hillbilly0310
New member
Now tell me how to spend it. 
But seriously, put your reading shoes on, grab some coffee and kindly afford me your expert opinions. Picture book lovers need not continue on!
First, the long story of the "sitiation":
I'm overseeing an acquisition campaign of land parcels for a landowner who lives out of state and subsequent land management initiatives. Thus far, we've acquired 120 acres of land with, hopefully, more to come. I've operated green tractors my whole life and various implements. In fact, I used my uncle's 4WD JD 5525 and 12 ft. disc and 10 foot drag to seed the back slopes of the described property below. It did a great job, but it was too big, to be honest. I had knee surgery 2 years ago and staying on that clutch all day sure made it seem like it (the knee) was cut open the day before. In short, my operating skill level is "experienced," but I've never shopped and bought a machine and implements- it was already done for me.
Before I hired contractors for road construction and clearing work, the 120 acres was all cutover/scrub brush with seedtree pines. Any additional land purchases of adjoining parcels will either be cutover/scrub brush or mature upland/hardwood pines- all will be interspersed with trails. No pastures or open areas unless we have it bulldozed. The terrain is steep but manageable; due to having the contractor cut some of the grade down and fill in the gullies on the open areas that now need maintenance. The steepest slope that will need to be maintained is +/- 18* but all slopes are setup to be traversed in a parallel fashion- with no perpendicular traverse needed for any foreseeable reason. However, to be honest, the terrain is 90% hilly. Some of it is "kill you" hilly if you don't respect it and the machine and operator limitations. I consider myself a very good operator, because I'm experienced operating on slopes and I grew up around operators teaching me how to run tractors, dozers, etc. I respect and understand the limitations of what I and the machine can do, but I'm not afraid of the situation (because being afraid of something is what gets you hurt), I'm frank about it. Kinda like when I run a tablesaw: I take into account the bad things that can happen in order to minimize risk, but I know that once I commit to the sawing, there is a possibility that I find myself heading to the ER with my thumb in my front pocket. It is what it is, so take the hilly terrain into account, please.
I had a very, very nice (and expensive) road built from the front to the back of his property. His front parcels are very long and join up to his back parcels, which are square in shape. The road is 2 miles long, and in the process of building it, over 60 acres are now open due to the back banks of the road; along with additional land clearing on the hilltops down to bare dirt. I also had them open up all existing trails so a tractor could go down them without beating the crap out of the machine. The only exception, is there is a 15 acre block of mature pines I just had thinned. A forestry mulcher is coming in next week to clear the slash and then roughly bulldoze some trails down to bare dirt. After that, a tractor will do the final grading of all trails, adding gravel where needed, etc., and it'll be used to bushhog the 10 are so acres under the pines (some of the 15 acres will be left untouched for a buffer from the highway).
The opened areas on all properties will need to be clipped. However, keeping the open areas completely clipped down to a manicured lawn look is not what's desired. We desire open areas interspersed with standing, desirable grasses for wildlife food and nesting habitat. (There's plenty of clipped pastures around. This property joins the BACK part of a 50K acre national forest, and so it's wild, secluded country. About 20 acres of his property will be planted in a mix of wildflowers, partridge pea, sunflowers, etc. We'd like to keep the "wild" around.) A large bushhog is not needed- 60 acres will not be cut all at once. On the contrary, a lot of the back slopes on the road banks are stepped and include water turnouts requiring tight maneuvers, and the additional 10 acres in the thinned pines will require lots of backing up and tight maneuvering. I'm thinking a 5 foot bushhog, and a mid-size tractor with HST transmission is the 1st criteria needed. The HST will also allow the landowner to come to his property and very quickly learn to operate the tractor in the more forgiving terrain or smooth out the road.
