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 | ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 762 Kingston, NY 
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2005-08-15 114919
I told my wife that, now that we have accomplished most of what we wanted to with the tractor, that we could sell it and get a considerable amount of money back. But we have both fallen in love with this chunk of metal, the things it has done for us, and the amazing ways it continues to help us.
Even just parking the tractor, raising the bucket, and using the bucket to support the end of a ladder on a steep roof. Or re-arranging some boulders on a whim. Or digging up white quartz rocks that have been buried under a stone wall for centuries. Or tearing pachysandra out of our front garden. The place would have never looked this nice without it.
So my wife said - no way - we are never going to sell this tractor. And I knew she would say that, or I never would have offered up the idea. I still am amazed when I come in my garage and see this baby and realize its ours.
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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon 
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2005-08-15 114926
No kidding, they are amazing utility helpers. Nine months more and mine will be paid off. Then we will build it a home of it's own in the form of a new shop. ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2005-08-15 114931
For the many uses of a well optioned compact I see people even drop to acreage that could nearly be done with a walk behind but the tractors seem to stay! ....
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 | Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2005-08-17 114994
I don't plan on giving up my tractor. So what if I have to downsize sometime. It's just too handy to have. I don't remember how I got along without one. ....
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 | AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2005-08-17 114997
Years ago I moved off the farm to be an engineer. Now I live back in a more rural setting.
When I was growing up and we needed muscle for heavy lifting or pulling we would immediately go get the tractor. After I moved away, I learned many more labor intensive methods for removing tree stumps and moving heavy objects. (I think that I have rediscovered some of the ways that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.)
A few years ago, I got my tractor and I love it, my back loves it, and my wife loves that my back loves it. Now I am back in the mode of getting the tractor for the smallest of jobs that requires heavy lifting or pulling. I think that I will put in my will that I want to be buried with it. ....
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| Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2005-08-19 115091
You want to hear lazy? I put the quik-tach loader on my JD4310 to go pick up dog turds in the yard. I drive it to the main patches, and then use a regular shovel to toss them into the loader bucket. I do this until I have to range too far away to find the nuggets. Then I move the tractor and keep going. When I'm done, I just drive the load into the field and dump it. Beats dragging a trash can or bucket around! ....
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| ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2005-08-19 115099
Now that I have caught up with maintenance around this place my wife is talking about buying some land to plan for a retirement home. It would be a smaller - more maintenance free home, but I am telling her I need at least 2 acres (preferably 4 or 5) so I can have something to do with the tractor. Maybe just dig some holes every time I want to relieve some stress.
AC5ZO - who will run the tractor to dig the hole for burial? Can you build a robot for that? Iowafun, ha! That is very lazy - but the sound of the yanmar engine is a pleasant one. Good luck with your SIL this weekend! ....
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 | funchy
Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 128 north eastern corner of Maryland 
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2005-08-19 115108
I am even lazier. I use my backhoe to weed my gardens. I have some nasty weeds here that are impossible to just pull. I'm not up to using a shovel to hand-dig out each big weed plant. It's also 10x easier to add & remove flowers and trees to the landscaping. I'll never hand-dig again (I hope!) ....
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| ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2005-08-19 115111
A backhoe to weed a garden? :) I will have to tell my wife about that one, I have some heavy weeding to do every now and then. We plant lots of trees, shrubs, and perennials with the backhoe but I have learned to be careful. I found ourselves digging holes too deep and wide for small plants. It took me more work to fill the holes back in than the work saved by the backhoe. Now I still use the old pick and shovel method for the small stuff.
I also found that planting purchased trees with huge root balls (10-12 ft tall) is still a problem even with my setup. I can dig the hole easy enough with the backhoe - but getting thee tree over the hole, getting the wire and burlap cut off without breaking the root ball, and setting the tree in place without damage can still be problematic. The last job I did to help a neighbor ended up being downright dangerous. ....
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| Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2005-08-19 115113
On most tree's you should break up the balls and allow the roots to expand in an outward direction instead of a circle like the root ball tends to make them grow. ....
