WoodChuckDad
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2015
- Messages
- 2,711
- Location
- Free Union, VA
- Tractor
- Kioti RX7320 Power Shuttle Cab, Komatsu PC130-6
Hi Grandad4: You might well be right about the convenience of a towable chipper. We don't plan on getting the chipper right away, just the backhoe, front loader, and maybe a scraper box at first. Our strategy is to fell the trees in the woods, pull them out lengthwise with a chain attached to the backhoe and the trunk end of the tree, and stack them on a flat pad area we have on the property. Right now, there's a pretty good sugar pine and ponderosa log deck there. Once the trees are at the pad, we'll mill the good ones into lumber, and buck, split, and chip the ones that aren't suitable for milling. So, if we have a PTO chipper, you're right, couldn't do all of this at the same time; we'd have to take off the backhoe and attach the chipper. We do have a small 3 inch Echo chipper that works well for small branches, sticks, and twigs. Your thinking now has me thinking that maybe we ought to lease Vermeer 1000 or something first and see how it goes. One hesitation I have about the towable chipper is that our friends might start asking to bring it over to their place "just for the afternoon". Ha! Well, I guess we shall burn that bridge when we come to it. Thanks! --Ron
As others have said, you need to test the tractors as much as possible. Find a reputable dealer and find a tractor that is comfortable to operate. All the ones you listed should be able to handle the tasks you set out. Go bigger. The best advice I got was buy the biggest tractor you can afford. Consider how much you will use the backhoe. It might be worth it to rent a small excavator instead. I have an excavator and I use it all the time but I wouldn't want to have to put a backhoe on and off my tractor, because I use other implements on the back of the tractor....sometimes when doing the same job that I'm using the excavator for. My excavator is also much larger than my tractor. A significant expense but I have used it for too many things, I don't know what I will do when I sell it.
With the level of work that you are describing, I see multiple machines in your future. It would be nice to just have one machine that does everything but any "jack of all trades" machine is going to take more time while changing it's implement and time is the most valuable resource you have.
You might want to think about a grapple. Doesn't have to be large, intact a smaller one might work better for picking things up...but with the amount of trees and such that you are talking about, you will have a lot of slash to pick up and move.
As for the worrying about people asking to borrow your equipment....First you have to learn the word "NO". Second....there is no reason to tell people what you have. Unless they come out there and look at what you are doing they will not know you have a towable chipper. And if they come out there, they are probably helping you ......so you might want to help them.