We will also need a road grader. I've settled on one of the "set it and forget it" grader blade boxes (with adjustable scarifiers) that are angled to aid in keeping the road crowned. Road maintenance is the #1 need of this machine and implements. I'd like to get a curved box blade with scarifiers as well, but that can come later if it won't fit in the budget. We will need a small disk to plant strips of wildlife grasses and flowers. I can borrow or weld up a drag and borrow a spreader if need be, since this will only be needed occasionally. The machine must have a FEL capable of carrying small loads of gravel here and there. We also want a grapple to... well, grapple various things. There's some slash left over from logging and road work that could be moved out of the way with a grapple. There will also be some timber framed bridges going in and being able to pickup some 20 ft. long treated round poles and set them in place would be nice. Who doesn't need the helping hydraulic hand of a grapple?
Third, here's all that summed up like I shoulda' done it:
I got a quote on a 4WD Kubota L47 with HST, canopy, rear hydraulic outlet and rear hydraulic top link, fluid in tires and tires set out as far as they can go, quick detach FEL and 3rd function, a grapple bucket, grader with scarifiers, disk, and a bushhog for $36,700 plus tax. The same setup, except without HST, on a used unit (500 hours) is $30,200. I know the guy who gave me the quote, as he's married to a 2nd cousin of mine. The dealership where he works is 30 minutes from the land where it'll reside and they have a great reputation. But, does this sound like a fair price?
I'll have the full spec sheet on the implements here in a little while and post them up, but, until then, does this setup and attachments sound like it'll give satisfactory results given the information above? Should I consider the used unit without the HST? The price difference after tax is $7000: That could mean the ability to buy more attachments and still be under budget. I've never used HST, but I know people who think highly of it, but NOT having it wouldn't bother me I don't guess...but I'd always wonder "what could have been..." I want to get the man what he needs, but also what I need- since I'll be the one using it. I need a machine to grade the road regularly, maintain and grade trails, move stuff around, grab slash and brush and carry it off, grade open areas for cabin construction, bushhog and disk in tight spaces on short runs, and... other stuff that gives me an excuse to use hydraulic power instead the dreaded shovel. Anything you'd change or add? Any brand preferences on machine and implements to maximize results given the budget? How would you spend this $40,000 budget to ensure the land management objectives above are met and maximize your options, if this were you?
Thank you!!
But seriously, put your reading shoes on, grab some coffee and kindly afford me your expert opinions. Picture book lovers need not continue on!
First, the long story of the "sitiation":
I'm overseeing an acquisition campaign of land parcels for a landowner who lives out of state and subsequent land management initiatives. Thus far, we've acquired 120 acres of land with, hopefully, more to come. I've operated green tractors my whole life and various implements. In fact, I used my uncle's 4WD JD 5525 and 12 ft. disc and 10 foot drag to seed the back slopes of the described property below. It did a great job, but it was too big, to be honest. I had knee surgery 2 years ago and staying on that clutch all day sure made it seem like it (the knee) was cut open the day before. In short, my operating skill level is "experienced," but I've never shopped and bought a machine and implements- it was already done for me.
Before I hired contractors for road construction and clearing work, the 120 acres was all cutover/scrub brush with seedtree pines. Any additional land purchases of adjoining parcels will either be cutover/scrub brush or mature upland/hardwood pines- all will be interspersed with trails. No pastures or open areas unless we have it bulldozed. The terrain is steep but manageable; due to having the contractor cut some of the grade down and fill in the gullies on the open areas that now need maintenance. The steepest slope that will need to be maintained is +/- 18* but all slopes are setup to be traversed in a parallel fashion- with no perpendicular traverse needed for any foreseeable reason. However, to be honest, the terrain is 90% hilly. Some of it is "kill you" hilly if you don't respect it and the machine and operator limitations. I consider myself a very good operator, because I'm experienced operating on slopes and I grew up around operators teaching me how to run tractors, dozers, etc. I respect and understand the limitations of what I and the machine can do, but I'm not afraid of the situation (because being afraid of something is what gets you hurt), I'm frank about it. Kinda like when I run a tablesaw: I take into account the bad things that can happen in order to minimize risk, but I know that once I commit to the sawing, there is a possibility that I find myself heading to the ER with my thumb in my front pocket. It is what it is, so take the hilly terrain into account, please.
