Tractor Sizing Need advice on the size of tractor to look for

   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #31  
That's good advice, to a point. But by that logic I might have a 80HP+ cab tractor, as I can see myself sometime in the distant future doing some haying or something. Don't get too carried away, luckily most of us have budget concerns that bring us down to earth.

Well you must have more money than I do :) but I agree with the statement you replied to within reason of course. When I went to buy my Tractor the guy talked me up from a 45HP to a 55HP 4x4. He said anything with a loader needs to be 4x4 then told me he would not sell it to me with the loader without filling the tires and putting wheel weights on it. Well I was not up for that when I went there and yes it was a fair amount more than I had planned to spend but I went ahead and did it, took the financing deal rather than paying cash as I had planned and I have never regretted it once. In fact I would thank him today for what he did. There is always a catch though the 9N I used to have would pull a 5' brush hog through the woods real nice to cut trails etc. it would slip under and between trees so you didn't have to turn a trail into a road, the 55HP with loader is not so nimble, so now I find that I would like to have one of everything :) Esp a mini excavator. I had a Terramite T7 loader backhoe that was pretty nice, but having only 180deg of swing is a bigger drawback than I ever guessed. the 360 deg of an excavator is probably worth the money by itself, let alone not having to raise and lower Stabs. each time you move. So the moral of the story is, as everyone has said, pick the tractor that will do what you need to do and maybe upsize just a little bit more than that.

One more thing for the original poster. You said you plan to do hay? are you talking about cutting hay on the 1.5 acres? you really can't make that work financially running your own equipment, the amount of hay you will get will never pay for the equipment it will take to cut it and bale it. You would do much better to hire your neighbor who does 2000 acres of hay a year to cut and bale it for you.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for
  • Thread Starter
#32  
Well you must have more money than I do but I agree with the statement you replied to within reason of course...

You said you plan to do hay? are you talking about cutting hay on the 1.5 acres? you really can't make that work financially running your own equipment, the amount of hay you will get will never pay for the equipment it will take to cut it and bale it. You would do much better to hire your neighbor who does 2000 acres of hay a year to cut and bale it for you.

No, I probably do not have more money than you, that is why I was wanting to do it ALL myself. I did not count on the roots being such an issue. I will get a tractor first and see what I can do but I just don't see how I can effectively get the roots out with even the step up of a tractor I would require on the small piece of property I am getting. I understand the one-of-everything mentality, I am sure we can all find a use for any tool we have to justify its ownership, lol.

No I am not doing anything with hay, that must have been in another post somewhere, but not mine.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #33  
I was wanting to do it ALL myself. I did not count on the roots being such an issue. I will get a tractor first and see what I can do but I just don't see how I can effectively get the roots out with even the step up of a tractor I would require on the small piece of property I am getting.

Well here are a couple more items of wisdom I have gathered through the last 10 or so years I have been beating my land into submission. First off is, it works a lot better to do ground work when the soil is right rather than when you have spare time. Where I am the soil is Clay and rock, and if you try to push a tree over in August when that clay is baked out like a brick you will most likely break something, either the tractor or the trunk which will mean you have to dig the stump out. Not what you want to do. Second dead trees are dangerous. Bash into a dead tree with the bucket of your tractor and count to about 1 and expect to get hit in the head and killed by falling dead limbs. Three it takes one heck of a lot of push (more than your tractor will do) to push a root rake deep enough to rake out the roots of even a pretty small tree unless you are in sand or soft butter. it all depends on your soil type. if you have sand like my Dad does it is like playing in a sand box, you can do anything with next to nothing. If you have clay and rock....well not so much. Lastly if you ever find a really easy way to clear land you can expect to get rich, cuz well it's just plain hard work.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #34  
No, I probably do not have more money than you, that is why I was wanting to do it ALL myself. I did not count on the roots being such an issue. I will get a tractor first and see what I can do but I just don't see how I can effectively get the roots out with even the step up of a tractor I would require on the small piece of property I am getting. I understand the one-of-everything mentality, I am sure we can all find a use for any tool we have to justify its ownership, lol. .


Roots are not necessarily a big deal. For the saplings I would just choose a removal method that pulls out the whole thing roots and all. Multiple non expensive ways to do that with even a SCUT. Just don't run them over with a bush hog unless you are willing to have mini stumps left over for the next five to ten years. The big trees are more of a challenge but depending on the number, just waiting until the house foundation is done or having a bigger excavator come in for half a day could get those trees and roots dealt with pretty efficiently.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for
  • Thread Starter
#35  
Roots are not necessarily a big deal. For the saplings I would just choose a removal method that pulls out the whole thing roots and all. Multiple non expensive ways to do that with even a SCUT. Just don't run them over with a bush hog unless you are willing to have mini stumps left over for the next five to ten years. The big trees are more of a challenge but depending on the number, just waiting until the house foundation is done or having a bigger excavator come in for half a day could get those trees and roots dealt with pretty efficiently.

