#760 What Now? RK Tractor Deal Has Ended

[Music] so welcome back everyone Mike here that is a dandy of a red pine there that I just put on the sawmill that's about a seven footer Melissa wants some six foot two by tens and I'll be able to make a bunch of them out of this one log right here but that's not what today's video is about today's video is about those three arcade tractors you see sitting over there in the background if you have been following along with our channel for a while you know that we partnered with arcade tractors a little over two years ago to be able to use these three tractors for two years that was the agreement and it's kind of a win-win you know got them exposure for their new brand and it enabled us to get a lot more done here on the property and have the use of three tractors that two-year agreement has expired and today we're going to talk about what we're going to do moving forward but first we're going to square up this nice red pine it won't take long this one's about 20 and a half inches in diameter where would it be nice if they grew square I'd be something wouldn't it save a lot of time yeah it's 20 and a half inches we'll get a lot of two by tens out of that [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right I got a nice can here it's 10 inches wide I'll be able to get seven two by tens out of this they'll actually be inch and a half thick and a true 10 inches wide and then also have some pieces over here to the side I think I will get 11 total out of that and I got one real nice board that's one inch thick yes it should be 11 2 by tens out of that one log but anyway enough about that let's go talk about these tractors here and what's going on with them as I mentioned at the beginning of this video we partnered with RK tractors a little over two years ago as a matter of fact we made that announcement right here where all these tractors were sitting that would have been in March if I remember correctly there was some snow on the ground the first tractor to arrive was the RK 55 the biggest one and it had the granite grapple on it that I'm currently running on the RK 37 I think over the last two years I think the partnership has been beneficial for both parties I know RK has sold a lot of tractors to people that first saw them on our channel whether that influenced them or not I don't know but it definitely got them a lot of exposure and it also enabled us to get a lot of stuff done here on the property it's kind of a dream come true you know to have three tractors and we got a lot of work done we really did now first I want to tell you a little bit about my experience with all three tractors just briefly because I've gone over these numerous times in the past as far as ours go I think the arcade 24 is just a little over a hundred hours on it in two years the RK 37 has about a hundred and seventy five something like that I'd have to check and the RK 55 has about 280 hours I believe when I first started out I was kind of using the RK 37 all the time and I think the reason for that is was it was pretty comparable to the my Kubota L 3901 that I had before and I felt comfortable with it but more importantly it didn't have a cab on it and getting out in the woods that worked really well but since then you know I expanded our trails widen them out and I found myself running the RK 55 more than any of them now the RK 24 I can see me using this a lot more if I had had more attachments for it the only thing I have for it is the backhoe on the back and you know obviously I run the pallet forks and stuff on it but I haven't used the arcade 24 that much and the only reason is I didn't have a lot of attachments what would be nice for this little tractor I think would be like a little four foot brush hog for cleaning up the trails and things like that what I really like about the arcade 24 good lift capacity and it has that auto throttle the auto throttle is pretty neat if you're not familiar with that the rpms go up you know it's hydrostatic as you step on the forward or the reverse pedal the more you push on it the higher the RPMs go up and you can still adjust it you know wherever you want but yeah it's been a great little tractor haven't had any problems with it the RK 37 I used it a lot early on more so than I have recently very very impressed with the lift capacity of this tractor I really am I don't know how it does it or why but I'm telling you it lifts and carries like a dream this one is a shuttle shift now they come loaded the rear tires are loaded you know I mean so I know that helps a lot on the lift capacity and feel uncomfortable out there you know you don't feel it in your seat when you're carrying a big log and I've carried some big logs with this tractor with this grapple this is a six footer that's a heavy grapple right there you know they make a five footer that would probably be a better fit for the RK 37 but I've run the six foot on it carry big logs good tractor stable and I think I mentioned this has the shuttle shift which I've always been a hydrous that kind of guy but the shuttle shift is really nice I've used this for tilling all sorts of stuff I mean I've done a lot of work over the last couple years with these three tractors but the 37 that's what impressed me most on it was the lift capacity now the RK 55 is pretty much what I expected I mean it's a big tractor it's done a really good job I really like the cab I had never thought I needed a cab and still until I got to run a tractor with a cab very very nice not just in the winter but when your brush hog and things like that the dust the cold I really like the cab and even you know having this YouTube channel it's nice when you're out there and the weather being able to keep your cameras in the cab and and I do like a cab machine and like I mentioned earlier since I got all our