Skipper 1,788 #1 Posted April 12, 2020 (edited) So, my good friend and neighbour is a big farmer. He has a bunch of cows grazing on our fields around the house, and then one day cow poo happened. They got out, and wandered into the garden. Moist soil, so giant fat bambi footprints all over. My friend immediately offered to pay for a redo of the lawn, but hey, why be an ass and say yes, when we can fix it without. I knew he had a big old roller sitting around. several actually, but one was more than enough for my plans. This roller weighs in at 2 ton or 4410 lbs to be exact. Or about 10-15 standard garden size rollers. That will put a squeeze on, and with a few passes it will smoothen things out to a pancake. it's about 40" diameter, and about 50" wide. Solid concrete with some steel in it. He then immediately offered me to borrow his smallest tractor to pull it around, but I figured I would let Baby have a go at it. I once tried that roller on a c120 in the past. that was not a success. It could barely move it, and had no control over it at all. The c120 did not have the weight nor the grip to do anything serious about it, but my good was I surprised by my custom C195. Baby did not just move it, it actually ran fine with it. It could steer, it could pull it up hill. Heck, it could even start it up hill on wet soil. towed it fine on loose granite chips too. I am so impressed by my little franken horse. It pulled this thing around the lawn for 7 full hours with not one single issue. It is scary good! I'm in love!! I am tempted to say that it tows almost as good as a sub compact. One problem with this setup is though, that it makes the one eyed franken horse look small---ish Yes, this is missus nut job having a bit of fun seat time too. Edited April 12, 2020 by Skipper 7 11 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 7,302 #2 Posted April 12, 2020 Just think, the owners manual for my 520H says the limit for towing is 275lbs. Yes, I have towed a bit more, like a 5-1/2' x 10' trailer piled high with damp mulch. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,663 #3 Posted April 12, 2020 Nice but I wouldn't want to go down much of grade with that behind me.... 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 41,020 #4 Posted April 12, 2020 Horsie brakes aint the greatest! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill D 1,907 #5 Posted April 12, 2020 Nice. Just curious, did you reinforce the frame where it bolts to the transmission? If so how did you do it? Bill 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #6 Posted April 12, 2020 2 hours ago, pfrederi said: Nice but I wouldn't want to go down much of grade with that behind me.... Definitely. But I do not have that much of a grade, and it can plenty hold it, just in the hydro. I do know it is not a grown up tractor, and this sort of civil obedience should not be encouraged. However, the point was that the added weight and the upgrades have made it capable of much more than it could ever dream of before But yes for sure. You do not want to jack knife it and get pancaked too. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #7 Posted April 12, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Bill D said: Nice. Just curious, did you reinforce the frame where it bolts to the transmission? If so how did you do it? Bill No reinforcements to the frame yet, but it is on the to do list The C195 have a somewhat beefed up setup from the get go, due to the framework around the 3pt setup. I will post on the frame upgrade when that time comes Edited April 12, 2020 by Skipper 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WVHillbilly520H 10,373 #9 Posted April 13, 2020 Just to think my (24"x52") 1/2 ton water filled roller pushes my Mahindra eMax (gear) compact around on our hilly property and it has "good" brakes. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #10 Posted April 13, 2020 Yeah, I would definitely not try this setup at your place. Way to dangerous It would take a real tractor to handle a 2 ton roller in a place like that. 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,784 #11 Posted April 13, 2020 Amazing Skipper! I am assuming this is a fresh Eaton? Didn’t you recently fry one in the last escapade, or just stall it out? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #12 Posted April 13, 2020 1 hour ago, pullstart said: Amazing Skipper! I am assuming this is a fresh Eaton? Didn’t you recently fry one in the last escapade, or just stall it out? Hi and thanks. Amazing can be substituted with insane at any point No I didn't fry it. It just stalled the engine several times. This is the factory unit from 84, with at least 1200 hours on it. Fun thing how well it can transfer HP kind of in a fixed ratio as a gear drive. Push the hydro to full in low rpms, and then give it full throttle with that roller. It simply just accelerates equal to RPM. Or in other words, the speed is locked to engine rpm. Fun little side story. I used the GPS to see how fast it could go, flat out on tarmack with that roller in tow, and it did 9.5 mph. exactly the same as without the roller. Not something I can recommend though, as speed certainly didn't make the setup more stable. At full speed it was clear that the roller was still way heavier than the tractor, and I eased off gently with a sweaty hand. That was enough of a near pancake situation for me. 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bo dawg 516 #13 Posted April 13, 2020 You may have gotten lucky but I wouldn't make a habit of pulling that much weight with it, 7 hrs pulling couldn't have done any good to the trans. I would probably change the fluid in it just for support. Lol! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #14 Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) 20 minutes ago, bo dawg said: You may have gotten lucky but I wouldn't make a habit of pulling that much weight with it, 7 hrs pulling couldn't have done any good to the trans. I would probably change the fluid in it just for support. Lol! Well people use these things for plowing all the time. Don't think that's much kinder to it..............:-) In fact I have a 12" brinly 1200 3pt plow for it, and that is actually more of an anchor to pull than that roller was. Most of the time it would just tag along with not that much effort really. The key to tow something heavy, is weight to have grip, and to "sort of" controle what you tow. With the slow speeds i tow this at, controle is OK. Edited April 13, 2020 by Skipper 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bo dawg 516 #15 Posted April 13, 2020 25 minutes ago, Skipper said: Well people use these things for plowing all the time. Don't think that's much kinder to it..............:-) In fact I have a 12" brinly 1200 3pt plow for it, and that is actually more of an anchor to pull than that roller was. Most of the time it would just tag along with not that much effort really. The key to tow something heavy, is weight to have grip, and to "sort of" controle what you tow. With the slow speeds i tow this at, controle is OK. Oh I know they can do it, not saying they cant pull, but all I'm saying is for 7 hours it couldn't have done any justice to the hydro pump/trans. I would rather use a manual trans myself. But I don't know how to rebuild one either. Lol! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipper 1,788 #16 Posted April 13, 2020 I hear what you are saying, and share your concerns, but really, a hydro unit is just an oil motor coupled to a variable volume oil pump, coupled to a normal 8 speed, just without the 8 . Don't see why it should not be able to keep going for long periods of time, just like the manuals, but hey the whole exercise is to find the weak spot so it can be rectified.................... 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bo dawg 516 #17 Posted April 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Skipper said: I hear what you are saying, and share your concerns, but really, a hydro unit is just an oil motor coupled to a variable volume oil pump, coupled to a normal 8 speed, just without the 8 . Don't see why it should not be able to keep going for long periods of time, just like the manuals, but hey the whole exercise is to find the weak spot so it can be rectified.................... Absolutely right! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
