Calling Flying Belgian

Regarding a tractor with backhoe. Here is mine, a JD 3320 with Woods 6500.

I think the 6500 means it can dig 6.5 feet deep, well maybe but the practical limit is about 4.5-5.5 ft.

So if you plan to dig for Drain Tile consider how deep your Drain Tile is and the practical limit of the backhoe.

I love this rig, it is my swiss army knife. I have several attachments, brush hog but no mower. I use a X728 for mowing. I use this tractor all the time. The neighbors are amazed at what it can do.

Logging winch,
Box Scraper,
Pallet Forks,
Grapple - Amazing Tool,
Blade, I don't use this much,
The iMatch Hitch is also extremely handy.

I have a lot of back issues so I do as much as I can with this.

I would suggest JD or Kubota.

Good Luck. Paul

Friday I demoed a 23 hp. Yanmar. I was really impressed. Dealer by Waseca let me play on a large pile of clay fill he had hauled in several years ago. It was really settled but I had no problem filling front end bucket and especially no problem with 12 inch hoe bucket. One thing I am skeptical about is there is no float setting on hydraulic lever. With my full size tractor loader I use float all the time when back dragging.

Yes, float is handy.

I sure have been impressed with the Yanmar engines so hopefully that extends to all their designs. To bad about the float missing.

Don?t let anyone bad mouth Deere?s plastic hoods. I had a Boulder the size of a basketball or bigger fall on the hood when the loader was up. Left three scratches and broke off one of the plastic mounts on the antifreeze overflow tank below it. No visible cracks in the hood. Unbelievable.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Paul in La Crosse

I saw your earlier post of trading your current mower for a compact. I would suggest you get your wife involved really early with this if she is going to be doing the mowing. If you currently have a full size JD garden tractor that is all-wheel steer, the compact is a totally different mowing machine. Your current mower more than likely is more maneuverable and would also out mow a compact if your yard has many obstacles. The compacts are heavier too and will mark a yard up in wet springs. If your yard is wide open and fairly square then a compact maybe OK for you but if your yard is not either of those you may not have a happy wife when she is mowing with the compact.

I rarely sold a second compact with a deck,to anyone that mowed with them. Usually the second purchase was a compact with a loader and a separate machine to mow with, usually a zero turn if their yard was flat. Think long an hard about taking the cost of the compact mower deck and buy just a mower for the grass cutting.

The old adage about multipurpose machines not rally being good at any of them is kind of true for compacts tractors with loaders and mowers. For the loader work your going to want tires that have traction and ground clearance. For mowing your going to want tires that do not mire the yard and low clearance for mowing under trees. So different hats for different jobs.

P.S. Also try the mower deck out on any compact your looking at. JD has a good cutting mower deck. Many of the other brand compact decks will NOT do as good of a job mowing. Cut quality is important and loads of imported compact tractors have terrible decks when looking at cut quality.

I am just saying that if mowing is the majority of the machine's use, make sure that it does that the best. I had customers that loved their compacts that mowed with them. Others hated mowing with a compact over a large garden tractor type. Also the compact is heavier. So a 25 HP compact will not mow as fast as a 25 HP garden tractor.

Agee with JD Seller 100%.

Suggest you drive and price several brands.

Oh, I also have axle extensions on mine plus lots of weight given the slopes here.

Paul