Slow start to the week.

The week got off to a slow start mostly because of this.


Another annoying part of winter's brief return is that I forgot to turn on my heat.  So it got chilly inside.


It isn't just brakes that my truck eats either.  It seems to hate light bulbs too.  I have replaced 4 bulbs in the truck in 3ish years, compared to 1 bulb in the 8 years I have owned the Nissan.  The jury is still out as to whether this bulb is dead, but at any rate it literally fell out and is rattling around the taillight.  Ugh.


After the snafu with the oil for the tractor I went out and bought some more for it.  It is a little frustrating that apparently you can't get basic oil anymore.  This was the cheapest oil that they had.  Gas prices have fallen, but motor oil definitely hasn't.  But the oil change in the tractor is finished now.  It will likely be the last time I ever have to change it.


I got the price quote back for the tractor I went and looked at.  It was higher than I expected.  By a significant margin.  The 22HP Kioti is $13.5k, and the mower deck for it is $1,995.  At that price I probably wouldn't bother buying the deck, I will just buy cheapo lawn tractors from Craigslist (I could even toss in a new one in there somewhere) and still come out ahead most likely unless I get a string of lemons.


While that is cheaper than a comparable Kubota ($14,800) and the same as the closest Rural King Tractor (the Rural King tractor is a bit bigger and more powerful, and is comparable to the CS2510), both of them have 18HP models as well whereas Kioti does not.

It also turns out that some of my data about the RK and Kubota tractors was dated.  In 2020 Kubota beefed up their hydraulics, their BX line used to be real pathetic, but it is now roughly equivalent to the Kioti (740lb front lift vs ).  RK still has the meatiest hydraulics (875lb front lift).  The only advantage to getting more HP with the same hydraulics is more PTO power.  18HP will run a bush hog just fine, and it is still class 1, so it will run tillers and augers and all that, it will just be slower than the 22HP.  The 18s supposedly can't run a backhoe either, but if I get to the point of trenching, I would likely rent the small excavator from Home Depot anyways.  I am also a bit dubious of those claims.  The only thing that gives me pause is that most people say the 18HP tractors struggle with the big snowblowers on the back, but I only intend to get a snowblower if it turns out that it is a real pain to do it with the bucket (or the rear blade I will likely get for it).

The smaller Kubota comes in at $12,681 and has an option for a deck at $1,565.


The smaller RK tractor comes in at $10,500 and has an option for a deck at $1,600.


So I still have some deliberating to do on that.  2200 dollars is quite a bit different, RK Tractors have a decent reputation (they are re-badged TYM tractors with Yanmar drivetrains), but I would probably buy it in KY, which means a long trip to pick it up, and a long trip if I ever need to bring it back for warranty repairs, whereas the Kubota is local.  I am just debating whether being local and the name justifies a 20% premium.  As far as specs are concerned, the RK is the superior tractor:
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/009/4/4/9442-rk-tractors-rk19h.html
http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/009/1/1/9112-kubota-bx1880.html

I have also done a few things like putting the tires and stuff back on the trailer, and just barely begun putting down the decking.  I intend to take a half day today and work on (and hopefully finish) the decking on the trailer.  The trailer is getting close to being usable again.  I will still have to finish the repainting underneath at some point, but it will be nice to move it and use it again, even if it isn't beefy enough to haul the tractor.  Then I have to find another project (*cough* shed *cough*) to get started on.

Tractors.

I finished up some odds and ends today.  I made a run up to Tractor Supply to get the parts I needed to finish up the tractor.  The new pins are installed.  The only shiny parts on the tractor.


I fired it up and checked it.  She lives!  For the record, the reason I said it twice is last time I worked on the deck, I said it when I fired it up, and then it threw the belt when I turned it off.  This time I cycled it many times to make sure.

I also (mostly) changed the oil.  Got a bunch to take back to Autozone now.  I was surprised how much oil it takes.  I need to pick up another quart for it; the bottles I had were pints, not quarts.  I checked the air filter, and it was good except for the mice route inside.  I didn't bother cleaning it because it would be dirty before I got the oil for it anyways.


Next up was to finish up some greasing work on the trailer.  After a brief discussion with Dad and a couple new dents in the dust caps, I got them off.  The first dust cap had a little water in it, which was a little alarming.


I then realized that I had no idea how to repack a bearing.  So I pulled off the nut and looked in the hub.  I didn't get any pictures after taking the nut off because I didn't want to get grease all over my new phone.


I put a few extra pumps of grease in and resealed them up.  After a little research, I found out that they should have been fine anyways, they normally only need to be repacked once every five years or 10k miles, and I am not close to either threshold.


