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

[jim_wilson]

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.

So it sounds like you've got a very similar problem to what a lot of people have. Not enough time, money, or foresight into what you will actually need to get the job done.

I had a similar problem but on a smaller scale. We bought a house - in a suburban area - and I had a bunch of work I wanted to get done. I started out as a new homeowner doing stuff by hand and occasionally renting out equipment to get specific jobs done. After doing that for a couple of years - and coming up with an extensive list of stuff I wanted to get accomplished - I sat down with and wrote down all of the jobs I thought I would have to get done - and what type of equipment I would have to use to do it. Not necessarily what type of equipment would get a job done the fastest - but whether or not I could actually get it done at all.

Then I looked at how much it would cost me to buy, vs. rent ,vs - pay somebody to come in and do the work. And everything - other than the fixed cost of buying the equipment - was pretty much just an estimate. Buying came in the most expensive - IF , the equipment was worth zero at the end of that time. Paying for somebody and renting equipment was pretty equal if I remember correctly.

So I ended up buying a BX23 - mostly because I was somewhat cost constrained from going to a larger tractor - and also because at the time the backhoe solutions available for the B series were sort of lousy in my opinion - they were all subframe backhoes that hung off the bottom of the main frame. THe BX23 actually had more ground clearance than the B7610 I looked at with the backhoe subframe hanging off of it.

After using the BX23 for a while - I renting some mini-excavators - I learned that excavators can definitely get more digging work done - but they're not going to be moving much dirt anywhere. I also learned that having a backhoe that only goes 140 degrees - is a bit of pain in the butt. After using hte BX23 for a few years - I upgraded last year to a B3200 with BH77 hoe. Yes - the bigger tractor definitely gets more work done in less time- and can move bigger rocks.

My solution for really large rocks I can't move - is Dexpan. I just split them into smaller pieces. Dexpan is cheaper than equipment rentals - for me anyway.

So if you're budget constrained - I would say get the largest contractor quality TLB you can afford - but you've got to realize that certain things might take longer to get done than if you had a larger piece of equipment. So you've got to balance time against available money. If there are rocks that are just simply too big to move with whatever tractor you get - then you can just save them all up for a rental day or weekend and a large excavator - or you can split them and move them with whatever TLB you get.

Other than large rocks and really deep holes - I can't honestly see anything you CAN'T get done with a TLB like an L39 or an L48 - it will just take you longer than it would with a larger piece of equipment.

The other thing to bear in mind is - the larger the piece of equipment you get into - the more money the attachments you might want to add onto it will cost. So you want to add a box blade to an L39? A really nice one might cost you $1500 new. If you get into a much bigger piece of equipment - it's going to take a larger box blade - whose cost will go up proportionately.

So getting the bigger piece of equipment has constraints too - because you might be able to afford to outfit the smaller tractor with a more diverse set of attachments - that you won't be able to afford if you get a bigger tractor.

Plus attachments of a size that will work on an L39 or L48 - are reasonably commonly available on Craigslist - you will have a much harder time finding them for a larger tractor - and you'll have to go to MachineryTrader or one of those type places - and you'll pay premium prices for everything.

Just a thought.............

 

[crazyal]

When I first bought my 42 acres I started off with a Homelite 240 chainsaw (small homeowner model), a Honda 250sx 3 wheel ATC, and a trailer. I spend months cutting trees and actually started getting to a point where I had a small opening. Money wasn't too much of an issue but when starting a large project I wanted to think things out before buying much of anything. I finally broke down and bought a real chainsaw and manage to do what took me months with the little saw in a couple of days. After that I realized that you have to just make a choice and go for it.

 

[1LuckyDog]

jim_wilson: Thanks for the reply. Your reasons are my reasons for going with the excavator rental this summer.

crazyal: The "think things out before buying much of anything" is what I have been doing all along. I know in the future a FEL, snowblower, and some driveway maintenance thing will have to be bought. Since I don't live there now, it is making sense to me to not buy it yet.

Generally I like to buy for the long term rather than rent. I usually find that if I am going to need it more than twice it gets cheaper to buy, usually used. The mini-excavator is an exception. I can rent that when needed an awfully lot of time before it would make sense to own one.:shocked:

 

[mike69440]

Do a search on Mike69440. 47 Acres is a lot of NH wild. I have 17, 7 of it is now usable, and that is all I will ever need.
I suggest yo start off with a full size commercial 4WD TLB. Forget the mini excavator, rent something like a Case 160 from MB Tractor, and plaln out your work to get heavy stuff done.

My L39 has 1850 hours and still runs great but all the linkages and pins are worn. My excavator struggles with the big stuff, but as I am +90% done, its the right size now, along with the L39. Doing it again, I'd have bought bigger equipment earlier on in the project, vs. hiring out, sold them when done with the heavy work, and and got an L45 or L48 to finish and maintain.

PS We are crazy living up here. Supposed to be 94F here Friday. Last Saturday we got 2" of snow and it was 34F.

