I’m planning on buying my first tractor, and just want you to know I really appreciate the videos you are making to help us care for our equipment well.
Work as a gardener. Love the forklifts. We lift heavy picnic benches, heavy ornamental rocks into garden patch installations. Rocks because of its shape, is impossible to fit in the loader bucket.
Thanks for the idea of putting brackets for tool boxes on the box blade, that’s now on my list. Been wanting a place to carry tools for a while. But, was hesitant to invent something from scratch! And, I may modify my front hayspear to take either the spear or forks. So, I can change back and forth 👍
So I pick the landscape rake over the box blade all day. I was able to fix ruts on the trail with it. Gravel driveway I can refinish with what’s currently there using it. Humps in the yard are no problem (assuming the ground is soft enough) use it to rake out sod in a new garden or just rake up some leaves. I’ve used it to fill in holes. Surprisingly it’s done a lot of what a box blade does at least for me. Then pallet forks and a boom pole are my other 2. Boom pole is cheap and extremely handy if you move logs around. I’ll be posting a video about that next week. Thanks for the video.
Love my box blade -- that was really the biggest reason for me to buy a tractor in the first place. We've got about a half mile of gravel driveway to maintain, and it's really made a big difference for us and our neighbors (who we share about 500 ft of driveway with). Forks are on my short list now. We also bought a brush cutter and a backhoe in our initial purchase with the tractor. I wanted to go ahead and take advantage of JD's 0% financing with the more expensive attachments, figuring it would be a little easier to save up for the others down the road.
When I got my first tractor, no canopy. I burned my skin. I put a nice canopy on my second tractor and that helped me a lot. When I needed a larger tractor, there was no doubt whatsoever that I had to get one with a cab. It was expensive, but now I can work in 90 degree weather all day long if I have to. So I think you are 100% right.
Forks were our first attachment. Also use them as much as my bucket. Getting older I can’t lift the stuff I did when I was younger. I agree with the quick attach style. The only thing I would recommend is getting the full back cage instead of the step through. Especially if you’re not that familiar with operating forks.
The full back can definitely be useful, but demand for the split back is way higher. Everything goes in cycles, though, so I'm sure full backs will be back in fashion soon
I love your video!!! I have an LS XR 3037 and you are right about the box blade I use mine all the time. I had to cut about 1000 ash down along side the house and in the back a few years ago and decided I needed forks to move the trees to the field and I wish I would have gotten them sooner!! I use them more than my bucket as well. I noticed that you put a pvc toolbox in your front tube that is definitely something I want to do next!! Please continue with your videos your awesome!!!
Using the PVC test caps was a trick I learned from another youtuber (messicks, maybe?). I had to make mine with the cap from a 4" and the rubber parts from a 3", so it was a real jury-rigged situation. Still a bit of a tight squeeze to get them in, so I took one off the other day, and haven't bothered to put it back on. Still searching for the perfect way to stow my chain...
I agree with the canopy. The one I put on my tractor also came with a fan. Not only does the fan keep me cool but also the bugs off. One thing id add to your list is a 3-point quick attach. For the 3 point I only have a box scrape but everytime I put it back on after mowing I struggled.
Greets from Curacao. Great videos. Absolutely right on the pallet forks. Very handy. I use them to load cut corn/sorghum stalks on the trailer by the bushel. Saves back-muscles and time. PS: Remember to stress everyone of the importance of ballast and weights to frt and back, either suitcase or wheel weights. Absolute must !!!! Take care. Willy
how you doing Micah? Love your videos. The thing I like the most is you are down to earth. Many of the UA-cam channel guys seem to have anything they want as far as equipment goes. And for me it gets tiring not to be able to just buy any attachment that you could really use. So many attachments are specific use items and there is nothing inexpensive anymore. I have the MT342SC. The Servo HST. Didn't even know that it wasn't normal HST when I bought it. But I'm older, retired and love the cab for air and heat. The first winter we got a storm with about 4 feet of snow and I cleared out my drive and two other neighbors with only the bucket. And I'll tell you 6 hours in 40mph winds, blowing snow didn't hurt me at all. Cabs are comfortable. I like you have woods and we had the ash borer come through and trees are down everywhere. That's why I bought the 342. Enough power to move logs. But anyway just wanted you to know you have a great channel and many of us appreciate your common sense.
