Category: Machine Reviews

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CAT306 Excavator Forestry In the Field Initial Impressions Machine Reviews

Can the CAT306 CR With Stick Steer and XTC Replace Multiple Machines? – Initial Review -Skidsteer MiniEx Hybrid

THIS IS NOT SPONSORED!

I wanted to consolidate some of my equipment because I felt a little overwhelmed with all the machine maintenance I have. So I decided to look for an all in one machine that could do what my skid steer and wheeled excavator could do.

I looked at a lot of options, including the Mecalac but decided to go with the CAT 306 with XTC for many reasons:

-It was half the price of the Mecalac

-It can handle all of my skid steer attachments that I already own

-It is an excavator so I wouldn’t need my Komatsu PW30 anymore

-I have a good CAT dealership close by

-It is basically a Skidsteer and Excavator combined

In this video I walk through everything in detail and try to focus on the CAT 306 XTC’s ability to replace my skidsteer, especially how it can handle all of the attachments I have. This review was made after about 60 hours of using the machine and shows some footage removing invasive species in my woods. Also there is some bonus footage of the “Castle Camp” overlook. Consider subscribing to see more videos on the machine and how it functions with various attachments. It has quickly become my favorite machine and is affectionately referred to as “The Swiss Army Knife”!

Thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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Gehl RT210 Machine Reviews

Gehl Track Loader RT210 Long Term Review

It is time to say goodbye to my much loved Gehl RT210 after having it for nearly 10 years. I decided to consolidate a lot of my equipment since we will be moving and I will no longer need to split time between properties. In this video I go through a lot of the good and bad of the Gehl. Mainly, it isn’t great for doing lots of roadwork, namely ditching and shoulder work. I replaced the RT210, my Komatsu PW-30 wheeled mini-excavator, and will eventually sell the RT105…for a the new CAT 306 excavator with XTC (extra tool carrier, think of it as universal quick tach for the front of an excavator). Many more videos on the CAT 306 will be coming soon.

Thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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Bulldozer CAT D6 Machine Reviews Uncategorized

How to Run a Dozer With No Experience – CAT D6 Grade Control and Slope Assist Tutorial

I rented a CAT D6 bull dozer for one month to complete two driveways at the farm. I had zero bull dozer experience and was very intimidated about renting one and doing the driveways myself.

In this video I show how it is possible to get professional level results without any experience, by taking advantage of the Grade Control and Slope Assist functions on the newer CAT dozers. Without them I don’t think I could have achieved anywhere close to the results I did, especially in the amount of time I had. One thing is for sure, operating a dozer manually is much harder than it seems, especially if you are trying to grade and slope a driveway.

This video will give you some good tips if you have never operated a dozer before, or if you are an experienced dozer operator and are curious how the slope and grade control functions work. This is filmed from the lens of a person with no experience.

Enjoy!

driftlessinwi

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Farming Hay Krone Active Mow R280 Machine Reviews

Review of the Krone Active Mow R280 – First time cutting hay – Case 75C

I finally was able to put my new hay equipment to use. In this video I review the German made Krone ActiveMow R280 disc cutter. It was a bit of a splurge when I bought my hay equipment, but man is this thing nice. Super well made, quiet, and very fast/efficient.

I learned a lot this season cutting hay for the first time, with no help, and with no one showing me what to do. I will have a follow-up video shortly of all the lessons learned when I baled hay for the first time. All in all it was a great experience, even though it was intimidating at times.

The disc cutter from Krone performed flawlessly. If you are in the market for a disc cutter, I don’t think you can go wrong with Krone. Enjoy!

driftlessinwi

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John Deere John Deere 1585 Long Term Review Machine Reviews

Long Term Review of the John Deere 1585 – Full Review – 1500 Series Terrain Cut

If you like the ear protection in the video you can get it here: https://amzn.to/3uPpbYn

You are probably watching this because either you are curious about one of the most expensive lawn mowers you can buy, or you are seriously considering it because you want a mower with 0 turn capabilities, but with a cab and AWD. Very few mowers meet the latter, and that is how I ended up with the JD 1585.

I have owned the John Deere 1585 for 5 years now. I have posted many videos of it brooming and snow blowing, but haven’t shown it mowing or gone into great detail on the machine itself.

I received some requests to give a thorough review of the machine and post a video, so here it is.

Let me start by saying I really like this machine and I will always have a front mount mower going forward. They are just so versatile and meet all of my needs. They are great mowers, and they are easier to use and more effective at plowing residential driveways and sidewalks than my skid steer.

The 1500 series is at the top end of the mowers John Deere. The 1585 I have has almost all the options you can get and cost over $30k new, just for the machine itself. The mower deck was $3,700, the snow thrower was $3,156, and the broom was about $3,700. Needless to say, this is one expensive lawn mower so if you get one, you will probably have pretty high expectations.

In this video I go through the machine in detail and point out all the things I like and don’t like about it.

The main cons are:

-Dust infiltrates the cabin easily

-The front of the mower and engine area trap grass clippings and are hard to clean

-The cabin is very noisy, you need to wear hearing protection

-Attachments, in particular the mower deck, are really hard to switch

-Price

The main pros are:

-Reliability

-Power

-AWD

-Mowing with a cab is amazing, if you like to stay cool and don’t like bugs

-The front mount design allows for zero turning, brush mowing, mowing over edges, and accommodates many different attachments

-This is an awesome winter machine for snow removal (see my other videos)

Main Conclusion: I would buy one again, but I would definitely check out other manufacturers to see if they do the cons better. Also, I would get a side discharge mower deck to go with it. Enjoy the video and please comment if you have any advice or questions! driftlessinwi

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Building a New Homestead Komatsu PW30-1

Wheeled Excavator Demonstration – Komatsu PW30 – Picking up and loading scrap metal

Ever wonder what the difference is between a wheeled excavator and a track excavator? I made this video because there are very few videos of wheeled excavators, especially in the mini and midi categories. In this video I do an overview of the machine and load a trailer with scrap metal.