 

[1LuckyDog]

Not trying to NecroPost... Just want to check in and let you all know how it went.

Rented the KX057-4 (Tier 4) mini excavator from MB Tractor in Conway, NH. Got it for four weeks. Only $300 more than a two week rental. By the middle of the fourth week, I was trying to find more for it to do around the place. Wow, was it a nice piece of machinery to work with.

I ended up clearing the view on top of moving all the dirt piles and stumps. That was pretty low on the priority list and I didn't expect to get to it.

Dug one rock out of the driveway that was a pain to drive over. It was also a pain to dig out! Buddy and I are convinced the rock weighed more than the excavator (12,000 lb class). The rock was as big as the body of the excavator. :shocked:

Thank you again to all the replies. Renting that was the best thing since I also had the time to use it. Put 120 hours on it in 4 weeks.

Now I'm thinking of building a sifter / sorter for the soil. That will be in another thread. Man, am I starting to hate rocks...:muttering:

 

[Piston]

Thanks for the update! I missed this thread back when you originally posted, too bad. Do you have any pictures of your progress, or the mini ex?

I'm in a very similar situation as you are, I have 30 acres of my own land (plus 20 acres of family land) that I started working on last year. It's also in the Lakes Region and on the side of a small mountain. So far though, I've only been able to get the tractor up there a couple of times. When the time comes that I can get a few weeks to work on the land I'll also rent a mini ex from MB tractor, I believe out of Tilton. However, I want to say that I've gotten a decent amount of work done with my little L series Kubota. Nothing like what a dedicated mini ex could do, but moreso than a lot of people tend to make you believe.

I have my Kubota and a John Deere 410 full sized construction backhoe similar to a Case 580. I can get a LOT more work done with my tractor than the backhoe. At first this doesn't make sense, but with the FEL grapple, HST transmission, and smaller size of the tractor, I am a lot faster at doing a job with the tractor. Also I am more stabil on a hillside with the tractor than the backhoe.
Just keep in mind, that now that you have the heavy work done, a tractor with numerous attachments can be a lot more useful than an older full sized backhoe. You were very smart to rent the mini ex!

I posted quite a few pictures of my progress on this thread:
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=61752.0

Does your land look similar? Or do you have a lot more larger trees? I often wonder how much more productive I would be with a mini ex.

 

[Piston]

Now I'm thinking of building a sifter / sorter for the soil. That will be in another thread. Man, am I starting to hate rocks...:muttering:

How big are the rocks? Have you thought about a power rake?

 

[jim_wilson]

Not trying to NecroPost... Just want to check in and let you all know how it went.

Rented the KX057-4 (Tier 4) mini excavator from MB Tractor in Conway, NH. Got it for four weeks. Only $300 more than a two week rental. By the middle of the fourth week, I was trying to find more for it to do around the place. Wow, was it a nice piece of machinery to work with.

I ended up clearing the view on top of moving all the dirt piles and stumps. That was pretty low on the priority list and I didn't expect to get to it.

Dug one rock out of the driveway that was a pain to drive over. It was also a pain to dig out! Buddy and I are convinced the rock weighed more than the excavator (12,000 lb class). The rock was as big as the body of the excavator. :shocked:

Thank you again to all the replies. Renting that was the best thing since I also had the time to use it. Put 120 hours on it in 4 weeks.

Now I'm thinking of building a sifter / sorter for the soil. That will be in another thread. Man, am I starting to hate rocks...:muttering:

Thanks for the update!.

This is actually very good info. I didn't realize the rental rates were like that. If you don't mind me asking: how much was the four week rental?

Wanted to pass this on if you run across more massive rocks like that one you dug out - but don't have the excavator hanging around to dig them out - try using some Dexpan to break them into smaller pieces:

Buy Dexpan, Diamond Tools, Abrasive Wheels, Welding Supply

Drill holes - put the Dexpan in - and sit back and wait. Using the proper mix for the temps is pretty important. If you try to use it outside it's recommended temp range it takes a lot longer to work. But it does work.

 

[Piston]

Jim, what type of drill, and bit, do you need for drilling the holes?

 

[jim_wilson]

Jim, what type of drill, and bit, do you need for drilling the holes?

I've got a Bosch hammer drill - one of the "real" ones , that will take SDS type bits (or similar) - and a rock or concrete drilling bit. I think there is a hole size requirement from Dexpan - but I can't remember if it's 1.25" or 1.5" diameter. There's some videos on the Dexpan site and on Youtube about how to use the stuff if you're interested.

If you have a Taylor rental or a Home Depot in your area they might have the appropriately sized hammer drill available. I know I've seen them in both places around this area.

I've taken out a couple of rocks using this method that were just too big for my tractor to work with. One was down in a hole I as digging for drainage lines - and the darn rock was probably a good 16 inches thick on the average - about 6 feet long - and 4ft wide. I could move it around with the BH77 hoe on my B3200 - but every time I tried to get it out of the hole I tried to pull the tractor down into the hole. So I broke it in half and was able to pull it out after I did that.