Need help with hauling ideas

[Sugar Sue]

I have a B7500 Kubota 4WD with a LA302 loader. The loader is 48Wx 18.4dx18.9Hx19.6L. I have a 3pt. hitch too. I have nothing to haul my sap into. I need an inexpensive way to get my sap to the shack? What does everyone think? If I need to I will haul by hand, but I am thinking there should be some way to use the Kubota to my advantage. I don't think that a livestock tank will fit the width of the loader. any advice appreciated.

[Jim Brown]

Question that comes to mind is how many taps and how much sap?
Three point hitch platform of some type and strap barrels to it might work.


Jim

[michiganfarmer]

Question that comes to mind is how many taps and how much sap?
Three point hitch platform of some type and strap barrels to it might work.


Jim

thats what I was thinking

[peacemaker]

or if its not alot to gather why not 5 gal buckets and lids in the bucket of the tractor

[ericjeeper]

I use a 55 gallon plastic food grade barrel. I have a platform that will attach to the back 3pt. Or I just stick it in the bucket and strap it on. I try not to fill the barrel full full. so I can lay it down and place the open bung on top then run it out into 5 gallon buckets to pour into the pan. Roll the barrel to lower the open bung.

[parsissn]

The local commercial producer uses a stock tank on a 3pt platform. He has a plywood top strapped over the tank and silicon caulk to seal the lid to the tank. The lid has a swing open hatch door they open to dump into and then close up for the trip to the sugar house. They run 1000+ buckets this way and it seems to work well for them.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I just hope he is using "FOOD GRADE" plywood.

[mapleack]

We use a small fwd tractor with forks on the the 3pt. On the forks we have a 100gal poly tank that sits in a treated lumber box similar to a pallet. We pump into and out of the tank with a pto driven roller pump. This works great, fast and no spills. The three point forks get used all the time the rest of the year as well for moving junk, fire wood and even taking tools / supplies back and forth from the woods when installing or repairing tubing. Depending on the size of your tractor you could use a larger or smaller tank. Below are some links to tractorsupply so you can see what I'm talking about. Also, check my photobucket link for a picture of my tractor setup.

Carry All Frame (http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_34338_-1______14345|14346|14358|34338?listingPage=true&Special=false)

Horizontal Leg Tank, 125 Gal. (http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_34378_-1______14345|14384|14396|34378?listingPage=true&Special=false)

[Bucket Head]

A buddy of mine and myself used a Kubota that was smaller than yours to collect sap years ago. We had a platform on the three point hitch that would hold two 55 gal. plastic drums. We pumped them out with a small 1" gasoline powered Homelite pump. The whole setup worked great.

Steve

[dano2840]

55 gal drums, if you know any one in the sheet rocking buisness or other buisness like it, get the 5 gal buckets the grout/mud comes in, and the tops too, then fill the buckets with sap and put the covers on them and put them in the bucket, just watch out when every thing thaws out because in the spring time you can make real bad deep mud ruts just by taking a tractor over a piece of ground once, make your tractor roads away from the trees as to not damage the roots 3pt forks are also A GREAT IDEA, my dad has 3pt carry all forks (the HD kind not the angle iron ones) and he hauls a 200 gal tank on a pallet, you can get the angle iron ones for about 120$ just find a pallet and put a 55 gal drum on it

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Sue,

Check out my weblink as it should have some pics of my setup with my Kubota L3400. I have a 65 gallon leg tank that would fit nicely in your bucket. I built a shelf that fits underneath it to handle the part of the tank that hangs outside of the bucket. Put a 65 gallon on the front and one on a carryall on the rear and you should be in good shape.

[3rdgen.maple]

I have a 3 pt log splitter that I take of the frame. Just have to remove two pins then I Put on a custom made platform, put a 150 gallon oval gathering tank onto that mount it to the three point hitch. Works great. Lower the tank close to the ground when gathering and don't have to lift the gathering pails so high to dump them.

[dano2840]

brandon has a nice set up on his kubota i would check that out if your going to have a tank in your bucket and your tractors small you are going to want to balance it on the back i cant remember what model you said you had, if its as big as westvirginiamapler's L3400 kubota then you wont need to worry about balancing unless you put 200 gal verticles in the bucket (2 100 gal verticle tanks)

[Brent]

We have a Kubota BX23 which I think is pretty close to your 7500. Loading a liquid into a wide tank on the front end loader is a bit scarey.
A 50 gallon drum would be an overload in that loader. Half a drum would allow it to slosh and that means instablility. Furthermore, if you put a lot of load on the front end, you won't get much drive from the rear wheels, in snow, mud, wet leaves etc , when you need it most.

The suggestions for a 3 pt hitch deck with a container on it make a lot of sense to me. Furthermore, a bunch of small containers, loaded equally will prevent sloshing and shift of balance. Don't know your land but ours is hilly so balance is always a concern for us.

