why are tractors so expensive?

So, in advance of Dave's visit, we decided to buy the posthole digger attachment for the tractor, to help in digging the stump holes.

Then Dad decided to get three differently sized augres for it (8 inch, 12 inch, 18 inch) which he said we need for different jobs.

Then when Dave got there, it turned out the tractor annoyingly was missing the bit that you needed to attach the attachment to! So we had to buy that bit as well.

And when they were in the shop they spotted a Ripper attachment supposedly going cheap, so they got that too.

I swear, this tractor is turning into a money pit. :-(

When they finally got it all connected, they couldn't resist doing some practice digging, so proceeded to dig potholes near the shed. Dave assures me he filled them in again though...

the little red caboose trailer

We are the proud owners of a lovely little red trailer that works like a dumptruck. Here at last are some photos:



It started back in early February. Dad was really keen to get a tandem trailer with a dumping facility - ie: so it will tip itself up to empty a load, rather than you having to stand on it with a shovel. He said we'd need it to move around the dirt when we are doing the terracing and foundations.

What we need is a 6x4 with a removable 3'cage to be better used for shifting various kinds of materials. Mostly it will be loaded from the side, as in when you get material loaded in a yard selling bulk sand, screenings, etc. For the heavier,denser materials you need the smaller size as the Jackaroo is limited in how much it can pull. Also tipping a heavier material requires a strong tipping winch.

We were initially against it because of the cost, but after a few months eventually Dad wore us down (and managed to find one at around one third the previous price).

He placed the order in late February. Because it was being custom-made it wasn't due to be ready by end March. In his words:

Have ordered the trailer. Have customized it to suit your needs as much as possible. Will be 600mm deep, 6x4', inverted 2.5mm checkerplate deck inverted to it will not grip load when emptying it. Has a checkerplate tailgate hinged from the top that is removable to use as ramp to drive a ride-on mower onto it when needed. I chose red because of the tractor. There is a spare, which was extra. Wheels are all secondhand, and tyres are secondhand but roadworthy. Cost a lot more to get the commercial truck tyres new fitted now so thought that could be arranged another time if needed. Got the deeper side rather than a cage because it was more useful when tipping so the load doesn't exit over the top of the tailgate rather than through the slip space. Have a chain adjusted slip space for spreading the load as you move forward and the tipper is up to the degree to get the load to slide. May have trouble with clays, but dry soil and lilydale topping, which is the most likely way to benefit from tip-spreading for road making and large terraces.

Unfortunately though, that date slipped and slipped, to the extent that it wasn't ready when we were back visiting. In fact, it ended up not being ready until early June!! Despite the huge delay though, Dad is very happy with it. And I like it because it reminds me of a little red caboose. :-)

Dad has watered and also bought a ladder

Some more news from Dad about the garden and also a ladder...

Email update (3rd February)

I managed to get to Amherst to water the orchard 2 weeks ago. It was okay after having recent rains, but the newly planted trees were showing marked stress. I transferred apx 800 gal from top tank to irrigation tank and connected the new trees to the grid and setup the slow flow to each tree of this tank of water.

I have purchased the ladder for your place. I took the option to get the longest ladder we could store in the container and move about by one person. I also spent the extra for a safety feature you will appreciate on the block: a self-leveler. The ladder I bought is a Bailey 5.1-9.09mtr (extends to 30ft). Anything higher than this is far too high to work without a scaffold.

Update: you can see a photo of the ladder here, where it was being used by Dad while working on the roof of another house at Toora (a whole other saga in itself)...

buying a tractor (perhaps)

Dad emailed yesterday to say he'd found a secondhand tractor he recommended that we buy.

We've toyed with the idea of getting a tractor a while. It would mean we could do all the excavations needed ourselves and save a ton on labour and equipment rental. And once finished, we could sell the tractor on again to recoup some of the capital outlay.



It is a B21 Kubota, 4 1/2 years old but has only 860 hours on the engine clock. It comes with a bucket and a backhoe, but not a posthole driller (although it is possible to buy them for it). Before selling, the dealer will be putting on new front tyres and replacing a bush in the front bucket, along with a new pin to lock the backhoe apparatus mechanically for safer transporting. We'll be getting a mechanical test done on it before decided to go ahead, but assuming that gives the all clear then it looks like I will soon own a tractor!!

From the description in the dealer's book:
"Extra heavy duty machine; For contractors requiring a heavy duty machine capable of handling long hours of operation in punishing conditions, the B21 is ideal. Specifically designed for the construction industry, the B21 has a reinforced frame, steel bonnet, cast iron front axle, heavy duty transmission and a 4 post rollover frame with steel roof. Features 4 wheel drive, self-levelling loader mechanism, industrial tyres, wet disc brakes, optional vertical stabilizer and optional 4-1 bucket (although the one we are looking at has a standard bucket, not the one that has a splitting capacity to more quickly fill it). HP 21, Engine 3 cyl diesel, Transmission is Hydrostatic, Backhoe has a max dig depth of 2330 and a reach of 3080. The Loader lift height is 2250 and lift capacity of 420 kg.

Priced new 18 months ago it was A$49150 + gst. The one Dad found second hand is A$25000. Still a pretty hefty sum, more than I've ever spent on a machine (I can see I am doomed to never have a new car!!) but given it's $500+ per day to rent the darn things that is only 50 days worth of rental... I am sure we will have more than 50 days worth of digging to do with all the excavation work needed for the garden, house, tanks, trenches for electricity wires, etc etc.

