Kioti DK4710SE HST

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Looks like a lot of equipment sitting outdoors? I hope you have a barn for this fleet of toys! Nothing eats equipment faster than sunlight and weather.
 
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Looks like a lot of equipment sitting outdoors? I hope you have a barn for this fleet of toys! Nothing eats equipment faster than sunlight and weather.
It's in the works. Need the equipment to make room for the barn. I have several large canvas tarps for the equipment until the barn comes.

I ran the Wallenstein BXM42 today and it is awesome. It didn't come with a PTO shaft so I'm borrowing one from the winch until a new one gets here. I ordered a slip clutch protected shaft from Agri Supply. My dealer will probably still have to cut it.
 
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I've never been so sore after cutting. Yesterday before I ran the BXM42 I used the new Stihl Kombi System with the pole saw/pruner. Although I only ran one tank of fuel through it, I'm super beat, especially my shoulders. It was my first time using such a tool, but man are my shoulders sore!
 
I ran the stump grinder for a few hours today. The ground thawed as I ground out stumps and now the work area is very soft and muddy. I'm finding that as I remove the stumps the remaining roots become very mobile and the ground just parts for the tractor. The green moss we have everywhere seems to insulate the clay and keep it frozen. I found a large patch of frozen clay under some loose top soil. This place amazes me. As of today we've also been here in Maine for six months.

A few or the pics show all of the branches and limbs I took off. I'll have to snap a pic of the massive pile of wood chips and mulch from those limbs.
 

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I know how you feel SpaceBus, that is how I felt after cutting and splitting this past weekend.
 
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This area I'm clearing is going to be additional parking and will eventually lead to the planned barn. I'm praying the ground will dry out more, but I think the top soil is just too loose. I'm not quite sure what to do now actually. I know to properly build a road I need to excavate a few feet down and put down sand, large gravel, and then layers of increasingly smaller gravel. Obviously there's a lot I'm glossing over, but you get the point. Am I already to that point after clearing all of the stumps? There's obviously loads of roots, branches, and stone in the dirt I have to get out regardless of what I do.

A better question would be what's a good place to read up on this?
 
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I know how you feel SpaceBus, that is how I felt after cutting and splitting this past weekend.

Thankfully the hydraulic splitter takes the work out of most of it. The husky 460 still gets really heavy after bucking several trees. Buying the tiny Stihl 150-TC helped a ton for prepping the trees for bucking. Limbing with the 460 is a test of will power.
 
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I ran the stump grinder for a few hours today. The ground thawed as I ground out stumps and now the work area is very soft and muddy. I'm finding that as I remove the stumps the remaining roots become very mobile and the ground just parts for the tractor. The green moss we have everywhere seems to insulate the clay and keep it frozen. I found a large patch of frozen clay under some loose top soil. This place amazes me. As of today we've also been here in Maine for six months.

A few or the pics show all of the branches and limbs I took off. I'll have to snap a pic of the massive pile of wood chips and mulch from those limbs.
Nice work @SpaceBus , it's looking better every week.
 
Thank you. This forum makes me take photos which I forget to do normally.
They say we'll get over half an inch of rain from this tomorrow, it looks like Saturday might be my next chance to get some firewood work done.
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I'm sure every tractor owner here has been dealing with the rain and the mud. I know it is still early but the amount of rain so far has been making things difficult to get done. SpaceBus try tractorbynet, I know thewoodlands is there as myself. Maybe you could get some others opinions about your projects.
 
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I'm sure every tractor owner here has been dealing with the rain and the mud. I know it is still early but the amount of rain so far has been making things difficult to get done. SpaceBus try tractorbynet, I know thewoodlands is there as myself. Maybe you could get some others opinions about your projects.

I found a guide from the Maine.gov website, but it confirmed that I should really excavate the whole thing. I'll give it some more time, perhaps it won't be as bad as it seems. At least the stumps are gone!
 
