Suggestions for 6 - 16 Hilly Wooded Acres?

[MarkV]

Brad I'll go against the grain and say you would be better served with a tractor for what you want to do. I also have a place outside of Dahlonega and if your road is the same hard red clay base as mine I think it will take more than that pull type of grader to do much work. A UTV isn't the right tool for clearing, stump removal or garden prep in my opinion. Just be sure whatever you buy will do what you want.

MarkV

 

[1bush2hog]

Congrats on your purchase! Sounds like a nice place - and definitely in a nice area.

I'd have to agree with MarkV, especially if you will be maintaining that 1/2 mi of dirt road, and doing any clearing.

I would also be careful on that road down to the river. It could turn into an erosion nightmare if the slope is that great.

Get the inner tubes ready for next summer too!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

If you took it as "I hate Kubota" I apologize, I don't hate Kubota in any way. Kubota makes really nice tractors, there's no denying. Kubota makes really nice UTVs, there's no denying. The hydrostatic in a Kubota is far superior to the belt, even though I've had no problems with my belt. The ability to actually have hydraulics is far superior. The cab is far superior, it comes with heat and ac right out of the fat, you have to get a new ROPS with the deere and then add the glass to it. The cab on the gator looks no better than what an after market cab manufacturer would do, the Kubotas looks and feels like factory. The Kubota can have about 100 more pounds in the bed. The 1100 is a great machine for many people it just doesn't serve my purposes which are pretty well the same as the OPs. I mainly go through the woods. Where I wouldn't want a cab, it would get scratched and logs would be breaking the glass. A lot of times I have to park where if I had a cab I couldnt open the door. I also use it in the wide open dragging my horse pastures where the 44 mph would really come in handy. There's a big difference between 25 and 44, (I currently go 25 in my HPX and would love the XUV, just can't afford it). If I wasnt going to be using it in the woods where I just can't have a cab I would look more closely at a Kubota. It would be really nice while I plow with it but it wouldn't suit my other purposes. If you thought I was degrading Kubota in any way I apologize, that was not my intent.

I have a Kubota RTV1140, no cab, no glass. Just two rows of seats and regular size bed or one row of seats and bigger hydraulic lift bed, home made Plexiglas windshield and a rubber top from Kubota Dealer. Since I don't have the cab I don't know how much that adds to the price but I know mine without the cab is alot less money than I've been seeing tossed around.
Maybe your not meaning to degrade Kubota but maybe your bad feelings toward the dealer are coming thru between your lines.

 

[Martian]

Brad I'll go against the grain and say you would be better served with a tractor for what you want to do. I also have a place outside of Dahlonega and if your road is the same hard red clay base as mine I think it will take more than that pull type of grader to do much work. A UTV isn't the right tool for clearing, stump removal or garden prep in my opinion. Just be sure whatever you buy will do what you want. MarkV

I would say that some of the heavy work would need to be done with a tractor but you can rent a nice tractor/TLB/skidsteer/mini excavator for very cheap, do what you need to get done and then you have a the UTV you want and spend a lot less time. As for grading the road a nice rake like the one in the original post with some bricks on it would work.

I have a Kubota RTV1140, no cab, no glass. Just two rows of seats and regular size bed or one row of seats and bigger hydraulic lift bed, home made Plexiglas windshield and a rubber top from Kubota Dealer. Since I don't have the cab I don't know how much that adds to the price but I know mine without the cab is alot less money than I've been seeing tossed around.
Maybe your not meaning to degrade Kubota but maybe your bad feelings toward the dealer are coming thru between your lines.

The 1140 does not have a cab. I don't think it even has a cab option, the 1100 on the other hand comes with a cab standard. If I were to get an 1140 or the JD 550 S4 I would get the 1140 because of the extendable box but they are to long for my needs and more difficult to operate in a woodsy setting.

 

[andrehoude]

Hi Folks,

I got some helpful advice here on a tractor for a property we didn't end up buying... so, no tractor!

The place we did end up getting is six wooded acres up on a ridge top, at the end of half a mile of gravel road that needs a good deal of maintenance. The ridge is in a bend of the Chestatee river; there's a road down to the river, but it's darned steep... I'd guess 35 degrees in places. The property itself has some relatively level areas (my five-year-old calls them "flateaus" ... great word, I think), but most of it is pretty hilly. We want to clear some of the land for gardens, fruit trees, and a bee pasture, and we want to take out most of the smaller undergrowth trees throughout.

