First time buyer. Help. Have questions about Scut/Cut.

[Rutman]

Hey.
Been lurking, first post.
Own 20 acres. 3 acre yard that used to be part of pasture back in the day. 10 acres wooded that is steep. Remainder is trees, grown up brush.
The driveway is gravel, about 600 ft long. 1/3 gradual rise, 1/3 pretty steep, prob 30-35 degrees, 1/3 gradual rise. The middle 1/3 gets rutted out pretty bad.

My #1 priority for a tractor is driveway maintenance.

Just starting my search. Here's what I have seen so far.
LS xg3025h at a farm supply. They only had 2 tractors. Didn't look hard at this.
Kioti CS2210, CS2510. Drove the CS2210. Nice.
CK2510 Drove this. Nice.
Ck2610 Drove this. Nice but don't think I need one this big.
MF GC1720. Nice but joystick to short. Had to reach forward a little to grab it.
Gonna look at Yanmar SA221 and SA324. Going to look at RK24 at Rural king. There right up the road from me but there always out of the rk24. Salesman said there selling like crazy. Can't keep enough of them. Also going to go to a TYM/LS dealer to look. I liked the Kioti/MF dealer I visited. He pushed the Kioti over MF. He said I wouldn't be able to tell difference between CS2210 and CS2510.
Priced The CS2210 with FEL, tires filled for 12,800. The CK2510h with FEL, tires filled for 15,500. Free delivery. Asked about discount for box scrape. Would only discount $50.
I'm totally confused about what to buy? Driveway maintenance is a must, the FEL would just be handy to have. Also would probably get a bush hog and a rototiller.
1. Would a scut with box scrape handle my driveway since it's uphill? I'd rather have this because of price and easy to get in tight spots.
2. Any advice on any of the scuts? Kioti, LS, MF, Yanmar, TYM
3. If I have to go bigger, I liked the CK2510. But will look at others. Any advice there?
Thanks, I know I'll have a ton more questions.





3.

 

[4570Man]

I don’t think you’ll be able to do anything besides drag some loose gravel around. My L3800 with loaded tires runs out of traction with my 5’ box blade with the rippers down. If you only intend on smoothing over some loose gravel every few weeks you might be alright. For road building or repairing neglected road you don’t have enough machine.

 

[Rutman]

The driveway is not that bad. The steeper section gets rutted when people come up it and start to spin. that's all it takes for ruts to start. Overall the driveway is decent.

I don’t think you’ll be able to do anything besides drag some loose gravel around. My L3800 with loaded tires runs out of traction with my 5’ box blade with the rippers down. If you only intend on smoothing over some loose gravel every few weeks you might be alright. For road building or repairing neglected road you don’t have enough machine.

 

[oosik]

WELCOME to TBN and the forum Rutman. I have a mile long driveway that has just enough gravel, sand, silt & volcanic ash mix that, in the summer, it "sets up" like concrete. I bought a brand new Ford 4WD 1710 in 1982 when we moved down onto the property. The little tractor had 26 engine hp and with the loaded rear tires and bucket on the FEL it weighed close to 3100 pounds.

I immediately found that the tractor simply was not large enough to really do much summer maintenance. It had more than sufficient power - just not enough weight and too small a frame to pull a rear blade or box blade that could penetrate the "summer driveway". So I piddly dunked around with it - doing the smaller chores on my 80 acres.

BTW - the little Ford was EXCELLENT for plowing snow with the rear blade and occasionally using the 3-point snow blower to clear the snow berms that would occasionally form.

Then in 2009, after just poking my finger at summer driveway maintenance, I traded the Ford in for a brand new Kubota M6040. My Kubota has a heavy duty Land Pride grapple on the FEL, has 1550 pound of Rimguard in the rear tires and a Rhino HD 950 rear blade on the 3-point. My useable "implement" jumped in weight from the 3100 pound Ford to the Kubota that weighs 10,100 pounds.

I know for a fact - if my driveway was 100% pit run gravel - I would probably be able to do summer maintenance with the Ford 1710 I had.

However - such is not the case. I got really tired of attempting to do the entire summer maintenance program during a two week span in the spring when the driveway was wet and workable with the little Ford.

Now I can go out any time of the summer and know that I'm able to move any and all material on the driveway.

I don't think you need a tractor as big as what I have. However, be certain that you DO HAVE a tractor large enough to handle a rear blade or box blade that WILL move material on your driveway - year-round.

I use my heavy duty Rhino rear blade ( 96" wide by 1050 pounds) for year round driveway maintenance. I also have a Bush Hog roll-over-box-blade(ROBB) - 72" wide x 720 pound and Land Pride - land plane grading scraper (LPGS) 84" wide x 820 pounds. All three implements have a definite use in maintaining my driveway.

So - driveway maintenance is a priority use for a tractor you will buy. Consider this - you CAN drive your driveway - summer and winter - with whatever you have for a vehicle now - right. Any of the tractors you are considering in 2WD will "do" the driveway in the summer. For winter snow plowing you DO WANT 4WD.

