Tractor Sizing 47 Acres of woods, NH Lakes region, 1/2 of a house too

[1LuckyDog]

Thank you for all the great inputs.

Time and Money.... I ain't got enough of either.

We are going up this weekend and I will get some pictures to post.

I am pondering the situation and discussing the options with "She who must be obeyed" :thumbsup: Today I am thinking that renting a large loader/backhoe for a week or two would be best. I would take vacation for that time so as to maximize seat time. Buying would be reasonable if I could get a couple hours of work done during the week and weekend, but I'm not there during the week & don't get up there every-weekend.

Never rented anything that I couldn't haul back and forth myself. What is involved? What should I watch out for? Delivery fees? Setup charges? Insurances?

I am playing out too many scenarios in my mind. I agree now that a large BH is the right thing for now. I am thinking renting for the "brute force and ignorace" work is better than buying. A smaller TLB then could do the "finer" detail of back filling the foundation and helping build the rock walls.

So much to do, so little money. Time is on my side although I don't get to spend as much time up there and I would like.

Thanks for the input and keep the information coming.

 

[crazyal]

Pictures would help. Rental for two weeks might cost as much as a month, you might want to look into that.

 

[rmorey]

We have 200 acres on a lake. So, we decided to build a place to "retire to". Started in April '09, driveway is 850' long and 1000 sf bungalow with full basement w/walkout. 58'x24' garage/workshop. All this with no power, so we installed an offgrid solar system. I hired out the excavation and driveway. Cost was about $3,000 (best $3k I ever spent). In the basement hole, we had 2 rocks that his 330 couldn't pick up.

The rest we've done ourselves, all with a 25hp Kioti. Now that we're done (ish), we traded up to a 40hp with cab. Got a 6' pull type blower for snow (no backing up for me).

My point is, don't equip for the worst case, equip for the end result and hire out the worst case (let the wear n tear be on someone elses equipment).

 

[wolftree]

I tend to agree with rmorey,

You would be hiring experience as well as equipment. The excavator may bring a dozer, a backhoe and/or other equipment to do the job and be done in a fraction of the time. No one piece of equipment can do everything well, buy with idea of what your 90-95% useage will be and hire the rest.

 

[plowking]

For rental places in NH. I have dealt with ATS rental. There is also MB Tractor and another company called T-Quip. I have been renting from Eastern rental in Barrington, could be a ways from your lot. I have an inland marine insurance policy that should cover rental and my own machine . Taylor Rentals may be in your area. Smaller machines we have gotten them ourselves but bigger machines have had the rental company do pickup and delivery. plowking

 

[1LuckyDog]

Sorry, no pictures. I forgot the camera. :ashamed:
I really appreciate all the inputs.
I did go look at the L48 Kubota TLB. Really nice machine but I'm not going to get it based on what I have learned here.

Plowking,
I assume you meant ATS Equipment in Candia? I googled ATS Rental and decided you didn't mean video and electronic equipment
MB Tractor has a location in Conway which is only 15 miles from the property in Freedom.

I have been thinking about what everyone has been saying. I have decided that I am going to rent a mini-excavator from MB Tractors. They have a KX057-4 or a U55 (don't remember). I will rent it for a whole month. Crazyal is right. A whole month isn't much more than two weeks. The ol' Case can still run the FEL and I have a trailer that I can dump using a Hi-Lift jack.

There is just so many little jobs that need to be cleaned up. Like I said, the PO just dug and dumped. I have stumps that were dug up ALL over the place. I have dozens of little piles of dirt/stump/rock laying around. Then, there is the two big piles of dirt from when he dug the foundation and cleared the area for the septic field. I figure running the mini-excavator with a hydraulic thumb I can sort things out a little and either move stuff with the FEL or trailer to where I need it.

