Is the Pope Catholic?
Get a Grip!
Last time I checked... :thumbsup:
Thanks for the link Jim!
After evaluating my business over this past year, I think I've finally come up with a plan as far as equipment goes. I'm actually coming to terms with the reality that as good as of a compact tractor the TC35D is, that it's really not suited for my purposes.
My original plan was to purchase a Deere 210LE...but I REALLY wanted air conditioning and factory PTO's are scarce as hens teeth! So my second idea was to move up to a cab tractor in the 60hp range with a much higher loader capacity. I could modify the rear hydraulics to operate somewhat like an industrial loader but still have that wonderful a/c I really, really want to operate in.
I could keep my present trailer and still use my F350 to tow. The problem with this route is the fact that a compact tractor is still not a real construction tool. I also considered the Deere 110 TLB with a Laurin cab for same reasons, but in reality its marginal as far as construction strength equipment goes, doesn't have 3 PT down pressure and the cab is ridiculously expensive and for some reason looks a mile high. I still haven't ruled it out so maybe I haven't come up with a plan yet.
My next thought was to keep my TC for brush hogging and such and add a CTL (with a/c of course) for dirt work and spreading gravel. After using the CTL while my tractor was in the shop for both dirt and gravel work, I've found that as good as it preforms in dirt it kinda sucks for doing gravel work and gravel is hard on the tracks. Coupled with the CTL's much higher cost per hour to run (and as much as I like the incredible increase in power) I'll stick to renting a CTL when I need it. It just makes more sense. The other thing that became VERY apparent while running the CTL is that since I work by myself the majority of the time, I'm in and out of the machine far far far more than I realized. The drastic and constant change in temperature just might end up killing me. Since any CTL I would have considered would also mean purchasing a trailer with higher weight capacity, my outlook on the entire plan has come full-circle.
So I'm actually leaning towards purchasing a 210LE again. I've rented a few with over 5,000 hours on them, and if they can stand up to the level of abuse they get in the rental world, I'll get a lot of time out of a low hour non-rental purchase. One of the other things that got me back on this train of thought is that I really could use a single axle dump truck at least three times a week. So the plan is to start looking for a dump truck and 210LE along with an equipment trailer. I can add a PTO to the Deere and have actually been able to locate a few on the used market.
John