There are a whole bunch of 2-3" trees on this property, what kind of removal method will easily get the roots out other than having a big machine come in and do it? The house is at least 2-3 years down the road. I want to have my planting plots complete by the end of this year at the latest but really by the end of August.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #36  
There are a whole bunch of 2-3" trees on this property, what kind of removal method will easily get the roots out other than having a big machine come in and do it? The house is at least 2-3 years down the road. I want to have my planting plots complete by the end of this year at the latest but really by the end of August.

1) grapple on FEL. Price about $1000-1300 delivered plus cost of adapter and rear remote if not already available. Check out Everything Attachments light duty ?52" grapple. Pretty quick and easy to both uproot small trees and also collect and
Move them. You will find many many uses for a grapple.

2) Brush Grubbers $50-150. Northern Tool. Cheaper but not as fast. Works best with a helper to attach otherwise you will be mounting and dismounting a lot.

3) V shaped 3PT attachment. Back into sapling with wedge and lift out with 3PT. Home built. Easy, fast, no need for helper. Not as fast or convenient as grapple. But lots cheaper.

4) Choke chain on drawbar. Similar to Brush Grubbers but DYI.

5) Add just top grapple arm to standard bucket and toothbar. Half cost of grapple and half as efficient.

All of these would work with 20hp and larger tractors. I used grapple with Kioti CK20 to efficiently clear a couple of acres. Benefit of grapple is flexibility. It works with brush as well as saplings and also does smaller stumps and rocks. Other methods don't require cash layout for grapple and skid steer adapter.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #37  
1) grapple on FEL.
2) Brush Grubbers $50-150.
3) V shaped 3PT attachment.
4) Choke chain on drawbar.
5) Add just top grapple arm

I agree with you on everything but have one comment:

It depends a ton on soil type. I have a grapple on my 55HP case which weighs in at just shy of 9K Lbs and there is no way I can push out a 3" oak tree from what they call dirt in my area even right after a good rain. at 3" I have to get my dozer out, and actually the larger trees are much easier to take out since they are stiff enough to push over and roll the roots out when they fall. The small ones just want to lay over, and there is way too much rock in the soil to dig the grapple teeth into the soil and dig out the roots.

hcforde what type of soil do you have?
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #38  
I agree with you on everything but have one comment:

It depends a ton on soil type. I have a grapple on my 55HP case which weighs in at just shy of 9K Lbs and there is no way I can push out a 3" oak tree from what they call dirt in my area even right after a good rain. at 3" I have to get my dozer out, and actually the larger trees are much easier to take out since they are stiff enough to push over and roll the roots out when they fall. The small ones just want to lay over, and there is way too much rock in the soil to dig the grapple teeth into the soil and dig out the roots.

hcforde what type of soil do you have?

I guess it does depend on soil type. I used our IH2500b (50PTO HP) 2 wheel drive tractor loader (8000#) to push over 10" trees roots and all. We have sand.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #39  
I agree with you on everything but have one comment: It depends a ton on soil type. I have a grapple on my 55HP case which weighs in at just shy of 9K Lbs and there is no way I can push out a 3" oak tree from what they call dirt in my area even right after a good rain. at 3" I have to get my dozer out, and actually the larger trees are much easier to take out since they are stiff enough to push over and roll the roots out when they fall. The small ones just want to lay over, and there is way too much rock in the soil to dig the grapple teeth into the soil and dig out the roots. hcforde what type of soil do you have?

Agree soil type matters. My experience is in Sandy, not clay, soil.
 
   / Need advice on the size of tractor to look for #40  
I'm still sayin if you want to be out there working your patooty off for a few months, by all means, get a tractor and do countless dollars of wear and tear on it and your body. If you want to do it economically and get it done in a few days, rent an excavator with a thumb or hire it out. You'll be money and time ahead. Been there, done that, it was a waste of time and money, but I did have fun operating the tractor for hours upon hours consuming any free time that I had. :laughing: I bought the tractor for $5k, beat it senseless for 10 years, it needed $1500 in repairs over the 10 years, it needed $1500 in parts to get it running before I sold it for $3K. So, $8K in and $3k out. Net loss $5k over 10 years. Not too bad. But I could have rented a machine to do the same tasks for probably $2K and put the other $3K towards a permanent machine. The joys of hauling 5 gallons fuel cans. The fun of getting calls from the police because your tractor lights are on out in the field (the attempted tractor thieves left the lights on). Having to remove the battery from the tractor each night so it wouldn't get stolen....etc.. If you get a tractor big enough to handle that chore, where are you going to keep it? Just curious.
 

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