lungdoc
Gold Member
Hi. Hoping for some advice for my father-in-law. This is a great forum and I've learned a lot by lurking recently. Let me get to the specifics:
He/we have 1200 acres of woodland in Northern Muskoka (few hours north of Toronto) - mixed forest, Canadian shield type of terrain. We have quite a few roads and numerous trails on the property; the trails are mostly smoothed by an excavator in the past so no big rocks anymore or larger trees. We've paid people in the past to do brush hog-type cutting, both with side-type cutters for ditches on the main roads and with rear rotary cutters for the trails. Can actually do some of the work with an old riding mower, but obviously not up to the whole job.
We thought a 4WD CUT with a 5' brush-hog/rotary cutter would do the job nicely, thinking of approx 30HP machines with 25 HP PTO's - looked at Deere and Kubota mainly as those dealers are close, favour Deere because of dealer but not married to the idea. Would probably get a FEL and a woodsplitter, likely get a mid-PTO with idea of future front snowblower option, probably add a cab if that was the case. Probably get a box grader for road repair work as well. We do have a large 4WD JCB backhoe for main snow clearing and heavier work on roads etc.
My thoughts are towards the "heavier duty" models in that range like the Kubota L3240 (as opposed to L3400) or Deere 3120 or 3320 as opposed to 3005. Seemed like better built and more suitable for this sort of work, or is it overkill? Thought a shuttle-type transmission would be fine; would want a safe (live or independant I think) PTO for brush hog work but I believe most are that type now.
Appreciate any advice or thought people have especially if they've used similar machines for this type of work. We want to get what is good for the job; it's a waste of money to get something half-assed. Appreciate any advice on attachment specifics or other things to include/look for. Probably get it for next spring as less use for it at this time of year now.
Cheers
Mark
He/we have 1200 acres of woodland in Northern Muskoka (few hours north of Toronto) - mixed forest, Canadian shield type of terrain. We have quite a few roads and numerous trails on the property; the trails are mostly smoothed by an excavator in the past so no big rocks anymore or larger trees. We've paid people in the past to do brush hog-type cutting, both with side-type cutters for ditches on the main roads and with rear rotary cutters for the trails. Can actually do some of the work with an old riding mower, but obviously not up to the whole job.
We thought a 4WD CUT with a 5' brush-hog/rotary cutter would do the job nicely, thinking of approx 30HP machines with 25 HP PTO's - looked at Deere and Kubota mainly as those dealers are close, favour Deere because of dealer but not married to the idea. Would probably get a FEL and a woodsplitter, likely get a mid-PTO with idea of future front snowblower option, probably add a cab if that was the case. Probably get a box grader for road repair work as well. We do have a large 4WD JCB backhoe for main snow clearing and heavier work on roads etc.
My thoughts are towards the "heavier duty" models in that range like the Kubota L3240 (as opposed to L3400) or Deere 3120 or 3320 as opposed to 3005. Seemed like better built and more suitable for this sort of work, or is it overkill? Thought a shuttle-type transmission would be fine; would want a safe (live or independant I think) PTO for brush hog work but I believe most are that type now.
Appreciate any advice or thought people have especially if they've used similar machines for this type of work. We want to get what is good for the job; it's a waste of money to get something half-assed. Appreciate any advice on attachment specifics or other things to include/look for. Probably get it for next spring as less use for it at this time of year now.
Cheers
Mark