Compact tractors

I think that's the BLV11068 which you *might* be able to get calling around..

Here's a DIY solution if you get there :D

 
I think that's the BLV11068 which you *might* be able to get calling around..

Here's a DIY solution if you get there :D

I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. It should have been delivered with the backhoe, but guessing they robbed Peter to pay Paul along the way.

As much as I "want" the backhoe. I do have someone I can call now that isn't all that expensive and does good work.
 
I spoke with my buddy that works for JD, he did a global search for the kit and found one dealer in the entire US that has 10 of them in stock. He said I might try calling them, but said they are probably going to be a premium on price or simply not sell them since they may be holding them for their use. He tried, but they said they weren't doing any dealer to dealer sales for them. John Deere simply hasn't produced enough of the parts or is having issues getting components to make them, as with a lot of manufacturers.

Other places I've found showing them in-stock online, but are in fact taking back-orders and submitting them to JD, which is an unknown ETA. I've had to cancel two orders that were showing in-stock, but indeed back-ordering.

I'm not sure the DIY route would be ideal since I need this kit to run/install the backhoe, and also want it to be under warranty.

Again, I do have work to do that doesn't need the backhoe, so getting the tractor back is the best direction for now.

Edit: I did follow up on the parts lead, it was a no-go, their inventory count was off and nothing was on the shelf at either of the locations I called.
 
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I'm not sure the DIY route would be ideal since I need this kit to run/install the backhoe, and also want it to be under warranty.

Again, I do have work to do that doesn't need the backhoe, so getting the tractor back is the best direction for now.

Yeah there's tradeoffs there for sure.. if you have an easy and not to expensive alternative it probably make sense to wait and hope a delivery with enough to get yours out of it lands at some point.

The DIY setup is only maybe $150+- though so you could also pre-acquire that and have it as a backup plan if you needed to do it at some point in the future under the theory that if the official doesn't show up it's also possible the DIY parts drain out of the supply chain when you do need them as well.
 
Yeah there's tradeoffs there for sure.. if you have an easy and not to expensive alternative it probably make sense to wait and hope a delivery with enough to get yours out of it lands at some point.

The DIY setup is only maybe $150+- though so you could also pre-acquire that and have it as a backup plan if you needed to do it at some point in the future under the theory that if the official doesn't show up it's also possible the DIY parts drain out of the supply chain when you do need them as well.
Yeah, that is probably true about the supply chain. Other than doing the setup I posted earlier for a hydraulic top link, I don't have use for the rear spools yet.
 
Supply chain - yeah. Not very predictable, for sure. Back in October, I needed an accessory for my Kubota. Dealer looked it up and it had an estimated delivery date of August '22. Called five other dealers within 100 miles, or so. None had it. Ordered it from my original dealer and it came in within a week. Go figger.
 
I don't believe its just your dealer. I got my 1025r at the beginning of nov and just now got the snow plow. The plow sat at the dealer for weeks until they got tired of my complaining about it. Im still waiting for the backhoe, they said sometime in Jan or Feb but they still need to plumb the hydraulics for it. Im sure that will be the next issue. I told them do not pick up the tractor until the shop is ready to install it. I don't want it sitting there for weeks.
 
Mine was delivered back to me tonight. I double checked that they were bringing the post hole digger too. The driver is probably the first person at the dealership I felt like has gone above and beyond. He was two hours late as he couldn’t find the auger. He finally found one and showed up just after dusk. Turns out the service department didn’t put the key back in it, so he gave me his personal one for his tractor, which fit, to save me a trip to get one at the dealer.

I’ll have to see if I can get the post hole digger on tomorrow and dig a few holes for the septic test and a couple to built a hanger to hang the post hole digger on when it’s off the tractor.
 
Keep your hands, feet, clothes, and unoffending body parts well and clear of the post hole digger. A healthy fear of those was instilled into me at a relatively early age for reasons I'll forebear detailing here (lets just say it wasn't all that bad, but wasn't all that good either). Suffice to say it's a short time to get wrapped up in a bad way for a long time.

Should make short work of the septic test holes though, I'll keep my fingers crossed that they perk nicely (from your description of the ground I'm thinking good odds unless you're real unlucky and there happens to be some ground water infiltration).
 
I'll be interested to hear of your experience with the post hole digger. Mine was anything but good.

A lot depends on the soil, and a bit on the oomph of the tractor. My experience is mostly in glacial till which approximates sandy loam with a few gravel bars sprinkled in. The sandy loam was quite amenable to the posthole digger, the gravel bars varied a bit depending on the compaction and size of rocks (stock some spare shear pins...). We did have a few clay patches which behaved about like you'd expect clay to behave.

I think Darren has a lot of clay which is usually pretty good (as long as you take it slow on the down feed..) except when it's baked dry, in which case you're likely better off waiting until it's wet again (you can force the issue by soaking the soil, . There's likely some rocks along the creek that'll cause a bit of headache in spots. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a rock basement along the sides of the valley but I'm really swagging my geology guesses here.. There are of course always alternative options (
)

So I'll also be interested to hear what's in the holes that get dug up. Dirt is surprisingly interesting if you give it a chance.
 
There is a little clay, but has a lot of rock in it, doesn't get real sticky from what I've worked with so far. I got the PHD (post hole digger) on and ready to go. Just need to finish up some worky work before I go bury it to the point of never seeing it again. It's a bit shorter than expected, but long enough for posts, it looks like I'll be finishing those perk test holes by hand to get them to 4' deep. ;)
 
Well, had mostly decent top soil, butI hit a lot of rocks, but the auger made its way down through and pulled most of them out. I hand dug the last 12" of 3 holes on the lower side of the area down to 4' deep. I'm not sure how many he needs dug, still waiting for him to call back for clarification. Last we spoke he just said to dig some in the area where we're planning to put the leach field.

I did find her grandpa's auger for his post hole digger and it's about 12" longer, so swapped out mine for it if I need to do any more.
 
My step son backed over the mail box a while back... to put a new one in I drug out the tool we lovingly call a "Mexican drag line"...(manual post hole digger).... it took me 5 holes before I found a place I could dig... then it took more than an hour to dig a hole 18" deep for the mailbox post... in the mean time, I ruined the blades on my digger.
 
hit a lot of rocks

Dare we ask what kind of rocks you're running into there? Sounds like mostly smaller ?creek? wash maybe? Kind of curious what the base rock is, I think you're on the limestone but that's sort of a transition zone.


Possibly tanerite? (Sp)
To brisant, in this case you're blowing the hole out, not up. That'd also risk shattering the metal bits which could be unfortunate.
 
Dare we ask what kind of rocks you're running into there? Sounds like mostly smaller ?creek? wash maybe? Kind of curious what the base rock is, I think you're on the limestone but that's sort of a transition zone.
It is mostly creek wash/beds, though I did find some granite and even lead sulfite. We have a few good sized chunks of lead sulfite that have been found in the fields sitting here in the house. The creek has re-routed itself over the years, but has been in its current spot for at least 70 years and doubt it will change back to where I'm digging unless the earth splits open across there (which is always a possibility).

One of the larger lead sulfite chunks.
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