new land owner says hi

   / new land owner says hi #1  

BluManChu

New member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
3
Location
Northern VA
Tractor
Honda Civic
Just wanted to say hi. My wife and I bought 10 acres of old farmland a couple months ago and plan to eventually build a house on the lot (in 1-2 years). In the meantime, my general plan is to rent equipment for occasional mowing and any other maintenance. Generally want to learn more about tractors and their various attachments... and how they might fit into the long term picture. A sponge ready to soak up any and all information! :licking:
 
   / new land owner says hi #2  
Welcome to TBN. :)
 
   / new land owner says hi #4  
howdy an welcome to tbn.

Might I offer a couple sugestions as to your equipment usage and needs.

If you will not be moving here for a bit you have a few options.

1, as you said.. rent a tractor as needed for mowing. doing it this way I've found, you usually do an out of site / out of mind thing and only mow 1-2x per year. thus when you go to move there, you have a stemmy weedy land that must be refined before you ever have anything resembling lawn or pasture.

2, if it's near other open land, perhaps hire a neighbor to cut the property on some particular schedule / pay schedule you both find agreeable.

3, since you own that much land.. you will probably need a tractor at some point.. you could go ahead and buy one now, though it's hard to figure out what you need this far out, especially if you have not decided what all you will be doing. that would also mean you would need a means to transport it to and from there, IE a trailer. or you'd have to go ahead and erect a storage building there. ( all possibilities ).. or.. you could get a cheap 'starter' tractor.. one you felt ok about leaving parked up in the woods under a tarp or in a cheap small storage shed you see at lows for 200$ or less.. or perhaps a small tin roof lean to that you could put up in a couple hours. a tractor like this for 10ac could be a good old antique.. like a ford in the 1939-1975 year range. something 27-45 hp. you can usually get those in the sub 3500$ range with a mower. Less if you look around. I've been finding them in the 2500$ range with implement frequently. i'd personally look in the 55-64 range.. something in the 6XX or 8XX model range and a 5' mower.

I specified a ford as I'm a ford guy. there are plenty of other capable options in similar price range. massey ferguson comes to mind.. etc.

a good old beater tractor that might be a bit ugly , but starts and runs and a used 5' mower. who knows. might get it for half what I've listed. I've for sure bought used 5' mowers needing minor or no work inthe 100-200$ range, and ugly, but running tractors in the 1000-1200$ range.

soundguy
 
   / new land owner says hi
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks, Soundguy, those are all great suggestions. That generally sums up our train of thought, as well. Not sure I see renting as a much bigger disincentive to mow vs. owning, or at least I hope that's not the case going forward. My guess is we'll need to own *some* piece of machinery in the long run, whether a tractor or zero-turn mower, etc... if not before, certainly soon after we move to the new lot. Hoping to get a better idea of what that might be from the folks here.
 
   / new land owner says hi #6  
Welcome BlueManChu - We also bought 8-acres of land 3-years ago planning on building a home, then the economy tanked and builders still wanted $140/sq. foot so we decided to put the house on hold. From our experience you will want/need a tractor just to keep the place mowed and cleaned up. My wife and I typically spend at least one day every two weeks on the property just doing general upkeep and a good deal of dreaming. Here are a few tips we have learned that might be helpful.
Get to know your neighbors, they can be your eyes and ears when you are not there. Electrical, water and sewage will be needed when you build and will increase the value of the land should you change your mind, so contact the local utilities and inspectors to find out what they cost and what needs to be done. They will also be able to fill you in on how things get done in thier county. Whether buying or renting, hauling a tractor around on a trailer can be dangerous and stressful so do not overestimate your vehicle or skills in this matter. About the only way you can insure a tractor is through the dealer you have it financed through or if paid-off by buying an insurance policy called "Inland-Marine." Seat time on a tractor can be very relaxing and enjoyable and must be considered in the total cost of ownership. Best wishes with your venture!
 
   / new land owner says hi
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thanks Beltz, great tips. I've thought about the electrical, water, sewage stuff, as well. As in, possibly digging the well early and just putting a local hose on it... the idea being to eventually run piping to the house once we began construction. This way, we could take one bite out of the house project in advance, and have water available on the lot for a small garden, etc (we currently live about 15 minutes from the lot). The complication is how to provide electricity to the pump... I wouldn't want to run electric cables through a spot that we might want to build on, etc.

And could that same concept be applied to sewage, as well... we've been perked for a PuraFlo system... if we could get a bulk of the sewage work done in advance while still providing adequate flexibility in terms of house design/location, that'd be one less thing to worry about in the overall project.

Anyway, consider these as somewhat "rhetorical" thoughts. Comments and advice are certainly welcome, but at the same time, I plan on doing a lot of reading and info gathering on my own, etc. Generally don't want to make any big monetary commitments until I've analyzed many different angles.
 
   / new land owner says hi #8  
put your but in alot of seats and take alot of test drives before you pull the wallet out!

there is plenty of info burried here and at other sites.. lots of good reading..

soundguy
 
 
Top