trails widened out and you know expanded everything I can get this RK 55 on any of the trails right now and I think that is why it has the most hours on it the only thing that I don't like and I wouldn't even say don't like but the only thing that I would change just a little bit on this RK 55 is it's pretty dirty in here these are your two pedals right here forward and reverse they're a little close together they are and I thought I like that at first you know just having two separate pedals but you have to be careful because if you step on both of them at the same time you're gonna stop instantly don't tell me don't ask me how I know that but you will and I've done that a few times maybe if they're just a little bit further apart or my feet weren't so wide it'd be a little bit better but beyond that I don't think I change there's really nothing I don't like about this tractor like I said it's everything that I expected this comes standard with two sets of rear remotes I use that on the wallenstein shipper it's what I've used two remotes for it's got the telescoping lift arms I think the RK 37 comes with the telescoping lift arms now this one did not but not really a big deal I've used the backhoe on the arcade 20 for quite a bit it works really well has a mechanical thumb on it I have a backhoe for the RK 55 I haven't used it hardly at all I'll be honest with you I'm not big backhoe fan on tractors on these little ones I think they're great but on bigger tractors they're just I mean they're a backhoe on a farm tractor basically I've run a lot of equipment you know and I tell everybody when they ask you know should I buy a backhoe it all depends if you if you have a good rental dealer near you that rents many excavators and it's not a real pain in the neck that's my recommendation that's what I've always done they are just so much faster and I'm not talking a real tiny little mini excavator when I rent one it's usually like a bobcat be 50 you know it's a ten thousand five hundred pound machine and there's literally no comparison you know between a mini excavator and a backhoe on a tractor I don't care what brand it is but a lot of people don't have a dealer nearby a lot of people need to use them all the time here and there those types of people yeah you probably do want to buy a backhoe but for me I just kind of let that type of work build up whether I'm digging a bunch of stumps or something like that and I ran a mini excavator so as far as any problems that I've had between all three tractors I've only had one really minor issue and that was the safety switch under the seat on the ark a 24 it came unplugged it didn't even break that is the only issue that I've had a lot of people have asked me you know what's the service like I don't know I never really needed them for anything but that's the only issue that I've had and I'll be honest I have worked these tractors harder than I would if I owned them if that makes sense I mean I've carried some really heavy logs out of the woods with these tractors the arcade 37 and the arcade 55 but that's the only problem that I've had and that was uh took me 20 seconds to figure it out plug it back in and it was good to go but there's no leaks you know there's not tons eyars on any of these 280 or something on this one but yeah no problems at all I came in here to the roofless woodshed to get out of the wind so you can hear me all right I'm looking at that screen this shirt kind of makes me camouflaged in here but anyway yes far as problems go with any of the tractors that was one issue was the seat switch on the arcade 24 that was it but while we're on that subject now this is just my opinion I don't care what brand tractor you buy I actually think everything on the market day is probably pretty good but no matter what brand you buy you know you may get a lemon you may have an issue that's tough getting it resolved I don't know but it's my opinion that probably 75% of the problems I'm just throwing a number out there that people have with their tractors are probably a direct result of doing something with them that you probably shouldn't have been doing you know I'm saying they aren't skid loaders I mean I have seen a lot of people do things with tractors like digging out stumps you know Ram and stuff there's just a lot of things you probably shouldn't be doing and you know there's a lot of people out there they bought their first tractor never been on a piece of equipment before and I think that's where a lot of the issues arise running over things and I don't know but that's just something I was thinking about now back to the partnership with arcade tractors and where everything stands right now as I mentioned we entered into agreement with them a little over two years ago well that agreement expired just this past March now back in December of 2019 we kind of start talking back and forth because we knew that agreement was going to end shortly and then I think it was the 1st of March I got a new agreement to continue the relationship for another couple more years and I've been kind of going back and forth thinking a lot about it deciding what I want to do and what I think would be best for us and our family and our channel and the whole nine yards and believe it or not I decided to end the relationship I did it's over today is the last day that you'll see these arcade tractors in our videos now a lot of people are probably wondering there has to be something or what's going on or why would you do that and the fact of the matter is YouTube is a business it is and it didn't start out that way for us it started out as a hobby we were approached by arcade tractors at around 10,000 subscribers which is really a small channel for a deal that big at least in my opinion I think one of the reasons they approached us is because we were small they liked what