[Big_Eddy]

I have a JDD855 - same relative size. I have 2 small lawn trailers ~ 3'x4' and 1000lbs capacity. I mount a 100 gal plastic tank in each one, strapped down with 5000lb tie downs. I have very hilly terrain, and have not had any issues in 15 yrs. 100gals is too much for my 3pt, but no issue on its own wheels. I did upgrade the wheels on one of the trailers, and one is certainly more stout than the other.

I have quick connects on the tanks and a ramp built - so when I get back to the fire - I back them up onto the ramp and let gravity feed.

The 100gal tanks are low enough that it isn't an issue to pour buckets into them, and with the small trailers you can get right up tight to them. 2 smaller tanks is much preferred over 1 big one - gives the ability to swap them out or leave one at the fire while collecting.

I do have to clear a path through the woods - turf tires are not that good in the deep snow.

[Bucket Head]

Big Eddy,

That's a great set-up.

Ramp's ,wheelchock's, and jackstand's- we don't need no stinking pump's! I like it.

They won't solve all the problem's, but a set of chains would help out greatly. Turf tires are useless on everything, except the lawn, and thats only during the dry summer months!

Good luck this season!

Steve

[ackerman75]

Big Eddy,
How do your quick connects work on your sap tanks, thanks for your help.

[Big_Eddy]

Real High Tech solution. Each tank has a 1 1/2" ball valve mounted to it, then a standard female quick connect. At the boiling spot - I have a 4' piece of 1 1/2" tubing with the male end. Back up, chock, level, then attach the tubing so the end is over the pan and crack the valve for the right trickle of sap in. After 20 years - I have a pretty good eye for what's right. Every year I keep meaning to create a preheater with a float - every year I go back to the usual. Simple is good. If I'm going to collect - I fill the pan and shut off the valve till I get back.

Only issue I ever have is the ball valve freezes up on cold nights. I hit it with a heat gun for 10 mins and we're good to go. Never freezes up once it's flowing.

Bucket Head - I have R4 tires on the front - going to swap out the rears when I get some extra cash - not likely to be this season though. I snowblow my 1000' trail once a year - takes a while that one time but once it's done it's not been an issue driving through the snow or mud even with the turfs. (I'm going up empty, down loaded - I always have the bucket for an Emrg-brake.)

[slammer3364]

I bought a plastic food quality 65 gal.tank which I ratced strapped in my Jinma tractor with a 4 ft. bucket works great. Can be removed and put back on in minutes

[Mike]

Id get a trailer to pull with a tank on it.....

[casecrete]

I some times use pallet forks on my massy 1533 bucket trator with a plastic 125 gal. tank. really works pretty well.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I would be very careful with moving large amounts of liquid in the front end loader of a farm tractor. I know that it is handy but it is also often quite unstable. Far better to utilize the 3 pt hitch and a tub there or use a trailer. I have been around front end loaders for a lifetime and have seen and heard a lot of horror stories and "all most's". my opinion

[Dill]

That's an awful lot of weight on the front end of a small tractor. If you're going to do that, have loaded tires and possibly a counter weight. We move round bales all the time with a spear, but the dry ones are only 600 lbs and the silage bales are 1000 ish. But we are using full size tractors with weights, and still I have had some tipping. Especially watch it on side hills.

[casecrete]

i do have loaded tires and a 2x2 concrete block on the 3 pt hitch. with a little operating skills it is no problem. I run heavy equipment for a living so i may need to take into consideration that maybe everybody may not feel comfy doing things like this.Maybe get a smaller tank just because i have a 125 gal dont mean that you cant buy a 75 gal tank.

[fred]

i bought a straight truck with a 3500 gal. ss tank had a 3" pump on it reduced to 1 1/4". usually only had 2 loads a day

[KenWP]

Last summer I tipped a bobcat over forewards and had to wait untill a fellow working with me showed back up to get me back out. Talk about embarrassing. Cell phones take pictures unfortuantly.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I can tell you from experiance that you should never put the saftey bar down on a Bobcat and then while standing on the lip of the bucket try and move the stupid &^&^%$%$#$%%&% backwards with it chained to a tree chipper.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have a 65 gallon in my bucket and a 125 gallon on my carryall. The 65 gallon actually holds 70 full and the rear tank actually holds 140. I fill the front one completely full but usually try not to fill the rear one more than 80% to 85% max. Key on the rear with a carryall is to keep it completely tight with zero sway. One a smaller tractor like Sue was talking about, go with a 35 gallon in the bucket and a 65 gallon on a rear carryall and you can haul about 107 gallon with them completely full.

I have my rear tires filled with winshield washer fluid and they have 6 adjustments on them and are set out to the widest adjustment. My front tires are not filled and have no adjustment and I am not concerned with hauling 70 gallon in the bucket. Key with hauling anything in the bucket is to keep it low to the ground, just high enough that it won't hit the ground and I keep the bucket at nearly full rollback when the tank is full.

PS Both of my tanks are leg tanks.