[AT] Continuing "What to do"

[Greg Hass]

I will not get into tractor versus skid steer. I myself have had a skid 
steer for 30 years and have liked it. However, I usually have access to 
my brothers tractor if I need a bigger loader and he has used my skid 
steer many times when that type of unit is needed, so I sort of have the 
best of both worlds. The reason for this post is that I think everyone 
needs a dedicated loader which is used mainly as a loader only. Many 
years ago we bought a IH 656 with a heavy duty loader. At the time it 
was our biggest tractor and we thought it could do double duty. Boy were 
we wrong. The loader was hard to take off so we only did that once. When 
working ground and it was a little wet the heavy loader would cause us 
to get stuck often. In dry ground it would bounce so bad you thought the 
front would break off. And then if you needed to move a rock or 
something you would have to unhook what you were pulling to move the 
rock. Same thing if you got a shower of rain, in order to haul a little 
manure or move things around you had to rehook everything. After a 
couple of years, we traded the 656 for a 2400 IH and loader and a IH 
1066 to end that problem. Fast forward 30+ years. My brother , who 
already had a decent loader, decided he needed a 4 wheel drive loader 
with a cab. Being a little short of money, he traded in the loader and 
his JD 4230 (his planting tractor) and bought a IH compact tractor of 60 
horse. The new tractor works good for everything, but thats not the 
point. The point is when he needs a loader, it's not available. Several 
times he has planted a field and when he goes to work the next one, 
finds a tree that has blown down. Unhook the drawbar, the hydraulics, 
remove the pto driven pump which runs the planter air system, unhook the 
seed monitor wiring, move the tree; then hook everything back up. Now 
that he has back trouble, he has switched from bagged wheat seed to 1 
ton totes which you raise over the grain drill and open a chute to fill. 
Now he has been forced to use an older, open station tractor on the 
drill because he needs the loader to fill it. So I suggest you get a for 
loader only tractor and maybe put the blade on back, but not count on it 
for cutting hay or things like that. Just my 2cents worth.
            Greg Hass