First attachment advice

[dirtymartini]

Lots to think about dirti, but this problem of yours is the sort you don't mind incurring. Not having any money for implements is a bad thing.

During our home building project, my tractor accumulated a boom pole, forks, chipper, ratchet rake and a rear blade. The boom pole was easily the best bang for the buck, but much more necessary for me because of the minimal loader lift capacity and size/type of the trees that were felled. I was able to skid and stack large sections with a boom pole and bucket with a little on-the-job trial and error. Could I have used the forks? Sure, but would have had to cut 30" oak trunks down to a pretty small size just to pick them off the ground and lift them to stack. Either way the process took a good amount of time.

Your tractor has a much greater lift capacity, so the forks will likely be better for that sort of work. The "Thumb" attachment would be an awesome addition to the forks, and is on my shortlist of implements if I ever have extra money.

The ratchet rake was an awesome purchase. Bought it only a few weeks ago but has easily paid for itself. Excavator wanted $3700 to rake and seed the lawn, which was slightly absurd. I have about $850 in the rake, seed and fertilizer. The messed up back was completely free of charge. Our house is set in the middle of the woods, and there's a lot more opportunity to use the rake for clearing saplings and undergrowth, pulling rocks and small stumps and smoothing out the grade. Can't wait!

Good luck on your search. Fill us in when you make some decisions!

Just not enough money! I think I'm starting to develop a plan....Piranha tooth bar, then pallet forks with "The Thumb" then Stone/ Landscape rake followed by a Box Blade....The only thing missing is all the cash :laughing:

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just not enough money! I think I'm starting to develop a plan....Piranha tooth bar, then pallet forks with "The Thumb" then Stone/ Landscape rake followed by a Box Blade....The only thing missing is all the cash :laughing:

Just as a reminder, and I can't emphasize this enough, your tractor is big enough that you really should not go with any economy implements. Whatever, whenever you get what you're getting, get something that is good. If you aren't sure, ask here. Otherwise with economy implements & attachments there is a good chance that you might be throwing your money away.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[dirtymartini]

Just as a reminder, and I can't emphasize this enough, your tractor is big enough that you really should not go with any economy implements. Whatever, whenever you get what you're getting, get something that is good. If you aren't sure, ask here. Otherwise with economy implements & attachments there is a good chance that you might be throwing your money away.

Good luck with your choices.

Thanks Brian, I sure don't want to throw my money away so I'm always open to suggestions. Don't worry you won't hurt my feelings if you tell me I'm I'm looking at the wrong implements.

 

[Garycw]

Without reading entire thread two attachments I could NOT do without are. A bush hog and box blade. Pretty hard to choose between them.
As far as economy attachments I agree that you'll never regret buying quality. However the countyline box blades have done its job very well.

 

[dirtymartini]

After giving it a lot of thought on what I will be doing with the tractor right away, a grapple makes the most sense. I am going to be clearing brush, rocks and trees.

Taking into consideration all the advice in this thread I am now trying to stretch my budget for a grapple of some kind. I have looked at "The Thumb" with my existing bucket and buying pallet forks with an additional thumb mount and also Grapple buckets from Everything Attachments and a couple other advertisers on here.
I am trying to figure out who to buy from that will be of good quality at a fair price...I also don't want to "cheap out" and get something I will be disappointed with.

 

[brown40]

Remember the loaders only as good as the counterweight. You don't want to work on your front wheels all the time, especially in 4wd. Ballasted rears still make the front axle the fulcrum; a counterweight moves it to the rears.

 

[George2615]

Forks, box blade, and the thumb would be my first choices. You've already seen threads on mine. You can make a rear ballast fairly cheap with a 55 gallon plastic barrel, some steel and cement, sand, or whatever to fill the barrel.
How much snow do you get in PA. Winter is coming up fast. Are you going to use the tractor for plowing? I adapted a used truck plow to a QA plate within the price range you mentioned.

 

[dirtymartini]

Forks, box blade, and the thumb would be my first choices. You've already seen threads on mine. You can make a rear ballast fairly cheap with a 55 gallon plastic barrel, some steel and cement, sand, or whatever to fill the barrel.
How much snow do you get in PA. Winter is coming up fast. Are you going to use the tractor for plowing? I adapted a used truck plow to a QA plate within the price range you mentioned.

We get a fair amount of snow here in Northeast PA. I have a 3/4 ton truck I plow snow with so I'm good there. Are you happy with you Thumb choice? Do you ever wish you had a dedicated Grapple bucket? Looking around on my property today I can really see where a Thumb or Grapple will be really helpful.

 

[George2615]

We get a fair amount of snow here in Northeast PA. I have a 3/4 ton truck I plow snow with so I'm good there. Are you happy with you Thumb choice? Do you ever wish you had a dedicated Grapple bucket? Looking around on my property today I can really see where a Thumb or Grapple will be really helpful.

The thumb is all I need for any logs, trees, or rocks I need to grab. I don't do brushwork or anything that requires a full grapple. All my snow plowing has been done with a tractor for the last 16 years. Prior to that I plowed for 35 years with many different trucks from pickups to an Oshkosh w/wing. We get tons of snow here being in the snowbelt east of Ontario.

 

[dirtymartini]

The thumb is all I need for any logs, trees, or rocks I need to grab. I don't do brushwork or anything that requires a full grapple. All my snow plowing has been done with a tractor for the last 16 years. Prior to that I plowed for 35 years with many different trucks from pickups to an Oshkosh w/wing. We get tons of snow here being in the snowbelt east of Ontario.

I just looked on the map to see where you are...You are definitely in the snow belt LOL. I used to drive a tractor trailer up I-81 to Watertown. The roads would be dry and weather clear until I got within 1/2 hour of Syracuse...

Still looking at my options.