My I think I need a tractor thread

[TripleR]

Here is my situation it has been cleaned up since then and either i am used
to it is starting to recover (less then a year). The first 3 pictures are of our
friends houses. Turn down the volume if you don't want music in the slide
show.
http://www.cybox.com/~laz/fire/fireslideshow.mp4
The first slide show is from when we sneaked in.
the second one we where legal and had more time so the more photos.
it has some better pictures of the slope that i WILL not go on with a tractor.
Yes the garage survived no the tractor doesn't get the garage, the motorcycles
get the garage and the garage has no real power (4000 watt generator can't
run the compressor i tried) so no real repairs. hand tool repairs are possible.


laz

Thanks, my computer wouldn't open it, I will try one of my others.

 

[graculus]

I wonder if it might be better to rent something bigger for a couple of days the foundation removal job (and forget the concrete sawing) and then buy something smaller for the ongoing requirement.

How much of that $8K was dump fees?

 

[grsthegreat]

i have used a 28 HP john deere tractor on 30 acres of trees for 14 years...and it has worked great. i have a Jimna pto powered wood chipper, and i can easily chip up to 6" limbs, but i am usually chopping 6" and bigger for firewood, so i wouldn't chip them anyways. the Jimna cost me about $1400 a few years back. My tractor is for sale right now at 11,000, and Ive had lost of interest in it.

I'm sure you could find a similar sized unit out your way. oh, by the way. skip the concrete saw and rent a jackhammer and air compressor....way more efficient in breaking up old concrete.

 

[flusher]

It looks to me like you have a conflicting requirement--working in the woods generally directs you toward tractors with high clearance while uneven, steep terrain heads you toward tractors with low clearance (for safety reasons). Of course, you can stabilize a high clearance tractor by moving the rear wheels out to their extreme limit to widen the track width. And you can set up for dual rear wheels to increase stability even further and lower the rollover hazard. t

The last thing you want is to spend money on a used tractor that turns out to be too tippy for use on your property. So keep this in mind when you're out tractor shopping.

Otherwise, pay close attention to the pto horsepower requirements for your implements and size your tractor accordingly. My advice is to zero in on tractors that have at least 20% more pto hp than you think you'll need for your implement that takes the most pto hp.

Good luck and sorry for your loss.

 

[laz]

I wonder if it might be better to rent something bigger for a couple of days the foundation removal job (and forget the concrete sawing) and then buy something smaller for the ongoing requirement.

How much of that $8K was dump fees?

3-4k was dump fees. if i do it myself i have no dump fees (just takes longer).
the cement of the foundation is shot. the house was a cedar cabin that
fell in on itself and burned hot and long with no attempt to put it out. the
foundation already has 1/2 inch cracks in it and has moved 3 inches in one
area. as for renting something bigger i can but that is 1.5k and that
money would come out of the money to buy a tractor (altho i would
get the backhoe with the rental).


laz

 

[laz]

It looks to me like you have a conflicting requirement--working in the woods generally directs you toward tractors with high clearance while uneven, steep terrain heads you toward tractors with low clearance (for safety reasons). Of course, you can stabilize a high clearance tractor by moving the rear wheels out to their extreme limit to widen the track width. And you can set up for dual rear wheels to increase stability even further and lower the rollover hazard.

I have been thinking about that an unfortunately the L series kubota's
are higher then the B series......the L series seem like the tougher heavy
tractor.....is it possible to get smaller rims/tires and lower a tractor of
any make? and keep the ratio between front and back wheels correct
for the 4 wheel drive? the ground clearence i need is not that much
most of the time because i have a chainsaw and know how to abuse it....
the only time a really need ground clearence is for the once a year
spring snow storms, otherwise i would just use the FEL to remove any
obstical.


laz

 

[beeforty]

3-4k was dump fees. if i do it myself i have no dump fees (just takes longer).
the cement of the foundation is shot. the house was a cedar cabin that
fell in on itself and burned hot and long with no attempt to put it out. the
foundation already has 1/2 inch cracks in it and has moved 3 inches in one
area. as for renting something bigger i can but that is 1.5k and that
money would come out of the money to buy a tractor (altho i would
get the backhoe with the rental).


laz

If your foundation is that bad, by time you remove it, how deep will you be with disturbed ground? I might be tempted to relocate my house to undistrubed ground if it is not a big issue getting permits to rebuild unless you want to put in a basement. You don't want to save money demoing and then have to spend more on foundation cost. I know what you're going thru, I came home once from work and found the fire department at my place for the 2nd time, it had rekindled, and this was in the city!!

