coosa
Silver Member
I've got a 400 acre farm in AL that has about 50 acres of open land and the rest is in forest. I've been keeping it up with a JD5210 in 2 wd and D3B Cat Dozer with a 6 way blade. I bought the Dozer 6 years ago to clear 20 acres of land and to build several miles of fire lanes. I burn about 125 acres every winter, and plant about 20 acres in various wildlife plots. I had always planned to keep the 5210 as long as I lived, but old age is making me rethink what I need.
The 5210 is all I need for most of my work, but I can't do the burning without the dozer. I take the dozer and run down the lanes with the blade down and scrape off the grass, then run back over them with the 5210 and discplow with 3 discs. When the burning is finished, I go back with the dozer and smooth the lanes back out. Of course, trees fall across the lanes pretty often, and the dozer works well in moving them. I have timber cuts about every 3 years, and the dozer is great for repairing ruts and washes left behind by the logging crew, and also cleaning the debris from their loading areas. I have 2 miles of ditched roads that I keep up with it, and the 6 way blade does a good job. I have many miles of trails without ditches that I just run over once in the fall.
But keeping a dozer running takes a lot of time and energy, and I'm getting to the point with my health that I feel like I need to get rid of it. I've talked with a JD dealer about trading both of my machines in on a new 4wd JD5075E with a FEL. My thinking is that I can do everything with the new tractor and get by without the dozer. I've never used a FEL and I don't know how well this is gonna work. If you buy 2 implements, you get $1500 off, so I am planning to buy a rear blade of some type and this is where I could really use some advice. I have a cheap rear blade that I used on the 5210 before I bought the dozer, and I am doubting that I can get by with another light blade like it.
Here's my options:
A RB2184H has one hydraulic cylinder to change the angle, and tilt and offset is manual. It only weighs about 400 lbs, but it lists at $1505, so it would essentially be free. I think I could keep the roads up by using it in conjunction with the FEL, but I don't know if it will hold up when working fire lanes.
A RB2284 weighs 755 lbs, but it looks like the only thing you can get hydraulics on is the offset. It would be a real pain to be constantly getting off and making manual adjustments, but I guess it would work. This seems to be the blade that is rated for my tractor. It lists for $2289 in the manual model.
A RB2307 seems like the Cadillac model; it weighs 1060, and is available with 3 hydraulic controls - tilt, angle and offset. I don't think I would need a hyd. offset, but it looks like that's the only way to buy it. Cost for the hyd. model is $3841. I think this would fit my needs a lot better than either of the others, but I wonder if it would really be worth the extra expense? I might get by fine with the one that would be free. Also, I'd have to pay for 2 more remotes to run the big blade.
Part of my problem is that I just don't know how much dirt work I can do with the FEL. It would be great if I could use the tractor a while before deciding on a rear blade, but that won't be an option. I'm also unclear on whether I need the 512 loader or the more expensive 553. I have nothing to load - all I'll likely do with the FEL is push fallen trees out of the way and whatever dirt work I can manage with it. I just need to skim the grass off the lanes, and the FEL might be ok for that. The cheap blade should be ok for smoothing them out after the burning. One minute I think the cheap blade would get me by, and the next I'm thinking I need the heavy blade.
Thanks for any advice!
The 5210 is all I need for most of my work, but I can't do the burning without the dozer. I take the dozer and run down the lanes with the blade down and scrape off the grass, then run back over them with the 5210 and discplow with 3 discs. When the burning is finished, I go back with the dozer and smooth the lanes back out. Of course, trees fall across the lanes pretty often, and the dozer works well in moving them. I have timber cuts about every 3 years, and the dozer is great for repairing ruts and washes left behind by the logging crew, and also cleaning the debris from their loading areas. I have 2 miles of ditched roads that I keep up with it, and the 6 way blade does a good job. I have many miles of trails without ditches that I just run over once in the fall.
But keeping a dozer running takes a lot of time and energy, and I'm getting to the point with my health that I feel like I need to get rid of it. I've talked with a JD dealer about trading both of my machines in on a new 4wd JD5075E with a FEL. My thinking is that I can do everything with the new tractor and get by without the dozer. I've never used a FEL and I don't know how well this is gonna work. If you buy 2 implements, you get $1500 off, so I am planning to buy a rear blade of some type and this is where I could really use some advice. I have a cheap rear blade that I used on the 5210 before I bought the dozer, and I am doubting that I can get by with another light blade like it.
Here's my options:
A RB2184H has one hydraulic cylinder to change the angle, and tilt and offset is manual. It only weighs about 400 lbs, but it lists at $1505, so it would essentially be free. I think I could keep the roads up by using it in conjunction with the FEL, but I don't know if it will hold up when working fire lanes.
A RB2284 weighs 755 lbs, but it looks like the only thing you can get hydraulics on is the offset. It would be a real pain to be constantly getting off and making manual adjustments, but I guess it would work. This seems to be the blade that is rated for my tractor. It lists for $2289 in the manual model.
A RB2307 seems like the Cadillac model; it weighs 1060, and is available with 3 hydraulic controls - tilt, angle and offset. I don't think I would need a hyd. offset, but it looks like that's the only way to buy it. Cost for the hyd. model is $3841. I think this would fit my needs a lot better than either of the others, but I wonder if it would really be worth the extra expense? I might get by fine with the one that would be free. Also, I'd have to pay for 2 more remotes to run the big blade.
Part of my problem is that I just don't know how much dirt work I can do with the FEL. It would be great if I could use the tractor a while before deciding on a rear blade, but that won't be an option. I'm also unclear on whether I need the 512 loader or the more expensive 553. I have nothing to load - all I'll likely do with the FEL is push fallen trees out of the way and whatever dirt work I can manage with it. I just need to skim the grass off the lanes, and the FEL might be ok for that. The cheap blade should be ok for smoothing them out after the burning. One minute I think the cheap blade would get me by, and the next I'm thinking I need the heavy blade.
Thanks for any advice!