Any walk behind tractor owners here?

[Zoub]

Can't decide if this is best posted in survival or outdoors but on INGO I am thinking here.

I am going to buy a BCS this year. That decision is made for various reasons, I am just looking to see who has one of any brand or model.

This will be my first walk behind so it's all new to me. Eventually I will probably accumulate a number of attachments for it. First will be a rotary plow, tiller and some hiller/furrowing attachments.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I am not quite ready to offer any helpful thoughts. I have a couple of vintage Gravely tractors, not yet in working order. I knew a man who had a couple of them when I was a kid and thought they were just the thing, but unfortunately, they have not yet worked their way to the top of the list and are presently behind fixing the tractor, fixing the baler, building fence, and building a barn on the priority list. Maybe we can compare notes one of these days!

 

[iauffenberg]

i have run several bcs for work with the tiller and brush hog and a few other attachments and they worked really well one had hand brakes and on didn't i would recommend the hand brake model but both worked really well i spent alot of time with them

 

[9mmfan]

The only ones I've ever used have been Gravelys. Super great equipment. Very pricey but alas, good things are costly.

 

[nra4ever]

I purchased a new walk behind bush hog and it was hell on the body to operate. I quickly sold it at a loss and purchased a small used bx Kubota tractor. I couldn't have been happier. I'm now on my 2nd new Kubota and thinking about getting the next series up. I was cutting down 2" saplings and I was beat at the end of the day with the walk behind. Hope this helps. That little bx was a beast for its size.

 

[caverjamie]

I've used a walk behind bush-hog, and saw a small tracked walk-behind dozer of some sort. They have their place, if you can't get anything larger in those areas. And remember, there's a saying that no one ever decided they bought too big a tractor, but plenty of people that decided they bought too small. I up-sized from a 25hp to a 42hp myself. I think the biggest you can haul or fit into where you're working is the way to go.

 

[KellyinAvon]

I saw one of those for the first time in Korea in late 1992. They pulled carts with them (rode in the cart) and drove them down the road and in the fields. The first one I saw I was with my new boss (had met him about 2 hours before). I pointed and yelled, "Look at that big roto tiller!!" He was from Spivey Corner, NC, so he understood the "from the country" reaction.

I don't have anything to add, but I always liked that story.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I've used a walk behind bush-hog, and saw a small tracked walk-behind dozer of some sort. They have their place, if you can't get anything larger in those areas. And remember, there's a saying that no one ever decided they bought too big a tractor, but plenty of people that decided they bought too small. I up-sized from a 25hp to a 42hp myself. I think the biggest you can haul or fit into where you're working is the way to go.

I am going to say that this comes with some heavy qualifying points. I have operated tractors ranging from ~25 HP up to ~125HP. A Ford 8N will have an edge in maneuverability over a ~40HP utility tractor, but in my reckoning, not enough to make up for the lack of power. When you get up to something on the order of 75HP, you lose a lot of maneuverability and the awkwardness can more than cancel out the additional power you have available unless you are in a relatively wide open area. That said, for each situation, there is a comfortable compromise size with a good balance of fitting in the workspace and having enough size and power to get the job done. The precise tractor size where this balance occurs will vary between users, but I feel very comfortable in saying that there is more to it than one single unyielding rule of thumb can cover.

 

[Zoub]

Some good points made by all. Bush hog is about the last thing I will use it for and many have said the vibration beats the hell out of them. For me, the flail mower would be more useful if I head into the forest with it to make trails or want to knock down some cover crops.

One thing I absolutely need for now is portability. I can load this thing and attachments into an enclosed trailer and haul with a truck. I might be working more than one location and not living on either. It also reduces my upfront investment which means I can turn a profit sooner with it.

The Mennonites and Hmong up here go way beyond anything I plan to do in terms of farming. You can bet I will add the generator and snowblower as well.

I saw the hand brakes as a necessary item to help turn it. I am probably going with the 853 and 13hp Honda.

I am going to have a small test or practice plot here at the house so I will do some posts during the year to show what it does.

 

[Zoub]

I am buying mine local but I do plan to buy a few implements from these guys in KY unless my local guy can get them (non BCS brand). Lots of good information and videos as well.

http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/

 

[Zoub]

Maybe we can compare notes one of these days!

I will have plenty of notes to offer up. In the back of my mind if my overall plan works I want to use it to help others do the same thing. My focus would be on helping Vets but anyone could do it, right? There is obviously a lot more to this but that is my baseline goal.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I will have plenty of notes to offer up. In the back of my mind if my overall plan works I want to use it to help others do the same thing. My focus would be on helping Vets but anyone could do it, right? There is obviously a lot more to this but that is my baseline goal.

