Yanmar In The Rice Paddy

[Gary A]

I put paddy wheels on the back of my little Yanmar and it still sinks.

Does anyone have a Kubota iron buffalo that they no longer need? I'll probably have to buy a new one especially at this time of the year but it doesn't hurt to check on second hand units.

Edited June 28, 2008 by Gary A

[sokmeister]

Gary,

you need to distribute the tractors weight on a larger surface area. The paddle wheel just helps in locomotive force but little of what you are trying to do...keeping afloat.

I've seen pictures of farm tractors in the states with big ole swamp tires. I would imagine using something like that should help in this situation. maybe add two more tires to the back and front, one on each wheel?

Sok

[Lickey]

I saw a Kubota 4wd with paddle wheels bolted on but it had a tiller/rotavator on it, it seemed to getting along nicely,

I would think that the tiller would help propel the tractor forward whereas a disc plough would drag and make the tractor dig in,hence sinking ect.

hope this helps, Cheers, Lickey.

[Gary A]

I saw a Kubota 4wd with paddle wheels bolted on but it had a tiller/rotavator on it, it seemed to getting along nicely,

I would think that the tiller would help propel the tractor forward whereas a disc plough would drag and make the tractor dig in,hence sinking ect.

hope this helps, Cheers, Lickey.

Actually the main use is with the rotary tiller. And yes, it does help push the tractor along. Unfortunately some places are much softer than others and it is still a trick to NOT get stuck. Maybe next year and the year after things will be better. The land has never been farmed before and has no plow sole yet. I think the only crop that benefits from hard pan is rice.

ADDED - The main advantage of having a small four wheel drive tractor is in weed control. I'm not real keen on chemicals and the little Yanmar can plow several rai of paddy fairly quickly. We get only one crop a year and that leaves plenty of time for weed control. Big weeds, means the plow. Second growth weeds the rotary tiller will handle well.

The decision has been made to buy an iron buffalo for the final tilling in the flooded paddy until some hard pan can support the Yanmar. The iron buffalo can also pump water more efficiently than the 31 HP Yanmar.

We pumped water for the first time out of our new pond on the first farm. I got screwed on that pond too. I insisted on a depth of 3 meters and it is no more than two meters deep. That's partially my wife's fault for insisting on a total price rather than a price by the hour. I should have paid more attention and not have let him get away with not digging deeper. The bottom line is that the pond is now dry and several paddies cannot be planted. If we get some good rains we may still be able to plant but if no rain we will lose what is already planted. Farming really sucks. I might add that we have had no rain at all for nearly two weeks.

As an aside comment, my wife put hundreds of fish in that pond. She had all the nets ready to net out the fish when the pond got pumped down. Guess what? there were no fish in the pond. I had told her that there were no fish left because I could tell over the dry season that the water had been stirred up at least once a week. The thieving bastards managed to get ALL the fish.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Gary A

[slapout]

Gary, sounds like our luck on fish being seined at night. My wife decided to put a barbed wire fence around 12 rai to keep theft of fish and fruit down. Only good thing about the fence she put up, is it was done when baht was 40 to 1. Every time I mention use the fence to hold livestock to eat the grass instead of weedeating, she starts on we have to build a house for livestock, plus we could not kill them to eat as they would be pets etc. The only way to stop the theft is to live on the place, train a big doberman, and back him up with a shotgun. The iron buffalo is what we use on paddy land. I am not sure you will ever get your tractor thru paddy with standing water, maybe as you say when you have a solid base to work on.

[Gary A]

I now have a little sticker shock as far as the iron buffalo diesels. The new generation has direct injection and they are supposed to be 25 percent more efficient as far as fuel. Some dealers actually tell you that the old models are more efficient. A ten HP new generation will cost about 38,000 baht. A Kubota tractor frame with the new generation transmission, three forward gears and reverse costs about 28,000 baht plus buying the implements. Anyways it looks like I will be spending nearly 70,000 baht rather than the 50,000 I planned on.

It's all out go and no income so far. I guess that at least my wife will have the equipment and land to make a living if she throws me out or I die. It's worth something to know that she won't starve to death.

[IsaanAussie]

I now have a little sticker shock as far as the iron buffalo diesels. The new generation has direct injection and they are supposed to be 25 percent more efficient as far as fuel. Some dealers actually tell you that the old models are more efficient. A ten HP new generation will cost about 38,000 baht. A Kubota tractor frame with the new generation transmission, three forward gears and reverse costs about 28,000 baht plus buying the implements. Anyways it looks like I will be spending nearly 70,000 baht rather than the 50,000 I planned on.

It's all out go and no income so far. I guess that at least my wife will have the equipment and land to make a living if she throws me out or I die. It's worth something to know that she won't starve to death.

Getting a good "Mai Pen Rai" feeling never hurt anyone. Having a new toy and the freedom to choice it is one of the things that attracts me to Thailand. Keep up the smile.

I just purchased a tractor and all the bits and pieces and am really looking forward to getting into the mud myself.

Isaanaussie

[Gary A]

Getting a good "Mai Pen Rai" feeling never hurt anyone. Having a new toy and the freedom to choice it is one of the things that attracts me to Thailand. Keep up the smile.

I just purchased a tractor and all the bits and pieces and am really looking forward to getting into the mud myself.

Isaanaussie

Since it is pretty dry now, I'll be taking the Yanmar out today to give the remaining paddies a rotary till and then wait for the rain. (Hopefully) If the paddies get flooded, the new iron buffalo will also get a workout. My wife is an optimist and is convinced we will have enough rain to finish planting.

The good thing is that the second farm, only about a kilometer away, has plenty of water and we never had to pump the pond. The seedlings are pulled, bundled and sitting in water.

[Gary A]

It appears we had a little good luck. The water table is still above the bottom of the pond so we were able to pump enough water to finish planting one more paddy. If the luck holds and the pond partially fills again, we may be able to plant the other three small paddies. I got my orders today from she who must be obeyed to go out tomorrow and plow the two remaining paddies. I rotary tilled two dry paddies today. Now if I could find someone who wants some laterite rocks, I could make a couple more paddies. Anyone want to make building bricks?