(Sub) Compact Tractors

Dennis Bangham wrote: Figured I may end up paying more for medical than for the equipped tractor.  

OMG!.....Here in the States, I never thought of this argument!  It's so simple, it's brilliant!    

Back-hoe....... $15K

Back-Surgery (herniated disc)....$35,000 - $50,000, not including follow-ups.


Can't wait to start thinking up some new tractor attachments to propose needing for the homestead......   (and let's hope the tractor dealerships don't become wise to this calculation!)  

id love to have one of those little rk 24's as a lawn mower, should last a good long time and not be a fuel pig.

Dennis Bangham wrote:Here is some pictures after my latest whim.  We (the wife concurred) wanted to remove all the shrubs from the front of the house.  It was all dying junipers and boxwoods which are both bad ideas but when building a house they were quick and cheap.
The junipers caused cedar rusts and were dying and the boxwoods were pushing out rootsuckers everywhere so they needed to go.   Anyone have replacement suggestions?  Good pollinators and look nice and easy to maintain?

Here is the tractor after being put in the garage.  Still dirty but it will get a good cleaning when I do the 50 hour maintenance and fluid changes.

I looked at the costs of a plastic sunshield and for $500 I was motivated to make one out of conduit and shade cloth.

I also lucked out and found a year old Overland Electric Wheelbarrow so I can reduce the travel time on the tractor and still get exercise.

Is this the RK24 ?  I have an older Yanmar and those RK machines seem sweet.  

We have 4 acres of hilly ground and I started with a subcompact.  The clearance was terrible and unless you have grubbed out your land, any minor obstruction is hard on the subcompact.  I sold it after trashing it and bought a compact Kubota with larger rear wheels and a higher stance.  I think the biggest problem with the Subcompacts is that people want them for mowing their estates and like to have that one machine with a loader and a mid-mount belly mower, but the trade-offs are just too severe in usability.  The B7400 is still only 16hp, but so much more stable than the older subcompact Cub.  I can get the B7400 into so many more areas in the woods than I could with the Cub.  Fill the tires for weight and and the machine sticks to the ground. The loader is useful for everything - round bales, totes (with clamp-on forks), moving material, smoothing a bit.

But again, I tried "an all purpose machine" for too long (the subcompact with a loader) and left feeling dejected and angry.  I now have a real mower suited to its purpose, a Kawasaki Mule 610C suited to its purpose, the small Kubota suited to its purpose, and the Grillo 107D suited to its purpose.  Much happier all  the way around.

[quote=

Is this the RK24 ?  I have an older Yanmar and those RK machines seem sweet.  
Yes it is an RK24. Have 100 hours on it now. It does what I ask it to do which is dig out stumps and move dirt and wood chips.  
The backhoe is handy and since i made a cart to move the backhoe around it is easier to install and remove.

Dennis Bangham wrote:[quote=

Is this the RK24 ?  I have an older Yanmar and those RK machines seem sweet.  

Yes it is an RK24. Have 100 hours on it now. It does what I ask it to do which is dig out stumps and move dirt and wood chips.  
The backhoe is handy and since i made a cart to move the backhoe around it is easier to install and remove.

Oh please share some images of the cart!  That would be a nice project to tackle.  

I have a 3PT post hole digger.  Looked at several storage options on the web, but none really worth while to construct.  Then combining 2 ideas, I ended up with a great solution.

I'm just getting started to do anything with the 40 acres in Wyoming that we bought. It's all sagebrush and rolling hills so I got a Bobcat CT120 with a bucket. I'm looking for a box blade to fit the Type 1 3 point.

Brian Maverick wrote:
Oh please share some images of the cart!  That would be a nice project to tackle.  

I have a 3PT post hole digger.  Looked at several storage options on the web, but none really worth while to construct.  Then combining 2 ideas, I ended up with a great solution.

Here is a picture of the cart for my backhoe.  Five foot long and 2 foot wide and 8.5 inches tall.
I sort of made it very heavy duty with 3x3 inch square 1/4 inch thick steel.  Got some casters that can handle 500 lbs each.
Don't have a welder anymore so I had a local shop do the welding/

Dennis, that is a nice way to store your backhoe when not using it!  Am I seeing things correctly, are there castor wheels on the bottom allowing you to move the backhoe into a quiet corner of the garage when it is not in use?

Nice!

Eric

Yes. locking casters since I could not find 500 lb casters without locking mechanism.

