Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

Gotcha. I totally understand the maneuvering part. My upper driveway can be like that if the vehicles are still there. I was using a single stage blower on the front of an Economy Power King, the maneuvering made it unbearable at times...

 

I still have an Ariens ''Rocket'' tiller I use that has to be from the late 60's or early 70's. The handle rotates either right or left so you can walk beside the machine and it's balanced so well you can literally control it with a couple fingers of one hand. Maybe a 901006 [7hp] model. Picked it up for $40 at an auction.

 

When I was young someone gave me a small tiller with a 5hp Briggs. Not sure why but it kept shearing flywheel keys. Young me (14ish) not knowing any better cut a brick nail and put in it. It shattered the flywheel

 

Excavated my pull behind cart (like Cole has) from the shed, has not seen the light of day in at least 10 years.

Both tires rotten, off to TSC and got 2 new flat free jobs, $55/each , the only ones they had.(Harbor Freight had nothing)
I paid more for the tires than I did for the cart 25 years ago.

 

His will need new tires sometime, they are cracked pretty bad but have tubes in them now.

 

Tubes -- I wasn't even going there -- me and tires have spent way too much time together in the last month or so. These 2 on the cart make 15 total between repairs and the 6 new ones I put on the mowers.
2 -- daily van
1 -- old (un-moving) plow truck
2 -- another old truck (same tire twice actually)
2 -- Cub Cadet zero turn
2 -- John Deere mower
4 -- New Holland mower

 

So after a couple days use, I do love the Gravely.

Gripes:
What the hell. On a near $5000 machine they couldn't figure a way to hold the floor mat down? Weird. Sliding all over. Even Toyota eventually figured that out.
Dealer only gave me one key. Hmm.

Short gripe list.

Mows and rides great. I was amazed how little fuel it uses. Love that! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough traction. Not a problem.

 

Yesterday I said goodbye to my PTO wood chipper. I have found over the last couple of years that I would rather just make a fire than chip all my brush. Paid $300 for it a few years ago, sold it for $1300. I'll take it.

 

Nice......only problem are fire restrictions. I'm probably going to get a standalone mainly for feeding my compost piles. Oh and HOWDY NEIGHBOR (we are in county south of Everson)

 

I didn't realize you are so close to me! I'm off the Mt. Baker Highway near Kelly road.

 

Like REALLY close. Think the 9, Hopewell, etc....

 

And I'm actually in the opposite boat, where I've been considering a chipper because it's been so hard to get a burn permit the last couple of summers because it's been so dry.

 

What standalone chipper is recommended? What to avoid?

 

I've got a large pile I need to burn but everytime I have time it's too windy or dry.

 

Same here. Stupid state law says you can’t burn without having a farm. So stupid.

 

I wish I could figure out how to do that -- I usually buy high and sell low... My gift I guess.

 

The pile I had from last year was ginormous, probably 20 feet by 40 feet and about 15 feet high, and by the time I finally got to burn it this spring 90% of it went up almost alarmingly fast (in under an hour) because it was so dry. Chipping it as I went would have saved me working around it all winter.

 

"I was amazed how little fuel it uses."

Before I had the CC zero turn I mowed with a 1974 Ford LGT 145 with a gravity fuel tank. The old Ford would always cough and remind you to add gas -- she used lots of gas and oil too.

I live 1/2 mile past nowhere on a dead end road and often mowed at night.

So I have my new zero turn and a magnet work light, just finishing up about 1 am, it is a beautiful night so I decide to mow down the sides of the road like I occasionally do to keep things tidy.
I'm just turning around about 1/2 mile from home and the thing stops dead -- -- the zero turn has a fuel pump, tank is dry, no cough...
1/2 a mile uphill all the way home, then back with the gas can.
At least it was a beautiful night.

 

Spent a few more minutes on the mini skid steer’s tilt cylinder. Got the auto-leveling linkage removed. Had to hand file and debur the ends of the pin. They were slightly mushroomed from someone else failing to get it out. It’s seized HARD.

Went to take off the gland nut. Also seized. Gotta hit it with some heat and a pipe wrench. Chain wrench as tight as I can possibly make it takes all my strength and it finally slips. I’ll try it again with some heat on it, but pipe wrench is going to likely be the way...

 

Careful using heat, too much and you can cause cyl to blow out. I usually take a small beater hammer and tap in the thread area on barrel, not hard enough to deform, just hard enough to motivate. While holding tension with pipe or chain wrench. I’ve been called to customer site when they couldn’t get cyls apart and done that, and they’re just amazed, it actually works pretty well. But there are occasionally some that just don’t want to come, and those get hot......carefully...