I also went out and looked at some tractors today since it wasn't a nice day.  I looked a Kubota after Tractor Supply in the morning since the dealer is right across the street.  It was almost identical to the one I rented over the summer.  It was a BX23S


The Kubota is one of the few that you can get on from either side.  That said, I don't like the pedals.  They also run the hydraulic lines on the inside of the frame so they don't get snagged.


It has a replaceable edge on the bucket.


I already know I don't have enough money to buy a Kubota outright, but it also gives me a baseline to work from.  I also went and looked at a Kioti, the 22 and 25HP variants.  They are basically the same tractor.


The pedals are a lot more sane on the Kioti.


The other controls were fine.


I also like the Kioti backhoe better than the Kubota, though they were very very similar.  I probably wouldn't buy the backhoe though.  It is a lot of money for something I wouldn't use but a handful of times.


Most notably this would work a lot better than the rubber feet on the Kubota


The hydraulics aren't completely run on the outside, but it is only at the end by the controls that they aren't.


You can't easily get in from this side, but I like this style lever for the bucket better, it is nicer to use.


The bucket also has a replaceable edge on it, though with only 4 bolts I don't know how well it would hold up.


I also looked at the 22HP version.


It also has nice things like a cover for the rear PTO.  Since I wouldn't use it much, I prefer the cover on it to protect it.


Things are pretty compact under the hood.


I like the pedals on the Kioti much better, it feels more natural.  On the Kubota I rented, I had to lift my leg to push forward on the pedal.  This feels natural.  It also pushes the reverse pedal out when you push forward so you don't accidentally push both.




Everything underneath is protected.





Right now, the Kioti is the leader.  I didn't see any amateur hour construction, like I did on the Branson, it seems to be a well built machine.As long as it isn't too terribly expensive compared to the Rural King tractor, I would prefer to get one locally. 

I got a short break from the rain shortly after I got back, so I pulled out the machete I picked up at Tractor Supply this morning since it was on clearance and only a few bucks.  I decided to clear out around one of the trees at the bottom of the driveway.


While heavy for its size, it is very small and light for a machete (it is about the size of Mick Dundee's or Aragorn's knife), which proved it to be less than stellar in performance.  I managed to get the area cleared with it, but it was a lot slower than if I had just used my bush cutters.


It is at least cleared enough that I can start leveling the area.


I intend to inquire on the tractor tomorrow, to try to get an idea of what it costs.  I am expecting it will be around 12k.

Beautiful productive day.

I didn't get much done during the week.  I did order a new power monitor, but Amazon has delayed its arrival, so no solar testing this weekend.  I also started to design my own power meter in case this one doesn't work either. 

It was very warm today, so I opened up my windows for the first time this year. 


As a result, I got lots of time to paint today.  I finished painting the trailer.  It only got one very heavy coat, since that is all the paint that I had, so hopefully it is enough. 


I painted the spots I missed red since I still had some red laying around. 


The gray had started to peel so I sanded and painted these white.  I actually bought the white paint for the spice racks, but decided not to paint them. 


I then moved to getting the mower ready.  So I sharpened the blades.  They need replacing.  The edges are badly rounded and chewed up.


Then I switched back to getting the spindle out.  I tried the reciprocating saw last year, but I came up with an easy method to get spindle off.  The casing was fragile, which is what started the whole debacle.  So I went hulk smash on it.  I didn't even need to get a big hammer.  Snap off the edges and it popped off. 


I finally got the new spindle installed. 


The blades are kinda even.


Next up is the pulley.  This was rather applicable today.  Unfortunately I don't own a torch.


I used the grinder to get it off.  It took a couple of hours and my arms feel like jello now.  I got most of the way through it and just wailed on it.


Eventually I got it free.


The new spindle is defective, the threads are supposed to all the way to the gear part.  They don't go far enough, so I had to put a bunch of extra washers on it. 


After that the deck was complete.  So I went to install it and realized that I have apparently lost the clips.  The only ones I found are the ones for the dozer blade, and are rusted out.  So I will have to get new ones.


I still put the deck back on anyways, so it is just a matter of installing clips.  The mower fired up instantly.  I tried to turn on the deck but without the clips the PTO just fell out.  The blades started to spin though which is a good sign.


I still need a new filter to finish getting it ready.  I apparently have two quarts of oil, but no filters. 


I also got a new board ripped for more spice racks.


I need to build a lean-to to get my equipment so I also walked around looking for places to put it.  Here is the first option.  It needs a lot of leveling, but it is also not at the top of the hill that I can't get up in the winter, it is only partially up the hill. 
Lean to option 1


Option 2 is at the top of the hill.  This is where I park when I drive up.  I might be able to put it far enough back that I can still park up there.


On a side note, I picked up some keto based cereal.  It was truly very awful.


It is supposed to rainy and miserable tomorrow, so I will probably go out and get the clips and oil filter.