Dennis Bangham wrote:Yes. locking casters since I could not find 500 lb casters without locking mechanism.

Very nice!  Thanks!

I'm hoping this would be an appropriate place to ask a diesel fuel line question.  With the chaos of the fall season upon us, I can't locate my operator's manual for my Yanmar F15D 3-cyl diesel tractor.  Today I changed the fuel filter, then re-assembled everything and fired the tractor back up.  It ran for several seconds......in retrospect, just long enough to use up the fuel remaining in the lines.  Now it turns over, but won't start.  I'm attaching some photos for those who may have been around several diesel configurations in the past with hopes we can figure out how best to bleed the lines.  Some things to note:  (1)  The tractor has a decompression knob, so I can pull that and operate the starter and fuel pump without the tractor starting.....if that helps in our cause, (2)  the first and second photo show a spring-loaded screw/button that can be pushed like a primer bulb or a pump, but I'm not sure how to use this in solving the problem, and (3) I can access the nuts the hold the metal fuel lines in place just fine if these will be needing to be opened for the bleeding process.  One question I have is whether or not this can be done alone or if I will need an extra set of hands for the operation.  Please let me know how you would solve this problem.  Thanks!

A fuel system airlock in an older diesel is a pain.

My best guess: I would first work the priming bulb/pump to see if I could refill the fuel pump. It will take a while so be patient. Perhaps it's also worth filling the filter bowl with fuel as well?

I'm guessing that the decompression setup is there to help clear the lines also, but I've never used one.

In all cases, beware of long cranking as it's hard on the starter (leave a long time for cooldown between tries).

The last resort is to crack the injector nuts (get that dust off first!) and use the priming bulb to bleed air. Slow but effective.

Luck!

That black lever next to the fuel bowl.  Move it 90 degrees.  It may be turned off.  Just a guess.  

Thanks for your responses!  Yay....success arrived at about an hour ago.  It turns out that this generation of Yanmar tractor did something rather clever with the 'need to bleed'....  ;-)

The spring-loaded push buttons are indeed 'bleeding ports', but in a better way than the typical screw that must be turned out to release the flow of fuel.  If fuel is available at the point of the button, by pushing the button there is a flow of fuel out of a downward tube off the backside of the button assembly.  This way, fuel isn't getting all over the assembly and instead drains into whatever receptacle you've placed underneath for spills.  One of the yellow circles below highlights the tube that comes off of the button from the fuel-pump assembly (white arrow indicating pump location); the tube coming from the button near the fuel bowl assembly can't be seen from this angle.  Success came after I disconnected the tube running from the fuel bowl to the fuel pump and made sure it was clear.  The fuel bowl shut-off on this model for sure needs to be turned straight up for fuel to be blocked and turned straight down for fuel flow.  After re-attaching the fuel line and re-opening the shut-off, I could now push the bleed button at the fuel pump and have fuel drain out the tube.  On a lark, and not really wanting to bleed each injector if I did not have to, I tried to start the tractor.  It sputtered a bit, but then roared to life.  After a bit of a wavering idle, it smoothed out and I let it run for about 10 - 15 min to clear any remaining air in the lines.  Hopefully smooth sailing from here on out.  Thanks for your responses and help!

I have an old John Deere 650 with 4*4 drive and a front end loader. It’s perfect for my 3 acres. I believe they were some of the first to get into making compact tractors. I have yet to use the PTO since I have no attachments yet but I’m planning on getting a brush hog for it and mabie a post digger for planting trees. What I really like about it is since it’s an older machine (1983) it’s easier to work on and maintain. I’m not a mechanic but I was able to repack a hydraulic cylinder by myself and reinstall it. I even made a ‘ rake’ for it by driving lumber tie spikes through a 4*4 and c-clamping it to the bucket. I broke a c-clamp and bent two of the spikes the first time I used it though, snagged a big rock.

i have a little sibling to that 3 cyl yanmar. mine is a barbie sized 2 cylinder yanmar 1500d, yup, 15 hp, 4 wheel drive with cat 1 3 point hitch and 1 3/8 PTO shaft out the rear. 230 original hours on a 40+ year old machine. it just got new 9.5x24" shoes for the rear and new tubes and rims for the front, a hydraulic system clean out, new oil and filter, new fuel and filter, and is getting all new seals in the front axle. and if the clutch keeps sticking its getting a new clutch and pressure plate and a few rattle cans of paint will dress it up real nice.

I gotta say, I love the stories of all these old, small tractors that refuse to die!

Eric