I found a guide from the Maine.gov website, but it confirmed that I should really excavate the whole thing. I'll give it some more time, perhaps it won't be as bad as it seems. At least the stumps are gone!
I read your post on building your road/parking area, it sounds like what they did here when they built the house.

You'll have plenty of roots from all the trees you took down, they can be a pain in the arse.
 
I read your post on building your road/parking area, it sounds like what they did here when they built the house.

You'll have plenty of roots from all the trees you took down, they can be a pain in the arse.

Our driveway is decent and was built correctly when the house was built. It needs to be resurfaced, due to age and non use, but I don't think the driveway will need much if any material added. We are now hoping this cleared dries out so we can pack it all down and build up rather than excavate. It would take an incredible amount of fill material if I were to excavate the area. We are already planning a 120' trench for our power lines. That excavated material will then be used to backfill a different cleared area.

Here's some pics I took this morning. Grinding out stumps really turns up the top soil. There are stump shavings everywhere.
 

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This area I'm clearing is going to be additional parking and will eventually lead to the planned barn. I'm praying the ground will dry out more, but I think the top soil is just too loose. I'm not quite sure what to do now actually. I know to properly build a road I need to excavate a few feet down and put down sand, large gravel, and then layers of increasingly smaller gravel. Obviously there's a lot I'm glossing over, but you get the point. Am I already to that point after clearing all of the stumps? There's obviously loads of roots, branches, and stone in the dirt I have to get out regardless of what I do.

A better question would be what's a good place to read up on this?
For your road...
You can build the base with clay,no need to dig down.If you dig down in clay and fill with gravel you are actually making a pond under the road bed you can't see.The clay makes a great road,you just need the water to leave right away.Good ditches and no ponds near the road,a good crown.Then all you need to buy is some crush for a cap or even fine gravel.Spreading some of the ash on the top after will turn it into a concrete like surface.In the winter use the ash for traction and it will slowly firm up the gravel.
We live on top of 300 ft of lake bottom clay.All my roads,pads,building sites have had no clay removal,just a good drainage on the original grade then cover with gravel.
 
For your road...
You can build the base with clay,no need to dig down.If you dig down in clay and fill with gravel you are actually making a pond under the road bed you can't see.The clay makes a great road,you just need the water to leave right away.Good ditches and no ponds near the road,a good crown.Then all you need to buy is some crush for a cap or even fine gravel.Spreading some of the ash on the top after will turn it into a concrete like surface.In the winter use the ash for traction and it will slowly firm up the gravel.
We live on top of 300 ft of lake bottom clay.All my roads,pads,building sites have had no clay removal,just a good drainage on the original grade then cover with gravel.

This post really did give me some hope about our plans the other day.
 
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The slip clutch pto shaft came in today. It's just barely short enough with my quick attach lower links. I'll cut a few inches off each end when my vise comes in. I filled half of this wooden box I made over the weekend today with pruned branches and debris from clearing trees. Before I started chipping today I dumped the box from yesterday, it was full. I'm using the chips to back fill the first area I cleared so I can actually drive through there with the tractor. I'm hoping between the wood chips and warmer weather it will be drive able soon.
 

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Does anyone have experience with Hydraulic top links? I'm considering one for the Everything attachments land leveler when it gets here.
 
I have seen a couple video's. How are you planning on tying into your hydraulics? I would call or message everything attachments see what they recommend.
 
I have seen a couple video's. How are you planning on tying into your hydraulics? I would call or message everything attachments see what they recommend.
I figured just tie into one of my two rear remotes with quick couplers. Ideally I would like a "third function" type setup so I can have hydraulic top link and use both remotes for the stump grinder. The third function route sounds expensive.
 
where are you getting the hydro top link from?
 
Is it an option to install more remotes instead of a third function valve? I have seen some with three and four remotes.
 
Is it an option to install more remotes instead of a third function valve? I have seen some with three and four remotes.

Should be. At around the same cost. Generally speaking.