I had a very, very nice (and expensive) road built from the front to the back of his property. His front parcels are very long and join up to his back parcels, which are square in shape. The road is 2 miles long, and in the process of building it, over 60 acres are now open due to the back banks of the road; along with additional land clearing on the hilltops down to bare dirt. I also had them open up all existing trails so a tractor could go down them without beating the crap out of the machine. The only exception, is there is a 15 acre block of mature pines I just had thinned. A forestry mulcher is coming in next week to clear the slash and then roughly bulldoze some trails down to bare dirt. After that, a tractor will do the final grading of all trails, adding gravel where needed, etc., and it'll be used to bushhog the 10 are so acres under the pines (some of the 15 acres will be left untouched for a buffer from the highway).
The opened areas on all properties will need to be clipped. However, keeping the open areas completely clipped down to a manicured lawn look is not what's desired. We desire open areas interspersed with standing, desirable grasses for wildlife food and nesting habitat. (There's plenty of clipped pastures around. This property joins the BACK part of a 50K acre national forest, and so it's wild, secluded country. About 20 acres of his property will be planted in a mix of wildflowers, partridge pea, sunflowers, etc. We'd like to keep the "wild" around.) A large bushhog is not needed- 60 acres will not be cut all at once. On the contrary, a lot of the back slopes on the road banks are stepped and include water turnouts requiring tight maneuvers, and the additional 10 acres in the thinned pines will require lots of backing up and tight maneuvering. I'm thinking a 5 foot bushhog, and a mid-size tractor with HST transmission is the 1st criteria needed. The HST will also allow the landowner to come to his property and very quickly learn to operate the tractor in the more forgiving terrain or smooth out the road.
We will also need a road grader. I've settled on one of the "set it and forget it" grader blade boxes (with adjustable scarifiers) that are angled to aid in keeping the road crowned. Road maintenance is the #1 need of this machine and implements. I'd like to get a curved box blade with scarifiers as well, but that can come later if it won't fit in the budget. We will need a small disk to plant strips of wildlife grasses and flowers. I can borrow or weld up a drag and borrow a spreader if need be, since this will only be needed occasionally. The machine must have a FEL capable of carrying small loads of gravel here and there. We also want a grapple to... well, grapple various things. There's some slash left over from logging and road work that could be moved out of the way with a grapple. There will also be some timber framed bridges going in and being able to pickup some 20 ft. long treated round poles and set them in place would be nice. Who doesn't need the helping hydraulic hand of a grapple?
Third, here's all that summed up like I shoulda' done it:
I got a quote on a 4WD Kubota L47 with HST, canopy, rear hydraulic outlet and rear hydraulic top link, fluid in tires and tires set out as far as they can go, quick detach FEL and 3rd function, a grapple bucket, grader with scarifiers, disk, and a bushhog for $36,700 plus tax. The same setup, except without HST, on a used unit (500 hours) is $30,200. I know the guy who gave me the quote, as he's married to a 2nd cousin of mine. The dealership where he works is 30 minutes from the land where it'll reside and they have a great reputation. But, does this sound like a fair price?
I'll have the full spec sheet on the implements here in a little while and post them up, but, until then, does this setup and attachments sound like it'll give satisfactory results given the information above? Should I consider the used unit without the HST? The price difference after tax is $7000: That could mean the ability to buy more attachments and still be under budget. I've never used HST, but I know people who think highly of it, but NOT having it wouldn't bother me I don't guess...but I'd always wonder "what could have been..." I want to get the man what he needs, but also what I need- since I'll be the one using it. I need a machine to grade the road regularly, maintain and grade trails, move stuff around, grab slash and brush and carry it off, grade open areas for cabin construction, bushhog and disk in tight spaces on short runs, and... other stuff that gives me an excuse to use hydraulic power instead the dreaded shovel. Anything you'd change or add? Any brand preferences on machine and implements to maximize results given the budget? How would you spend this $40,000 budget to ensure the land management objectives above are met and maximize your options, if this were you?
Thank you!!
