[AT] Honda 5518

Mon Dec 5 17:27:11 PST 2011

Al,

I understand. I have found that the JD 425 has its advantages and the JD 750 has its. Our
5 acres has required all the way to a large Track Hoe to dig up and bury old growth 12'
foot diameter Cedar stumps, grading the pasture and removing huge rocks, cleaning out
draining ditches that have miscellaneous sized rocks and junk in them, removal of black
Berry bushes,, added small round rock over perf and solid drainage pipes, and of course 5
acres of lawn mowing and keeping the gravel driveway and concrete entrance to the house
clean of snow. Plus keeping the rural neighborhood's 2 miles of common roads open during
snow weather.  Both are essentially 20 HP tractors but one is physically much larger and
has rib lug tires on it for better traction.  So there is quite a variety of work that
needs to be done.  Therefore I have concluded that there is a limit to what the 425 can do
comfortably and then the JD 750 takes over. The JD 750 is loaned to the Home Owners
association in the winter to keep the roads clean while we are in AZ for the winter. In
return I have many neighbors keeping a close watch on our property (including antique
tractors) while we are gone. Works for us.  However, it is entirely possible that YMMV.
And that is ok!

Dean VP
Apache junction, AZ

While creating husbands, God promised women that good and ideal husbands would be found in
all corners of the world...... then He made the earth round.

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]
On Behalf Of Alan Nadeau
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 5:35 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Honda 5518

Dean, I have to differ with you about the small tractors being able do "real work".  I own
the Grandfather of your 425, a 400 JD L&G tractor.  I've been using it to keep snow off
about 10,000 s.f. of driveway/parking area.  The
400 is 20 hp and I think the naked weight is greater than your 425 by a bit. 
I'm running a 6'8" light duty pickup truck plow mounted on the loader and a 
63" Kubota blower, heavily modified, mounted on the rear.   Our average 
snowfall is 80", last year we had 120+".  While the 400 is not the best choice for the job
it is adequate.

As for the Honda, I think it is pretty much an orphan.  I don't think Honda is still
making anything like that and I'm not sure just how good the parts pipeline is for them.

Al Nadeau
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean VP" <deanvp at att.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Honda 5518

> Phil,
>
> IMHO, anything that has a Cat "0" three point hitch is too small to do 
> real work.  I too
> own a JD 425 which is one of the better Garden Tractors that JD has ever 
> made. But for
> snow removal and loader work I have a JD 750 which is the smallest Compaq 
> tractor I would
> ever consider for snow removal. I have a blade or a loader on it and they 
> are quite handy.
> The whole JD 650, 750, 850, 950, 1050 compact tractor series have 
> mechanical transmissions
> but can have 4 wheel drive.  They can be had for much less than $10,000 
> with low hours
> quite often under 1000 hours.  I would recommend these for road snow 
> removal.  The 425 is
> better for sidewalk snow removal.
>
> So it kind of depends on what kind of snow removal you are going to do.
>
> Dean VP
> Apache junction, AZ
>
> While creating husbands, God promised women that good and ideal husbands 
> would be found in
> all corners of the world...... then He made the earth round.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com 
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]
> On Behalf Of Phil Vorwerk
> Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 12:53 PM
> To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
> Subject: [AT] Honda 5518
>
> Hi Guys -
>
> I've been re-evaluating how I've been doing my snow removal at home, and 
> started looking
> for a compact utility tractor with a blower.  I was cruising Craigslist 
> and ran across a
> Honda 5518 that looks appealing, but I really don't know much about them. 
> 4 wheel drive,
> 4 wheel steer, pto's front and back, cat 0 three point hitch.  Comes with 
> a deck and a two
> stage snow blower.  The idea of being able to add a tiller or a loader is 
> appealing - I
> have a pair of JD 425's, but I feel like they are a little small for that 
> kind of duty.
>
> Anybody have any experience with these?  How many hours would be a "lot" 
> of hours?  I know
> they haven't made them since the 90's, so I'm wondering if parts are a 
> problem at all.  My
> other option is to put a blower on one of my John Deere 425's, but looking 
> this I can pick
> up the whole tractor for not much more than it would cost me to pick up a 
> JD blower.  I'm
> thinking that if parts are still available they can't really be much worse 
> than buying
> them for a JD, other than I can't just stop at my local JD dealer to pick 
> them up.
>
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Phil Vorwerk
>
> Courtland, MN
>
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