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Post by tarbe on Sept 7, 2018 1:08:28 GMT
My search skills probably stink (no, they actually DO stink!)...but it does appear to me that we have relatively few tractor threads on this forum. So here is the deal - my wife and I have near to 300 acres of wooded property in Ozark County. Mostly cut up by a half-dozen hollows, so other than the ridges, not too much flat ground. And next to no open ground. We do have about 5 miles of trails (and counting, I have about 2 more miles planned) that need maintenance, and the half-mile of driveway to the present cabin needs ditches, crowning and the usual periodic work...which has not happened at all now for the past 3 years! We are currently clearing the quarter-mile drive off the main road that will lead to our home site, which also needs to be cleared. Once we are on the property full-time (in 4 years) I would love to have 3 or 4 food plots. So my question to you fine folks is, am I out in left field thinking a 35 - 45 HP 4wd tractor with a 6' box blade, a front end loader and a back hoe would come in mighty handy? 4wd only because if I am using it to haul wood out of a bottom and it is wet, traction will certainly be an issue. Sometimes my Land Cruiser with aired-down BFGs breaks traction on certain sections of the property (we have about 240 feet of elevation change on the place). So for starters, this is not a JD vs Mahindra vs Kubota vs Ford vs MF vs IH kind of thread...it is more like, is a tractor of any kind really the right tool for us? The brand warfare can start later, if appropriate.  I appreciate the thoughts of you who have gone before me. Thanks, Tim |
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Post by DEKE on Sept 7, 2018 1:47:15 GMT
what about a bush hog? That's plenty of tractor to get done what you listed, the trouble is, you always need need more no matter how much you get. You just have to decide how much more and how often to try to guess what will keep you happy. I've got a 32 HP Massey that came with the place. It has turf tires and I try to not tear up the grass, so it gets used everyday. The 70 HP Kubota I bought before I bought this place and it sits mostly unused. The 94 HP JCB backhoe just got a rebuilt engine and it gets used for the heavy work. Farm tractors won't lift 5K lbs with a bucket and 10K lbs with the hoe, but I still run into jobs where I need more power. Today I was shopping around for someone to come in with an excavator to dig a dry pond because the backhoe isn't getting the job done. I hate to spend the money, but I'm running out of time and patience.
I've never had to push snow, so I don't know how much power is needed for that, but the 4WD is a definite need.
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Post by Jolly on Sept 7, 2018 2:04:18 GMT
Y'all know more about hills and hollers than I do. Shucks, I think anything a foot taller than where I'm standing is a hill.😁
But down here, there's always been a need for a utility tractor. That's going to be around 40hp. That will pull a six foot brush hog in smaller stuff or a five foot in truly nasty stuff. With the right amount of tractor weight, that will pull a 5.5 to 6 foot box blade. It's also big enough to skid medium size logs.
Don't know about the backhoe part, but that's about the size where I would start.
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Post by tarbe on Sept 7, 2018 2:09:17 GMT
Regarding the bush hog, my wife has made it clear...we will not have any grass on this place! There is semi-grass around the cabin and she says that's it! And not enough grass there to warrant a bush hog. I mow it a couple times a year with a Husqvarna 324 string trimmer. Too many rocks and roots on the sides of the narrow trails to use any sort of mower that you'd pull with a tractor. String trimmer, again. Only animals we are considering at this stage is chickens... Here is the grass...just after string trimming last weekend: Attachment Deleted |
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Post by tarbe on Sept 7, 2018 2:11:06 GMT
the trouble is, you always need need more no matter how much you get. Ain't that the truth! |
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Post by fordy on Sept 7, 2018 4:24:54 GMT
...........I'd try to find a good , used D\8 with a ripper on the back at a Richey Bros. auction..............they're available for $35,000 to 75,000 ! Use it to build all the roads and raping mother nature , then sell it ! It's perfectly legal to formulate your own blasting powder and crack a few rocks that get in your way . ..........You could set up a little BBQ place and call it....... The Brothel In The Woods , a redneck version of Hooters !lol , fordy |
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Sept 7, 2018 10:18:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2018 11:26:57 GMT
You don't need a tractor.
You need GOATS!
Yes, GOATS, the all-purpose all-wheel drive utility animal! GOATS are eco-friendly! No smelly petrol fumes! GOATS run on all natural feed: your unwanted brush, weeds, and trees! They will provide you, with lovely cold manure and (with optional attachments) milk. But wait! There's more! Not found in any store! GOATS are friendly, pretty to look at, and entertaining.
Once your brush areas are cleared, or when you want to cut back the numbers, you can turn the GOATS into meat! How cool is that? And the beauty of GOATS is that they can make MORE GOATS!
Don't delay! Hurry down to your favorite GOAT farm and get yourself some
GOATS!
