Well, I guess I have caught redneckitis....

[85vette]

I just wanted you to know there are options as to what attachments you may need. Most dealers seem to have one choice and that just happens to be what they are trying to sell you. But I know you enough to know that you'll do research on whatever you need. The internet does open a big door to choose from. Have fun!

I'll see my brother next weekend and find out what model he bought and how much it cost.

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I have been burning up the internet looking at attachments for tractors. Seems like nearly an unlimited array available.

Now this attachment looks like it would be REAL handy for digging up and yanking out small trees..

https://www.machinerypete.com/detail...h/ntp/20793570

[85vette]

Yeah, that looks like something handy. Look at where the dealers are located for any service issues on whatever brand tractor you decide to go with. Are you going to buy a trailer to tow it with?

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by 85vette

Yeah, that looks like something handy. Look at where the dealers are located for any service issues on whatever brand tractor you decide to go with. Are you going to buy a trailer to tow it with?

Lee's Trailers is just a mile or so inside Capitol Circle on 61, so about 20 minutes from me. They are the only TYM dealer within about 90 miles of me.

Not planning on buying a trailer. Lee's Trailers said they will pick up and return my tractor whenever I wanted service on it there. And the guy (Will) said that when I ordered additional implements he would deliver them to me too.

Not planning on taking the tractor anywhere off of my property, and if I did, my friend Rickey has a trailer and said I could use it anytime I wanted to.

So unless somethings change quite a bit, I don't see a need to buy a trailer at this time.

[85vette]

Lee's has been in business for a long time and have a good reputation. I don't know how long they've been a tractor dealer but my wife and I bought a car from them about 30 years ago when they were just a used car lot. I knew they were selling trailer after that.

[Rich Z]

Well, I placed the order for the tractor yesterday. Connie and I stopped by the place after our cardiologist appointments. Put a deposit down on a TYM T474HC. Options I am getting on the tractor are:

• Front 3rd function kit
• Double rear remote with detent

Only getting the pallet forks with it, as it comes with the front loader and bucket. Still trying to decide on which type of grapple and flail mower I want to get. And I want to get a combination root bucket/tree puller attachment for the front loader too. I want a flail mower heavy enough that I can keep it on the tractor most of the time to use as rear weight ballast when digging out stumps or pulling small trees out of the ground. The weight of the cabbed tractor itself is listed as being 3,660 pounds.

I think that will be enough to get started cleaning up around the planted pines a bit and taking out any dead ones back there, as well as putting in some decent walking paths all through it.

Guess I need to figure out a good way to store a modest amount of diesel fuel around here. At least 20 to 30 gallons. And some sort of pump to put the fuel into the tractor. The fuel tank on this thing is in the back and kind of high. High enough that I sure don't want to have to be trying to lift and hold up 5 gallon containers at chest high. 5 gallons of diesel fuel should weigh around 35 pounds, which doesn't sound like all that much to carry, but holding it steady at arms length trying to pour it into the tank will be a challenge for me I would rather avoid. The fuel tank on the tractor holds 9 gallons.

I have seen people hint that running out of diesel fuel in the tractor is a bad thing, but no one has explained why.

Honestly, this is all being really therapeutic for me, helping to keep my mind off of other things.

[85vette]

Looks like you have a pretty good start with the listed equipment. See what else you may need as you go.

NO! Don't run out of diesel! It's a closed, high pressure fuel system and if you run out (or even too low) you'll get air in the lines and injectors and then you will have to bleed the system before it will start. If you've ever had to do this you likely won't repeat the mistake again.

Rich, if I were you I would get a 30 to 60 gallon toolbox style tank mounted in your pickup truck bed. You won't have to deal with cans or places to store it. You can fill it at any station that sells diesel and you can drive right up to your tractor or drive the tractor to where the truck is. Get one with an electric pump obviously. They make some that are actually a toolbox on the top and the fuel sump is built in below.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36420218661...6b10e37dc58dcc

May I ask how much that tractor goes for?

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by 85vette

Looks like you have a pretty good start with the listed equipment. See what else you may need as you go.

NO! Don't run out of diesel! It's a closed, high pressure fuel system and if you run out (or even too low) you'll get air in the lines and injectors and then you will have to bleed the system before it will start. If you've ever had to do this you likely won't repeat the mistake again.

Rich, if I were you I would get a 30 to 60 gallon toolbox style tank mounted in your pickup truck bed. You won't have to deal with cans or places to store it. You can fill it at any station that sells diesel and you can drive right up to your tractor or drive the tractor to where the truck is. Get one with an electric pump obviously. They make some that are actually a toolbox on the top and the fuel sump is built in below.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36420218661...6b10e37dc58dcc

May I ask how much that tractor goes for?

Not sure Connie is going to want a big diesel tank sitting in the bed of her pickup truck. That would be a VERY hard sell for me.

As pictured above, with cab, front end loader and bucket, it is costing me $32,700. Which, from as best I can tell, for a 48 horsepower compact tractor, is a pretty good price. I talked to a guy in Ocala selling TYM tractors, and his price was substantially more. When I asked him about it, he told me that TYM has a promotion going on with new dealers where they basically get the front end loader and bucket for free to try to move inventory quicker. So I kind of figured the price I was quoted wouldn't last forever. Plus the way inflation is pushing prices higher and higher, well, I figured I shouldn't dawdle.

[85vette]

That price sounds very reasonable compared to one of my brother's John Deere diesel mowers. The 997's that he uses (3 of them) run about $30K a piece now. He plans on using his new tractor for the majority of the mowing duties.

As for diesel fuel, I can tell you, hauling it around in 5 gallon cans in the back of your truck is a lot more dangerous than transporting it in a secured, approved container that looks no more menacing than an aluminum toolbox. It's less flammable than gasoline. Heck, we carry 300 gallons of it everywhere we go!

And then you get to heft those 40 pound greasy cans up and spill them all over the tractor. Having a nozzle with an electric pump is a much cleaner, safer way to dispense fuel. My shoulders still ache when I think of all the times I did this when I was younger.

Or you can buy a 250 gallon tank and have Eli Roberts deliver it to your "farm" for a nominal fee.

Either way, you should make it a point to take advantage of the off road diesel so you can save around fifty cents or more per gallon. And if you have to drive all the way to Woodville or Tallahassee to get it, you may as well buy a large enough quantity so you don't have to do it so often.

[Rich Z]

Trust me, spilling diesel fuel into the back of Connie's truck will be a WHOLE lot more dangerous to me.