Requesting help selecting first tractor. 73 wooded acres and a mile of steep roads.

[kevin37b]

Really ? Explain please ?

 

[holeycow]

The dozer will do the rough work of clearing, stripping and probably building the grade. You have to place some culverts. You may have to build up the grade with a scraper (digging a big hole-a borrow pit) in the process. Eventually the road needs gravel delivered and spread and there should be some compaction done during the entire process. It sounds like the op needs a road built if he wants to live there permanently. Building a road is not the same as cutting a trail.

 

[newbury]

A mile of road in that climate/topography can be a major maintenance job year around. NE Tennessee can also get a fair amount of snow.

Not trying to discourage the OP but it really seems he needs a fleet of construction equipment, especially if he is the only one maintaining all of the roads.
A small dozer, a backhoe/mini-ex, a tractor, a good sized truck, and a big trailer to haul it all.

Makes me envious

 

[Old Guy in Tenn]

We will probably hire the fellow who did the road work before and after the timber removal to improve the road. We have worked with him a few times, trust him and respect his work. He will widen the road, add ditches as needed, and install a culvert if necessary. We have a few other options, but he is at the top of the list. First I must get the width of the easement defined for the 1/3 mile closest to the pavement. The road has been there forever, and is called out on all the old deeds, but the width of the easement is not defined. The road runs on the property line between two different tracts of land. I have an excellent relationship with both owners and expect no issues. Many trees will need to be removed on the high side, but he recently had timber removed so they are relatively small.
The road will be rebuilt by someone else. My road focus will be maintenance. Some of the 4wd tractors have significantly taller front tires. Will this help to keep them from sinking (longer/bigger footprint) and so be safer when going down those steep hills?

With the road construction off the list, my original issues remain. Road maintenance on a long and steep road, bush hogging, tree removal, build site preparation and more. How big a tractor? Why? What implements and why? What hydraulics and why? I appreciate the feedback so far, have widened my reading net considerably because of it, and have learned a LOT more just today. Thank you. I will try to visit one or two of the local dealers each time I visit the property, the next time being late in May.

 

[Old Guy in Tenn]

Newbury responded while I was writing my last post. We are in the Powell river valley and do get snow, as confirmed yesterday by the neighbor who lives in the hollow between us and the pavement. Ice and snow will make the drive slippery, and contribute some moisture as it melts, but I do not think that the roadway will suffer from freeze & thaw damage like we have here in Michigan. The road, such as it is, was roughed back in 3 years ago after the timber removal. They pushed up some water bars to turn water off the road. The first noted degradation happened last summer when a water bar failed and a stretch of the roadway then received a gulley from Mother Nature. I was able to drive over it in my truck, so it was not terrible. My point there is that, with good water control, I expect to be able to keep the road in good repair.

If it needs big work I will need to hire it done, or rent a backhoe and turn my experienced nephew loose on it (he is encouraging me to buy one). I can hire a lot of work done for much less than the cost of a fleet of equipment, and its maintenance, and its storage, and... Not that it wouldn't be fun.

 

[jeff9366]

Some 4wd tractors have significantly taller front tires. Will this help to keep them from sinking (longer/bigger footprint) and so be safer when going down those steep hills?

No.

Tread width, the tire width outside-to-outside, is the key issue. Lateral instability is more of an issue than front-to-rear instability.

You need to be aware that tractors have brakes only on the rear wheels. So to have four wheel stopping power on hills you must have 4-WD engaged. As tractors are geared low, engine braking is also used. With an HST transmission engine braking occurs as soon as you remove your food from the throttle.

 

[jeff9366]

"How big a tractor for road maintenance on a long, steep road, bush hogging, tree removal, build site preparation and more. What implements and why? What hydraulics and why?"

Outside of your building site and the ground occupied by the road, what use will be made of the balance of your 73 acres?

A Rotary Cutter, Bush Hog brand or other brand, is good for keeping land clear and mowing saplings, but how much land will you be cutting? Which returns us to: what use will be made of the balance of your 73 acres?

I will start you off:

Front End Loader (FEL) plus optional heavy duty bucket for your rocky environment.

Telescoping Lower Links on the Three Point Hitch + rigid, pin-adjustable Lower Link stabilizers.

Triangulated Cross Drawbar for the Three Point Hitch for towing tree trunks and trailers.
Suggestion: Tractor Quick Hitch-Cat 1 Quick Hitch | Agri Supply #61559

Ratchet Rake attachment for your bucket= brush removal, piling brush and moderate grading.

(Ratchet Rakes are sold by the T-B-N store.)

Ratchet Rake VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ratchet+rake+brush+clearing

Skid Steer Quick Attach (SSQA) option for your FEL. Makes taking off bucket easy. Required for a grapple.

Grapple for tree lifting. Requires optional rear hydraulic ports. (Hydraulics for the Three Point Hitch are standard.)

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=compact+tractor+grapple

One professional quality chain saw. I like my relatively light Stihl MS261. A battery powered reciprocating saw with "pruning" or "axe" blades.

Rotary Cutter - width and weight to be determined by potential use.

A roofed Utility Vehicle with a rear hitch combined with a DUMPING trailer.

Steel toed boots, safety glasses.

 

[holeycow]

You need weight to push snow, especially wet snow. Especially on slopes.The more the merrier. Tire chains in the winter. Get the heaviest tractor you can afford, get the tires filled, run wheel weights too, if necessary. Tire chains need weight to make them work their best. And buy good chains. Skidder chains on the rear. And some kind-of decent chains on the front too. Make sure the tractor has adequate fender clearance for beefy chains. The chains will change your world in the winter, and sometimes they help a lot in the mud too.

Maybe you need a rubber tired hoe chained up for snow removal/maintenance and also a nice little tractor (25-40hp) for the garden and other less demanding work. You likely won't get by with one machine unless you settle for something a little too small for the road work and a little too big for the general yard chores. If you shop used stuff carefully you will be able to get two good used machines properly sized for the price of one new too-small-or-too-big unit.

If you get a proper road built it will take several years of additional gravelling and working it and then suddenly one day it will be a road and won't require too much dirt work after that. Getting the road built properly in the first place is key. Don't scrimp on that, then you will be happy in the end.

my 2c anyway

 

[holeycow]

I thought about this a little more.

if you are going to prep a building site, dig a basement, trench some utilities, and everything else that comes with starting a homestead from scratch, you may want to buy a rubber tired hoe. Your nephew may be right.....And it will plow snow better than almost any small tractor (by small I mean 100hp) because it has weight. It will dig and move dirt better than a tractor because that is what it is built for.

I have no idea, but maybe one of those Kubota tlb's (the M59 type or whatever they are-not the tiny ones) would be worth looking at. An almost real hoe and a decent little tractor too. Hmmmm.

 

[jeff9366]

Outside of your building site and the ground occupied by the road, what use will be made of the balance of your 73 acres?