Gary Fowler
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2008
- Messages
- 11,917
- Location
- Bismarck Arkansas
- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota RTV 900, 2009 Kubota B26 TLB & 2010 model LS P7010
I really doubt any of us tractor owners could really justify the cost of the tractor and equipment versus hiring any job done, but to me it is worth the cost to be able to go out, get on the tractor and get the job done rather than calling around for someone who may or may not show up and then half-axe the job. I have over $65K invested in tractors and equipment and don't regret buying any of them at the time of purchase. I could now divest my larger one if I wanted to as it doesn't do much but when I needed it a few weeks ago to finish putting a large oak on the ground that has split in half when it was blown over in a storm, the big LS 70 HP pulled it around and laid it on the ground without endangering me or someone who would have had to come cut it (it was too big for any of my saws to reach thru) I would have had to hire a dozer to come in and do that for me as substantial cost if I didn't have the tractor.
Like others have said, there is a certain satisfaction in doing things yourself and in a timely manner.
A small B26XX or B29XX series with FEL would do anything you needed around your place for around $16K or add in a quick attach back hoe with sub frame and be ready to dig whatever you need.
I just ran out this afternoon and fixed some areas that I found when mowing my 5 acre yard with my ZTR mower this morning. I saw several spots that had some embedded rocks that were just about up enough to hit the mower so I dug them up. I also had some landscaped rocks that I has gotten too close to with the mower and moved them about 10" before I could stop on the steep grade. They were too large to move by hand but by using the backhoe bucket with the thumb, I was able to pick them up and set them back in place without a back strain. Then I had a root coming off an Elm tree that was too high to mow over so I used the back hoe to break it and remove the above ground portion. Less than an hour later the tractor was back in the shed. I will get my Kubota RTV 900 with the hydraulic dump bed out tomorrow and load up the roots and rock for disposal.
Not something I would have hired someone to do and would have taken a lot of pickaxe work and chopping to get up the rocks and roots so likely I would have ended up not doing it and then ruined a spindle on my mower eventually.
Have I got my money back on my backhoe? Well, I have put about 150 hours on it doing backhoe or combination BH /FEL work that I couldn't do with my larger tractor, so if I had had to hire that done I would have paid a lot more because many of the hours were put on in increments of less than an hour. Most contractors have 4 hour minimum @$65 per hour. Some things you just don't want to let pile up and then try to do all at once. I put in over 200 feet of extra sprinkler system with it also, ran additional water faucets to outland locations, dug out a dry creek bed so it would hold some pools of water during drought, dug up trees, stumps, moved brush, dug holes for planting trees and shrubs for the wife (previously shovel work or if lots would borrow my B-I-L's post hole digger but the BH is so much more fun and practical. Folks that don't have a backhoe really don't realize the uses you have for one till you get it. They aren't that hard to take off either, at least not on my Kubota B26, maybe 5 minutes and then another 10 to install all the 3 PH arms and stabilizers.
Like others have said, there is a certain satisfaction in doing things yourself and in a timely manner.
A small B26XX or B29XX series with FEL would do anything you needed around your place for around $16K or add in a quick attach back hoe with sub frame and be ready to dig whatever you need.
I just ran out this afternoon and fixed some areas that I found when mowing my 5 acre yard with my ZTR mower this morning. I saw several spots that had some embedded rocks that were just about up enough to hit the mower so I dug them up. I also had some landscaped rocks that I has gotten too close to with the mower and moved them about 10" before I could stop on the steep grade. They were too large to move by hand but by using the backhoe bucket with the thumb, I was able to pick them up and set them back in place without a back strain. Then I had a root coming off an Elm tree that was too high to mow over so I used the back hoe to break it and remove the above ground portion. Less than an hour later the tractor was back in the shed. I will get my Kubota RTV 900 with the hydraulic dump bed out tomorrow and load up the roots and rock for disposal.
Not something I would have hired someone to do and would have taken a lot of pickaxe work and chopping to get up the rocks and roots so likely I would have ended up not doing it and then ruined a spindle on my mower eventually.
Have I got my money back on my backhoe? Well, I have put about 150 hours on it doing backhoe or combination BH /FEL work that I couldn't do with my larger tractor, so if I had had to hire that done I would have paid a lot more because many of the hours were put on in increments of less than an hour. Most contractors have 4 hour minimum @$65 per hour. Some things you just don't want to let pile up and then try to do all at once. I put in over 200 feet of extra sprinkler system with it also, ran additional water faucets to outland locations, dug out a dry creek bed so it would hold some pools of water during drought, dug up trees, stumps, moved brush, dug holes for planting trees and shrubs for the wife (previously shovel work or if lots would borrow my B-I-L's post hole digger but the BH is so much more fun and practical. Folks that don't have a backhoe really don't realize the uses you have for one till you get it. They aren't that hard to take off either, at least not on my Kubota B26, maybe 5 minutes and then another 10 to install all the 3 PH arms and stabilizers.