Hi All,
I've been reading various threads on this forum for months and appreciate all the information so far. In the next month I will probably be moving forward on an M6040 purchase and I have a couple of key questions I need to decide on before then. Your help would be appreciated.
As a quick background, I've been a very satisified owner of an M5030DT (60hp with 50 to the PTO), but after 20 years it is spending more time in the shop than I can afford with all the work around here.
We live on a 600 acre forest farm - about 500 acres of forest, 80 acres of fields, and 20 acres of water features. We use the tractor for the following tasks: 1) brushhogging the fields once, sometimes twice a year - takes about 80 hours each time, slow going avoiding all the rocks; 2) snowblowing the road, barnyard, and our cross country skiing parking areas - takes about 2 to 3 hours each time, during a real winter here in Vermont, we could be doing this 2 to 3 times a week; 3) cleaning up in the forest after the logging operations each year - pulling out 10 to 30 trees with the winch, working the rough skidder trails into smooth ski trails with the hoe, box blade, and york rake - we spend about 80 hours each year doing this; 4) doing various loader work moving materials around; in an average year we put about 300 hours on the tractor.
The M6040 is very similar in size to our old M5030DT which has fulfilled all our needs. I would like to make the big jump and get a cab because of all the winter snowblowing and summer brushhogging. The forest work will be riskier with the cab but we are traveling around on 12 foot wide ski trails.
Here are my big questions:
1) I have a big old Dual backhoe that mounts to the 3 point hitch instead of a subframe mount. I use it about 20 hours a year for rock and stump picking, and some trenchwork on the trails. Should I keep it and use it on the new M6040 or is the risk of this 3 point setup too much for the new tractor? My other options without it are to hire an excavator when needed, or think about a new Woods hoe later if I really need it. I'll get $3000 in trade for the old one, which is half way there toward my much desired cab.
2) I would really like to get a grappler for the M6040. With this size tractor should I be looking for a lighter weight grappler in the 350 lb range, or a heavier grappler in the 700 lb range. I would like to move more than just brush piles around. There are some large stumps and rocks that would go.
3) How should I weight the backend - with loaded tires, weights on the tires, or a rear ballast box. I know the easy answer is all of the above, but this tractor needs to go through some wet areas in the fields for mowing, and when we are traveling in the woods we don't want to damage the ski trails by creating tire ruts everywhere. To help here a little, I'm thinking about R4s instead of R1s.
Any advise on these questions would be greatly appreciated. For any fellow M5030 owners here is a picture of one that has done us well for many years.
Thanks, Mike
I've been reading various threads on this forum for months and appreciate all the information so far. In the next month I will probably be moving forward on an M6040 purchase and I have a couple of key questions I need to decide on before then. Your help would be appreciated.
As a quick background, I've been a very satisified owner of an M5030DT (60hp with 50 to the PTO), but after 20 years it is spending more time in the shop than I can afford with all the work around here.
We live on a 600 acre forest farm - about 500 acres of forest, 80 acres of fields, and 20 acres of water features. We use the tractor for the following tasks: 1) brushhogging the fields once, sometimes twice a year - takes about 80 hours each time, slow going avoiding all the rocks; 2) snowblowing the road, barnyard, and our cross country skiing parking areas - takes about 2 to 3 hours each time, during a real winter here in Vermont, we could be doing this 2 to 3 times a week; 3) cleaning up in the forest after the logging operations each year - pulling out 10 to 30 trees with the winch, working the rough skidder trails into smooth ski trails with the hoe, box blade, and york rake - we spend about 80 hours each year doing this; 4) doing various loader work moving materials around; in an average year we put about 300 hours on the tractor.
The M6040 is very similar in size to our old M5030DT which has fulfilled all our needs. I would like to make the big jump and get a cab because of all the winter snowblowing and summer brushhogging. The forest work will be riskier with the cab but we are traveling around on 12 foot wide ski trails.
Here are my big questions:
1) I have a big old Dual backhoe that mounts to the 3 point hitch instead of a subframe mount. I use it about 20 hours a year for rock and stump picking, and some trenchwork on the trails. Should I keep it and use it on the new M6040 or is the risk of this 3 point setup too much for the new tractor? My other options without it are to hire an excavator when needed, or think about a new Woods hoe later if I really need it. I'll get $3000 in trade for the old one, which is half way there toward my much desired cab.
2) I would really like to get a grappler for the M6040. With this size tractor should I be looking for a lighter weight grappler in the 350 lb range, or a heavier grappler in the 700 lb range. I would like to move more than just brush piles around. There are some large stumps and rocks that would go.
3) How should I weight the backend - with loaded tires, weights on the tires, or a rear ballast box. I know the easy answer is all of the above, but this tractor needs to go through some wet areas in the fields for mowing, and when we are traveling in the woods we don't want to damage the ski trails by creating tire ruts everywhere. To help here a little, I'm thinking about R4s instead of R1s.
Any advise on these questions would be greatly appreciated. For any fellow M5030 owners here is a picture of one that has done us well for many years.
Thanks, Mike