MtnMess12
New member
Hey folks. I know the "what do I need" and "which is better" is beaten to death here. I have been reading the last couple days trying to find an answer and have some ideas so want to open it up for comments. I have 80ish acres in northern Arkansas, of which 40-45 acres is fully wooded and out of control. About 30-35 acres is pasture being recovered. I say being recovered because the pasture was let go before we bought the place and us, being more city/rural folks, did not fully understand the size of equipment required to maintain our new place, let alone recover it from being let go
So here we are today. I know am the proud owner of a small collection of undersized equipment:
After two years we found a local guy we mesh up with who has a M7060 and a 10' rough cut who has been spending the last six months cleaning up the place. Things have come a LONG way and still have a long way to go. We are working on a deal with our mower to let him run hay on some of the pasture which would give us free mowing. The mower also asked if I was interested in letting two of his friends run a few head of cattle on our place by one of the creeks. So far I do not see a reason not to allow either of these as it would get me some 'free' maintenance and more people on my place when I am not there. Did I mention someone liked several thousand dollars of my stuff more then I did?
I am not a rich man and have already bought several items that are not sized to what I need. I have put out word of mouth that for the right price I would be willing to part with my skid steer. This would give me some cash to, maybe, talk the wife into letting me get a new tractor. She LOVES sitting on the BX and going in circles on the top pasture for hours as it is totally different then our normal lives. So I do not think I could sell both the skid steer and the BX. I expect to have the mower out on our place once a year on the big M7060 to keep it under control, which should go faster after this initial clean it up mow.
So what do I need? I want a way to feel useful on my own place I want 4wd to deal with the hills, a 5-6' hog, a wood chipper, a 5-6' box blade for drive work, auger for fixing fences and planting trees, a drag harrow to smooth out the areas where a dozer umm... angle bladed is what I think he called it. The dozer guy did an awesome job fixing the ankle twister holes but there are dozer tracks all over a couple acres I had him cleanup so I could plant some peach trees. I basically want to have the ability to "assist" in working on my place when I make my weekend trips. I am not looking for something to replace the mower or dozer guys.
I know that 10+ years from now when I am actually living there I will be getting a large tractor in the 7060 range because I see how useful that is. Between now and then my mower guy has even offered to lease me his for a week at a time, once I know how to use it . Until then would something in the 30-40hp range suit my needs? Again, I know this is not a lifetime purchase but instead a trade in a skid steer (and some cash) on a tractor I can use ~100hrs a year and then trade in on a big tractor about ten years from no.
So here we are today. I know am the proud owner of a small collection of undersized equipment:
- BX2660 (bought used with ~200hrs on it)
- Honda Rincon (used with ~350hrs on it)
- New Holland L565 skid steer (used with ___hrs)
- Tow behind Swisher 44" rough cut (also bought used)
- pole barn full of hand tools :laughing:
After two years we found a local guy we mesh up with who has a M7060 and a 10' rough cut who has been spending the last six months cleaning up the place. Things have come a LONG way and still have a long way to go. We are working on a deal with our mower to let him run hay on some of the pasture which would give us free mowing. The mower also asked if I was interested in letting two of his friends run a few head of cattle on our place by one of the creeks. So far I do not see a reason not to allow either of these as it would get me some 'free' maintenance and more people on my place when I am not there. Did I mention someone liked several thousand dollars of my stuff more then I did?
I am not a rich man and have already bought several items that are not sized to what I need. I have put out word of mouth that for the right price I would be willing to part with my skid steer. This would give me some cash to, maybe, talk the wife into letting me get a new tractor. She LOVES sitting on the BX and going in circles on the top pasture for hours as it is totally different then our normal lives. So I do not think I could sell both the skid steer and the BX. I expect to have the mower out on our place once a year on the big M7060 to keep it under control, which should go faster after this initial clean it up mow.
So what do I need? I want a way to feel useful on my own place I want 4wd to deal with the hills, a 5-6' hog, a wood chipper, a 5-6' box blade for drive work, auger for fixing fences and planting trees, a drag harrow to smooth out the areas where a dozer umm... angle bladed is what I think he called it. The dozer guy did an awesome job fixing the ankle twister holes but there are dozer tracks all over a couple acres I had him cleanup so I could plant some peach trees. I basically want to have the ability to "assist" in working on my place when I make my weekend trips. I am not looking for something to replace the mower or dozer guys.
I know that 10+ years from now when I am actually living there I will be getting a large tractor in the 7060 range because I see how useful that is. Between now and then my mower guy has even offered to lease me his for a week at a time, once I know how to use it . Until then would something in the 30-40hp range suit my needs? Again, I know this is not a lifetime purchase but instead a trade in a skid steer (and some cash) on a tractor I can use ~100hrs a year and then trade in on a big tractor about ten years from no.