Northern Virginia Roll Call

What a weird sight...

 

Hark! It's the wild green taco! Rarely seen in the wild!

 

anyone have a Diamondback Cover in here?

 

you parked over the line

 

Miracle plastic at work. No cracks, just a scuff?

 

I did that so the people that park next to me dont door ding their doors on my slider.

 

The tiniest of scuff marks on the headlight.

 

Amazing.

 

What a brilliant spotter he had

 

You planned that drop perfectly ... well, except for that scuff part.

 

I thought that's half the appeal of sliders!#mallcrawling

 

@Superman910 well crap now that I compare the pictures I dunno. You can see how I mowed last time. No traction issues. The backyard is worse for me because of how uneven it is. Unloads the rear end all the time.

 

I know pictures don't do them justice and in reality all hills are steeper in person, but I think you could get any riding mower you want as long as you never cut it wet. You might need a locking rear if you have spots that stay wet or if you want to use it in the winter. If you decide to by from a dealer and not a big box store, I would ask if they will bring it to your house to test it out. In these times they should.

Here are a couple pics of the hills on my property. Unless the grass is dewy in the morning, or the driveways are snowy, I only use my 4wd for the most extreme hills. The key is, go slow and wider tires are better.

Getting to the back yard from the driveway. Look at the area next to that Juniper bush. I have to lean forward there. That bare spot is the base of a large pine. I cut up and behind it.



This area is between my two driveways. Every year I say I am going to plant the entire area. It's mostly moss and buttercups in the spring. A lot of shade.



The front yard and not only steep but long, so a full pressurized automotive style oil system is mandatory



The front yard



This is what I call the lower 40 aka the part that I don't have to cut. I say every year I should just till it and plant wild flowers.



The same lower 40 from the opposite direction

 

Looking to buy a bed extender for my 2nd gen. Dont want to pay shipping so looking to buy local. Let me know if anyone on here is getting rid of one. Thanks!!

 

Yea, you'd be surprised how effective a decent 24 hp rider is with the deck off for your trails, dragging a 4' x 8' sheet of stretched steel loaded with cinder blocks. Not only will it clear any small growth but will help level it out. Then you load up a small utility trailer with stone or mulch and gradually rake it off as you drive through. Then go back and throw on your plow, set the height and push it level.

If you get a decent rider you don't need to buy their accessories or implements. You can save money buying 3rd party. There is a lot of compatibility once you get into the Garden Tractor or Sub-Compact range. Mine has a OEM rear PTO and a 3 point hitch setup. I can add any make post hole digger, tiller, brush mower, salt/seed spreader, etc out there. It's very universal. A lot of tow behind accessories have their own engine too. Grass collection vacuum systems for one. If you have a lot of property and trees, those can be used to remove leaves in the fall. There's one that is not cheap but get this. It has an independent hose you can control by had for spot areas. But the best part is, it has a reverse function that lets you fill the storage compartment with mulch and blow it into place for harder to get to areas like hills. That's the shit there. I hate freaking leaves!!!!

Now, what I said about your trail maintenance earlier can also all be done with a atv set up with a mower. My buddy in New Mexico has a similar length driveway as me, about 1,600 feet. He has a 2 person Arctic Cat. It's a beast and was not cheap. It was however less money than my Kubota. He has a plow, the angle is manually set but the height is controlled by his winch. He can plow his entire driveway of a foot of snow or more in less than an hour. I have seen videos. It has the power, speed and control to get the job done. He uses it to move his small camper and trailers, and then for fun with the family on camping trips. Of course he only has to cut the little bit of grass he has once or twice a year with a small walk behind so it serves him well as a UTV. But it can be outfitted with a mower deck.

Plowing snow is not as easy as it sounds though. First, you need to be able to move it off the roadway. If you have a drive with obstacles on the edges you're screwed. When we moved up here I had a 8' Myers plow with a full electronic control setup on a hydraulic mount. I had it mounted to my 1999 std cab 4wd Dodge Ram. I even had a flashing yellow light bar on the roof. It was great for anything under 12". Over that and I struggled. With a blower, it takes longer but I don't tear up the grass along the driveway and I can throw the snow far enough away into the woods or up on my lawns so that when it melts and refreezes it's not on the driveway like it does when you plow.

We have had this happen only 3 times in 20 years but 3' or 3" it's all heavy here. A snow blower makes short work of moving this much outta the way.

 

Thanks Rob

Just remember to give me a shout when you're making your way down my way, pulling your sub-compact Kubota, will above stated gear/attachments and we can get it done in no time!!!

Right now I'm fortunate and unfortunate as the "new kids" on the block of 4 neighbors off our dirt road! They all have tractors, rakes, box blades, etc. The problem is none of them communicate on common road maintenance, etc. so i've been trying to coordinate a drive and drop type gravel delivery for a bunch of lower sections of the road that become artillery test range sized pothole craters.

After nearly getting locked out from getting home our second winter in our new place, I went ahead and bought a small push snow blower since when we do get snow, most everything seems to shut down around here. This will allow us to clear our driveway to get to our road, that's half the battle, and typically at least one neighbor has blown/plowed with a tractor some of the road...having the tractor snow blower function might be hard to justify the once every 6 years type use, but damn if it isn't a MUST have when you've got 7-14" on the roads within 4 hours type situation. Thank goodness for us taking the Taco for the "city shopping trip"...

 

Or maybe just for some Irish coffee's

I had a walk behind blower at first. They are invaluable around the house for clean up work. I think this year (because I am another year older) I am going to invest in a decent electric snow broom.I have a couple leaf blowers and the one is the largest backpack blower Stihl makes. Up to 4 or 5 inches of dry snow and it's perfect and quick. Until just last year, our neighbor in the back (that 1,600 foot drive is the last part of a 3,000 foot common drive like yours) Mrs. Gail was nearly 80. And like most elderly people, she had to get out daily for God knows what. So I was compelled to clear her drive too. My walk behind would take me all day and because she never cleared leaves or branches I was going through sheer pins like crazy.

We keep saying it's time to move into an adult community with garage parking in a 2 bedroom condo but I just can't see giving up my privacy. Of course in hindsight, a smaller place with it's own driveway would have been a smarter move. A shared drive is a shared headache. Our one neighbor is a landscaping contractor and hauls heavy equipment in and out, another family didn't have any 4wd vehicles. Who the fuck moves to the country without at least one 4wd vehicle?! If it was just us, I wouldn't plow or blow shit! I would use my truck until it got stuck and then just work from home.

 

Here ya go Greg!

https://albany.craigslist.org/pts/d/adirondack-meyer-plow/7137363090.html

 

Welcome to the best damn Tacoma forum on the interwebs young lady
Thank you for your service.

I have one you can have. Where exactly are you located? I'm likely not far from you but we have a Tacomaworld Express team that relay items when we're farther apart.

We would just need to get it to you and you would just need to buy the brackets.

This kit allows you to install/remove the extender without opening the tailgate:
https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~tacoma~bracket~kit~pt329-35051.html

 

One of my neighbors and his brother (lives on the next road down) run a masonry business...and guess who is the staging, socializing and equipment processing/cleaning site, yep my neighbor. Another one, who I rely on fixing all my bolt sheering greatness...basically has a side business working on lots of the county residents cars, from oil changes to frame rust cutouts, rebuilds, etc....but he also can use his salvage and welding business shop for larger projects for us simple folk

Stop it!!!