I assume that you are thinking along the lines of small-scale farming. If so, I have been putting quite a bit of thought into similar plans for quite some time, it is just that life keeps getting in the way, but it also appears that the time is just about here. I just need to get well enough to act on it now. To make a long story short, my brothers and I have our dad's farm, and they aren't really interested in farming. My plan is to set up shop for the alpacas when we are ready to move (for the time being the alpacas and I are staying with grandma--we have stretched the time she could stay at home along with extending the time my aunt had available to sort out a longer-term solution by about 2 1/2 years, but that is coming to an end). My plan is to get down to business refurbishing farm equipment which is in various states of disrepair, build a barn and fence, run water lines, and start off with garden plants. Alpaca manure is one of the finest fertilizers available, and I can do most of my farming in the parts of the farm not suitable for row crops such that we can continue to rent out the ground we are renting out, which pays the bills. A greenhouse is in the plan as is raising fish in a tank in tandem with hydroponic growing beds in a symbiotic relationship. I eventually want to raise my own grain crops and non-GMO corn for my own purposes. In the mean time, I have been accumulating supplies for my upcoming canning (which I am learning that I have forgotten a lot since last time in addition to the things a 7 or 8 year old just wouldn't notice). All things considered, it is ambitious and not likely to come together nearly so fast as I would prefer, but I suppose I will get what I get. Getting at least one of the Gravelys running is going to be a huge deal, even if I need the regular tractors first.

By the way, it seems that the Gravely implements for the most part are not compatible with the BCS although from what I read, a talented machinist may well be able to fashion an adaptor to compensate for different PTO height and opposite rotation. Anyway, with most of my Gravely attachments, I have up to four examples of each attachment and two tractors which are realistically restorable, so if you can use them, I might be able to help.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the cow. I am not sure that I want to get into raising large numbers, but I intend to have at least one cow milking at any given time. The crap they sell at the grocery just doesn't even compare. After acquiring enough parts to build a working cream separator, it dawned on me that using a mechanical separator for one or two cows isn't really practical, and I thought of a far easier and more practical way to go about it that I could fashion in a short time.

Last but not least, I am eccentric enough that I intend to raise chickens which lay colored eggs!

 

[Zoub]

Exactly right. Small scale. I am interested in garlic and then hops. Garlic allows me to easily lease a small amount of acreage and stay mobile while I look for land to purchase. We are going to sell our homes in Indiana first, then go forward. We like it here and it's a good place to call home.

We are surrounded by many like minded people and I won't need to venture into livestock. If we do, it will be horses as my wife knows and loves them. I am over my dream of being the first Greek cowboy, every horse person I know has broken major stuff. Plus I don't bounce like I use to.

 

[Zoub]

I know hydro. Have an uncle that knows the fish thing. He just retired from Indiana DNR. We are doing a small greenhouse now.

There is a llama "resort" up here. Bed and breakfast and they offer llama day treks etc...kind of interesting. I might buy some of their poop.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I am thinking along the lines of supplying food for myself and extended family first and marketing second, particularly after I get a feel for the things that work well enough to do that with so that I don't have a bunch of publicly visible false starts. Included in the mix will be my own butter and cheeses. I also intend to plant fruit trees with an eye both on fresh fruits and preserves, jellies, and such. One thing that helps a lot is that I am single and do not have children, thus do not have to deal with disagreements, competing ideas and priorities, and the extra responsibilities which can gum up the works unless you are one of those extremely fortunate few with a like-minded spouse.

 

[Zoub]

When it comes to my wife, I am very fortunate. We planned our past ten years of career and physical moves to get to this point. We have both lived urban and rural before. I worked dairy in my youth, she knows horses and chickens.

Only issue was she had never lived far north. I knew she would do fine but past few years we had record cold and long winter, wet summers and unreal bugs. She is complaining because we have not had a blizzard since 2011. Yeah, she adapted just fine.

She took to guns and gardening just fine and loves wilderness living. Great cook and knows canning, now we grow and dry all our own herbs. Her chemistry and pharmacy knowledge is priceless. She loves my bird dogs (labs) but will not hunt. She does like eating anything wild, even bear. She will be running the tractor.

It's nice to be on the same page. It took me two trys and no way could I attempt a third time.

 

[IndyDave1776]

When it comes to my wife, I am very fortunate. We planned our past ten years of career and physical moves to get to this point. We have both lived urban and rural before. I worked dairy in my youth, she knows horses and chickens.

Only issue was she had never lived far north. I knew she would do fine but past few years we had record cold and long winter, wet summers and unreal bugs. She is complaining because we have not had a blizzard since 2011. Yeah, she adapted just fine.

She took to guns and gardening just fine and loves wilderness living. Great cook and knows canning, now we grow and dry all our own herbs. Her chemistry and pharmacy knowledge is priceless. She loves my bird dogs (labs) but will not hunt. She does like eating anything wild, even bear. She will be running the tractor.

It's nice to be on the same page. It took me two trys and no way could I attempt a third time.

It sounds like you have made plenty of progress already!

 

[Twangbanger]

Can you grow rice in Wisconsin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a36xHty1YsA

 

[IndyDave1776]

Can you grow rice in Wisconsin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a36xHty1YsA

It speaks volumes about the state of our society when my first thought was that you had discovered some asinine law prohibiting the cultivation of rice in Wisconsin as opposed to simply raising the question of whether or not it will grow there.

 

[Zoub]

God that is funny, sad, but funny. Although we do have to buy a permit from the DNR to gather wild rice, which is not a rice and grows wild.

The walk behind tractor is pushed to its limits in those rice fields. The videos are fascinating. I also enjoyed researching them over the years. You can see when and why they lost favor here. It is energizing to meet and talk to people who use them. Even people who outgrow them keep them around and running.

One thing I really like is truly portable power when you toss on the generator. At the same time, how often do you really need that on the back 40? Portable log splitter can be useful. Go in and split it, then haul wood out to where an A TV or truck can be loaded.