Tractors and Small Properties

[TheYard]

Some years ago I had to clear some towering (30-40') oaks for a new leeching field. At the time oak lumber was $6 per board ft. (1" x 1" x 12"); I had $$ in my eyes until a friend said "there isn't an oak tree in New England that doesn't have ants." Sure enough, they all had ants, and I ended up burning them for firewood.

Not knowing your specific lot and trees, I have to generalize. With the exception of a few straight, former "field" trees all the oaks on my land and most of the oaks I see in the woods and formerly wooded sub-divsions in MA are curved and appear distressed if not unhealthy. You might want to consult with an arborist (horticulturist) as to which (if any) of your trees should be removed first and site your garden accordingly. For removal, a tree service (whack 'em & hack 'em) would probably be cheaper than an arborist and could be contracted for stump removal. It takes me over a day to limb, buck, chip the slash, and haul the logs to the woodpile (leaving the stump to rot) when I have a 16" oak blow down. When I had tree service remove a 24" cherry between my house and the power lines that I did not have the courage to tackle myself, they were on site for 2 hours with a crane, chipper, skid steer and two trucks plus 6 men and a detail cop.

From my perspective with 1.1 acres you would be better (and more quickly) served by hiring out the large, capital intensive equipment tasks and leaving yourself with a SCUT or even 2-wheeled tractor for yard work.

Your generalizations are pretty spot on. Two of the trees I need to take out are completely dead - quite sure it's ants, and in the past, at least 50% of what's been cut has had ants right up the middle. I'm definitely under no illusion that there's any kind of $ in those trees.

I took out a couple of large oaks myself during the summer. Took me two weekends (but that also included the bar seizing up on the chainsaw, and cutting into a nail in one of them - both of which required trips out to fix).

Of all the work around here that should be done - this is the job I'd like to have someone else do, but ugh the cost is something else for so many trees.

 

[GeneV]

Yep. One hydraulic motor at each wheel. Articulated and oscillates between sections. Quick and nimble. It has a quick attach on the FEL so I don't have to get off the seat to change implements, unless it's powered, then I have to disconnect a couple hydraulic hoses. Takes about 15 seconds to change an implement. I like it. :thumbsup:

I checked out your website and saw a couple vids of the power tracs. Yeh, that's a really interesting tractor, I gotta say. That oscillation thing is the cat's meow, I could see that being really handy in my crazy yard. Is the articulation easy to get used to, with all controls articulating/oscillating as well? What's the pricing on these, anyways?

 

[Captain Dirty]

Of all the work around here that should be done - this is the job I'd like to have someone else do, but ugh the cost is something else for so many trees.

We are straying from your original topic, but you should be able to get some economy of scale. If a tree guy can do x trees in a day, even multiples of x, that is, his crew spends an entire day on site, should offer some savings. Use your neighbors' input and your gut feelings when selecting the contractor. I accepted a bid for some bucket work from the tree service I had used for the cherry and who had done work for two of my neighbors. When he was slow to come out I approached an "arborist" who was working at another neighbor's house. His bid for the same scope of work was over 4X the tree service's bid with a 33% discount (to 2.8X the tree service) for immediate acceptance (red flag?!). The tree service did send a man and bucket truck, and although I characterized tree services as "hack and whack", his man did a better job (pruning right at the branch collar, etc.) than the arborist's crew.

 

[MossRoad]

I checked out your website and saw a couple vids of the power tracs. Yeh, that's a really interesting tractor, I gotta say. That oscillation thing is the cat's meow, I could see that being really handy in my crazy yard. Is the articulation easy to get used to, with all controls articulating/oscillating as well? What's the pricing on these, anyways?

I'm not sure what you mean by the controls articulating/oscillating.... maybe this.... the seat is attached to the front section of the machine, not the back section. The seat never changes orientation to the controls. It articulates under the seat.

It's very easy to operate. You can view pricing at Power Trac's website, as their price list is posted for all of their models and attachments. No dealers. Factory direct only.

Power Trac

 

[GeneV]

...the seat is attached to the front section of the machine, not the back section. The seat never changes orientation to the controls. It articulates under the seat.

Mossroad, yeh I thought it was segmented between the seat and controls. Nifty design.

