MoBe
New member
I've been toying with the idea of buying a tractor, and would like some advice on selecting the right one. It seems that the "right" tractor is one that is suited for the particular situation
Can you educate me some more and help steer me in the right direction? Here's my situation:
I have 15 acres of land on an island in Western Washington. We're on a mountain, but the land is more flat than steep. About 10 acres is forested, and we'll leave it like that. The other 5 acres is total 2 acres rough field/3 acres uneven with grass, brush, rocks. It would be too generous to call any of our property “lawn”. We haven’t built our house yet, and we will likely cut down a few more trees to let some sun into our building site. When that happens, I’d like to be able to move the logs (about 14-16” diameter, fir and cedar) to get them milled into lumber. We're in the "banana belt" and get very little snow.
The previous owner had cleared some land mainly by cutting everything down and pushing it off beside the woods. We’d like to clean that out (brush, stumps, logs).
We have a lot of clean-up to do. I want to move and grade dirt, move logs, move rocks, dig trenches, tackle mountains of woody debris. We have some brush we’d like to clear out, but it’s mainly on uneven terrain; while a tractor could certainly drive over it, maybe the best bet here would be a handheld brushcutter.
For moving small logs and rocks, what are the pros/cons of a backhoe with a thumb vs. a loader with a grapple, with regard to both cost, lifting capacity and intended application? Is it possible to retrofit a backhoe attachment with a thumb?
We also have several large man-made ponds that should be cleaned out (cattails, irises). A backhoe attachment seems to make sense here.
Renting a tractor doesn’t seem to be an option to me because no one on the island rents (or sells) tractors, and the nearest rental yard is 2 hours away by ferry.
When all of this clean-up is done (maybe a few years from now), I want to have the option of being able to sell the tractor quickly without losing my shirt, so good resale value is important.
Also, we hope to end up with about 2-3 acres of nice field, and I was thinking about a lawn tractor to keep it mowed. Is this realistic, or should I just hold on to the larger tractor?
A PTO-driven chipper would also be very nice (a neighbor has one) and some day my shoulders may give up swinging an ax, so a PTO-driven log-splitter could be welcome. At least I’d like these as prospective options.
With my limited knowledge, it seems that
a) I could use a utility tractor, with a loader and backhoe minimum, maybe a rotary cutter to keep the thistles and broom under control until grass comes in
b) 4WD, diesel, maybe 23-34 hp, Kubota/Deere/? (we have Kubota, Deere, New Holland, etc. dealers about 2 hours away)
Am I on the right track? Can you help me narrow in on size? And what about transmission types? My reflex is to buy used, but I could be talked into buying new. Is there some kind of a Blue-Book for tractors available on-line? I could probably spend up to $20,000, but less is always better.
Finally, I understand CUT, SCUT, FEL, HST, etc., but what is “ROPS”? Maybe I should be reading Muhammed’s book.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Can you educate me some more and help steer me in the right direction? Here's my situation:
I have 15 acres of land on an island in Western Washington. We're on a mountain, but the land is more flat than steep. About 10 acres is forested, and we'll leave it like that. The other 5 acres is total 2 acres rough field/3 acres uneven with grass, brush, rocks. It would be too generous to call any of our property “lawn”. We haven’t built our house yet, and we will likely cut down a few more trees to let some sun into our building site. When that happens, I’d like to be able to move the logs (about 14-16” diameter, fir and cedar) to get them milled into lumber. We're in the "banana belt" and get very little snow.
The previous owner had cleared some land mainly by cutting everything down and pushing it off beside the woods. We’d like to clean that out (brush, stumps, logs).
We have a lot of clean-up to do. I want to move and grade dirt, move logs, move rocks, dig trenches, tackle mountains of woody debris. We have some brush we’d like to clear out, but it’s mainly on uneven terrain; while a tractor could certainly drive over it, maybe the best bet here would be a handheld brushcutter.
For moving small logs and rocks, what are the pros/cons of a backhoe with a thumb vs. a loader with a grapple, with regard to both cost, lifting capacity and intended application? Is it possible to retrofit a backhoe attachment with a thumb?
We also have several large man-made ponds that should be cleaned out (cattails, irises). A backhoe attachment seems to make sense here.
Renting a tractor doesn’t seem to be an option to me because no one on the island rents (or sells) tractors, and the nearest rental yard is 2 hours away by ferry.
When all of this clean-up is done (maybe a few years from now), I want to have the option of being able to sell the tractor quickly without losing my shirt, so good resale value is important.
Also, we hope to end up with about 2-3 acres of nice field, and I was thinking about a lawn tractor to keep it mowed. Is this realistic, or should I just hold on to the larger tractor?
A PTO-driven chipper would also be very nice (a neighbor has one) and some day my shoulders may give up swinging an ax, so a PTO-driven log-splitter could be welcome. At least I’d like these as prospective options.
With my limited knowledge, it seems that
a) I could use a utility tractor, with a loader and backhoe minimum, maybe a rotary cutter to keep the thistles and broom under control until grass comes in
b) 4WD, diesel, maybe 23-34 hp, Kubota/Deere/? (we have Kubota, Deere, New Holland, etc. dealers about 2 hours away)
Am I on the right track? Can you help me narrow in on size? And what about transmission types? My reflex is to buy used, but I could be talked into buying new. Is there some kind of a Blue-Book for tractors available on-line? I could probably spend up to $20,000, but less is always better.
Finally, I understand CUT, SCUT, FEL, HST, etc., but what is “ROPS”? Maybe I should be reading Muhammed’s book.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