We may end up acquiring one or perhaps both of two adjacent five-acre plots... so, it's six to sixteen acres.

I'm thinking a UTV would be very handy here.

I'm not interested in going fast. I'm not interested in any kind of radical off-roading, but would want to be able to manuever through the woods. This is in the North Georgia mountains, so cold and snow aren't big factors.

We'll probably be purchasing around March, give or take a month, so I have time to stalk deals and such.

We'd like to be able to:

1) Maintain the road... perhaps with something like this: http://www.abiattachments.com/products/innovation/gravel_rascal.html

2) Drag downed timber to the road or pavillion for cutting and splitting

3) Pull whatever stumps we can

4) Shuttle firewood from the pavillion to the house (house has a wood stove)

5) Haul and dump mulch, etc. (wife is a big-time organic gardener)

6) Toodle down to the river with our fly fishing gear in the back

7) Whatever

I have an idea about what I want (based in large measure from cruising this forum), but would rather ask for suggestions without putting my thumb on the scale.

So... any suggestions? Is a UTV the right tool for the job? If so, which one? And, what kind of tires, and what accessories or implements?

Thanks for any help

A nice utv for work is the bobcat. Toolcat if you want to work more than to go riding its a utv but like a tractor. It's sick I would love to have one

 

[Martian]

A nice utv for work is the bobcat. Toolcat if you want to work more than to go riding its a utv but like a tractor. It's sick I would love to have one

But you sure pay for it. I looked at a toolcat until I saw the price tag. Then I sh*t my pants and wobbled out of the dealership. Honestly though a toolcat is a really nice machine, just way to expensive for what it does. You could get two or three other UTV's for the same price as a toolcat. I would look at a bobcat UTV though, they offer a lot of hydraulic attachments such as a loader buck on the front, snow blade, and a lot of other things. They are pretty cool. Never had them priced out though. No bobcat dealer within 300 miles of me so they really aren't on my list, good machine though.

 

[andrehoude]

But you sure pay for it. I looked at a toolcat until I saw the price tag. Then I sh*t my pants and wobbled out of the dealership. Honestly though a toolcat is a really nice machine, just way to expensive for what it does. You could get two or three other UTV's for the same price as a toolcat. I would look at a bobcat UTV though, they offer a lot of hydraulic attachments such as a loader buck on the front, snow blade, and a lot of other things. They are pretty cool. Never had them priced out though. No bobcat dealer within 300 miles of me so they really aren't on my list, good machine though.

How much are we talking about for a toolcat like the average one

 

[Martian]

How much are we talking about for a toolcat like the average one

Just checked machinery trader and you can get a decent shape used for around $20k but a new one decked out the way I wanted was ~$45k. I was comparing to a 30-35 hp tractor and was over double the amount I ended up paying for my JD 3120. They are nice and do a lot of work and very versatile. You really pay for it though. Here's the link to machinery traders used:
BOBCAT TOOLCAT 5600, Used BOBCAT TOOLCAT 5600, BOBCAT TOOLCAT 5600 For Sale At MachineryTrader.com - Page 1

 

[BradGad]

>Brad I'll go against the grain and say you would be better served with a tractor for what you want to do.

>I'd have to agree with MarkV, especially if you will be maintaining that 1/2 mi of dirt road, and doing any clearing.

Hrm.... ya think? That tractor lust never did go away. Definitely food for thought.

About the road down to the river, there's one house/cabin between us and the river, and I guess it was them who did this: that really steep stretch is paved with concrete, so I'm not worried about that bit washing out.

I've always wanted a place like this, always... Love the area. Three years ago, I was unemployed and worried about ending up homeless. Amazing how things can turn around. Having a real job and finding a wonderful woman sure help a lot.

A UTV -- esp. something like a Mule Trans (got kids and visitors) -- would be dandy for making runs down to the river, but maybe you're right... maybe for all the actual work, I should go back to looking at tractors.

 

[timswi]

If bulk material needs moved and general land work needs done, then a CUT/SCUT with an FEL might be the better call...Buy the tractor and get the UTV later...That's what I did.