The Komatsu PW30 is a relatively obscure excavator in the US, many are used overseas. I found this machine on Craigslist for about $8000 several years ago and it has come in handy for many projects I have had over the years.

Projects I have used this excavator for:

-Making an ornamental pond

-Placing large landscape rocks

-Trenching around a building for a french drain

-Moving large brush piles

-Loading trailers

-Digging wildlife/deer ponds

-Cleaning out drainage ditches

Pros of a wheeled excavator:

-High top speed relative to a tracked machine

-Does not tear up grass

-They look pretty cool

-You can use the wheels to compact trenches or road beds

-Can be bargain priced on used market

-Can drive between jobs and sites without a trailer

-Road legal with appropriate markings/lights

Cons of a wheeled excavator:

-Not as stable as a tracked machine

-Cannot use foot pedals to drive around while using both hands for digging controls

-Gets stuck more easily

-Higher center of gravity

-Can compact soil in sensitive areas

-Pretty expensive new

-Hard to find

Thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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Farming Hay New Holland Super Hayliner 68

Fixing Up An Old New Holland Square Baler – Start to Finish – Curly Bales and More

I purchased an old square baler, a New Holland Super Hayliner 68, off Craigslist, site unseen, for $1000. I thought it was a good deal because it was delivered and had a lot of spare parts. I was told it needed work but had no idea what was wrong with it, and I have never baled hay before! In this video I start by testing out how it works, and I discover a couple big issues:

1. The bales were coming out curved, also known as “banana curls”

2. The knife wasn’t cutting well

3. The plunger knife was too far away from the static knife

4. The springs on the bale dogs were broken, and the bottom bale dog is completely gone

5. The oil in the gearcases was almost a solid

6. The wedges in the bale chamber were all broken and needed replacement

7. The wheel for the pickup was missing

8. The knives for cutting the twine needed sharpening

9. Almost every bolt is rusted/seized up

10. It needed a new tire

11. The wooden slides in the plunger all needed to be replaced

Besides those issues, everything was in pretty good shape for a 60 year old baler. All in, I probably put in about $150 worth of stuff (wheel, wood for slides, gear oil, rusty metal primer paint, and bale chamber wedges).

Towards the end of the video I put the Case IH Farmall 75C to work and baled a test windrow I put out in one of my hayfields. The tractor and the baler performed great.

This is a good video to watch if you are new to baling hay, want to buy an old square baler, or are having trouble with your square baler performance. Hope you enjoy!

driftlessinwi

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At the Mill Forestry Gehl RT210 Machine Reviews Wallenstein

Best Logging Skidsteer Attachment – Wallenstein LXG 430RP

This log grapple for my skid steer is my favorite attachment. It is made by Wallenstein and has a rotating grapple, an extendible boom, a 9000lb Warn hydraulic winch, and can open to 72″ wide while also closing down to 3″. It works great for loading and unloading trailers, winching logs out of the woods, skidding logs, stacking logs, grabbing brush, and it even does a great job placing large stones and rocks for landscaping.

In this video I do a walkaround and show how all the functions work. I also show how it works unloading a trailer full of logs and also how I use it to hold fliches that I cut up into firewood. This video has no talking, but it does have some sound. Enjoy and thanks for watching!

driftlessinwi

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Gehl RT210 Goats Long Term Review Machine Reviews

Titan HD Tree Shear Review

I have used this Titan HD tree shear for over 3 years now, mainly to clear large buckthorn and honeysuckle in my woods. It has held up great and makes clearing large buckthorn much easier and safer than using a chainsaw. Some additional benefits of a tree shear are: Cut large debris into more manageable sizes for collecting and burning, much easier on the hydraulic system of your machine, and no high flow is needed.

I would highly recommend this for a skid steer, but I am neutral on using it on a tractor…unless you have huge auxiliary pump capacity on your tractor, cycle times will be pretty slow. More importantly, unless your tractor has a forestry protection kit on it, I think it is only a matter of time before you damage something on your tractor when using this.

Where a forestry mulcher is a hammer, this is a scalpel. This is a much cheaper alternative to buying a forestry mulcher and it is much cheaper to operate.

One could use this for limbing trees, but the lack of hydraulic tilt makes it difficult and clunky to use for that purpose.

As always, if you found this review useful and would to see more in the future please Subscribe to my YouTube channel!

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JD 60" Snow Thrower John Deere John Deere 1585 Long Term Review Machine Reviews

How to Change Attachments on the John Deere 1500 Series (applies to the 1400 Series too)

Winter is coming! After a video showing how the JD 1585 broom works, I wanted to change over to the JD 60″ snow thrower to show how easy it is to do, and because we are expecting a big winter storm with over 7 inches of snow. Changing attachments on the 1585 is not nearly as easy as it should be. John Deere could make a lot of improvements to help smooth the process. To see how I do it check out the video and please like and leave a comment if you have any tips you use. The process is probably the same on all the front mount John Deere mowers in the 1400 and 1500 series ranges.

Also, take note of a problem when I test out how things are functioning…it comes back to bite me when the snow finally arrives. Check out the follow-up video to see how this performed clearing snow, spoiler alert: it doesn’t do that well, but the reason is complicated. Check out the other video to see more.