Stewart Creek Somethings

Well it was delivered! My new small Kubota tractor was delivered on Thursday with a new bigger 5’ brush hog and a 5’ land plane for the driveway, the total cost was a paltry $32k. Most people buy a new car, I would rather have a new tractor! I can drive a beater car forever as long as I can have two tractors. I am not going to get greedy, I don’t think I need three tractors, two is sufficient for one person. But if I had to get a third tractor I would get another Kubota. Honestly, they started out in the small tractor market and have just been making them bigger. I love the amount of metal and minimal amount of plastic.

Every size and make and model has its own quirks. You just have to get used to how they operate and then figure out what works for you. This new tractor is all hydraulic, no clutch just shove the appropriate lever in the correct direction at the correct time. That takes some getting used to when a clutch is what you normally use. I always forget about the little things that I add onto the tractor. It didn’t come with a speed handle so I ordered that over the weekend. It only has a small plastic tool box so I have these metal tool holders that clamp onto the roll bar so you have have a hammer, crescent wrench, pliers, screwdrivers etc hanging on the side of the tractor readily available. I did remember to have them install lights, weld on three chain hooks on the bucket and a rear set of hydraulic takeoffs. I happened to have an overhead canopy that had not yet been installed on the older tractor so on day three I installed it on the new tractor. I ordered the clamp onto the roll bar tool holders also. I have to add a heavy duty bag to hang from the roll bar so I can store food, drinks and a first aid kit (or blue rag to use as a bandaid). I had to order new caps for the hydraulic takeoffs to keep the dirt and grime out of them. As you can see there were many things still needed to dress up the new mistress.

Annmarie says I need to give it a name but now that I own two Kubota tractors they need different names. My very first tractor was called the “Mistress”. I have been tossing ideas around and think I have finally settled on a pair of names, Juicy and Clementine. Juicy is the new all hydraulic tractor and Clementine is the tried and true with a clutch. Both are Kubota so they are bright orange in color.

The first evening I put the brush hog on it and started to mow down the cheat grass. The seat is quite comfortable! It’s the small things that matter. There is a foot release for the steering column so you can just move the steering wheel up and out of the way as you get on and off the tractor. It also has a flexible screen that catches the dead weed debris to keep it out of the radiator. The screen is super easy to get on and off without having to lift the bucket arms first.

I would say the fuel gauge is par for the course on a small tractor. Which is basically you have fuel forever until it suddenly vanishes in thirty minutes. Of all the things this seems to be an elusive goal for small tractor manufacturers, at least Kubota and John Deere. I have learned to measure fuel consumption by run time and the type of job I am doing.

I am super thrilled and will be spending all weekend on the tractor.