I just ordered an mt225s, and I'm looking forward to getting it. I've watched a couple of your videos and I hope you keep posting. The other one I watched is how not to abuse your equipment, and I really liked that one. I'm getting mine with a loader, backhoe, and cab. A box is on my short list, but this is all I can handle right now. Block heater and snow blower are next. I live in Maine. I hadn't considered forks, but I now have to fit them in there somewhere! So, of your recommended items, I'm getting one, had one in mind, and now I want the third, but I'll have to figure out when. Box blade becaue of a gravel driveway has to come soon.
You're gonna have a great time! A good box blade is hard to beat! Sometimes a person can find a decent used one and save enough money to get some forks!
The forks can be useful, but they are still attached to a flimsy loader frame that can tweak/break if you torque it too much. Good advice on them not being able to light much on the smaller tractors. The box is a no brainer, but then again, so is a cab with a heater and AC… I wouldn’t call that an attachment tho… So for number three, a backhoe… Almost everyone with a tractor needs to dig at some point and a loader bucket is not for digging. Irrigation, stump removal, septic, walkway, planting trees, etc… They are also better ballast than a box, which comes in handy if you have a larger tractor that can lift more on the front end.
My dad had a rollover box blade, probably built in the 40s, on his really old Massey Ferguson tractor and he kept that until he finally sold all of his equipment. Some companies are still making modern version of the rollover box blade if you can find them. Just reach back and pull the lever to change position of the box, or have full depth rippers in a matter of seconds! Whenever you have a box blade you really need to have the top and tilt kit also!
My dad had his own tractor company and he would often put tractor umbrellas on his tractors with the tractor trademark before he had to start putting roll bars on the tractors! His Massey Ferguson never did need a roll bar cuz it was grandfathered in. Check out the big square tractor umbrellas that they still sell. They have position adjustments!!!
I really want some forks and canopy but I love my grapple. I know it doesn't have the utility of the forks but there is something therapeutic about using them. If gas and maintenance was free and time was not in limited supply I could grapple all day long just for fun.
Everything you said was right on the money I have an XR 3135H and i bought a box blade forks and bush hog , already had a canopy i put on when i got tractor also bought a potato plow an a everything attachments grapple , I have tryed to tear it up an cant do it , they are really made tough, keep up good videos!!!!!! I would love a coffee cup and I will pay for it,please let me know how much and where to send money and if you could get one with LS on it I would greatful , I have tryed LS but cant seem to get one,,thank you in advance
A potato plow is on my list for nex5 year. Seems like a great way to make easy drainage ditches. I'll see if I can dig-up an LS mug... shoot me an email through my youtube profile and I'll work on it. If you'd like a Genuine Farmer coffee mug, I've got those for sale on my profile as well!
I took the plunge! Had to mix and match parts from two types to make it work, and I've since abandoned the whole getup. I think I'm gonna just rig up a big ammo can or something to carry chains
@@HomesteadBandwagon The tractor I'm looking at is smaller than yours (MT2 40He). Storage is a premium, so I'm always looking for clever ideas. I've seen some folks use a PVC pipe sleeved into the torque tube. Cut a section out of the top for access, glue an end cap permanently to one side; and use the expanding drain plug on the other. When you need whatever's stored in the tube, you loosen the drain plug and slide the whole PVC pipe out the other side.... I've also seen a flat bracket, like 10" across, held to the ROPs with big U-Bolts like a shelf, and ammo cans bolted to it. That's a great option if you can make it work. That also lets you keep chain in one box, and pins and hammers in the other.
