The Kubota and the Bear

While hiking in the woods this weekend with my brother, he told me there was a bear spotted in our area. I told him about this Kubota B21 Compact Backhoe.

This is really a nice machine that has some relatively minor cosmetic damage but is tight and mechanically sound. The hours are right at 996 and the meter is working, there is a small amount of play in the backhoe bucket pins but not enough to repin and bush it. The floor boards have been straightened and touched up where some idiot chained down the machine agianst the sheet metal.

My brother told me that the bird feeders are attracting the bears to peoples houses. I do have a bird feeder, maybe I'll get rid of it.

The loader bucket is very straight with a 90% cutting edge, the bottom of the bucket is not beat in and the loader frame doesn't have any bracing or welding on it. The same goes for the backhoe boom, dipper and outriggers, no welds or cylinder leaks. The entire drive train operates normally and has no odd noises. The engine starts instantly even cold with a normal glow plug interval, there isn't excessive smoke or blow by. The only oil I saw was the spillage from where the engine was just serviced.

I told my brother that I didn't know what to do if I came face to face with a bear, other than play dead, I knew I couldn't out-run a bear.

The canopy on top of the ROPS has been bent and straightened so it looks normal from about 15 yards away, up close you can see the small ripples where it was worked on. The engine hood has a small dent right in the center of the hood probobly where something rolled back out of the loader bucket and fell on the hood. The seat has one split in the corner and the binder strap is missing, if I pick a binder up soon, I will put it on. The rear tires are about 80% remaining and the front tires are about 30 and 50% remaining.

My brother said he wouldn't have to out-run the bear, he would only have to out run me.

(We haven't gotten a picture of the bear yet, but you can check out the Kubota here!)