[JimK]

I just thought I would share some good news with my troubled 955 with the 70A loader and 7 BH.

Here is a picture of it after I split a hose on the BH (hence the oil pan under it):

Here is one of it in motion:

And here is one with my 87 year old Grandmother on it. She INSISTED on climbing up to "check it out". Gotta love her. I come from good stock. :winky:

After throughly wringing it out this past weekend, I can say that I am truly impressed with this "little" tractor. The Yanmar runs like a top, is reasonably quiet and is reasonable with fuel. I burned about 4 gallons in almost 6 hours of pretty heavy use. The hydro is great. I was told by the service manager at the dealer that the only real complaints about these machines "in the day" were that they were not real powerful drive-wise. Well, I can tell you that, at least with the loaded turfs, I can spin all 4 wheels pushing against a load in low range. Lack of power is not an issue, as far as I can see.

The BH, which really pi**ed me off when I first got it is extremely strong now. I was pulling up slabs of broken concrete, and moved some really big sections. My only remaining complaints are that some of the control movements (swing, mostly) are real jerky without super careful input. The joystick linkages are really worn too, but that is not the machines fault. Also, being a short reach BH, I ran out of room for spoil pretty quickly.

The FEL is fine, as I carried 20+ loaded buckets of concrete debris up to my pasture without a problem. My only issue with the FEL is that at ground level, I wish I could tilt the bucket back farther. However, it appears that you can't change the mechanical limit. When trying to roll forward and grab a bucket full, you only can get it half full, then you have to resort to a shovel to get it to capacity. I also need to get a tooth bar for my bucket.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Stewart]

Nice set-up, I wish I had something like that!!!!

 

[Live Oak]

Great pictures Jim! :thumbsup: Glad things are working out with your new machine. With a tad more TLC; she will be as good as new.

 

[tisenberg]

Nice. I need one.. well, I don't *need* one... I WANT one.

 

[Chipmaker]

I thought the subject was on the CAT 955 K traxcavator.........
Is Red Rock or Split Rock Lodge still in operation? How about Honeymoon Haven? Went there when I married the first wife.......cost over $1,200 back in 1970 for 5 lousy days of bad weather and power outages and rotten food, pityfull rooms etc etc....certainly was not anything like they showed or advertised in their literature...........but she just had to go there for the honeymoon........

Glad to hear your machine is working ok now......I sure wished I had a FEL as a shovel and trailer or wheel barrow is getting old, and I am not getting any younger either.

 

[JimK]

Thanks for the kind words. It is a great tool.

Chipmaker: Split Rock is still there. There was a small local B&B type place called Red Rock Lodge, but I think it is no longer in operation (it is a private residence now). I dont remember "Honeymoon Haven", so it must be gone. Penn Hills still eeks out an existence. The honeymoon places were ripoffs 30 years ago and still are. They never spent the money on upgrades/updates that were needed, yet continued to charge premium prices. Their attitude was that they were not looking for repeat business, so why bother. I have lived in the Poconos for almost 15 years, and the changes are mind boggling. Resorts are dead. Retail is growing, as are "themed" activity places. Camelback (skiiing)/Camelbeach (waterpark), Great Wolf Lodge (waterpark) is opening next year, and the Crossings Outlets has expanded as much as it can, and a second outlet complex is being planned. frown