I have the Bareco canopy also , it’s 2years now and love it It even came 98 percent the same color as my Ls tractor, the material it’s made of is durable and has flex to it , believe me you’ll bump branches and stuff when you least expect it while in the woods, helps to keep widow makers off your head.
Since my LS MT357HC came with a cab (the "C" in the model name) attached I get to chose an additional attachment, don't I? I've got an offset flail mower on order. I am hopeful that my enormous stands of blackberries will succumb to its attentions.
thanks for sharing the video You're Dead on down here in Southern California an open cab tractor needs a canopy you add the dust and the Sun 🌞 equals miserable. I don't own a pair of forks but I do own a box blade I use it for everything
Have been undecided about a canopy for about a year . Loving the outdoors as I do , a cab was not even a consideration . Having some shade is , but are there any real deficits, more than I am seeing ? In my case , the hedge rows would be expanding more , not being able to get in tight enough 'brush hogging' to keep them from encroaching more . I have not yet found a canopy that comes off quickly and easily for that phase of my work .----------------------What does a 75 year old boy to do ?????????P.S. Good videos by the way . ( gotta be that laid back style 😆)
I haven't found a good canopy that's easy to remove, but what i like about the BareCo canopy is that it won't get wrecked if it makes a little unkind contact with some brush
@@HomesteadBandwagon Thank you for responding back . I will look into that manufacturer , but I have to wonder which one is least likely to become a lightening rod ? I have some hair left , and would like to keep it . Should we become unstable and not be grounded ??? 😝
@@oldbuzzard76 We were just talking about that the other day! Since the top is all polimer and there isn't much metal exposed, I'd be curious how conductive it would be! I'm too chicken to find-out, but I'd think that with all the rubber in those tires, a person would hopefully be pretty safe unless they had their bucket or an implement on the ground!
@@HomesteadBandwagon Do those tractors have Roll Over Protection (ROPS) with associated steel canopy like John Deere? That’s what I have on mine. And being strong enough to protect the operator in a rollover, it’s more than durable enough to shrug off a little brush.
Then get a canopy / roll over protection (ROPS) combo. Essentially a roll-bar with a thick piece of steel for the shade. That’s what I have on my tractor. Run it under trees all the time and they can’t even begin to move it. Likewise, have knocked dead branches out of trees that fell on top of the steel “roof” attached to the ROPS and it didn’t budge. Already saved my life multiple times. Rollover protection on my non-cab tractor was a “deal breaker” when I bought it. I’ve known people who got dead rolling a tractor without one. It’s easier than you think…
Have you ever heard the story about the explosion sound effect they use? They mixed in all sorts of different sounds, including a bobcat or mountain lion scream. Love that movie!
I’m planning on buying my first tractor, and just want you to know I really appreciate the videos you are making to help us care for our equipment well.
What machines are you considering? There's a lot of great ones on the market.
Work as a gardener. Love the forklifts.
We lift heavy picnic benches, heavy ornamental rocks into garden patch installations. Rocks because of its shape, is impossible to fit in the loader bucket.
Love the videos, thanks! I'm a new tractor owner, and these are really helpful. Thank you!
Glad it helped!
Thanks for the idea of putting brackets for tool boxes on the box blade, that’s now on my list. Been wanting a place to carry tools for a while. But, was hesitant to invent something from scratch!
And, I may modify my front hayspear to take either the spear or forks. So, I can change back and forth 👍
So I pick the landscape rake over the box blade all day. I was able to fix ruts on the trail with it. Gravel driveway I can refinish with what’s currently there using it. Humps in the yard are no problem (assuming the ground is soft enough) use it to rake out sod in a new garden or just rake up some leaves. I’ve used it to fill in holes. Surprisingly it’s done a lot of what a box blade does at least for me.
