deathtoblackberries
Gold Member
I wouldn't try to talk you out of a Max28. That is about the biggest size that makes sense for one acre though and then only because of the clearing you need to do. I cleared 5 acres with my CK20 before taking on another 15 acres and upgrading to a DK40se. Maintaining (mowing and odd jobs) on a 1-5 acre plot is well within the capabilities of a Max 28 and five foot implements.
Splurge on a backhoe to dig out the stumps and do other tasks down the road or alternatively just hire someone with a big excavator to take those fir trees out in one piece. They could do it in half a day. While digging stumps is kinda fun, if I had to do it again I would hire someone with a big excavator/grapple to just rip them out of the ground and stack them for me. Much faster, much cleaner and much less wear and tear on the tractor. Figure a good days work for each stump otherwise using a six foot BH.
I was thinking the small stumps with the Max 28, those 3-8 inch diameter trees. You know the solution for my big stumps is across the street not 200 yards from me, there are 2 giant excavators, they logged 5 acres of dense fir trees over there a couple months ago, used a dozer to split the stumps and the excavators to yank them out and piled them into burn piles. He's got about half the stumps out so far. The guy must own the equipment its sat there now mostly idle all this time, he works at it about every third saturday. Not sure if he's interested in taking out my trees though, I'm told while the trees are large and tall they don't have much value because they grew in the open and so they have about 1,400 limbs and knots.