There is a tractor in my barn

i knew you would like the loader bucket.....in 2 weeks time you will see why i think it should be federal law no tractors can be sold without a loader bucket....lol

and dont wait...get ya rear in that seat NOW so you will be learned and ready and practiced up for spring planting....i KNOW you can do it....i have confidence in you.go slow and easy and keep bucket low to ground when heavily loaded.

you are going to be amazed ! that little tractor will do more chores on a homestead being 4x4 and loaderbucket that any 2x4 tractor and no loader of same size.i know its not a tractor to pull haybaler etc.its a homesteaders chore machine...appropriate technology/size to land base size.

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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau

Rustic old romantic tractors are nice. But what you have is much more functional. I use my old one just because thats what i grew up on and what im used to.

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Thank you.

After I read your post I went to grab my phone and text SO with your tip. I glanced out the back door to peak at the bucket and this is what I found. The pics I took of the tractor in the first post were taken this morning after we loaded the bucket. As you saw the bucket was left filled and in the up position. Just a couple hours later and this is what happened.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

PS: did we break it already ?

no...the hydraulics leak off over time lowering bucket or tilting forward with weight.the more weight the faster the bleed off...the rear 3pt hitch often will do the same things.

that bucket of stone is 500# to 750#

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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau

I think I need to google for the manual and do some reading on this thing before somebody gets hurt !!

No, as EH said. The system just leaked down. Some leak slowly, some a little faster. Not good for the system. But, IF a hose breaks, the bucket and whatever is in it goes to the ground at high speed. No feet, hands, etc under the lift or bucket!!!

I wouldn't be too worried about the bucket dropping over the course of a couple hours. That was a pretty stout load for it, and the fact that it still isn't all the way on the ground tells me that it didn't leak-down in the first couple minutes after you walked away from it. It took a couple hours to get to that point and still hadn't lost all its hydraulic pressure. Take that as a sign that your seals are all in good shape that it was able to hold that load up, without the hydro pump running, as long as it did.

Take-away being two-fold:
1 - Obviously, you don't want to leave the machine with an implement on the 3-pt hitch or the loader up in the air for too long a period, but...
2 - ...if you need to just need to run into the barn for a chain, or grab an axe or something, it is not (should not) going to just drop on you.

If you're parking the tractor, lower the bucket and any mounted implement to the ground for safety's sake. If you're just hopping off to do something quick and get back on, leave the motor running, and the load/implement lifted, but, as a rule, don't let anyone under the bucket or lifted implement, even if you suspect the system is working perfectly. All hydraulics systems can fail.

Good looking little tractor !!! Is that a King Kutter tiller behind it? Take those shoes off the bottom and you'll get a lot better tillage with it

Very informative post for me. Thanks to you all about the bucket warning. We've always lowered our bucket and implements to the ground when parking but when I was planting my trees I'd hop out to get water out of the bucket to put on my new trees with a scoop. If it'd dropped i'd probably be missing a leg. I'll keep that in mind from now on. Not to hyjack this thread or anything but what is everyone's opinion on Kubota tractors?

Idk. He got the tiller at TSC. What shoes ? We can alter the tiller to make work better ?

Nice looker!

You are going to wonder how you ever survived without a loader bucket.

Another word of warning. Don't ever let anyone ride in the bucket while moving. I know a man who ran over his brother that way.

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Chimney Creek Farm
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If you already don't have one, buy a good grease gun and grease and use it.

Catastrophic burst of hydraulic equipment is the critical danger, but even a slow leak could pin and then crush someone/thing who fell asleep (maybe animal or child in a bit of a hollow) or even just fell injured ("fallen and can't get up") under it. Better to play it safe and leave it down.

What kind of ford? 8N? For a tractor that was not running I don't think $600 was that bad of deal, maybe a little low, if it was the 8N cuz people seem to like those. You would have gotten less than that it you would have taken it to the scrap yard.

It costs a fortune to properly restore a tractor (not just paint it up, like how some people call "restored") It costs way more than people think it does, depending on what the tractor needs.

So in short.... I don't think you got that screwed.

Nice cub!

Okay, it is the KK knock off from TSC... Yes, see the skids on the bottom of the tiller, you can move that bolt to adjust them up and down. They are supposed to limit how deep the tiller works the soil. Just take them off entire, and let the 3pt hitch on draft position (I don't know if that tractor has a draft setting on the 3pt or not). Regardless, with the skids/shoes off the bottom you'll be able to work the soil deeper.

No. It wasn't an 8N. I do not remember though I'm sure there is a picture floating around here somewhere of the thing. It was an early 70s model that was mistaken for a select-o-speed or something like that. It had been used in road construction and to say it was in rough shape would be a compliment.

I asked the guy who restored it what he paid to fix it up but he wouldn't tell me. The wasn't the best job - but he managed to get new decals for the gears and it was quite spiffy. But still - there is no way I would ever know how to keep it running, even with a sticker on the gear shift.

Also - I didn't give a dime for it. The man who lived here before us threw it in when we were negotiating. He did try to back out and offered us a generator instead. That's what I should've taken !!!

Definitely an owner's manual is in order. Takes the Model Number and serial no. (sometimes) from the aluminum tag somewhere on the tractor, and a Google search. It's good to get some practice now, and then you can make some reasonable plans for next year. Yes, definitely a grease gun, plus some basic wrenches and tools if you don't already have some. Would be helpful if you have a mechanic lined up for those inevitable breakdowns right when you need it most, but some care, cleaning, and lubrication will help a lot--plus it will make you look at it and spot any breakdown in the making.

I would suggest the investment in a separate tool shed and workshop building in your future. I wouldn't keep a tractor in a storage building, or in an animal building. If one gets damaged(fire) you don't lose everything if they are in separate buildings, plus you can work on the engine without gassing the animals...

geo

i knew you would like the loader bucket.....in 2 weeks time you will see why i think it should be federal law no tractors can be sold without a loader bucket....lol

No truer words have ever been spoken..... A tractor without a bucket is usless

Bah, Humbug. Ive farmed since 69 without one.