I’m looking to make my first tractor purchase and I could use a little advice. We have 10 acres which is about half trees, half garden and field, somewhat hilly. Here’s what I’m looking to do with the tractor:
-loading logs on the sawmill
-moving cut beams, lumber stacks etc.
-running a woodchipper (bought a used bearcat 70554 already, requires 25HP PTO
-maintaining 0.25mile driveway, needs grading and some more gravel
-construction projects
-Cutting 2 acre field that’s too rough for lawn mower.
-Skidding logs
-moving firewood
-moving woodchips, mulch, compost etc.
I started thinking that for all the loader work I should look for something with HST but looking at used tractors there’s really nothing that makes sense, all the used HST tractors are almost as much a new and many of them have very weak loaders that won’t pickup much of a log. Then I started looking at a new Kioti CK3510H which has a respectable 1800Lb loader capacity and noticed the same dealer also has a LS MT235E HST with an LL3302 loader rated for 2150Lbs. Next I started looking at the Branson 3015H which has a 2200Lb loader capacity. I probably would have bought the Branson already but nobody near me has one in stock which sent me back to looking at used again and I noticed a low hour MF 135 with an MF 34 loader that’s rated for a whopping 5000Lbs and also a MF 235 with a big loader nearby.
So I’m wondering if one of these old Massy Ferguson machines would be good for my situation or if the 2WD and clutch would be too irritating with all the loader/forklift work I’d like to do (plus no quick attach.) I also don’t have time for another project so whatever I buy needs to spend a lot more time working than being worked on. The compact tractors might get a little tippy with long logs on them but I don’t need to lift them very high so worst cast I’d probably just bump one end of the log against the ground right?
I’d like to spend about 10K cash or 25K financed so I can keep more money in the bank for some building projects. What machine makes the most sense for my situation?
Hi Dalton: Our needs were similar to yours when we were looking for a tractor. We have 32 acres of rough woods, with ponderosa and sugar pine trees and good solid manzanita brush. We needed to carry logs up to 18" diameter, maybe 24 inches, and around 12 feed long. We had large brush, too. We studied everything we could find and asked the timber management people we knew for advice. They said, "Figure out what maximum HP you need for the engine, the weight you're going to lift with the FEL, and the GPM rating for the hydraulic pump. Then, get the next higher rated tractor."
We wound up buying a new (there weren't any used equivalents! at almost any run hours!) Massey-Ferguson 2706E with the HST, a backhoe, and a grapple on the bucket. We are able to transfer those soft pine logs with bucket forks fairly easily, and you can even use the grapple if you are very, very careful to balance them. The grapple is essential for brush transfers, we have found. The backhoe works well in our rocky soil, but it is slow compared to other machines, because you have to get off, get on the other seat, and move with the trench you're digging.
We did not like the front end of the smaller tractors we looked at. These had the tie rods sticking out in front of the axle housing. We were worried about running into stumps and damaging the front end. The steering mechanism of the 2706 is behind the front axle housing, which was a real positive point for us. If you're doing a lot of forestry work, the the HST is almost essential. You are going forward, stopping, backing up, turning around, almost all the time.
This machine also had simple pollution control devices. All in all, it was the simplest, most powerful tractor/backhoe we could find. The local salesman was good to work with--a seemingly minor point, but we had others that did not call us back. When we serviced it for first fluid changes, the mechanic said that it was an ideal choice for the application we had in mind.
Hope this helps. Good luck! --Ron