Of the tractors you are considering - I prefer the Kioti. I'm going to suggest you get a rear blade for driveway maintenance. It has a longer learning curve than a box blade or LPGS but is also has much more universal use. Summer driveway maintenance and winter snow plowing, moving material, establishing and maintaining the crown in the driveway, etc.

When considering ANY land engagement implements - weight is your friend. So... whatever tractor you decide on - get the heaviest rear blade that you can afford and that will fit on your tractor.

And we haven't began to discuss how important a good dealer is in the overall decision on what tractor to purchase. Somebody else can cover the "dealer aspects" - my fingers are getting weary.

 

[redman135]

Hello Rutman. Oosik is correct, your tractor choices are to small.
2nd point, unless you have measured the gradient, you are very unlikely to be at the 30 - 35 degrees stated. You would need 4 X4 cars to climb that drive and you would have serious water scouring issues, neither of which have been mentioned. Most likely you would max out at 25 degrees .
Alternative suggestion, can you afford to hotmix or concrete the troublesome section? This reduces the tractor size requirement to about what you are looking at.
Last point, as people's experience grows so does the job size, hence tractor size.

 

[Tractorable]

I think you should eliminate SCUTS from the picture. Your tasks call for a heavier more stable machine. Driveway maintenance, steep hills, moving logs, etc all require a machine bigger than a SCUT.

 

[4570Man]

Hello Rutman. Oosik is correct, your tractor choices are to small.
2nd point, unless you have measured the gradient, you are very unlikely to be at the 30 - 35 degrees stated. You would need 4 X4 cars to climb that drive and you would have serious water scouring issues, neither of which have been mentioned. Most likely you would max out at 25 degrees .
Alternative suggestion, can you afford to hotmix or concrete the troublesome section? This reduces the tractor size requirement to about what you are looking at.
Last point, as people's experience grows so does the job size, hence tractor size.

I must’ve missed the 30-35 degree claim. I agree that’s it’s almost certainly not that steep. I’d be surprised if the average vehicle would even climb that. This hill is only 17 degrees measured by holding my phone angle app on the roll bar. The phone has since been verified for accuracy and was spot on. The second picture is 48 degrees measured the same way.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I have a BX25 and there is no way it would efficiently do the job you have. I have 1500 hrs on it so pretty well hav it mastered. It is a beast of a tool but it has limits. You could probably peck away with it but it would take forever. I have both a box blade and a 6 way back blade. I mastered the back blade easily but never really got the hang of the box blade except as a ripper; great for that in medium hard soil but a compacted road bed, forget it. Listen to the last posters, they are right on.

Ron

 

[mercdv]

Being a SCUT owner myself and having driven larger tractors/equipment, a SCUT would NOT be my choice for your land. You should not look any lower than a mid-range CUT. I am not familiar with a lot of the brands you have considered but I'd certainly start at a CUT that is 35hp or larger. I think a SCUT would just be super frustrating for you. It could get the job done but would take a much longer time to do it. If you like seat time, go with the high-end SCUT. If you do not like seat time and have a ton of other projects to do, go with a 35hp CUT or larger. You cannot be very aggressive with a SCUT and a box blade. It will struggle.

 

[jeff9366]

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Heavier tractor chassis weight is more important for most tractor operations than increased tractor horsepower. Within subcompact and compact tractor categories, bare tractor weight must increase 50% before you notice a significant tractor capability increase. It takes a 100% increase in bare tractor weight to elicit MY-OH-MY!

Heavier tractors are built on larger frames with larger wheels/tires. Heavier tractors with large diameter tires have more tractive power pulling ground contact implements, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow. Larger wheels and tires increase ground clearance, enabling a heavier tractor to bridge holes, ruts and downed tree limbs with less bucking and disturbance when passing over rough pasture and woodland.

My L3560/HST weighs 3,500 pounds bare tractor. It will pull a full 60" Box Blade of moist, sandy soil up fairly steep slopes VERY SLOWLY.

Bare tractor weight is a tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models.

Then in 2009, after just poking at summer driveway maintenance, I traded the Ford in for a Kubota M6040. My Kubota has a heavy duty Land Pride grapple on the FEL, has 1550 pound of Rimguard in the rear tires and a Rhino HD 950 rear blade on the 3-point. My useable "implement" jumped in weight from the 3100 pound Ford to the Kubota that weighs 10,100 pounds.

I don't think you need a tractor as big as what I have. However, be certain that you DO HAVE a tractor large enough to handle a rear blade or box blade that WILL move material on your driveway - year-round.

OOSIK'S M6040 is ~~5,000 pounds~~ bare tractor weight.

Unless you modify your driveway description you need a 4-WD tractor with a bare weight of around 4,000 pounds. All 4,000 pound tractors will be over 25-horsepower. No 4,000 pound tractor will enter a garage with an 84" sill, even with ROPS folded.