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 | earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2005-08-19 115125
crunch: I'm with Art; the burlap should be removed or at least shredded to allow roots to grow, and the basket can stay but it's best to remove it. And as far as moving/planting trees with baskets, I simply hook a bucket's tooth (or a fork if I'm using pallet forks) into the strongest wire(s) of the basket, then swing it over the hole with the ball laying at the top of the hole--unhook it and the ball and tree slide down to the center of the hole making it easy to center it. If it doesn't get centered, then just nudge it with the backhoe bucket. ....
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 | denwood
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 542 Quarryville PA 
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2005-08-19 115128
What Art mentioned is for containerized plants only and not balled and burlaped. Balling a tree does not make the roots circle, only containment does that. The burlap should stay on if it is real burlap. Only the synthetic should be removed. Real, even treated burlap will rot away in short order. A b and b tree in a garden center in spring will need rewrapped by fall just to sell it. Same for the twine. Synthetic goes, sisal stays. Leaving the basket on is better. The holes are 6 inches wide. How big a root will it take to be strangled. Ever seen barbed wire encased in a tree. Removing the wire, rope and burlap leaves the possibility for a tree already in shock by loosing 75 percent of its roots during digging to have the remainder damaged as the tree sways and the earthen ball cracks and rips roots. ....
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| ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2005-08-20 115133
Denwood, your answer is pretty consistent with the garden center here. I left the burlap and basket on until in the hole. I was concerned about cutting the basket before dropping the tree in the hole and damaging the ball. The garden center suggested I cut away the basket and burlap AFTER dropping it in the hole, which is fairly difficult. They said not to worry if I couldn't get all of the basket but to try to get ALL the burlap since that is what would be more likely to kill the tree. Now I thought that the burlap was natural - but maybe it wasn't. Next time I will ask. Getting the basket and burlap off a large ball AFTER it is in the hole is difficult.
Earthwrks and Art, my wife and I do break up the balls on smaller containerized trees and plants as you suggest - when they are managable and there is no danger of really harming the ball or losing too much dirt. Earthwrks, your idea of hooking the hoe to the basket until you get it in the hole is a good one. I guess the wire never broke on you? Or the bucket didn't wrench against the tree trunk or root ball so as to damage it? I would consider dropping a line from the hoe to the basket to give it a little more room to hang free. ....
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| earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2005-08-20 115142
Denwood: Last year I removed (28) dead trees from a subdivison development that were 3-5 years old. All had baskets, and all had burlap still around the ball. The natural burlap wasn't decomposed at all. In another case I removed six trees that were 10 years old and the same thing--wire baskets and good burlap.
Crunch: Yep I have broken a few basket wires but I just find another one, or two close to each other. Don't stand the tree up---you lay the tree on its side and pick up and transport it to the hole that way. You can also use the backhoe to reach behind and under the root ball too. Takes some practice, and you'll probably grab some surrounding dirt when you dig under it---no biggie.
As far as removing the basket (if the customer wants it that way) I use a cordless circular saw with a DeWalt or Ryobi carbide blade (other brands don't hold up). I have cut through hardened Master locks on vacated storage facility doors in a matter of 2-3 seconds---no joke (try it sometime). Use eye and hand protection as the flying chips really hurt! ....
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| denwood
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 542 Quarryville PA
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2005-08-20 115172
Believe me, the burlap did not kill those trees. If it was natural and it did not decompose, there is a big problem with the soil, no water or no oxygen. The roots would have gone right through the burlap and into the soil and only after the restriction seriously choked the roots would it have possibly died. That is not easy for non rotted burlap to do in the short term. There are accepted nursery standards for planting from the American Nursery Association and they would not have people planting things in burlap if it killed them. I despise burlap in my Garden center because it won't last from March to September without rotting off and making me have to rewrap it. I now only do B&B for christmas trees in the fall with treated burlap , and I blow out any remaining in the Spring real quick. ....
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