they saw and you know the much bigger it probably have to be a little bit different kind of deal than what we worked out so I think that's one of the reasons they approached us and they liked what we were doing they liked their channel and back then I really didn't know what I was doing like I said it was just a hobby and we started making some money on YouTube not a lot and then they approached this with this deal and and it has worked out really well it worked out well for them it worked out well for us and I've been really pleased with the whole relationship so you're probably wondering you know why would I walk away from this deal well like I said it's business and what I mean by that is this YouTube channel for our family has really evolved into something and it really has we make money at YouTube not quit your job money but we make money at YouTube but it is a ton of work and like when I started this partnership with RK tractors I mean some people loved it some people hated it you know you get the comments I might must be nice to get free stuff or whatever and at first for about a day those kind of comments would bother me but then I quickly realize these people that say those types of things are just oblivious to how this all works it is so much work I mean YouTube is our life it really is and I'm not complaining one bit at all I love doing it I've always done something on the side my whole life always had a full-time job did something on the side YouTube is no different than that and it just keeps growing and evolving and in order to keep growing and evolving you have to keep things like fresh new content different ideas and I think I've done a thorough review of the arcade tractors over the last two years I've got a lot of work out of them our case happy with results I'm happy with the whole thing but I have decided we're gonna do something differently now I have a few things in the works I don't know nothing's 100% sure you'll know something coming up soon if we do put something together for a while there I thought maybe I'll just buy a new tractor like every six months or a year run it review it you know and do another one but there are some things in the works um nothing set in stone as of this point right now but once it is I'll let you know but that's where things stand right now I said this will be the last that you see the arcade tractors so to kind of review what we talked about here today and do sort of a recap of the last two years let me say this this is how I see it this has been fantastic it has it's been a lot of fun I want to thank arcade tractors for the opportunity they kind of rolled the dice with me you know think about it small channel 10,000 subscribers offer them all this equipment and to use for two years and it worked out really well it's been a win for them they got exposure we got a ton of stuff done and people that view our channel I think it's been very beneficial for them even if they weren't in the market for a tractor you know maybe it was a certain attachment but our channel you can just see you know real people doing real things very seldom do I do videos just to make a video usually you know we just make videos and what we're doing around here and I've done a lot of work with these tractors and and that has allowed a lot of people to see how different things work whether you're great in the driveway or carrying a big oak log out of the woods or putting in a food plot or you know cutting firewood all that stuff I think has been beneficial for everybody and it's been a lot of fun so before I wrap this up I just want to say a couple more things number one I want to thank RK tractors it's been a lot of fun the last two years I appreciate you giving me this opportunity and good luck to you in the future number two I want to thank everybody that has been following our channel and come along for this ride it's been really cool and we really appreciate it I have said before many times in this video actually that YouTube is a side business and it is the greatest business I ever had and I really mean that the messages the comments there's nothing that makes me happier than like getting up in the morning and reading an email from some lady and who knows where it says hey thanks so much my husband Harvey or whoever 72 years old just bought a sawmill he's outside enjoying life staying busy I love reading stuff like that I do and there's just so many supportive people and we really really appreciate it and as far as I'm concerned we're just getting started we really are this is a long-term thing we've tons of stuff to do here on the property and we keep trying to make improvements what my plan is my long-term plan is to turn this place into something a place where we never have to leave and that's what I'm trying to do and that's what I'm going to keep working towards but anyway that's about it for today's video and like I always say if you enjoyed these videos please hit the like button click Subscribe and share them with your friends Thanks we're coming to an end of another episode of outdoors with the Morgans this is Jimmy Jensen coming to you from beautiful Lake of the Isles near downtown Minneapolis and I came to remember that joy shared is twice joy sorrow shared is half sorrow [Music] you

Channel: Outdoors With The Morgans

Views: 336,451

Rating: 4.9140801 out of 5

Keywords: firewood, jeep, stihl, chainsaw, logsplitter, polaris, kubota, rktractors, johndeere, wranglerstar, compact tractor, subcompact tractor, kubota bx, 1025r, rural living, mahindra, forest, wicked grapple, granite grapple, Stihl MS 500, best chainsaw, commercial mower, ferris, exmark, walker mower, scag, badboy, spartan mower, country living, wolfe ridge professional splitter

Id: ApNDViwIhf8

Length: 21min 41sec (1301 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 20 2020