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.
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