Buying Advice Need buying advice (newbie)

[Nashville]

I owned a New Holland Boomer 35 when they first came out, and when I owned a flat piece of Mississippi delta dirt. It was a great tractor for most needs, but was severely under powered if I needed to push dirt with the bucket, or heavily use the box blade. That tractor and that land are gone. I now own 17 acres of ridge top, 90% forested land in the hills west of Nashville. It's rocky land, having only 4-8 inches of topsoil. The ridge top, rolling but buildable, is ~3 acres. I have ~4 acres of bottom land that are pancake flat, with a trickle of spring water. The other ~10 acres are steeply sloped. I ride the sloped land on a Gator 825i, and I'm very pleased with my ability to do so on that great piece of equipment, but few ATVs short of the 825i would suffice. It's that steep. So, I need to groom the ~3 acres to a "finish mower" cuttable surface, and then keep it cut, although not to golf course standards. I need to push some dirt, but not much on an ongoing basis. I need to safely cut and and groom some walking and riding trails on the sloped terrain. I need to rid the land of thousands of scrub trees struggling for light. I'll need to push and pull the debris from grooming the forested area. On occasion, I'll need to dig out a big rock. I've asked the dealers and gotten a range of answers befitting the products they offer. I'd like some candid input from those who actually use the products. I've considered specialty attachments for the Gator, followed by a nice riding lawnmower all the way up to a JD "does everything tractor setup." Cost is not a huge factor, but I'm not a fan of buying more than I need. Plenty of ways to skin the cat. I'd appreciate any advice or thoughts. Thanks in advance! ~ Russ

[miramadar]

The "sloped terrain" that you're wanting to cut/maintain the trails on...is that the same ~10 acres that only the Gator will traverse? If so, rent a dozer to do it. I wouldn't put any tractor in a spot that I wouldn't feel comfortable on an ATV. 4WD tractors are pretty amazing machines, but are as dangerous as a cocked gun on steep slopes...as is any tractor. Creating/maintaining trails on that type of land is best left to tracked machines.

Bush hogging the rolling hills and working the bottom land...now that's tractor territory. If it were mine, I would get a mid-sized tractor (4WD) with a front-end loader, a bush hog, a box blade and possibly a finish mower. I own a Kioti CK27 and it would fit the bill nicely. You've said that you're not going to push a lot of dirt, so you don't need a hugely powerful tractor. 30 or so hp should be plenty. Couple that with a 5' bush hog, 6' box blade and 6' finish mower, and you're set.

Just my 2 cents.

[geko]

Have you had a look at alpine /articulatedtractors? http://www.alpinetractors.com/products.asp?prodsect=1

Also, a machine called am aebi(sp), can cut pretty much any gradient! YouTube them and see the crazy angles they work at!

Just my thoughts!

[murphy1244]

[MBTRAC]

Have you had a look at alpine /articulatedtractors? Riko*UK*::* Alpine Tractors

Also, a machine called am aebi(sp), can cut pretty much any gradient! YouTube them and see the crazy angles they work at!

Just my thoughts!

These look to be rebadged or very similar to Italian Carraro tractors, they're unbelieveable on hillsides for orchard/vineyard type lighter mowing/light tillage/spraying work - the downside in small/med size (up to c.100hp) tractors with this type of construction is that are designed for lighter hillside work only......use them in heavy FEL or lnkage work like grading/ripping & they'll break in half or suffer stress cracking through metal fatigue....

IMO once you complete your "clearing/trail construction", a c.30hp 4wd tractor with a FEL, with maybe bush hog or mower, box blade or grader etc. should be more than ample for your needs, go larger & you compromise maneuverability/agility....Kioti/Daedong are as good as any make, & offer a better value equation than most for long term ownership. And personally for maximum control I'd prefer a direct drive with shuttle shift (rather than a hydrostatic transmission) in undulating terrain - I'm sure others will have different views.....

As others have suggested for your hillside trail building/scrub clearing it sounds like you'll need to hire or (perhaps wiser) to use a contracter with a tracked machine:
- A Dozer whilst capable will make quite a mess & leave "witness" marks for years with its steel tracks & heavily cleated grousers
- A Traxcavator ( aka Track Loader or Drott) with a 4/1 bucket is a lesser "damaging" option, though still using steel tracks they're grousers are less aggressive
- A Tracked Skid Steer Loader with a 4/1 bucket is relatively "soft" on the environment but will be slower to clear with, the steel tracked versions are fine but rubber tracks will leave the softest "foot print"
- IMO the best option is an Excavator for selective clearing with minimal peripheral damage. With a long reach & working in a radial arc the Excavator will minimising travel/tracks.
- An alternate option with the Tracked Skid Steer & Excavator if you don't wish to pile material for disposal, is to use a mulcher attachment to selctively pulverise the scrub to clear

[Nashville]

Thanks for the good feeback...I'm down to choosing between a used JD4520 (40 hrs) or a new JD 5055e. The current JD incentives make the 5055e a bit less $ comparably equipped.