Hello everyone!
Didn't really see a new member area so thought I would introduce myself here. For those that I have met already on TractorByNet, this is for the most part a cut-and-paste from what I posted there.
As an introduction, I am a retired active duty Coast Guard/Navy (29 years CG/4 Navy) Chief Warrant Officer who is still working for the Coast Guard in a civilian capacity in Houston, TX. I retired in 2008 in D.C. to take a CG civilian job there. In 2012, I was offered a CG job in Houston (had been stationed in Houston from 1996-2000 while still active) and, with a CG active duty son and grandson here, my wife was not going to let me turn it down. We moved here in January 2012 and bought a big home in the suburbs. Within a year we wished we would have rented first to get the lay of the land instead of doing what we had always done...race around three counties with a realtor looking for a home in a subdivision.
After some starts and stops this year with buying and selling undeveloped acreage we ended up finding a down-sized home on 7.5 acres in Alvin, TX. About 5 of the acres is currently mowed and it truly looks like a park setting with Live Oaks, Water Oaks and Pecans (plus too damn many Chinese Tallows). The rest is thick woods/brush bordering the property. My wife and I never thought we would want to mow 5 acres of grass but it is so nice looking we will keep it the way it is at least for awhile until we figure out if it is going to be too much.
After many visits to different tractor dealers, constant searching/reading on this and other forums and discussions with a few people at work that own tractors I recently placed an order for a 2015 Kubota L4060HST with FEL, Land Pride pallet forks and 6' rotary cutter. I am also looking at getting a root grapple from Everything Attachments. I'll admit that it was hard to pull the trigger on this tractor due to cost but I wanted something that would last us the rest of our lives and that was something that my wife could more easily operate. The L4060 should fill the bill.
I look forward to continuing my tractor and attachments education that I have received on this great forum and, who knows, I may actually develop enough wisdom to some day pass some of it on. Thanks all!
Didn't really see a new member area so thought I would introduce myself here. For those that I have met already on TractorByNet, this is for the most part a cut-and-paste from what I posted there.
As an introduction, I am a retired active duty Coast Guard/Navy (29 years CG/4 Navy) Chief Warrant Officer who is still working for the Coast Guard in a civilian capacity in Houston, TX. I retired in 2008 in D.C. to take a CG civilian job there. In 2012, I was offered a CG job in Houston (had been stationed in Houston from 1996-2000 while still active) and, with a CG active duty son and grandson here, my wife was not going to let me turn it down. We moved here in January 2012 and bought a big home in the suburbs. Within a year we wished we would have rented first to get the lay of the land instead of doing what we had always done...race around three counties with a realtor looking for a home in a subdivision.
After some starts and stops this year with buying and selling undeveloped acreage we ended up finding a down-sized home on 7.5 acres in Alvin, TX. About 5 of the acres is currently mowed and it truly looks like a park setting with Live Oaks, Water Oaks and Pecans (plus too damn many Chinese Tallows). The rest is thick woods/brush bordering the property. My wife and I never thought we would want to mow 5 acres of grass but it is so nice looking we will keep it the way it is at least for awhile until we figure out if it is going to be too much.
After many visits to different tractor dealers, constant searching/reading on this and other forums and discussions with a few people at work that own tractors I recently placed an order for a 2015 Kubota L4060HST with FEL, Land Pride pallet forks and 6' rotary cutter. I am also looking at getting a root grapple from Everything Attachments. I'll admit that it was hard to pull the trigger on this tractor due to cost but I wanted something that would last us the rest of our lives and that was something that my wife could more easily operate. The L4060 should fill the bill.
I look forward to continuing my tractor and attachments education that I have received on this great forum and, who knows, I may actually develop enough wisdom to some day pass some of it on. Thanks all!