 

[laz]

I clicked on that Woodmaxx link. They don't list (or I missed it) PTO HP requirements.
Undoubtedly chinese due to the price.
As far as PTO requirements, 25 PTO HP runs a Woods 5000 with a 5" capacity. I think you'd want 35-40 PTO HP to chip 8" material.

yes the woodmaxx is chinese. even says so on the web page.

i called and they say nothing under 25 PTO HP. The woods 5000 is
gravity feed and that just won't work. Now the woods 8100 looks doable
but i can't find a price on it.

To better explain my chipping requirements (this area i actually KNOW unlike
a tractor):
while i want 8 inches (doesn't every man) i don't plan on chipping 8 inches.
think a BIG xmass tree about 4-6 inches. Without trimming the xmass tree
at all i want to feed that into the chipper feed and have it pull the whole
tree in and spit it out the other end. We have alot of mistletoe on our
pine that causes the branches to grow wierd/curved so being able to take
a 2-3 inch branch shaped like a 'S' and have it pulled in is key. the amount
of time to get those branches into a small enough peice for a 6 inch chipper
is to much.
an adjustable feed system so that the feed rate can be slowed down on
bigger stuff would be nice, just in case i feed it an 8 inch log.
it needs to have easy access to the blades as something happened to
the trees when they burned and they are a real ***** to cut/work. i had
a 4 inch tree bind up my brand new replacement stihl.
easy jam clearing/reversable feed.
Oh and before people chime in with the 'rent'. i have a continuing need,
and if i own it i won't overwork myself trying to get the job done before
the time is up......the overworking always leads to stupid mistakes.

one of the things i have noticed is that the chinese equipment has a price
tag available on the web, while the american/big name stuff doesn't. for
me i prefer to shop online figure out what i want/can afford, then go view
it. without a price tag ahead of time i have no desire to call 20 different
dealers and try to make a matix of prices/features over the phone.....And
frankly i'm not planing on running a business so local dealer support on
a chipper isn't needed, i can afford the down time and my back and arms
will thank me. If any big name dealers want to email me a price on a
chipper that meets my requirements i would love it, and add it to my
price/feature/HP matrix.



laz

 

[TripleR]

I have been thinking about that an unfortunately the L series kubota's
are higher then the B series......the L series seem like the tougher heavy
tractor.....is it possible to get smaller rims/tires and lower a tractor of
any make? and keep the ratio between front and back wheels correct
for the 4 wheel drive? the ground clearance i need is not that much
most of the time because i have a chainsaw and know how to abuse it....
the only time a really need ground clearance is for the once a year
spring snow storms, otherwise i would just use the FEL to remove any
obstacle.


laz

They do make low profile tractors often for orchards. Yes, you can get different wheels and tires, but that will be harder on some than others.

The most stable tractor we own is this Massey Ferguson 375 set up as an orchard tractor. We have never had problems with ground clearance and it sticks like glue. It is bigger than your needs at 72 HP, but different sizes have been made by different companies.

There are a couple of guys on here who use the Kubota Lxx00 in the hills and they really like them. I think dex336 has an L4400 and uses his in WV; can't remember who else has one, but I know there are others.

 

[laz]

If your foundation is that bad, by time you remove it, how deep will you be with disturbed ground? I might be tempted to relocate my house to undistrubed ground if it is not a big issue getting permits to rebuild unless you want to put in a basement. You don't want to save money demoing and then have to spend more on foundation cost. I know what you're going thru, I came home once from work and found the fire department at my place for the 2nd time, it had rekindled, and this was in the city!!

we are planing on a crawlspace that is 6'6" or just under the defenition of
a basement ;-). i hated crawling under the house in -10 degree weather,
through the critter poop, to fix pipes.......we are also looking at moving
to unburned parts of the property BUT the HOA (ie boulder county) requires
that you have a certain amount of clear space around the structure....which
means we would have to cut down living trees.....still don't know where
we are going to rebuild. we just know we are going to.


laz