JPCjr
Bronze Member
I recently purchased 10 acres of land that my fiancée and I plan on using for a home site. The land has some hills and a steep, but walkable slope down toward a creek. We plan on making the home site at the top of the slope so that we can have a walkout basement, but still be in a flat enough area to avoid constructing a house on the side of a hill. The driveway to the house will be about 750 ft. maybe a little more. Currently, there are no improvements to the land and it's mostly mature pine and hardwood trees. My plan is to put in a driveway (which will need 1 small culvert), have a well drilled, build a pole barn, install a septic system, put an RV near/in the barn, and then start on the house. Once the house is finished, I'll be maintaining the driveway, possibly planting a garden, and possibly putting in a small pond. I don't plan on having a large yard with a lot of grass to cut. I'm planning on doing most of the work myself, even the basement excavation for the house. However, I have a feeling that I'll encounter some very large rocks will need a large excavator. If that's the case, I'll probably hire it out.
After reading this site almost daily for the past 6 months or so, I'm strongly leaning towards picking up a Kubota L48, box blade, and chipper and going to work. However, after reading Builder's posts, I'm starting to wonder if I should be looking at a used full size backhoe. One of the reasons I was leaning towards the L48 is because of the 3pt hitch, which will come in handy for a chipper, box blade, and a tiller later down the road. Also, I have a F250, so I could still haul the L48 when/if I needed to. If I had a full size backhoe, it would be stuck at the land. So, my question is this: Is it possible for me to install a driveway, do the dirt work for a pole barn, install a septic system, and possibly excavate a basement with a L48? Keep in mind that I'm doing this for me, not for a profit and I'm not in a huge rush. If I can still get everything done, but it will just take a little long with the L48, then that's ok. If it's not possible to do what I want, or it will take 10 times longer, then that's not ok. I guess the more generic question is what are the advantages/disadvantages of a compact TLB vs. a full size backhoe.
Thanks in advance for the input. This site is a wealth of information and has been a huge help for me.
After reading this site almost daily for the past 6 months or so, I'm strongly leaning towards picking up a Kubota L48, box blade, and chipper and going to work. However, after reading Builder's posts, I'm starting to wonder if I should be looking at a used full size backhoe. One of the reasons I was leaning towards the L48 is because of the 3pt hitch, which will come in handy for a chipper, box blade, and a tiller later down the road. Also, I have a F250, so I could still haul the L48 when/if I needed to. If I had a full size backhoe, it would be stuck at the land. So, my question is this: Is it possible for me to install a driveway, do the dirt work for a pole barn, install a septic system, and possibly excavate a basement with a L48? Keep in mind that I'm doing this for me, not for a profit and I'm not in a huge rush. If I can still get everything done, but it will just take a little long with the L48, then that's ok. If it's not possible to do what I want, or it will take 10 times longer, then that's not ok. I guess the more generic question is what are the advantages/disadvantages of a compact TLB vs. a full size backhoe.
Thanks in advance for the input. This site is a wealth of information and has been a huge help for me.