nodigger
New member
I've recently finished building a house on about 160 acres in the mountains of southern Colorado. The site is so remote that hiring someone to do dirt work is very expensive, when I can even find somebody willing to haul all the way out here.
I don't know a lot about equipment. I have an old farm tractor with loader that I use for mowing, and maintaining the driveway, but there's very little flat ground, which really limits where I can use it. It's also just two-wheel drive, so even with chains on it often wont make it up the driveway in the winter.
So, I'm looking for something that will let me do more work around the place, myself, and I'm looking for advice on how to get the most out of about $20-25,000.
There are a lot of projects I could do around the place, although, to be realistic, I'm not going to be putting a huge number of hours on whatever piece of equipment I buy. Some of the jobs I think I would do if I had the right equipment include:
* back fill around the house foundations have settled, so I need to do more backfill around the house. Much of that is steep enough I'm not comfortable doing it with my tractor.
* widen the driveway by moving dirt 100 yards or so downhill to fill, then smooth
* clean out an existing pond
* maintain a steep, gravel driveway
* move snow when there's more than my 4-wheeler can push
* general landscaping work around the house, again, where it's too steep for my existing tractor
* maintain some old logging roads through the woods that provide access to parts of the property
I feel like I have four options:
1. old, high-hours "real" 4wd backhoe
2. newer, low-hours 4wd CUT tractor/loader/backhoe combination
3. newer skid steer loader
4. older compact track loader
It looks like I should be able to find a backhoe in my price range, but it will have 5-6,000 hours on it. I have no doubt it would do all the dirt work I need, and is probably the only one of my four options that would allow me to clean out the pond. But even with 4 wheel drive, I don't think it would be any better on the hills than my existing tractor. Plus, being so remote, I can't afford to buy a machine that might need any major work.
If I bought a much newer CUT backhoe, like a Kubota L39, I feel like there's less chance it will need any major work. It won't be as capable as a big backhoe, but still can probably do everything I need to do. With 4wd, it should be a little better than my tractor on the hills, but I still think most of my property will be out of reach.
Some of the contractors working on the house have shown me that a skid steer can do a very impressive job of digging and moving dirt, and can do it on slopes I won't try driving my tractor on. On the other hand, I don't know if I'd ever actually get comfortable enough to wobble around on two wheels they way they did. The amount I'm willing to spend would get me a fairly new skid steer, though, so I'd think it should be dependable.
Finally, it seems like a compact track loader would be the one thing that might be stable enough to be really useful to me. Main problem, there, is that something in my price range is going to have at least 2000 hours on it, and it sound like the main reason people sell them around that many hours is because the undercarriages are shot.
So, anybody have any advice? Have I missed any options? Am I too worried about the undercarriage problem on CTLs?
Here's a picture to give you some idea of how nothing around my place is flat. Of course, it's all actually steeper than it looks. Every contractor who has used any kind of equipment around the place has been sure to tell me that!
I don't know a lot about equipment. I have an old farm tractor with loader that I use for mowing, and maintaining the driveway, but there's very little flat ground, which really limits where I can use it. It's also just two-wheel drive, so even with chains on it often wont make it up the driveway in the winter.
So, I'm looking for something that will let me do more work around the place, myself, and I'm looking for advice on how to get the most out of about $20-25,000.
There are a lot of projects I could do around the place, although, to be realistic, I'm not going to be putting a huge number of hours on whatever piece of equipment I buy. Some of the jobs I think I would do if I had the right equipment include:
* back fill around the house foundations have settled, so I need to do more backfill around the house. Much of that is steep enough I'm not comfortable doing it with my tractor.
* widen the driveway by moving dirt 100 yards or so downhill to fill, then smooth
* clean out an existing pond
* maintain a steep, gravel driveway
* move snow when there's more than my 4-wheeler can push
* general landscaping work around the house, again, where it's too steep for my existing tractor
* maintain some old logging roads through the woods that provide access to parts of the property
I feel like I have four options:
1. old, high-hours "real" 4wd backhoe
2. newer, low-hours 4wd CUT tractor/loader/backhoe combination
3. newer skid steer loader
4. older compact track loader
It looks like I should be able to find a backhoe in my price range, but it will have 5-6,000 hours on it. I have no doubt it would do all the dirt work I need, and is probably the only one of my four options that would allow me to clean out the pond. But even with 4 wheel drive, I don't think it would be any better on the hills than my existing tractor. Plus, being so remote, I can't afford to buy a machine that might need any major work.
If I bought a much newer CUT backhoe, like a Kubota L39, I feel like there's less chance it will need any major work. It won't be as capable as a big backhoe, but still can probably do everything I need to do. With 4wd, it should be a little better than my tractor on the hills, but I still think most of my property will be out of reach.
Some of the contractors working on the house have shown me that a skid steer can do a very impressive job of digging and moving dirt, and can do it on slopes I won't try driving my tractor on. On the other hand, I don't know if I'd ever actually get comfortable enough to wobble around on two wheels they way they did. The amount I'm willing to spend would get me a fairly new skid steer, though, so I'd think it should be dependable.
Finally, it seems like a compact track loader would be the one thing that might be stable enough to be really useful to me. Main problem, there, is that something in my price range is going to have at least 2000 hours on it, and it sound like the main reason people sell them around that many hours is because the undercarriages are shot.
So, anybody have any advice? Have I missed any options? Am I too worried about the undercarriage problem on CTLs?
Here's a picture to give you some idea of how nothing around my place is flat. Of course, it's all actually steeper than it looks. Every contractor who has used any kind of equipment around the place has been sure to tell me that!
