Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year.

   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #41  
Found you on google maps. I see 2 or 3 cabins on the lake to the west, and a couple on the lake south of you.

Personally I’d go with the kubota, and definitely a cab.
 
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   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #42  
If the the prices of mini and midi ex's in Maine are like they are around here, I would look for a full size used TLB with a cab and 4 wheel drive in the 12-20k lb range instead, extend a hoe would be a plus for digging at a distance as well.
Full size TLBs may not be the perfect tool for some jobs but am finding they can be a very good Jack of all master of none. A full size TLB will put a 474 to shame when push comes to shove or you need to lift something heavy or high for that matter. Digging bigger stumps will be much quicker as well.

You would lose the abilities of a 3 point though.

I am probably not in the majority but would be looking for 2 Used machines. the full size TLB and then additionally a used 30-50 hp 4 x 4 tractor with some included implements.
I would agree - buy a full sized used TLB such as Case 580 or equivalent with cab and 4 wheel drive. Try to get one that's not all used up and use it for 5 years for road building, snow plowing, foundation digging, stump removal, etc. and then sell it for what you paid. Then buy a smaller cabbed tractor with implements for all your other needs.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #43  
You're looking at the wrong equipment for the work you want to do. You'd bust a compact tractor in no time using it as a piece of construction equipment.
That Terex idea someone gave here is a much more viable piece for you.
After you establish your home stead, you can sell it and then buy a compact.
 
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   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #44  
dang.. no cab is a deal-breaker
To each his own but I hate being in a cabbed tractor. So constrictive to me.
Ok on an open road or driveway while doing snow but in the woods.... a pain.
Loud too so wear muffs if you get one.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #45  
I would agree - buy a full sized used TLB such as Case 580 or equivalent with cab and 4 wheel drive. Try to get one that's not all used up and use it for 5 years for road building, snow plowing, foundation digging, stump removal, etc. and then sell it for what you paid. Then buy a smaller cabbed tractor with implements for all your other needs.

Yes. That's the ticket. We've had a dozen tractors & live in a rugged wild area. I watched the video - looks wonderful. A great adventure!

By now I think you have figured out that a medium size tractor with a loader added to the front and a hoe to the back is NOT the same as a real TLB (Tractor/Loader/Backhoe). You need the real thing. Yes, it costs a lot but it does a lot. It can lift a stump or a tree or roll a boulder. It has a spacious enough cab for you, a friend, plus a small dog. Heat and AC is normal. It isn't a real snow plow, but has enough power and weight to move a surprising amount of snow.

Get a used commercial TLB with a thousand hours and use it for 5 years. The Case 580, New Holland, or Deere 310 are probably the most common ones. A good used one probably won't need anything for the first 5 or ten years that you can't do yourself in the way of fixing and repair - then you can sell it and get a smaller tractor if you want.

And even if you find that perfect TLB, consider hiring a dozer & operator to do the initial road and land clearing. Trying to do everything clearing land with a smaller machince is just a lot of time and no less money. There's a reason for dozers. A dozer with a 4 way blade can shape land in a few days that would take you a year....and you couldn't do it as well.

If I were looking for such a TLB, I'd make the rounds of the maintenance depts at local churches, schools zones, and utility companies - you are looking for places that replace their older TLB type equipment with new ones based on a time/hour schedule & have regular maintenance programs.
Best of Luck, rScotty
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #46  
If getting a real TLB is out of the question, maybe hire the work done. The locals will know the ground and local codes and connections to supplies etc. In the long run it might be the faster and cost efficient way.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #47  
If getting a real TLB is out of the question, maybe hire the work done. The locals will know the ground and local codes and connections to supplies etc. In the long run it might be the faster and cost efficient way.

Yeah, I agree. It would be the fastest and most cost efficient way.... And then they could get on with all the rest of the project. And buy a smaller less expensive utility tractor with a loader. But shucks, half the fun of working a piece of land like that is in the doing it yourself. Us old guys with machines all know that now, but I can sure remember when I didn't have a clue what I was trying to do. And we got it done anyway....but most of us only have the time and energy to do that once in our too-short lives, and if doing it that way it is best to start very young.

I'm not sure if being older means being wiser, or just being more willing to compromise - I'm trying for both. BTW, my wife watched me work our land with our oldish smallish tractor for years and she is the one who decided we were going to buy a real TLB - yes she really did.
Thanks, hon.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #48  
You are in for a great adventure! Following your YouTube channel for updates. Get the most tractor you can afford, you won't regret it. More HP and more weight gets work done faster and safer. Definitely consider renting equipment to get specific jobs done faster. Excavators outclass backhoes by a long shot.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #49  
It will take you way to long to preform that work with such a small tractor or any tractor for that matter and you’ll probably destroy it in the process. You need to put some construction equipment on the job.
 
   / Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year. #50  
Make a build thread like woodchuckdad He had someone clear his land, yet he still bought a nice sized excavator to help with the work.

My Industrial Cabin Build
 

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