Doodle
MB Enthusiast
That should be more than capable of shattering some earth then.That's actually a flail mower ... will cut anything from normal grass up to fairly dense brush/undergrowth. We have a fair bit of both
My new motor arrived yesterday ...
- Thread starter BTB 500
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
It was set too low to start with so I can confirm that is definitely the case!
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 10,682
- Location
- South Bucks
- Car
- CLS63 SB, SLK55, CLK350 'Vert, Triumph Sprint (Bike not Dolly...),
- Joined
- May 10, 2006
- Messages
- 9,606
- Location
- Preston, Lancs
- Car
- S204 C220CDi Sport ED125 (Mr) Kia Picanto Domino 1.1 (Mrs)
GTG location........
OP
OP
GTG location........
Five miles of narrow country lanes (nearly all single track with occasional passing places) to get to it though!
- Joined
- May 10, 2006
- Messages
- 9,606
- Location
- Preston, Lancs
- Car
- S204 C220CDi Sport ED125 (Mr) Kia Picanto Domino 1.1 (Mrs)
Better get the tractor going then!
Anyways, we drive Mercedes - the council will make the lanes one way AM and 1 way PM
OP
OP
Anyways, we drive Mercedes - the council will make the lanes one way AM and 1 way PM
Have had some hairy moments meeting combine harvesters etc. coming the other way - these guys take no prisoners when harvesting is going on!
Chrishazle
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2008
- Messages
- 5,449
- Location
- Nr Ashford, Kent
- Car
- 2008 S204 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 facelift SLK280 Auto.
Narrow lanes with grass growing up the middle and few if any passing places - sounds like our typical Sunday rambles en route to a country pub - known by the family as Hazle Hikes!
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 27,608
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
You could get a trailer for the tractor and pick us all up from a local pub or hotel. I think you just don’t want us all coming down and braking your new tractor!
Darrell
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2006
- Messages
- 12,235
- Car
- Gixxer 6, Citroen Berlingo, 911 C4S, Dacia Duster and lots of bicycles.
Tractors are a real laugh. We had a mini Kuboto to clear the land for our place in Greece.
I wasn’t very good at clearing land and made a bit of a hash of it but it was great fun.
I wasn’t very good at clearing land and made a bit of a hash of it but it was great fun.
OP
OP
Got a cheap tipping trailer off eBay ... not as butch as an agricultural one but a fraction of the price and I was able to fetch it with the Vito. Removing/re-fitting the flail mower (which weighs 250 kg) to use the drawbar is a bit fiddly but will hopefully get easier with practice. I had to add a hitch ball as tractors generally come with a pin hitch.
Got insurance sorted - first quote was a bit of a shock at £470
but settled for £202 in the end. Currently going through the hoops to get it registered with the DVLA as it already has full road lights, EU certificate of conformity, etc. (even a trailer socket). There's a fee of £55 but that's it as it's exempt from road tax & MOT. Top speed is 19 kph so not planning on any road trips but it will potentially be handy to access some of our land via the surrounding roads. Plus pulling the S205 out of snow drifts if necessary
Got insurance sorted - first quote was a bit of a shock at £470
but settled for £202 in the end. Currently going through the hoops to get it registered with the DVLA as it already has full road lights, EU certificate of conformity, etc. (even a trailer socket). There's a fee of £55 but that's it as it's exempt from road tax & MOT. Top speed is 19 kph so not planning on any road trips but it will potentially be handy to access some of our land via the surrounding roads. Plus pulling the S205 out of snow drifts if necessary
Chrishazle
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2008
- Messages
- 5,449
- Location
- Nr Ashford, Kent
- Car
- 2008 S204 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 facelift SLK280 Auto.
