huskyhauler
New member
I've been wasting away hours and days trying to make heads and tails of all the information and opinions available on here. (thank you all very much for contributing) However, I'm still not entirely sure what it is I actually need and hope that if I lay out my intended uses, maybe some kind soul will be able to suggest the minimum requirements I should be considering.
We live in rural(ish) Alaska on 40 acres, mostly wooded. I need something that can do some dirtwork in our dogyard, clear land, move logs etc around, fill in holes, help with trail work and move some snow. The snow duties are mainly handled by a 6' berco snowblower mounted to a Yamaha rhino, but something to knock down berms etc would be nice. I also need something to lift a pallet of dogfood off a flatbed trailer about once a month. We're talking 50 bags at 40 lbs a bag. Currently running a temperamental skidsteer, which hasn't been as accomplished a machine as hoped for - it's relegated to mostly the lifting duties.
My thinking is a tractor with a FEL, (plus skidsteer quick attach adaptor so I can keep my heavy duty SS forks), a bucket of some description, a grapple and a box scraper for the rear.
Not sure what I else I will need/use.
I'm not very mechanically minded, so I'm more inclined to want a new tractor. That, plus our location will limit our choices. As far as I can tell, I have dealers for JD, Kubota, Kioti, New Holland and LS within reach.
I'd be interested in people's suggestions as to sizes, hp outputs etc as well as specific models. I could probably find @$30K, but the wife would be happier if it was less. And the greater the less, the happier she'd be.
We live in rural(ish) Alaska on 40 acres, mostly wooded. I need something that can do some dirtwork in our dogyard, clear land, move logs etc around, fill in holes, help with trail work and move some snow. The snow duties are mainly handled by a 6' berco snowblower mounted to a Yamaha rhino, but something to knock down berms etc would be nice. I also need something to lift a pallet of dogfood off a flatbed trailer about once a month. We're talking 50 bags at 40 lbs a bag. Currently running a temperamental skidsteer, which hasn't been as accomplished a machine as hoped for - it's relegated to mostly the lifting duties.
My thinking is a tractor with a FEL, (plus skidsteer quick attach adaptor so I can keep my heavy duty SS forks), a bucket of some description, a grapple and a box scraper for the rear.
Not sure what I else I will need/use.
I'm not very mechanically minded, so I'm more inclined to want a new tractor. That, plus our location will limit our choices. As far as I can tell, I have dealers for JD, Kubota, Kioti, New Holland and LS within reach.
I'd be interested in people's suggestions as to sizes, hp outputs etc as well as specific models. I could probably find @$30K, but the wife would be happier if it was less. And the greater the less, the happier she'd be.