More tractor talk

[MushCreek]

I've been having fun with my old Ford tractor! I bought it a few months back; $2500, complete with loader. The loader needs work, but will be serviceable. Meanwhile, I've been fixing up the old tractor, taking care of all of the old baling wire and duct tape 'repairs' made over the last 50 years. I've actually used it some; I graded the driveway, and have started trying to remove the hundreds of small trees on a 1/2 acre area that I'm trying to turn into pasture. I learned something- some trees are bolted down better than others. I wrapped a chain around a 3" oak, and walked it right out at an idle. I tried a 4" oak, and same thing, with a little more effort. Then, I tried a 3" sweet gum. Nothing! More power, lifted the front wheels off the ground- nothing. The devil hisself must be holding on to those roots. The good news is that there's only about a thousand of those buggers out there. I may just hire someone with an excavator to grub it off. There's a bunch of old pine stumps, too, that need to go.

I just bought a new wood chipper to go on the tractor. It's a WoodMaxx, 8" hydraulic feed, powered by the PTO. I got it up and running yesterday. It's amazing how much fun it is to grind up sweet gums! I was a little worried, not knowing if my PTO was in condition to drive it, but grinds 'em up no problem. Considering that the chipper cost more than the tractor, I had a lot at stake. For now, I'm going to cut some of the sweet gums flush to the ground, spray with 2, 4 D, and leave em. They have a bad habit of re-sprouting otherwise. After I get my pasture under control, I'm going to start thinning my woods. I have a lot of skinny little trees amongst the mature trees. I'll cut 'em down, haul the main trunk out of the woods for firewood, and chip the brush where it lies.

[Don_P]

Nice  . That thing looks like a workout for the pto clutch but sure looks like the ticket. Remember when thinning the poles and babies that they are the next forest, I try to leave the best and most desirable trees there to make the next woods when I can.

When I bought our old Massey I thought "This is one old machine", I've now had it over half its life and it is older than me but can still drive the sawmill. One old friend said "If you don't overrev it, it'll outlast your grandchildren" I think he was right.

[Adam Roby]

Very nice machine, I love these old tractors.  If I had the time and money I would fix one up every year just to make sure they stay alive.  Kind of like hot-rodding but tractor style. 

Cool video, not sure if I saw this here or on Facebook but it looks just like my tractor (Belarus) with a  homemade logger.
https://www.ytpak.com/watch?v=LTe50pCEFDM

[OlJarhead]

Nice chipper!  I'd love one myself but the cost is just too much for now.....maybe the sawmill will buy me one

[MushCreek]

The Ford is the working tractor; future plans are for a hobby tractor as well- either a letter series John Deere, or one of the early FarmAlls, such as an F-12. The Ford's not old enough to scratch that itch. The cutter head on that chipper weighs 200 lbs.; I assume that takes some of the shock out of the PTO mechanism. Time will tell, but I keep the feed pretty light to go easy on the old fella.

As for thinning, I'd like to keep the diversity, just in case. We've lost many large red oaks due to drought stress. I'm glad that my woods has a wide mix of species.