That trailer's too small for a tractor that size! When we had the big house with a 1 1/2 acre plot, initially an 8HP tractor later changed for 16HP, I had a trailer twice that size (length) with removeable side extensions (seldom used) that extended the trailer height by about 2-3ft. Just cutting the "decent" grassed areas we could fill that trailer every 10 days in summer - and that was just from the 150ft x 70 ft top lawn plus similar size combined orchard/shrubbery. The 1/2 acre paddock got cut but not collected! As for collecting the clippings from the 1/4 mile of hedges twice a year - we had some epic bonfires!!
Life is much easier since downsizing. Wife still uses the same 16" Hayter rotary for the "lawns", but it's about 30 minutes to get the mower out, do all the "lawns" and put the mower away, rather better than both of us for a full day at the old house!!
Life is much easier since downsizing. Wife still uses the same 16" Hayter rotary for the "lawns", but it's about 30 minutes to get the mower out, do all the "lawns" and put the mower away, rather better than both of us for a full day at the old house!!
OP
OP
I'd have liked a bigger trailer but they're too expensive for now. This one is 1.45m x 1m internally, will carry 500 kg and I paid £275 for it (with extension sides, cover and spare wheel). Like many of these small trailers the lights are recessed so you can stand it vertically for storage, which is handy. Unusually it has decent suspension with shock absorbers.
We've had some huge bonfires as I've been emptying an old outbuilding as well as lopping bits off trees (and cut a few small ones down). Lots more to do though.
We've had some huge bonfires as I've been emptying an old outbuilding as well as lopping bits off trees (and cut a few small ones down). Lots more to do though.
OP
OP
Got the V5 back from the DVLA, so my tractor now has a shiny new '71' plate on it
Not actually a legal one ... the smallest I could get made locally was still taller than the mounting plate, extending past the bottom and partly blocking the rear light cluster that side. So I cut the bottom of the numberplate off (containing the maker's details) - sorted
I now have a 5' roller (500 kg), and actually used the cruise control on the tractor for the first time with that (you can see the numberplate mount above the NSR wheel arch below):
Next job is to install a 'workaround' for the seat occupancy sensor, which cuts the engine if you get off. Very admirable from an 'elf & safety' POV but I have a PTO-driven wood chipper on the way, and feeding tree branches into that while remaining seated on the tractor would be a challenge
Not actually a legal one
... the smallest I could get made locally was still taller than the mounting plate, extending past the bottom and partly blocking the rear light cluster that side. So I cut the bottom of the numberplate off (containing the maker's details) - sorted I now have a 5' roller (500 kg), and actually used the cruise control
on the tractor for the first time with that (you can see the numberplate mount above the NSR wheel arch below):Next job is to install a 'workaround' for the seat occupancy sensor, which cuts the engine if you get off. Very admirable from an 'elf & safety' POV but I have a PTO-driven wood chipper on the way, and feeding tree branches into that while remaining seated on the tractor would be a challenge
D
Deleted member 159894
Guest
Tom and Barbara.
OP
OP
Been using the chipper a fair bit:
Had a harrowing experience this afternoon though. OK I'll get me coat
Had a harrowing experience this afternoon though. OK I'll get me coat
OP
OP
Forgot to say ... while waiting for the wood chipper to be delivered I had a funny phone call with the delivery driver.
"I'll be there in 10 mins - you'll need your forklift to get it off the truck".
"I don't have a forklift."
"Ah. I don't have a tail lift on this truck."
"Is it on a pallet?"
"No."
"OK it's only 200kg ... we'll sort something out."
I rigged up a ramp from an old door and a pallet and we managed to manhandle it down that (in the dark) without it falling on anyone. HSE? Not a hard hat or hi-viz waistcoat in sight
"I'll be there in 10 mins - you'll need your forklift to get it off the truck".
"I don't have a forklift."
"Ah. I don't have a tail lift on this truck."
"Is it on a pallet?"
"No."
"OK it's only 200kg ... we'll sort something out."
I rigged up a ramp from an old door and a pallet and we managed to manhandle it down that (in the dark) without it falling on anyone. HSE? Not a hard hat or hi-viz waistcoat in sight