Apparently the hire firm selling it bought it new in order to rent it to one customer, a gas maintenance firm in Shepparton. It has been used by one team since new, has had all dealer services as required. Has had a new clutch plate installed 10 engine hours ago. The engine has only 860 hours total work time in the 4 1/2 years. It has been placed for sale because when it was returned from this firm for whatever reasons it meant there were too many in the yard for hire than the usual business pattern.

It weighs 1.2 tonnes, so should be okay for Dad to transport on his tandem trailer, meaning that it can be stored securely in town rather than left at the block. Dad assures me too there are ample service depots in Ballarat, and probably even in Marysborough, given it is a popular, tough machine.

DesignMyRoom tool

It has been AGES since I last posted. All things at Amherst had a bit of a hiatus as my UK life got in the way - not least, me quitting my job (I start my new one on Monday) and going roadtripping in the US for a month.

Now it's time to get stuck back in.

I stumbled across this article about a new tool for interior design. I can't wait to have a proper play around with it. I'd much rather make my decorating mistakes on a computer than on a real-life wall...


DesignMyRoom - Very Useful Tool For Virtual Interior Design

A life-size tonka toy for Dave

Given how expensive hiring equipment has turned out to be, and just how much excavation we have to do, Dave floated the idea with Dad to invest in a second-hand digger. For the record, here's the various emails where they discussed it.

It looks like Dave will get his life-size Tonka Toy after all! :-)

________________________________

Dad said:

You asked if I thought getting a piece of equipment would be wise. At last you have come to an idea which I have long entertained.

I cannot stress how important to you and Dave it is to have a piece of equipment to do the hard digging and moving of soil to make the house and land to the shape you need. Buying one means you will save heaps in the long run, not least because you are so distant from places to rent

However, getting one piece of equipment to do all things is the hard part, and maintaining an old piece could be a factor.

But I have looked at several types of equipment over this past 1 1/2 years since I finally bit the bullet and hired the equipment to excavate the hobbithole. I have learned a lot from my experimenting, but I feel the way forward for you guys is to look at equipment being sold from such departments as councils, forestry, vicroads in country areas. I have seen such items on ebay asking for bids. These are well maintained, little used, and go for very cheap prices. Also the big equipment auction places... they sell large lots of building materials cheaply when you know what you want. I will talk at length about this if you decide to explore this concept further.

Dave replied: The more I think about it, getting hold of a tractor/excavator seems a must, considering we've spent well over $1000 on hiring them already, and hardly scratched the surface (pardon the pun). I figured we could, once purchased, put it in the garage you got off my brother.) I had a quick look online. What sort of machine do you reckon will be best?


Dad replied:

Great!!! Now we are talking.

The machine we need is this:

It must be in pretty good nick or will be a large waste of money and time when getting on with a project when you are here for a brief time

It must be affordable as a machine which will be idle most of the time and not earning it's keep.

It must be robust enough to do the job of moving hard earth reasonably well: Dingo is too gutless for your work, though good in many way.

It must endure to be versatile enough for other uses once you have shaped the land into the areas you wish level, and those which are slopes or even heaps of soil to provide support for the level areas. The capacity to carry in the bucket is necessary to avoid double handling.

I think trenching capacity is essential, as well as digging with an auger for postholes.

I believe a smallish tyred tractor with attachments is likely to be the best. Or something surplus from the forestry than is larger but affordable. I looked at a Case frontend loader and backhoe for $16,000 last year but could not get it as we had not discussed any such things, and I felt I was way ahead of the game to spend my money on equipment that I would need to sell on should you not like the idea of keeping and maintaining it. Perhaps getting such a piece would be better than worrying about the smaller function of posthole digging as to hire a machine like a dingo to posthole dig is relatively cheap compared to hiring even the mini excavator. But should you get a decent backhoe/frontend loader you would be able to shape so much of the land to retain water and soil nutrients.

entering the world of 3D

Right, it's been way too long, yet again, since I posted. We've got a long weekend here in the UK so I'm going to try and catch up.

Nothing much has happened in terms of planning. I started writing up some feedback, which I'll resurrect later, but it became apparent that I was never going to be able to fully be confident without seeing a 3D version. Because, I'm really worried about the shape of the ceilings in the upstairs part. Being practical, we therefore decided to make a 3D version. It's proving easier said than done.

The first thing I tried, which I may yet continue with, was to join SecondLife. This is a virtual world thingy that seems to be on the verge of major growth (e.g., the BBC of all people simulcast a music festival there a few weeks ago)... and it has apparently got really cool tools for letting you build things. Like houses. Like furniture. I had the idea of building a replica of Amherst there, not only so we could have a 3D version to check we were happy with the architectural design, but then so I could play around with interior decorating etc before committing to real money.

I know, I know. It's pretty way out.

Then I discovered Google SketchUp which lets you superimpose your sketches onto the real world via Google Earth. Well, how amazing would that be... it'd be like building Amherst but one step closer to real-life. (Forget for a minute that Google Earth's pictures of Amherst are currently stupidly fuzzy).

For the moment, we're going down the SketchUp route. Dave is leading, his goal is to build a replica of the bedroom area, complete with ceiling, in the next week. Let's see what happens. I'm still occasionally dropping into SecondLife. I found it jaw-droppingly surprising, the vividness and flexibility (which of course makes it complicated too), but it's quite intriguing nonetheless.

online paint colour picker

Why is it that you only stumble across things after you needed them? I wish I'd known about this site when I was looking to choose colours for the Cottage. It lets you create a colour palette online and then order sample pots, colour cards, etc. designerpaints / colour picker