Tractors!
Remember that sound that Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor used to make when he spied a new tool, gadget or thing-a-ma-jig? I'm making it now!!!!
One
of the plusses to the property we now live in was that it came with a “real”
tractor ...appropriate for a 4 acre place with lots of lawn to mow. That machine
was a 21 hp Kubota L-210 dating to about 1978, but in excellent shape with
very low hours. (Tractors are measured in how many hours they've been in use,
not necessarily years since they were purchased) It was equipped with a 60"
center-mount mower deck and we bought a small trailer to haul stuff around
the yard a few weeks after moving in.
The downside was that the tractor was an older model, two-wheel drive and had a mower deck that was belt-driven off the rear PTO. (That’s “power take off” for you tractor newbies...) The machine ran well, but it was near impossible to keep that belt on during the mowing process and even harder to put it back where it belonged. Sounds like a trade-in possibility to me...and so it was.
A
trip or two to the local Kubota dealer resulted in the purchase of a new Kubota
BX-2200 compact tractor that better suits our needs. This machine, also a
3-cylinder diesel, provides for 22 hp, 4-wheel drive, both a mid- and rear
PTO, a class 1 three point hitch, full hydraulics, a shaft-drive 60"
mid-mount mower deck and all the latest safety features. In addition, it was
purchased with a front loader--something that has paid for itself many times
over in the few short months it’s been in service. Whether moving large
rocks for landscaping, culling top soil from the woods for our gardens or
moving mulch to and fro, that loader is wonderful!!
Since the first tractor purchase, I’ve also acquired a PTO driven seeder/spreader, a post hole digger and manufactured a large weight for the back of the machine for when using the loader to move heavy materials ...things can get pretty tipsy if you're not careful...
September 2002
When
I bought the original machine, I really was hoping to have a backhoe, too.
In 2002, Kubota released the BX-22 TLB. This machine is essentially the same
as the BX-2200 with some frame strengthening and a native backhoe attachment.
You can read all the details at the Kubota BX-22 site, but suffice to say,
this is one terrific machine for the small estate user! So in late September
2002, I traded in the BX-2200 for the new BX-22.
Boy, do I love this machine! The backhoe has a bit of a learning curve, but
is pretty easy to use. It comes off and goes on the tractor in only a few
minutes, too, using the hydraulics to do all the work. This attachment will
get a lot of use here on our property and should prove to be as valuable as
the loader has been. 
If you’re interested in learning more about compact tractors, TractorByNet.com is an excellent web site to visit. Check out the discussion forums!
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