Tractor Sizing Have a half mile of gravel road to repair and maintain

[newby in tenn]

Thanks for the help. Is that a 28hp that you used with a 6 foot box blade. That is more the size I was thinking in terms of if could find a good deal on a used one. I'd like a hst but does that give up a lot of pulling power?

 

[newby in tenn]

Thanks for the help. I may have to take a drive to Madisonville to check out the used tractors.

 

[jdtractor]

Hi I will have to agree some what with 5030, Having run heavy equipment all my life..... A smaller tractor will do the jobs as you have been told but if you want it done in time for other activities go bigger. Im not saying 100 hp but I would go at least 45-50 and 4wd, if the funds are available. They are not cheap ....nothing is today but if you look around they are out there, new or decent used. This size tractor will let you do more then repair this driveway etc .and you have to remember that it will wash again just give it time ,unless its paved....... A smaller tractor will keep you busy moving dirt etc. but as a general rule the bigger they are the easier they are to work ,1 pass of dirt compared to 2-3 to move the same amount of material etc. You will find that a bigger tractor is quicker. If you want a toy then go with the smaller tractor but if you want production then go bigger. Im not trying to start an argument but as an owner of heavy equipment and operator having did road work and pipeline work bigger is what you need. Also I might add that drive way is going to cut hard as far as depth being its a driveway (packed tight because of traffic) You will be hard on smaller tools more then you realize. Just my .02cts good luck which ever way you go.

 

[bcp]

Hire/rent a large tractor to fix the driveway.

Buy a smaller tractor to maintain the driveway and do all the rest.

Bruce

 

[TheMadOne]

Thanks for the help. I didn't realize that you could rent tractors. Who rents them. Any idea how much they rent for?

Pricing for rentals is going to be dependent on location. In my area you can rent a Kubota MX5100HST for about 300 a day/800 a week.(Plus delivery and the box blade)

Questions:

Is it a proper two lane road or a single track drive?

What is your "lean" budget?

As for the other points:

Loader-definitely get one with the tractor, or at least make sure it has the valve and mounting for later.

HST or Gear-Personal preference and skill levels would determine the correct route. HST is dead simple, and a lot less hassle for loader work, but gears free up more power and don't have the high pitched whine of the HST, and are less stressing when doing long runs.

4X4-Yes. For several reasons. Resale values of 2wd versions are much lower, you can get away with a smaller tractor, it helps with braking with a load in the bucket.

Belly Mowers and Bush hogs-Those are two vastly different things. Having one of each wouldn't be bad, if you had a need. I'm guessing you meant "rear finish mower" instead.(Correct me if I'm wrong) Only smaller tractors will have belly mowers. Anything with a 3 point and PTO can run a rear finish mower. Get a good used commercial zero turn instead. You'll mow faster and reduce the compression on the yard from taking a heavy tractor across it. I have an ExMark Lazer. It's a 1996(I think) and still works great.

Wet or dry clutch-Whatever floats your boat. Tractors are made to work. If a dry clutch was weak they wouldn't get used, because nobody would buy them. Wet might be nice to have, but is by no means a necessity.

Horsepower and weight-This is the primary question. There are people like 5030 who have a lot of power and can't imagine doing the job with much less. Then there are people who have a 20ish HP SCUT like a Kubota BX or Massey GC and find them perfectly sized to almost any task. There's no rule that says X feet of drive needs Y HP.

You'll either end up power limited or traction limited depending on the HP/Weight ratio you end up with(and specific circumstances). I'd rather be power limited, since it just bogs the tractor down. Being traction limited is hard on the terrain, since spinning tires can really mess up a lawn, or dig a new hole. As for specifics for you, without knowing your ballpark budget, the amount of time you have to work on the road, and the other tasks you have for the tractor, hard to say. Some people, myself included, got the largest tractor they could afford. The reason I did that is that anything smaller would be inefficient for my tasks, and I'd rather spend more money than time. Others would disagree with that.

Basically, we need more details in order to give you more specific answers.

 

[dadster4]

Sounds like my half-mile drive when I first moved in. I lowered the scarifiers of the boxblade as deep as they would go the first two times through while trying to save as much gravel as possible along the rough edges. Let it get traveled on a few weeks and then set the scarifiers up a bit and did it again. Had to add 7 tons of new gravel to cover rocky areas and fill low spots. I have two long runs of 17 degrees that I can only go downhill on with a full box of gravel, but when just touching up with only the blade, uphill is no problem. I spent 6 hours the first time through, but it was the second day with a new tractor so who cares!

 

[teg]

...Is that a 28hp that you used with a 6 foot box blade..... I'd like a hst but does that give up a lot of pulling power?

I have more power than the R4 Industrial tires can put to the ground. If my tires start to slip, I stop loading up the box blade. Might be a different story with Ag tires, but I don't know.

...and yea, it's about $300 to rent a tractor for the day, any rental yard should have one.

 

[maddog69]

I have maintained my half mile with a bx 2200 for 15 years. Real workhorse and you could pick one up for five or six thousand. You will always need it for maintenance in the future. I have a belly mower and 6 foot rear blade, and FEL.

 

[5030]

Not true at all. As I stated, with correct sizing of implements, one can do serious work with a smaller tractor. I was hired to fix many a gravel drive with a 4' box scraper, scraper blade and Ibeam with some ruts deeper than 1' and in a couple of cases totally washed away. Rarely was at a site for more than 5 days for the longest and worse case drives. Most 300' drives were done in less than a day.

One, a half mile is a helluva lot longer than 300 feet, more like 2600 feet and two, using a small tractor and small implements.... they will have a very short lifespan, tractor and implements. I disagree, very true. It's not a drive, it's a road with 12" DEEP ruts.

you could do it with a shovel if you had a lifetime... Myself, I have other, more obligating things to do, than sitting on a tractor in the dust.

 

[newby in tenn]

Hi I will have to agree some what with 5030, Having run heavy equipment all my life..... A smaller tractor will do the jobs as you have been told but if you want it done in time for other activities go bigger. Im not saying 100 hp but I would go at least 45-50 and 4wd, if the funds are available. They are not cheap ....nothing is today but if you look around they are out there, new or decent used. This size tractor will let you do more then repair this driveway etc .and you have to remember that it will wash again just give it time ,unless its paved....... A smaller tractor will keep you busy moving dirt etc. but as a general rule the bigger they are the easier they are to work ,1 pass of dirt compared to 2-3 to move the same amount of material etc. You will find that a bigger tractor is quicker. If you want a toy then go with the smaller tractor but if you want production then go bigger. Im not trying to start an argument but as an owner of heavy equipment and operator having did road work and pipeline work bigger is what you need. Also I might add that drive way is going to cut hard as far as depth being its a driveway (packed tight because of traffic) You will be hard on smaller tools more then you realize. Just my .02cts good luck which ever way you go.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate the voice of experience since I have no personal experience