Then pallet forks and a boom pole are my other 2. Boom pole is cheap and extremely handy if you move logs around. I’ll be posting a video about that next week.
Thanks for the video.
Love my box blade -- that was really the biggest reason for me to buy a tractor in the first place. We've got about a half mile of gravel driveway to maintain, and it's really made a big difference for us and our neighbors (who we share about 500 ft of driveway with). Forks are on my short list now. We also bought a brush cutter and a backhoe in our initial purchase with the tractor. I wanted to go ahead and take advantage of JD's 0% financing with the more expensive attachments, figuring it would be a little easier to save up for the others down the road.
When I got my first tractor, no canopy. I burned my skin. I put a nice canopy on my second tractor and that helped me a lot. When I needed a larger tractor, there was no doubt whatsoever that I had to get one with a cab. It was expensive, but now I can work in 90 degree weather all day long if I have to. So I think you are 100% right.
If the Tractor Gods smile upon us, our next machine will DEFINITLEY have a cab
@@HomesteadBandwagon My Kubota keeps me cool in the summer and warm in the winter. You wont regret it. 🙂
Good choices. But I need a bushhog and a proper shout. Aka a backhoe. For stumps😅
Keeping it real and simple thanks so much for the video you sold me on the forks as well great
I really need to get a set of forks, definitely one of the most useful things you can buy for a tractor! New subscriber, keep up the good work!
Every time I use the forks, I wonder what good a tractor would be without them. Thanks for the sub!
Forks were our first attachment. Also use them as much as my bucket. Getting older I can’t lift the stuff I did when I was younger. I agree with the quick attach style. The only thing I would recommend is getting the full back cage instead of the step through. Especially if you’re not that familiar with operating forks.
The full back can definitely be useful, but demand for the split back is way higher. Everything goes in cycles, though, so I'm sure full backs will be back in fashion soon
I love your video!!! I have an LS XR 3037 and you are right about the box blade I use mine all the time. I had to cut about 1000 ash down along side the house and in the back a few years ago and decided I needed forks to move the trees to the field and I wish I would have gotten them sooner!! I use them more than my bucket as well. I noticed that you put a pvc toolbox in your front tube that is definitely something I want to do next!! Please continue with your videos your awesome!!!
Using the PVC test caps was a trick I learned from another youtuber (messicks, maybe?). I had to make mine with the cap from a 4" and the rubber parts from a 3", so it was a real jury-rigged situation. Still a bit of a tight squeeze to get them in, so I took one off the other day, and haven't bothered to put it back on. Still searching for the perfect way to stow my chain...
I agree with the canopy. The one I put on my tractor also came with a fan. Not only does the fan keep me cool but also the bugs off. One thing id add to your list is a 3-point quick attach. For the 3 point I only have a box scrape but everytime I put it back on after mowing I struggled.
Greets from Curacao. Great videos. Absolutely right on the pallet forks. Very handy.
I use them to load cut corn/sorghum stalks on the trailer by the bushel. Saves back-muscles and time. PS: Remember to stress everyone of the importance of ballast and weights to frt and back, either suitcase or wheel weights. Absolute must !!!! Take care.
Willy
Absolutely. I don't let a tractor leave the dealership without ballast. It's a life saver!
how you doing Micah? Love your videos. The thing I like the most is you are down to earth. Many of the UA-cam channel guys seem to have anything they want as far as equipment goes. And for me it gets tiring not to be able to just buy any attachment that you could really use. So many attachments are specific use items and there is nothing inexpensive anymore. I have the MT342SC. The Servo HST. Didn't even know that it wasn't normal HST when I bought it. But I'm older, retired and love the cab for air and heat. The first winter we got a storm with about 4 feet of snow and I cleared out my drive and two other neighbors with only the bucket. And I'll tell you 6 hours in 40mph winds, blowing snow didn't hurt me at all. Cabs are comfortable. I like you have woods and we had the ash borer come through and trees are down everywhere. That's why I bought the 342. Enough power to move logs. But anyway just wanted you to know you have a great channel and many of us appreciate your common sense.