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Post by tarbe on Sept 7, 2018 22:36:50 GMT
Exactly which breed of goat is best at grading a driveway and digging ditches? I bet they do taste a lot better than a tractor! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2018 14:25:12 GMT
Exactly which breed of goat is best at grading a driveway and digging ditches? I bet they do taste a lot better than a tractor! For grading the drive and digging, you need a dog. No, wait. You need a dawg. But you'll have to put a few enticements under the ground to get the dawg started on digging, otherwise, the dawg will dig wherever it wants, and you'll have a funny looking, serpentine ditch, and a pothole ridden driveway. |
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Post by joebill on Sept 12, 2018 18:10:57 GMT
Allow me to submit an alternative view;
I have owned a 45 HP New Holland with everything, including the concrete mixer, and found it the exact right tool for very few things, always not QUITE right, but able to do most stuff. I forget the total price with the backhoe but had to be around 30K and I sold it for almost that, since it had only about 500 hours on it and I had added a good man-lift to the package.
On the other hand, I now own a 1946 or so Allis Chalmers HD-5, dozer/loader with both bucket and blade which is ALSO "good" for most things and not EXACTLY right for most anything, and it cost me a grand total of 6K, is a LOT safer in my mind, NEVER breaks down except when a battery dies, was made to run about 24-7-365 and will. If it does not outlast me I will be almost certainly at fault, because while we are the same age I am in a lot worse shape.....Joe
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Sept 12, 2018 19:04:14 GMT
I agree with joebill, there's no one tool/machine/implement to do everything well, or even most things well in some cases. Having been to tarbe, place, and seeing the topography, my first thought would be stability on slopes and hillsides. That's why I recommended a skid steer, it's fairly versatile while also having a low center of gravity. But, if he goes with a tractor he definitely would want to have the tires loaded to drop the center of gravity. Way too many people have been killed thinking they could go just a couple more degrees. |
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Post by joebill on Sept 13, 2018 1:31:18 GMT
Roger that, and every degree you increase, the tire on the low side sags a bit more, so you lose more balance still. I had that new Holland hooked to a big surface grinder in the pickup truck, picked it up, backed up, lowered it to within 6 inches of the ground, moved the truck, started to fly it into the shop, but when I made a very slight turn that sort of narrowed the effective wheelbase and instantly the tractor was on three wheels and I was scared crap-limber.
There is a wash between the house and shop and every single time I crossed it with that tractor I had white knuckles because of the tilt. I could never feel stable in it on ANY kind of cross grade. On the other hand, the loader is wide, low slung, steel tracks, and I have never been the slightest worried on it, even when I dug holes so deep and steep that the thing was practically standing on the blade and the angle was so sharp the sump started being unable to pick up hydraulic oil for the blade.
On the side of a hill, if you get one side too much lower than the other, the top track may start spinning instead of pulling, and that is when you just turn the thing on a dime, one track locked, head back down the hill.
I am of limited experience with skid steers, only having operated one on level ground and never having owned one at all, but the friend who sold me the HD-5 replaced it with a skid steer that he uses for most stuff not REALLY heavy duty and he is completely pleased with it.
Be aware, though, that loader buckets are not really made to dig holes in hard ground. They are made to LOAD stuff that is already loose. In hard ground with a light machine you need a backhoe to dig very far. I can dig with the HD-5, but I have to have claws on the bucket even though it weighs in over 15000 with just the tractor and the loader and stuff adds another ton at least.
Also, I have never owned a grader box and prob'ly never will. A loader bucket dragged backwards is grader enough for me....Joe
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Post by Johnny D on Oct 17, 2018 1:45:52 GMT
Exactly which breed of goat is best at grading a driveway and digging ditches? I bet they do taste a lot better than a tractor! For grading the drive and digging, you need a dog. No, wait. You need a dawg. But you'll have to put a few enticements under the ground to get the dawg started on digging, otherwise, the dawg will dig wherever it wants, and you'll have a funny looking, serpentine ditch, and a pothole ridden driveway. No ! you don't need a dog .... you need a hog. No, wait. You need a Hawg.
No wait .... you need a herd of hogs and some electric fence.... and throw in some corn where you want them to dig. Then when job is completed you make bacon. |
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Post by gob on Oct 19, 2018 13:30:59 GMT
I have two Kubota tractors, an 84hp and a 34hp. The 34hp I use for everything, more than I should. It's just so much easier to jump on and off. I live down in the hills of Kentucky with about 200 acres of mostly pasture for the sheep. Tires filled on both tractors, mainly for the front loader stability. Ag tires on the 84hp and industrial on the 34hp. The industrial tires do not have the grip the ag tires do, but they don't rut things up as bad. The 84hp is used mainly for field maintenance(hay and bush hogging). I use the 34hp for all most everything else. Postholes(driving and digging), pulling posts, stretching wire, trimming fields and between trees, grading, digging, tilling, pulling, lifting, loading hay, hauling hay, removing manure, spreading manure, transporting, spraying, pumping, generating electric, fertilizing, seeding, joy rides and teaching the grand kids how to drive. I probably left a few things out, but you get the point.
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