Buying Advice Moving to a 3.7 acres heavely wooded area. Know nothing about tractors need help.

[vivancoj]

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house on a 3.7 acres of wooded land. It has a creek bed which right now is empty.
Lots of trees different sizes and lots of thick brush. I am a three year beekeeper with 7 hives at the current time. I am also
a gardening for vegetables lover. Initially I thought about buying a brush cutter from the ones that Home Depot rents and sales
after 3 years of use. I need to clear some areas for my vegetable garden and take down some small trees as well.

At age 74 while still strong I dont have the know how and probably the strength to take on this task with a small machine. A friend
suggested I buy a used tractor with a bucket, and a bushog.

I am at a loss as to what to get, as prices, etc......I would like to get one with a trailer so I can loan it to my son who has a 7 acre
spread.

Any suggestions??????????????
Thanks,

Jose

 

[PatasColo]

Hey Jose,
Welcome to the TBN forums!
First recommendation: There have lately been a number of folks in a situation similar to yours here on TBN, and there is a lot of info in those latest threads. Do a quick search with some keywords like "land", "clearing", and "moving".
Second: If you can get some pictures of the land, those always elicit a lot more useful response and questions to help us provide you the best advice we can, from a distance. :thumbsup: If no pictures, your description was pretty good, but wasn't specific on how you'd like to change the land. For example, are you just wanting to clear small brush? What do you consider "small brush"? Does the land have a lot of up-and-down, and downed branches? (i.e. this would indicate a need for more ground clearance, but given that you want to trailer the tractor around, the smaller SCUTs (subcompact utility tractors, like the Kubota BX-series) are the easiest for that.

Give us another update!
-Mitch

 

[Deerherd]

Welcome Jose! I think Mitch's advice on a small SCUT is good. But I would hire someone with the proper equipment to do the initial clearing. What they could do in half a days work could take you many months and at 74 years young, do you really need to put yourself through that? Save yourself for working the garden and tending the hives and save the money on the brush hog and get a tiller. Momma will thank you.....

 

[Bluegill2]

I started with 3.5 acres and a Kubota L245 2wd w/5' mower. Got a ton of work done with that little tractor over the years and it was dead nuts reliable. You don't always need as large a rig as is recommended, just need to learn how to get it done with what you have...

I now have 400 acres and two slightly large Kubotas.

 

[vivancoj]

Thanks Patas

 

[vivancoj]

Thanks Deerherd, I do have a Honda Tiller which I currently use in my backyard. I just picked about 100 lbs of potatoes.
José

 

[newbury]

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house on a 3.7 acres of wooded land. It has a creek bed which right now is empty.
Lots of trees different sizes and lots of thick brush. I am a three year beekeeper with 7 hives at the current time. I am also
a gardening for vegetables lover. Initially I thought about buying a brush cutter from the ones that Home Depot rents and sales
after 3 years of use. I need to clear some areas for my vegetable garden and take down some small trees as well.

At age 74 while still strong I dont have the know how and probably the strength to take on this task with a small machine. A friend
suggested I buy a used tractor with a bucket, and a bushog.

I am at a loss as to what to get, as prices, etc......I would like to get one with a trailer so I can loan it to my son who has a 7 acre
spread.

Any suggestions??????????????
Thanks,

Jose

There are several paths you can take to achieve your goals. Renting a trained operator with a dozer will make short work of clearing. You don't mention the size of your wallet, but a good 4wd SCUT will run about $8K. You probably could get by with a two wheel tractor and some implements. My Grandfather did an awful lot with a gravely. If you don't have need for moving a lot of heavy things (like 10' long 24" diameter logs) a SCUT may be overkill.

 

[newbury]

Hey Jose,
Welcome to the TBN forums!
First recommendation: There have lately been a number of folks in a situation similar to yours here on TBN, and there is a lot of info in those latest threads. Do a quick search with some keywords like "land", "clearing", and "moving".

And a better way to search here is to use Google - put the terms in followed by site:tractorbynet.com,
example:
land clearing site:tractorbynet.com
gets
https://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C...f.,cf.osb&fp=2176d1af1be1f17d&biw=930&bih=466

 

[joshuabardwell]

You probably could get by with a two wheel tractor and some implements. My Grandfather did an awful lot with a gravely. If you don't have need for moving a lot of heavy things (like 10' long 24" diameter logs) a SCUT may be overkill.

Yes, but didn't you hear how he went to bed with visions of tractors dancing in his head? When a man has his mind set on buying a tractor, everything else is a waste of money. Because if he's anything like me, he'd buy a Gravely today, feel vaguely unsatisfied for a few months, then buy a tractor anyway. May as well save the money on the Gravely and just get a tractor. It's kind of like when you pass up the cake on the buffet and get a salad. YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING BACK FOR THE CAKE!

 

[vivancoj]

Wise advise newberry, Josh, you are right. Dancing tractors in my sleep, I am going to get one if it kills me.....I just don't want to get an overkill. A local company has a 17HP 4wd diesel by Yanmar, refurbish/rebuilt in Japan with 90 day warranty. It is a 1700B with a front loader for $7,000. A four feet bushhog for $650. I want a trailer for one of my sons has 6 acres of land in Douglasville (about 15 miles away) and I will be probably lending him the tractor occasionally.
They said I need a 16 feet heavy duty trailer and have one for $1,900
I am going to keep looking longer for used ones.....and as I get advise from you guys I am learning more and more and will be better equipped to make a better decision. Thanks for your advise.