I’m allergic to Cats. Ours stay in the barn!

But they say some allergies can come or go with age!

Transport guy said, “It’s a big b@$t@;d. He was right!” This is going to take up some room in there!

 

Can’t wait to try it out. Have family home for the holidays so will wait until they go home Saturday. Oh, wait. They just told me they are taking off for 4-5 hours to visit other friends and family.

I’m hoping temperatures get and stay colder to freeze up the ground. Some areas I want to work it in are on the soft/wet side from the mild temperatures. But I’m sure I can find some dry places to work on too.

 

I did just do that! My company left for a while so I took it out and dug a big old Ash stump out. Then filled the hole in. Everything seems to be working. Heat included. Had to turn that down and then off. Only 33 right now.

I have been well. Everyone is healthy. That’s what is important. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours my friend. And the same to all you hoarders out there!

 

You have 4x4, a backhoe, and a front loader...you can get in, and out of just about anywhere...
Nice machine...the Cats that I have run were strong (lots of hydraulic power)

 

This is true. And I have been in many messy situations and always got out. But, have learned along the way, a “few” times, how much more enjoyable it is to work when it’s drier or frozen up. Still can be fun either way! But gooder dry or froze!

 

That is funny. I did that very thing when I first got my backhoe. I wanted to see what kind of shape the hydraulic pump was in. It worked great.

 

Really nice there Gasifier. I put some chains on mine this year for the snow. I only have 2 wheel drive.

 

Nice looking machine. Pretty useful for a lot of things. Gasifier whats your intended use for that fine machine?

 

Thank you. Did you have plenty of clearance for your chains?

 

Thank you. First Cat I’ve owned. They are the most expensive so I usually go with Deere or Kubota. But this one is older and therefore less expensive as it was built in January of 1991.

I have decided on a few larger jobs to do:

1. Moving some piles of clay from an old project into
low areas in trails and other low spots.
2. Digging up some topsoil to spread out over said
clay for coverage and planting grass on.
3. Moving some mix of dirt/clay from high places to
low places in my trails and pastures.
4. Installing culverts in a few places to keep water
moving through drainage ditches where horse
riding and walking trails cross them.
5. Pulling stumps of trees that were taken down
many years ago in areas where I am going to finish
off for some additional horse grazing areas. These
will be places where my wife can set up her
temporary, solar powered, electrified fencing and
use as pasture area.
6. I also need to eventually dig up an old septic
system that was put in probably 25 years ago for
this camp I own. It needs to be replaced with a
new concrete or plastic tank eventually. The old
one was not built/intended to be a septic tank. So
there is no way to pump it out easily.
7. And cleaning out and adding some drainage
ditches to get this land properly drained for better
usage.

Sometimes I decide I’m tired of projects and I need some downtime, and this is true. I say to my wife I’m taking some time off from projects for a year or two. Tired of them. Then she usually says something like Ya. Mmm-Hmm. Sometimes I make it for a few months, sometimes six months. In between these there is always plenty of maintenance work to do on the property like mowing the trails, firewood etc. Those things can be done at a slow and relaxing pace.

Fortunately for all of us, even the bigger projects, now don’t require getting done quickly. Those kinds of time sensitive projects were done in the first 4-5 years after I bought the house in March of 1994. And then again in the first 4-5 years after I bought the rest of the surrounding property in 2013.

 

Plenty of room. What I have is a Ford 555. Older than what you have there.

 

I have heard they are reliable TLBs. I don’t know much about them. See folks talking about torque converters in the older Ford industrial tractors and don’t know/understand much about them. Have read a little here and there and apparently you have to operate them a little different with PTO operation and etc? What can you tell me about them?

 

Yes this one has the Torque convertor for driving. It has one main hydraulic pump for the hoe and the front loader. It is a nice size back hoe and will lift just about anything I throw at it.
The one I have was made in 1976 so it has some years on it. It also has one other hydraulic pump for the steering which I had to replace when I bought it. It drives right off of the cam shaft.
When I first got it I dug about a 5 ft hole to see how the hoe worked. It is very strong and will lift the whole back of the tractor. I buried a horse for my neighbor with it and I was able to lift the horse with the bucket that I had put a set of those forks that clamp on to the bucket. No problem For what I paid for it I am very happy with it so far.

Nothing like what you have there. What you have is much newer and nicer. The hoe controls on the 555 are 4 controls and not a joy stick type which I think is better.

 

I have read it is not too bad of a job to convert your four stick to two. But I have never done it.

 

I ran 4 stick first, so was used to it...didn't take long to get used to the joystick controls though, and now I would not want to go back...