Traveling a long way to see all kinds of horse power!

[JSinMO]

Fellas I was on an “away mission” last week, and I thought if you all were up to coming along I’d share the goings on in central Florida with you.

I’ve mentioned before that I have relatives in that area, I spent the week on their ranch enjoying the Florida heat!
40sF at home almost 90 F down there sure felt odd for November!

I have heard of the Florida Flywheelers tractor club for years now and I finally got to go visit.

It’s over 400 acres of tractor goodness! If you can think of it it’s probably there. I saw a good amount of GTs. What I found interesting is that most of them were parked and on display but guys were using Case GTs to drive around the place and pull wagons and such. I guess they know the best tractor for actually getting work done!

They sure had a lot of antique heavy equipment as well.

@propane1 I thought of you when I saw this plow Noel.

It surely makes one heck of a furrow to throw potatos in!
I don’t think my 2N could pull it. Might need your Ferguson on it!

If anyone gets the chance to go it’s definitely worth the visit. I wish I had taken more pictures as there was a lot to see!

My cousin came across these homemade implements and he bought them on the spot! A brush hog, disc, and ground rake. All built out of heavy stainless steel by 2 retired engineers.

They are quite impressive and very well made!

I got to spend some time on a new Kabota tractor working around the ranch. Now I love my Farmall and Case tractors, but I must say that Kabota was a pleasure to operate!

Naturally it wasn’t all about tractors, there was some cow power and original horse power thrown in there too!

We had some fun doing some riding in the arena in the evenings. I had forgotten how sore a guys backside can get when he’s not used to being in the saddle anymore!

[JSinMO]

The last day of my adventure included a very high honor for me. My cousin is a veteran and I am quite proud of him. I was asked if I would march in the Veterans Day Parade in Tampa. What a great experience!

Now I’m back home and it’s back to work for me. I hope you guys enjoy the virtual trip down to the sunshine state. Thanks for coming along!

[DavidBarkey]

Thanks for sharing . Looks like a wounderful place to visit one day .

[Eugen]

Oh woooow! Great pictures Jeff! I was going to ask what you thought about that Kubota... and if you were able to pocket that "tiny" plough!

[propane1]

Fellas I was on an “away mission” last week, and I thought if you all were up to coming along I’d share the goings on in central Florida with you.

I’ve mentioned before that I have relatives in that area, I spent the week on their ranch enjoying the Florida heat!
40sF at home almost 90 F down there sure felt odd for November!

I have heard of the Florida Flywheelers tractor club for years now and I finally got to go visit. IMG_4233.jpeg

It’s over 400 acres of tractor goodness! If you can think of it it’s probably there. I saw a good amount of GTs. What I found interesting is that most of them were parked and on display but guys were using Case GTs to drive around the place and pull wagons and such. I guess they know the best tractor for actually getting work done!
IMG_4238.jpegIMG_4236.jpegIMG_4237.jpeg
IMG_4235.jpeg

They sure had a lot of antique heavy equipment as well. IMG_4229.jpeg
IMG_4234.jpeg

@propane1 I thought of you when I saw this plow Noel. IMG_4231.jpeg
IMG_4232.jpeg

It surely makes one heck of a furrow to throw potatos in!
I don’t think my 2N could pull it. Might need your Ferguson on it!

If anyone gets the chance to go it’s definitely worth the visit. I wish I had taken more pictures as there was a lot to see!

My cousin came across these homemade implements and he bought them on the spot! A brush hog, disc, and ground rake. All built out of heavy stainless steel by 2 retired engineers. KIMG0720.jpeg
They are quite impressive and very well made!

I got to spend some time on a new Kabota tractor working around the ranch. Now I love my Farmall and Case tractors, but I must say that Kabota was a pleasure to operate!IMG_4239.jpeg
KIMG0721.jpeg

Naturally it wasn’t all about tractors, there was some cow power and original horse power thrown in there too!KIMG0713.jpegIMG_4228.jpeg

We had some fun doing some riding in the arena in the evenings. I had forgotten how sore a guys backside can get when he’s not used to being in the saddle anymore! 20231110_182920.jpeg

Wow. Quite a show Jeff. I’ve heard of this show.

Holy cats Jeff I think we’d need a bunch of fords and Fergusons to pull that plow. Jumpins.

Noel

[JSinMO]

Oh woooow! Great pictures Jeff! I was going to ask what you thought about that Kubota... and if you were able to pocket that "tiny" plough!

The Kubota was really nice. 60 HP, 4 speed gear box with high and low, so 8 speeds forward and backward. 4x4, power steering. I did some digging with it and was impressed with the power and traction. My Case 830 is rated around the same HP but with out the 4 wheel drive and a standard shift instead of the Kubota’s hydrostatic drive which is much nicer.

The only negatives I really found was the controls for the hydraulics were not good. Very stiff and hard to move. He told me it’s been a problem and the controls have been replaced but it didn’t fix the problem. Sometimes they stick and it hard to make fine adjustments. The second thing is that with any newer machine it has an onboard computer and electronics which makes it less likely to be repairable by the owner, but that’s just me. I certainly wouldn’t say no if I could get my hands on one!

As far as that plow goes, holy mackerel it was big! The picture of the furrow it made doesn’t to it justice it was quite deep! Forget plowing with it, I don’t know how I’d tow around much less fit it in my pocket!

I did get the chance to see one of these being used back in the 1980s after a flood. They were plowing river sand under and trying to bring good soil back to the surface. Very impressive to watch. Even though it is ridiculously huge, it still works the same way one on a GT does. It just need something as big to yank it!

[Toolslinger]

Those stainless implements are something... I guess if I lived in Florida, with their moisture, it might be something to have to look in to... Those would for sure be in the buy once, cry once category.

[Harry]

Thanks for taking us along for a visit with you Jeff. I enjoyed the pics and the narrative. Harry

[RoamingGnome]

Awesome photos, thanks for sharing your adventures in Florida

[Eugen]

@JSinMO I'm with you on the dependence on electronics! Yuck!