How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

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GlennW
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by GlennW »

Lease the pasture to someone to keep some cows on.

The lease customarily includes grounds and fence maintenance to be conducted by the lessee.

Go to the local coffee shop for an early breakfast and look for the table with guys wearing spurs and hats and they'll tell you all about it.

Without cattle, vacant land in Florida soon becomes jungle.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Is there someone here who doesn't wear spurs and a hat?

Actually, I have not seen spurs yet.

Here's the front of the tractor. I assume this thing should be taken off the front end loader for bush hogging. I can't see how you would be able to make turns and avoid hitting things with a bush hog AND this thing attached.
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08 31 17 Kubota with fork things on front small.jpg
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spro
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by spro »

Yes Steve G take those off. You have turn buckles and things to make it easier to reattach. A friend of mine has a serious size Kubota also. He leaves the loader bucket on all the time. It is the counterweight to the backhoe or heavy bushhog mower. You have some really good equipment there. Dig it man, you got it.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I thought this thing might be a hay spear, but the ones I've seen online don't look like this. Aside from that, I have an attachment which is definitely a hay spear, so I don't think I would have two.

I don't think it's a pallet attachment. It doesn't have flat blades like a forklift.
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BadDog
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by BadDog »

Looks like a home made brush fork/bucket. Handy when you cut down and top a tree, or cut up and clear a bunch of saplings. At least that's what I think it is... With the head-ache uprights, I guess it could be for stacked big hay bails, but that doesn't look like any hay moving apparatus I ever saw.

I hate goats. Back in my younger days when I found and built a variety of muscle cars (some would now worth more than my first house), I can't tell you how many junkers I drug out of goat fencing with windows kicked out and everything not steel eaten and ruined with hood, top, and trunk beat in better than I ever saw at the pep-rally sledge hammer events. Yeah, stupid people to blame, but oh what some cars sent to an early grave (late 70s to mid 80s). But I still carry that hatred of goats... Get some yearling cattle raise 'em up, sell 'em as "free range grass fed" to the crowd that goes for that, and buy some more yearlings. No bulls/steers to fool with, no calving issues, just turn 'em out, pay a few vet visits, some supplemental feed if required, and round 'em to sell when the price is up. Until someone doesn't latch the gate, or the fence goes down late on a cold stormy night. Or the barn caves in. Or...

I had an old Sears "garden tractor" I inherited from my grandfather (main influence on my early life). The decals and paint were long gone and faded, but it looked like the "Simplicity" tractors. From my memory, That was a pretty decent little tractor, for what it was. Strong frame, manual little 3 point hitch and full set of variety attachments. And a (IIRC) 12 HP B&S that would work circles around a modern 20HP John Deere. He kept a pretty large garden worked and several acres mowed with that monster. The mower deck metal was HEAVY, a real bear to put under and remove (3 blade), had skis and casters to keep it from digging in, quite wide. The deck was built heavier than "modern" mower "frames". And I don't remember constantly beating out dents and fixing blade cuts like I had to do on later tractors. Sold that tractor along with my small collection (3) of 66-67 GTOs (and loaded 72 Chevy C10) when I left N AL back about 93. Kinda wish I had it back. Wish I had all of it back...

EDIT: I just realized that image enlarges, and spotted those upper spikes along with the way they are attached. I resend my earlier opinion, I think that might be 4 round bale spears stuck on a bucket. I thought the uprights were to keep forked brush from tumbling over the bucket onto the hood (or you).
Never seen one like that, but I've been gone from farm country since '93.
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stephenc
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by stephenc »

It is a bale spear sort of , but not for round bales . It's for the big western style square bales .

If your new Internet is fast enough go to YouTube and watch a few videos on how to remove and re- install the loader .
It's actualy pretty quick and easy once you do it a few times , it makes mowing and such a lot easier, and let's you get Into tighter spaces , not to mention it saves a lot of wear and tear on the front end of the tractor .
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neanderman
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by neanderman »

I think you should just get a couple of sheep. You can sell the wool.

Want something bigger? Go for a bison.
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spro
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by spro »

Lets not go around the bale with this. Steamin's goats are dwarf Nigerian and they are special type of critter. I can't see them busting through windows to eat a dashboard, plastic siding or damage much of anything. They are sort of protective of their space and all within it. They (the good ones) co exist with other critters well. Then again, I only saw them in certain environment around kids and sheep and other warm blooded beings. I think they would put a hurtin on a snake.
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BadDog
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by BadDog »

Yeah, no experience with that type of goat. I've seen the fainting goats, kinda a novelty, but pretty sure it would get old. Anyway, when I was young in N AL, there weren't any of the "pet goats" like you see now, at least not that I ever saw. The ones I was familiar with, including the damage they could do, were probably 60-90 lbs or so, size of a largish dog. And the billies (well all of them really) stunk to high heaven. Don't remember much about taking care of snakes, but I never was around them to know. I do remember folks who liked to eat them, and always said "if one hair touches the meat, it will be so gamy you can't stand it". Well, I couldn't stand it to start with. Then again, some folks love big river carp (Tennessee River) and opossum, but I'm not among them.

For me, it would be feeding up cattle. I had a friend who had some small interest in such things, and property already set up for it. I would buy a calf or young pig and leave it with him. Paid for the feed and overhead, plus took him out for drinks once in a while. When they were ready to slaughter, we took ours together, usually 2 to 4 animals together to haggle a better price (sometimes did it our self too, but neither of us much for that). When ready we brought home huge ice chests of meat and treats for the dogs. Sometimes a significant truck bed full. Really great deal for me, large chest type freezer (6' long?) that would go from near empty to stuffed full plus some for my mother and grandmother. Would feed us really well for most of the year. He was one of my closest friend through junior/high school and beyond. We used to get together once every year or two and go on vacations together. Kinda fell out of touch in the last decade, need to give him a call...
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spro
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by spro »

If there was another way to appreciate your reply, I would do it. Somehow this topic has winded out into more good information about the animals which are not omnivorous. And more. Five stars!
spro
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by spro »

BTW. Sears didn't sell rebranded Simplicity tractors. Montgomery Wards did. The Sears were made by Roper using Peerless and other transaxles. They went from David Bradley to Roper in the late '60's -'70's. The decks are heavy as to think a 42" deck was a 48" . I needed a crane assist at times. The transaxles of most were a two speed type so there were actually six forward gears. Hey it is old stuff now but they did the jobs.
The Wards' Simplicities included the largest garden tractor they made for a very long time. Simplicity made the Allis Chalmers mower and garden tractors. There is a certain model with Onan engine which was a dream of mine once. It was a Wards and they were affordable but this has changed. Serious tractor and bushhog on the menu now.
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BadDog
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Re: How Much Grass Can a Garden Tractor Handle?

Post by BadDog »

I was starting to wonder myself if my memory was wrong. But some google trolling turned up one that looks like the same animal. Right colors and hitch, but I remember a wider heavier deck with a sort of ski under the forward skid loop. And the mower height was managed by a big long lever with a notched detent plate down low. The darn button that moved the finger down to select a new notch was always a pain to the point it often took 2 hands (and sometimes a handy rock) to get it down to lower/raise the deck. That one says 14, but I swear I thought ours was a 12 HP. Probably just my faulty memory, but oh I have clear memories of trying to drag that mower deck out in the summer sun with AL humidity, and putting it back was even worse.
Image

Oh, I found another, and I am pretty sure that's exactly it. About what it looked like when I had it too!

Image
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