Nice!

Congrats, I know you will use it more than you first thought you would.

Good choice! Love our Kubota tractor for our tilling, mowing, etc.

I'm jealous!

good luck with it. very nice looking.

Congrats Jay. Those 7100's Kubota seem to last forever. I know a few people that have them. I'm always amazed at how well they pull a full sized rototiller, as long as you go easy with it and get a chain or belt drive (gear drive will kill the tranny).
The creeper gear sounds like a huge plus if you want to use it for cultivation and don't have the HST. Also, tilling real slow could be handy to break sod.

I'm sure you know this already but start saving for the loader. Hands down, my FEL is the best tool I have on the farm.

What's the max tire width? Can you straddle a 3' bed?

Congrats. With an operation your size, I don't know how you've managed without a tractor. Where I live, the Kubotas are really expensive compared to other used small tractors. Especially with a loader or backhoe bucket. Hope you get a lot of use out of it.

Madroneb,

I can straddle 29 inches from inside tire to inside tire. This is really good because using raised beds and plastic mulch, my beds are 24-26 inches wide. I will be able to cultivate all my mulched beds before the vine out too much. I will also be able to cultivate potatoes and hill them up too. I did want a loader, but for the money I decided to go without when I found this tractor.

Jay

I don't know anything about tractors but I like the kind like yours with the front and back tires in line to straddle beds.
It is nice you got the one with the gun turret on the side or whatever. LOL

Minnie, those are called a 'wide front'. You might be thinking about the 'tricycle' type, with a narrow sets of wheels in the front and standard width in back. Tractors come in several different widths.

I'm not sure what you mean about 'gun turret', but you if mean the black thing on the front side of tractor, that's the muffler. some tractors have them coming out of the top of the hood (ours does).

I'm fairly sure that Minnie is right. That's a front mounted 37 caliber anti-John Deere machine gun. Commonly found on older Japanese tractors :)

i thought that was to get rid of the pesky deer.

We are all joking right?

We are all joking right?

Joking yes, but I do have that one button that I am not sure what it does! :)

Congrats, Jay. You won't regret having it and will wonder how you did without it. I like that it doesn't sit up too high. Mine does, and it is extremely "tippy." That front assist is awesome as well.

For my next project, I am building a plastic mulch layer. I am trying to build it for less than $100. Between free metal from my parents junk pile, to several trips to the salvage yard I have almost gathered all the pieces. The next thing will be cutting, drilling, bolting and bolting together everything. My brother in law will help me with the welding. The skill that I never learned and have since regretted. Maybe someday I will learn.

Jay

I was thinking about a mulch layer when I saw your new tractor. It looks too small to pull a typical layer. They take a lot of force to pull, because of the dirt scoop that makes the raised bed. If you can make a raised bed beforehand, then the only dirt you have to move will be to bury the plastic on either side.

I dragged my grandparents layer out of the barn last spring. It's only about 15 years old and hardly used, but the thing is a nightmare to operate. The ground need to be well-tilled with few clods, or the plastic catches and rips. We also had problems getting the drip tape to stay in the middle of the plastic. When it curves over near the edge, irrigated water wets the ground outside the mulch and makes a weed explosion.

A perfect pairing with your Kubota would be an old tractor like an 8n or David Brown that was dedicated to pulling a nice new mulch-layer. When it comes to buying new equipment, the fun never ends.

i feel like i missed the welding class along the way too. i would think you need fairly level land and at least one helper on the ground to make that mulch layer work right.
can you lower the rops on that tank jay and use it inside your tunnels?

Cole: You are correct about making the raised bed prior. I have a raised bed maker and it works really well. I am going to make the plastic mulch layer to work with the bed maker. I will have to make two passes, but It will be well worth it.

Here is my disk hiller.
{{gwi:100965}}

Here are the raised beds it makes.

After looking at mulch layers, I made some plans and drew them out. Then I went to the internet and found this homemade mulch layer. It was almost the same as my idea.

Then I saw this guys video pulling it, with a Kubota B7300, not much bigger than my tractor. I knew I found my plan. I am going to make it a little heavier, I have the channel iron and 2 inch tubing. Now I have to build the disc hiller clamps and wheel clamps. Then cut it all to size and weld away!

I am going to make all the pieces adjustable left and right and up and down. I also plan on mounting the plastic up and have it pull down and under a roller. THe roller would be where the plastic is mounted on this one. It would level the top of the raised bed too. That is what I do when I do it by hand.

Finally, I can take the ROPS off with 6 big bolts. Not sure if I want to do that yet to work in the high tunnels yet.

Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade mulch layer

Please, no offense meant to anyone here. But why all the plastic?
Is is all used to get hot weather crops to produce earlier or just for weed control?
Don't get me wrong, I use a small amount for early crops (which is reused for 3 years), but none for main season vegetables (except melons). I just don't understand why people use it for everything and on fairly small plots.
There are other methods to get weeds under control that don't involve producing large amounts of toxic material.

But thats just my opinion. Sorry to tangent this thread and sorry if I offended anyone. I really do like the tractor and appreciate Jay's innovative approach.

-Mark

AArrggghhh. And to think I have to do it all by hand with my little short arms and legs and proneness to right side sciatic pain from walking in loose soil! Makes me so jealous.
But I like seeing the equipment I can buy some day. :-)

Mark I agree. I am wanting to use bio-plastic soon, but not this year. I have a roll and half from last year. I use plastic to conserve moisture and for weed control. I also use it to warm the soil. I am farming close to 1.5 acres (not all at my house) and I am one person. I get the family out to pick and help sell, but it is hard to convince 4 to 11 year old girls that using a hoe is fun! They are trying, but it is easier for them to pick and I don't get as mad when they mess up.

The plastic helps me keep ahead of the weeds and I have a seed weed bank that is out of control! Until we get that down, this is the only thing I can do. Last year in our drought, my crops with plastic thrived. Those without dried out and died. It really did help conserving moisture.

Jay

A lot of people are down on plastic mulch and make me feel less organic but I love it. I would have no way to deal with the weeds and sandy, parched soil without plastic. And I can use the cheap stuff 2 seasons and when it is done, it compresses so small!

For starters, thank you both for not getting offended. My intention here is only to share, not to come off self righteous and ostracize myself or anyone else.
I also should have started a new thread (sorry Jay, i'm done after this, I promise)

I never think about using plastic for water retention and forget that many here grow without irrigation. As we have 3 months without rainfall, I just irrigate when needed with no other option. Especially in dry seasons like 2012, I can see where some type of mulch can really make or break a crop.

When it comes to weed control, I understand where people are coming from. I manage about 3 acres by myself with only some harvesting help from the wife. I do all the weeding (by hand, hoe and BCS) and it sucks sometimes. It's quite possible that my weed load is not as heavy as what others are dealing with. One thing I try to practice is to never let pigweed or lambs quarter go to seed. I'm religious about this and it's helped tremendously.

As far as i'm concerned, weeding is just part of the job. I could lay plastic down under everything, never weed once, and probably make a lot more money. I personally just don't choose to go that route.