Tractor expectations

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The dealer has an SQ600 (I think) hooked up on the tractor I was looking at )</font>

There's certainly nothing wrong with that. In 1995, I bought a 4' squealer myself and never had a problem with it, but I also didn't have much to cut over 1" stuff. When my cousin bought his TC29D, the salesman delivered it with the SQ600 already hooked up, and promptly proceeded to "demonstrate" it by pushing directly into stuff as thick or worse than your pictures. It sure was noisy, and to tell the truth, I thought he was overdoing it a bit. But after that salesman left, I inspected the mower underneath expecting to find it dinged up a bit, but it wasn't.

 

[icat]

I'll concur with Bird and the others. If you spend too much time on TBN you'll likely find me "defending" the Squeeler series. I have the SQ600 (the five footer) on my L3130 and I tend to dive into tree groves as well. I will admit that my overgrowth isn't as dense or as old as yours, but the cutter doesn't seem to care what it cuts up. I've cleared about ten acres with mine and it never even hicupped. Most of the trees I cut were less than an inch in diameter, but there were quite a few two inchers and a couple of 3's as well. If you look at the photo in my sig you can see the "grove" of trees in the back ground - those are all gone now.

 

[normde2001]

I agree with Thomas, for a few hundred $, I paid $200 for 4 hrs. in N. Ga., you can hire a bulldozer/operator to clear your land, push the trees down and into a burn pile and be done with it. Then you will only need a 20-25 hp tractor with a few implements to maintain it. You would pay $6,000 for a backhoe, and after the initial use, it will sit and collect dust.

 

[PineRidge]

Your lot looks a lot like mine did when we purchsed our land. I Purchased a 25 HP 4WD tractor at the time but I was not wise enough to get a front end loader or even a backhoe. I cleared the lot and wore out 2 chain saws in the process. That tractor came in handy for dragging trees to the burning pile and for use with the brush hog.

Now the house and pond are finished and I'm older and a bit wiser for it. I traded up to a 40 HP 4WD and got a front end loader and backhoe to maintain and also help with the never ending new projects.

Don't go too small for your needs and get the right attachments like the FEL, brush hog, and so on. You won't be sorry that you did. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Welcome to the TBN boards, a wealth of free information....

 

[AndyMA]

I agree with everybody who suggested that a small tractor is not the think to cut brush like I see in your pictures. See my post in this section about how to cut 2-4" trees for more of my thoughts.
I disagree on getting a backhoe. I've had backhoes on my last four tractors and they are my favorite attachment. I read about people spending quite a bit of time doing projects on this board with a FEL that would take minutes with a backhoe. I almost never do a project with out using a backhoe. Most times I use a post hole digger, I hit too many rocks or roots and need to dig it out. Remove rocks, roots in a lawn or garden. Dig holes, plant things, break up ice, level hard ground and rip out roots and rocks prior to box blading or tilling. Pile up rocks, trees etc. and the list goes on... Backhoes are great for ripping out brush, Grab it above ground and rip the top out and put in one pile to chip. Reach back in and get the root and swing to the other side and pile up the roots.
Just remember, the backhoe digs and the loader fills...
Just my thoughts.

Andy

 

[RoyJackson]

I've been cutting stuff like those saplings in the "Homeside looking East" and "Typical Growth" pics using a 60" Land Pride cutter hooked to a Deere 670 (16 HP at the PTO) with little problem. The brush I'm working is quite a bit thicker (except for "Marsh" pic).
However, it's taken a while...mostly due to larger trees buried under all that brush.

So, if you're not looking to clear this out over 2 or three weekends, a 20 HP @ the PTO sized machine will do you well. My personal favorite, a Deere 790. Then there's a NH TC24, Kubota B2710 (or used 2400) or B7500 (more work, probably). Probably a little too much for the subcompact tractors, though.


Unlike most of the TBNer's, I think a gear machine is the way to go for most work.

 

[Slamfire]

Do a search on "tree getter" it'll show you an attachment that will pull out small trees by the roots. Brush can then either be mowed with a bush hog or pulled out with an fel. I don't see the purpose in backing over small trees to mow them, when you can pull them out. I started out with an Oliver crawler with a push blade, and was able to knock down trees up to the size of my fore arm, but it couldn't push out much in the way of roots or stumps.