I just ordered an mt225s, and I'm looking forward to getting it. I've watched a couple of your videos and I hope you keep posting. The other one I watched is how not to abuse your equipment, and I really liked that one. I'm getting mine with a loader, backhoe, and cab. A box is on my short list, but this is all I can handle right now. Block heater and snow blower are next. I live in Maine. I hadn't considered forks, but I now have to fit them in there somewhere! So, of your recommended items, I'm getting one, had one in mind, and now I want the third, but I'll have to figure out when. Box blade becaue of a gravel driveway has to come soon.
You're gonna have a great time! A good box blade is hard to beat! Sometimes a person can find a decent used one and save enough money to get some forks!
The forks can be useful, but they are still attached to a flimsy loader frame that can tweak/break if you torque it too much. Good advice on them not being able to light much on the smaller tractors. The box is a no brainer, but then again, so is a cab with a heater and AC… I wouldn’t call that an attachment tho… So for number three, a backhoe… Almost everyone with a tractor needs to dig at some point and a loader bucket is not for digging. Irrigation, stump removal, septic, walkway, planting trees, etc… They are also better ballast than a box, which comes in handy if you have a larger tractor that can lift more on the front end.
My dad had a rollover box blade, probably built in the 40s, on his really old Massey Ferguson tractor and he kept that until he finally sold all of his equipment.
Some companies are still making modern version of the rollover box blade if you can find them.
Just reach back and pull the lever to change position of the box, or have full depth rippers in a matter of seconds!
Whenever you have a box blade you really need to have the top and tilt kit also!
My dad had his own tractor company and he would often put tractor umbrellas on his tractors with the tractor trademark before he had to start putting roll bars on the tractors!
His Massey Ferguson never did need a roll bar cuz it was grandfathered in.
Check out the big square tractor umbrellas that they still sell. They have position adjustments!!!
Really great stuff, thanks. Still no tractor, but soon I hope
I really want some forks and canopy but I love my grapple. I know it doesn't have the utility of the forks but there is something therapeutic about using them. If gas and maintenance was free and time was not in limited supply I could grapple all day long just for fun.
I've been moving brush with the grapple all morning. I kinda just want to keep a few piles around in case i need to go out and blow off some steam!
Everything you said was right on the money I have an XR 3135H and i bought a box blade forks and bush hog , already had a canopy i put on when i got tractor also bought a potato plow an a everything attachments grapple , I have tryed to tear it up an cant do it , they are really made tough, keep up good videos!!!!!! I would love a coffee cup and I will pay for it,please let me know how much and where to send money and if you could get one with LS on it I would greatful , I have tryed LS but cant seem to get one,,thank you in advance
A potato plow is on my list for nex5 year. Seems like a great way to make easy drainage ditches.
I'll see if I can dig-up an LS mug... shoot me an email through my youtube profile and I'll work on it. If you'd like a Genuine Farmer coffee mug, I've got those for sale on my profile as well!
As a warehouseman I can confirm to the usefulness of forks. With a hole in the tip of a fork and a bolt you can move any trailer
My dad is a retired Teamster warehouseman. He taught me how wonderful forks are from a young age
You can also move most trailers by putting a ball hitch on the dozer blade of your excavator.
Like cotton-top did.
Watch his video on that.
Can you also move trailers with a pintle hitch or fifth wheel hitch?
Heeey, expanding drain plugs! You must be using that torque tube for storage! ;)
I took the plunge! Had to mix and match parts from two types to make it work, and I've since abandoned the whole getup. I think I'm gonna just rig up a big ammo can or something to carry chains
@@HomesteadBandwagon The tractor I'm looking at is smaller than yours (MT2 40He). Storage is a premium, so I'm always looking for clever ideas. I've seen some folks use a PVC pipe sleeved into the torque tube. Cut a section out of the top for access, glue an end cap permanently to one side; and use the expanding drain plug on the other. When you need whatever's stored in the tube, you loosen the drain plug and slide the whole PVC pipe out the other side....
