Those of you that know me are aware that I will do just about anything necessary to cut costs and still get a quality result. Our
LNP project is a perfect example of sweat equity in return for an affordable weekend retreat. Right from the beginning of development, I did have to hire out for any heavy lifting. Stuff like backhoes, loaders, etc. The largest motorized piece of equipment in our arsenal was a 21 HP Craftsman garden tractor. We beat the crap outta that thing, cutting brush and weeds that easily qualified for brush hog oversight.
I have always wanted a tractor with a FEL. It just wasn't in the financial cards for me, particularly since we had no choice but to divert any available funds to building the pond and the Garage Apt. Well, the pond and the crib are done, and I still wanted a tractor. I looked at every color: green, orange, red, blue. Same old story: my beer budget might be able to fund something smaller, but you better call the bank for the bigger huevos you seek. Then I had a flashback
Back about 12 years ago, when we had our place on the
Tippecanoe River , I would go into town to Rural King and see these fancy new tractors for real cheap. I mean real cheap. Even back then, I wanted one, and I really didn't even have a need for it. Fast forward, and the Rural King tractors re-emerge into my pond life. Many of you guys already know what kinda tractor I'm talking about.
They are made by one of largest tractor manufacturers in China; Foton. Rural King and a handful of other distributors brought a bunch of 'em over here, re-badged 'em as their own brand, and moved the inventory. The up side? Big bang for the buck. The down side? You may have to put some wrench time into fixing them. Well, I'm pretty good with the wrenches, I have all the subject wrenches. The only thing I don't have is a bunch of available funds to buy the big name brand, so this is becoming a match made in China. I bought one.
I picked it up from a tractor dealer in KY, pretty cheap. It's model year 2006 and the hour meter says 60. Pretty hard to believe, but the tires still had the flashing between the lugs. It was very clean. Onto the trailer and haul her to the new home.
Next, I'm off to craigslist and found an older Land Pride 72" brush cutter. The gear box was sloppy, so I replaced with an Ebay replacement, pounded out some dents, had my welder pal tighten up a few areas, and hit it with red Rustoleum.
Next, off to China. I got an Alibaba account and started working the China vendors big time. It took a lot of emails, due diligence, and vetting, but I found a manufacturer that I trusted. I bought a backhoe, a FEL, and a hole auger and had them shipped into the US. The backhoe is pretty simple since it's a 3-point attachment. Yeah, I know that a subframe is the only way to go, but for now, it will be fine for lighter duty.
Then, the FEL. The factory did an 85% job of hitting all my measurements, but I still had to do some cutting, welding, and drilling to make the remaining 15% work. Here is the package that came over on the boat and landed on my utility trailer.
Final product:
Then, the hole auger. Pretty simple like the backhoe since it's a 3 point attachment. I bought a 6" and 12" auger.
All told, I am in for everything at about 13K
