth rigging up from the get-go if you're going to use a 3rd function as much as I will. http://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydrau...12-VDC-10-GPM-CC-DA-SOLENOID-VALVE-9-6138.axd

Hydraulic 3rd link would be plumbed into it's own valve: http://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydrau...OOL-8-GPM-PRINCE-MB11B5C1-DA-VALVE-9-7861.axd

There's no reason to tie up a SCV with a top link.

 

[Jim Timber]

I hate to think what the dealer would charge for my on-board air compressor? I've got a 3 gallon tank and 12v pump I've been kicking around for 13 years since I didn't use them on the system I originally bought them for. :)

 

[foggy]

Rube Goldburg has nothing on you Jim.

 

[Jim Timber]

Rube Goldberg? Just because the factory didn't offer it, doesn't mean it's a cobble job. :p

The 3 gallon tank I have is for automotive use, as is the pump (both are even US made). Imagine having not had to take your front wheels off to refill them? Or having an impact wrench running off the tractor if you really did need to fix a flat? I'm going to be able to blow off the sawdust from my pants in the woods rather than tracking it back into the shop. The pump is small, not much bigger than two fists - it'll handle light tasks. I'm not putting a semi's air compressor on the tractor.

The additional hydraulics is just utilizing the fluid power available. Having a grapple thumb is 3rd function, but what if you wanted to run a sweeper and tilt it side to side? There's the 4th.

I've even looked into which pump is used on my tractor, because it might be possible to upgrade it without too much expense. 11gpm is fine for most stuff, but to run a sweeper or flail mower, higher volume is needed.

Didn't you know? I can't leave anything stock. :D

 

[kabic]

foggy, is this guy you were talking about that makes custom kits: http://www.fitritehydraulics.com/index.html

I like the top and tilt (manual valve) for the JD 1 series that he has on that site. That's on my wish list of adding stuff to my tractor that dont really need but may be nice once in a while.

 

[Jim Timber]

Is tilt really that useful? I could see it saving some time if you were grading roads often, but what other use would it serve?

 

[kabic]

Is tilt really that useful? I could see it saving some time if you were grading roads often, but what other use would it serve?

The only other one I can think of is you can use with back blade to create a ditch....not sure what else

Edit: you can use it with a sickle mower to mow ditches\steep inclines

 

[Jim Timber]

Looks like I don't need to worry about that one. :)