I've also seen a flat bracket, like 10" across, held to the ROPs with big U-Bolts like a shelf, and ammo cans bolted to it. That's a great option if you can make it work. That also lets you keep chain in one box, and pins and hammers in the other.
where did you purchase the canopy from, LS does not make one from the factory? Your channel is good practical information,Thanks.
The canopy is made by Bareco. Fantastic quality. To my knowledge. LS does not currently make a canopy
@@HomesteadBandwagon thanks. Enjoy your videos!
Thanks for watching!
I have the Bareco canopy also , it’s 2years now and love it It even came 98 percent the same color as my Ls tractor, the material it’s made of is durable and has flex to it , believe me you’ll bump branches and stuff when you least expect it while in the woods, helps to keep widow makers off your head.
Since my LS MT357HC came with a cab (the "C" in the model name) attached I get to chose an additional attachment, don't I? I've got an offset flail mower on order. I am hopeful that my enormous stands of blackberries will succumb to its attentions.
Gonna get hammer knives on that flail?
@@HomesteadBandwagon Indeed.
Heck yeah. I need to get my hands on one to demo out here
thanks for sharing the video You're Dead on down here in Southern California an open cab tractor needs a canopy you add the dust and the Sun 🌞 equals miserable. I don't own a pair of forks but I do own a box blade I use it for everything
Well, you're 2/3 of the way to Tractor Perfection!
Have been undecided about a canopy for about a year . Loving the outdoors as I do , a cab was not even a consideration . Having some shade is , but are there any real deficits, more than I am seeing ? In my case , the hedge rows would be expanding more , not being able to get in tight enough 'brush hogging' to keep them from encroaching more . I have not yet found a canopy that comes off quickly and easily for that phase of my work .----------------------What does a 75 year old boy to do ?????????P.S. Good videos by the way . ( gotta be that laid back style 😆)
I haven't found a good canopy that's easy to remove, but what i like about the BareCo canopy is that it won't get wrecked if it makes a little unkind contact with some brush
@@HomesteadBandwagon Thank you for responding back . I will look into that manufacturer , but I have to wonder which one is least likely to become a lightening rod ? I have some hair left , and would like to keep it . Should we become unstable and not be grounded ??? 😝
@@oldbuzzard76 We were just talking about that the other day! Since the top is all polimer and there isn't much metal exposed, I'd be curious how conductive it would be! I'm too chicken to find-out, but I'd think that with all the rubber in those tires, a person would hopefully be pretty safe unless they had their bucket or an implement on the ground!
Get a trachoe to come in and break off overhangs. Did this on a 60 acre overgrown meadow
@@HomesteadBandwagon
Do those tractors have Roll Over Protection (ROPS) with associated steel canopy like John Deere? That’s what I have on mine. And being strong enough to protect the operator in a rollover, it’s more than durable enough to shrug off a little brush.
I disagree with the canopy because I’d tear it off in this Florida brush.
Then get a canopy / roll over protection (ROPS) combo. Essentially a roll-bar with a thick piece of steel for the shade.
That’s what I have on my tractor. Run it under trees all the time and they can’t even begin to move it. Likewise, have knocked dead branches out of trees that fell on top of the steel “roof” attached to the ROPS and it didn’t budge. Already saved my life multiple times.
Rollover protection on my non-cab tractor was a “deal breaker” when I bought it. I’ve known people who got dead rolling a tractor without one. It’s easier than you think…
I’d rather MacGruber things🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Have you ever heard the story about the explosion sound effect they use? They mixed in all sorts of different sounds, including a bobcat or mountain lion scream. Love that movie!