I have about 100 feet of 4ft wide by 4-5ft deep trench to fill-in: good place to hide some rocks.
I have a stump dump on the property that I can move the stumps to.
I have to do the back fill around the foundation: have foundation diggings and top-soil piles for that.
I have low spots on the driveway to fill and maybe change the slope of the steep spot. Figure the material from the foundation is about right for that once the bigger stuff is removed. The angle blade on the excavator will be helpful for leveling that.

All in All, the work is more like finish work than construction work. Just cleaning up rather than trying to extract rocks and stumps from the ground.

I figure after a month, I'll be sick of the excavator and be glad to see it go. :duh:

The Journey is the Destination!

 

[newbury]

One other thing you might want to rent is a competent "youngster". A good high school/college kid could help you maximize the use of the mini-ex.

 

[rmorey]

Sorry, no pictures. I forgot the camera. :ashamed:
I really appreciate all the inputs.
I did go look at the L48 Kubota TLB. Really nice machine but I'm not going to get it based on what I have learned here.

Plowking,
I assume you meant ATS Equipment in Candia? I googled ATS Rental and decided you didn't mean video and electronic equipment
MB Tractor has a location in Conway which is only 15 miles from the property in Freedom.

I have been thinking about what everyone has been saying. I have decided that I am going to rent a mini-excavator from MB Tractors. They have a KX057-4 or a U55 (don't remember). I will rent it for a whole month. Crazyal is right. A whole month isn't much more than two weeks. The ol' Case can still run the FEL and I have a trailer that I can dump using a Hi-Lift jack.

There is just so many little jobs that need to be cleaned up. Like I said, the PO just dug and dumped. I have stumps that were dug up ALL over the place. I have dozens of little piles of dirt/stump/rock laying around. Then, there is the two big piles of dirt from when he dug the foundation and cleared the area for the septic field. I figure running the mini-excavator with a hydraulic thumb I can sort things out a little and either move stuff with the FEL or trailer to where I need it.

I have about 100 feet of 4ft wide by 4-5ft deep trench to fill-in: good place to hide some rocks.
I have a stump dump on the property that I can move the stumps to.
I have to do the back fill around the foundation: have foundation diggings and top-soil piles for that.
I have low spots on the driveway to fill and maybe change the slope of the steep spot. Figure the material from the foundation is about right for that once the bigger stuff is removed. The angle blade on the excavator will be helpful for leveling that.

All in All, the work is more like finish work than construction work. Just cleaning up rather than trying to extract rocks and stumps from the ground.

I figure after a month, I'll be sick of the excavator and be glad to see it go. :duh:

The Journey is the Destination!

Now you're talkin'!

Your new tractor will be able to do all the jobs you have lined up, once you finish with the rental ex. I caution one thing. After running a mini ex for a month, the cut will seem slower at doing things.

 

[plowking]

Hi, 1LuckyDog. Yes I meant to say ATS Equip. I used to snowmobile up thru freedom from Ossippee area. Nice country up there. My neighbor had a logger a few years ago that hauled logs up to a mill in Madison. Other neighbor has a logger with a fellabuncher from Conway logging down here, must be a market for wood now. plowking

 

[1LuckyDog]

... After running a mini ex for a month, the cut will seem slower at doing things.

That wasn't helpful :stirthepot: Now I am thinking again..... DON"T DO THAT TO ME! ullinghair: (FEL & mini-ex in my future????:hissyfit: )
Truth is; once I'm done with the building part, I want to slow down. And just enjoy it.

Hi, 1LuckyDog. Yes I meant to say ATS Equip. I used to snowmobile up thru freedom from Ossippee area. Nice country up there. My neighbor had a logger a few years ago that hauled logs up to a mill in Madison. Other neighbor has a logger with a fellabuncher from Conway logging down here, must be a market for wood now. plowking

The yards on Ossipee Lake Road have been full a little more often lately.

Being a Mechanical Engineer, I find the Feller-Bunchers fascinating. Man, could I gather firewood quickly with one of them.