loader or dozer as a second farm machine?

[marcin]

Hi all,

My wife and I own a 500 acre ranch in Texas, a significant part (approx 100 acres) of it has been gravel mined before and is very rough and overgrown with unwanted tree and brush species. Our goal is to clear, level and grade these areas improving their appearance but also allowing for fencing to improve cattle grazing and hay production. A year ago we purchased a Takeuchi TL12 track loader (12 000 lbs, 110 hp) with a Denis Cimaf mulcher to help with this. We have been able to reclaim completely unaccessible 25 acres over the last year in about 750 hrs on the machine.

The CTL works great for mulching and light to moderate dirt work. Some of the work remaining, however, includes heavy leveling and grading of gravel rich, compacted soil. We were also looking to build 2-3 ponds (1-2 acres each) and grade an approximately 40 acre field. I am concerned to keep using the CTL for the latter applications in fear that we will ultimately destroy it. We wanted to keep the CTL around for maintenance work with the mulcher and general purpose work around the farm (fencing, road maintenance, etc.)

My thought thus was to purchase a bigger machine: either a heavier loader or a dozer. Most seem to think that a loader is more versatile around a farm, but we already have one (although smaller). What would you recommend purchasing? My thought was to go with a 6-way blade dozer, jd750c size or similar. My budget will be around 60K. Can you please give me some recommendations on the type, brand, size and hours on the machine? I have spent hours reading forums and searching the internet and am still uncertain. Where should I look: is it better to buy through one of the machinery websites or try and find locally. Thank you all for your time.

Marcin

 

[yellowdogsvc]

What part of Texas are you in? I'm Northwest of San Antonio. I'm definitely not the most experienced dozer guy anymore but nobody else responded.

My experience; A heavy loader will have trouble in deep gravel or wet conditions. A dozer is good for making the ponds and smoothing out gravel or reclaiming a pit. You have a good budget for a used machine or if you shop carefully, you can get two machines. You could also look at leasing/renting a dozer and getting a loader that accepts attachments for a full time position on the ranch.

How close are you to a CAT rental or Deere rental store? I'd demo/rent something before making a purchase that big. A dozer can remained parked for a long time when you don't have any dozing. A crawler loader can do a lot with a 4n1. I had a JD 450 crawler loader. Great machine. Wish I had a 4n1 for it but just had a bucket but it dozed, scooped, carried trash, knocked over trees, etc. It was a utility machine for sure. A big wheel loader that takes attachments like a grapple, fork, etc., might be worth checking out. Even a larger mini ex in 8-10 ton class w/blade would do a lot of work but be slow moving around 500 acres.
Your Tak should do a lot, too and attachments for it are a lot cheaper. I have a place about 1/5 the size of yours and we do everything now with a skid steer, mini ex, and Toolcat.

Off lease CAT's and 2nd life Cats seem to be popular here in TX. I seem some JD's now and then and occasionally a CASE. I was happy with the JD and it was older but was serviced with new parts and did it's job reliably. I not operated any CATs recently but when I was dozing 10 years ago, I found the D5 at 25k lbs and 125 hp was a good machine, had fingertip controls, and power to spare. I also liked leasing the 928 wheel loader. It was fun and not to big but had power to dig and could dump high and had a fast travel speed.