 

[Diggin It]

And what are you going to do with the trees after they are down? Just something to think about

and have the logs taken away to a mill on the other side of town. A tractor would help get the logs down to the street where a truck could pick them up.

There are so many giant oak trees it shades out quite a bit of the yard.

Ain't nobody gonna be a'poppin' no three foot oak trees out of the ground. That'll take some serious digging. If the timber isn't board worthy, use it or sell it for firewood.

 

[TheYard]

Ain't nobody gonna be a'poppin' no three foot oak trees out of the ground. That'll take some serious digging. If the timber isn't board worthy, use it or sell it for firewood.

Yeah - after watching mini excavators on youtube struggle with smaller stumps, it's become really clear that this lot clearing is not something I would accomplish with a SCUT, or likely even something like a mini excavator that I could rent. The original site work was done with what appeared to me to be a giant excavator - it was able to pop out stumps that size in about 10 minutes.

I think for the next step in all this is to let the professionals come in and do all the heavy cutting, lifting and digging, and I'll handle landscape/hardscape installation and maintenance. That probably means something closer to a lawn tractor than a scut.

 

[stevem5215]

I have a 1994 Steiner 420 SubCompact with a loader (400lbs max) and it's good for my 4 acres here in Pa. I use the bucket as a big wheelbarrow and in the winter I use a rotating brush to clear the snow. I do not use any salt with that combination and have the clearest driveway by 10am just due to the driveway facing southward mostly. Mine is around 400ft and the Steiner makes all the difference for keeping it clear. In the summer I use a Simplicity 61" ZTR with full suspension to cut the grass. The Steiner could do it too as I have a 48" deck for it too but have only used it as a backup in case something else breaks down (mostly hasn't happened). The Steiner cost me around 8,000 with implements about 15 years ago. The Onan engine is great and I've only had to get it worked on a couple of times for hydraulic leaks and hose replacements. It is a offsetting AWD system and WON'T tear up the turf due to it. And the big Balloon tires don't tread on the fine grass turf yard that we keep nice here. It's been a great tractor and well worth the money I spent on it. I've done quite a bit with it. I have the full loader, brush, grass deck 48" and a leaf blower for it. I sold my grading blade because i didn't need it. A snowblower would be nice but not really needed in our area of Western Pa.

Steve

I wonder why nobody builds 4wd tractor loaders in the size of a garden tractor. Like the old case 400's, that size. If they had something like that, I'd choose that over my gc1710, even if it didn't come with a hoe.

I'm on 2.6 acres, some hilly, floodways/soft ground to deal with, lots of ruts here and there. I was managing most of that with a craftsman gt with locking diff. The massey tractor purchase was mainly for the loader and 4wd.

 

[GeneV]

I have a 1994 Steiner 420 SubCompact with a loader (400lbs max) and it's good for my 4 acres here in Pa. I use the bucket as a big wheelbarrow and in the winter I use a rotating brush to clear the snow. I do not use any salt with that combination and have the clearest driveway by 10am just due to the driveway facing southward mostly. Mine is around 400ft and the Steiner makes all the difference for keeping it clear. In the summer I use a Simplicity 61" ZTR with full suspension to cut the grass. The Steiner could do it too as I have a 48" deck for it too but have only used it as a backup in case something else breaks down (mostly hasn't happened). The Steiner cost me around 8,000 with implements about 15 years ago. The Onan engine is great and I've only had to get it worked on a couple of times for hydraulic leaks and hose replacements. It is a offsetting AWD system and WON'T tear up the turf due to it. And the big Balloon tires don't tread on the fine grass turf yard that we keep nice here. It's been a great tractor and well worth the money I spent on it. I've done quite a bit with it. I have the full loader, brush, grass deck 48" and a leaf blower for it. I sold my grading blade because i didn't need it. A snowblower would be nice but not really needed in our area of Western Pa.

Steve

I looked this up just now. Those are pretty cool. Is yours an actual loader or a front scoop? Looks like the new ones only come with a scoop.

 

[stevem5215]

Mine is the full loader. It's big and heavy. But it can dig and grade (btdt). It's still a subcompact size machine though. Not for digging out stumps. Shrubs btdt though. I've been hired out one time. A guy saw me doing some work for the lady across the street and asked if I wanted to make 100bucks grading and moving some dirt from a area for a shed. Sure thing I said ! About an hour later he had what he wanted leveled up.

Steve