Bob the Dumpin' Deuce lives

Well, I finally got enough of the truck fabbed up to use it today. It still is not road worthy, but I moved two loads of brush to the back side of the Ponderosa today. It dumped beautifully. I still don't have the alternator put on it but the batteries are holding up very well. I need to replace one of the rear inner tubes with the new one I have before I take it out on the road as well as the left from wheel cylinder. Works great on the property. The bed is still not finished and I bent my M105 tail gate (it's on the truck) because I haven't put but one chain on it so far

Here's a picture of the load. Light stuff. I really hope to get it road worthy soon and drive it to Clinto's in a few months.

Joe Trapp

Looks good that's a good looking machine sitting next to it in the picture too

jkelly66 said:

that's a good looking machine sitting next to it in the picture too

Click to expand...

Let me take a moment and recommend Kubota for anyone looking at an excavator. That is my second "121". We bought our first a few years ago. I put 1600 hours on it and didn't loose a single second of work because of break down. That's right, not a single mechanical problem in over 1600 hours. Broke a track at 1500 from wear.

We bought the new one last year because it has a few "improvements" (angle blade, electronic controls) and it has been in the shop once for a solenoid replacement on the thumb. No big deal. Nothings perfect but I can't imagine anything closer than these Kubota's. Very pleased. And they are cheaper than a Deer or Cat. Quiet, strong, and they have a nice cup holder

I loves me little Bota,
Joe Trapp

PS: I hope I spelled Kubota right?

You surely did spell it right, Joe...I have a Bota L3010 that I've had for almost 6 years...works like a champ...couldn't be happier. Well, that's not all together true...it could be a cab tractor *wink*.

I have to heartily agree with you! But back to the thread...love the pic of the bob...looks real nice

I have one too! They are a great machine for their size. And, Nice dumper there!

I'm not a huge fan of foreign-made equipment myself, I prefer John Deere or Cat hardware to get the job done and keep our workers employed in the states. However, I will say that I have used a Kubota tractor on my employer's farm, and it is really a breeze to use, and has good power-to-weight ratio.

maddawg308 said:

I'm not a huge fan of foreign-made equipment myself, I prefer John Deere or Cat hardware to get the job done and keep our workers employed in the states.

Click to expand...

That's the sad part about it. I am almost certain that the MINI excavators are all made in Japan. I am sure there are those that are not but the Cat and the Deere MINI excavators are made in japan and sold here with the rest of the USA made machines. That's why they cost more, you are paying for the Cat or Deere name. The big stuff is different. In fact my brother has a Deere crawler/ loader that is made in Europe by Le-Bear (?). It's hard to tell what is made by our neighbors without looking under the hood.

Another thing to consider is the cost. I like American made stuff, but as a small business owner I need to do what is most cost effective. If I don't I won't be a small business owner for long. I am driving my last new Ford truck. Don't know what I'll buy next but it won't be a Ford (been a Ford guys for over 20 years too).

But I do love my little Bobbed truck. I like to just stand next to it and smile. Isn't military surplus wonderful.

Joe Trapp

Thats right I have owned a Yanmar and a Mahindra Yanmar makes the small John Deere and Mahindra makes the small Case IH I go bigger than that than we are talking Massey Furgeson or John Deere Massey by the way is British

jkelly66 said:

Massey by the way is British

Click to expand...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Massey isn't really British anymore... They've been hit by consolidation like a whole lotta other companies...

To quote from thier homepage:
"In 1995, Massey Ferguson was purchased by the US-based AGCO Corporation."

Massey Ferguson had been formed in 1953 after the merger of the famous North American (Canadian) company Massey Harris with Harry Ferguson Limited of England.

See:
http://www.masseyferguson.com/agco/MF/NA/AboutMF/History.htm

It really is hard these days to tell whom is whom... And if you work with bid specifications that have a "Buy American" clause, it gets to be a real headache...

I can say that the little Cat skid steer and backhoes are assembled just down the road from me, but I have no idea where the components originate... The plants in Clayton and Sanford, North Carolina produce Backhoe Loaders, Small Wheel Loaders, Skid Steers, and Multi-Terrain Loaders.

Oh yeah, if you remember Perkins as being the British engine that was installed in the Massey-Fergusson tractors? Well, Caterpillar acquired Perkins in the first quarter of 1997...
http://www.cat.com/cda/components/securedFile/displaySecuredFileServletJSP?fileId=89642&languageId=7

Kubota or Komatsu has a big factory here in Ga. that builds the wheel tractors.

Gainesville, GA is the Kubota headquarters for this region of the country...they do build them here. They provide jobs locally...that's just the way it goes

maddawg308 said:

I'm not a huge fan of foreign-made equipment myself, I prefer John Deere or Cat hardware to get the job done and keep our workers employed in the states. However, I will say that I have used a Kubota tractor on my employer's farm, and it is really a breeze to use, and has good power-to-weight ratio.

Click to expand...

Deere buys a LOT of their construction equipment from "foreign" mfg worldwide. Big and small. Japan, Sweden, Italy, etc. Doubt if 50% of the models are US assembled. And many of those have major "foreign" components.

Same for CAT

I took some picture of the truck Sunday morning and thought I would post a few here. Still not complete but getting there. I made a video of the dump and put it on youtube, but it still had not shown up. I posted another today in a different format but still no sign of it.

Cabell, would this pass as a "power wagon"?

Joe Trapp

It'll fit in just as well as my M37 did at a M715Zone gathering last year... Power Wagon/MV, they will all be welcome at the spring gathering (wherever I end up having it..).

Looks like a great asset, especially when it comes time for the firewood delivery...

Joe - What are you running for wheels? The front appear stock (or at least stock backspace), the rears appear modified. What are they?

Here's a couple of threads that cover some of the wheel stuff:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=107708&highlight=#107708
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=9952&postdays=0&postorder=asc
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=11095&postdays=0&postorder=asc
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=103049&highlight=#103049

I have 11.00 by 20 on the front but I plan to put the 14.5's on as soon as I weld up two more rims.

Post up a pic with the bed dumped. I woul like to see how you attached it.

Well I finally got a up load to Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkbbh7GhCys

I will also take a few pictures of the dump hinges tomorrow for Sermis. I must admit, I had an old lift gate from a truck that I used for a lot of the parts. The bed is small and therefore I used a relatively light hinge point from the lift gate for the dump. I could have fabbed up some stuff but this was very easy to use. I have some tooth holders for our big grinder I was going to use. They are about 1 1/2" think and have a 1" hole in them. I used them for the hinge points on the dump hoist I made but that needed the strength of solid steel. More to come.

Joe Trapp

sermis said:

Post up a pic with the bed dumped. I woul like to see how you attached it.

Click to expand...

Took some pictures and then forgot to post them. Here's a few. It's worth noting that I used an old lift gate for a lot of my parts. It was easier than starting from scratch.

If anybody wants some bigger pictures that would show detail let me know and I can email them to you. Some are 1.5 MB in size so it will take a few minutes with dial up

I think that is what I would like for a daily driver.