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.
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