75 acres of timber with house - trails, small garden, invasive control

[kenmbz]

Welcome to TBN and land ownership. As stuckmotor says, where about are you?
Hills, soil type etc.

 

[Richard]

If you can turn a wrench, you might be better off getting 2-3 machines. I've got an industrial loader/backhoe and frankly, it's probably the most useful thing here on the farm (unless I want to cut grass! HA!)

I've used it to move trees, (as in replant), pick up fallen trees, push trees over, dig out stumps, bury pets, move boulders, replant the wife's day-lillies, hoist the fluid filled (but otherwise flat) rear tire of the tractor and place it into truck bed....

I bought it used. New was (something like) $70,000 back around 1987 and I think I paid about $13K for it and have had it now for 20 years. If I GAVE it away, it's paid for itself but still runs as smooth as a watch.

I DO however, have to tinker on it from time to time (cylinders, alternator, odds/ends)

Then get a larger tractor for your other tasks.

 

[kenmbz]

I bought a Stihl FS110 with handlebars and blades as a brushcutter. Just wish this would handle large blades, but it works fine. I also have a pole saw to get at overhangs and vines.
Some of what I deal with here.

I have a Piranha tooth bar on the bucket to rip up small trees and large bushes, pole saw to take down branches, overhangs and cut 3-6" trees, Brushcutter to get through the 1-2" stuff after intial take down.

 

[jjp8182]

Always good to start with the tasks you want to do when looking at buying equipment. The other part of that though is to consider the time you have (or want) to spend doing the task as that really starts to narrow down what machines could even start to meet your needs.

Sometimes though hard singular limits drive the sizing though (e.g. the size/weight of the logs you want to handle) in which case this: Log Weight Calculator at WOODWEB

..may help give a bit of perspective on the sorts of weights that would need to be lifted for various diameters & lengths of logs for the given species (similar could be done with other species if the density of the green wood can be found for that species).

 

[nmz787]

Thanks for everyone's replies. The woodweb calculator is definitely helpful, I've got really poor intuition of weights of various things.

The property is on the eastern side of the Oregon coast range, in the northern part of the state. Prevalent species are doug-fir and cedar, but only a few of the latter.

I called a dealership today and they recommended a Mecalac MCR6... but the quoted price is $125k and no financing... so definitely out of my budget. It looks like it would be a great tool though. CAT has some 0% APR deals for 5 years, and I know their tracked skid-steers start around $65k, with another $20k for an excavator attachment. No idea what a brush/flail mower attachment would cost, but the Mecalac dealer said $5.4k. Oh well, good to round out the upper limits of what this stuff costs.

 

[nmz787]

If you can turn a wrench, you might be better off getting 2-3 machines. I've got an industrial loader/backhoe and frankly, it's probably the most useful thing here on the farm (unless I want to cut grass! HA!)

I've used it to move trees, (as in replant), pick up fallen trees, push trees over, dig out stumps, bury pets, move boulders, replant the wife's day-lillies, hoist the fluid filled (but otherwise flat) rear tire of the tractor and place it into truck bed....

I bought it used. New was (something like) $70,000 back around 1987 and I think I paid about $13K for it and have had it now for 20 years. If I GAVE it away, it's paid for itself but still runs as smooth as a watch.

I DO however, have to tinker on it from time to time (cylinders, alternator, odds/ends)

Then get a larger tractor for your other tasks.

Yeah I'm not opposed to mechanical work, but I also don't need any more "projects", heh. I've swapped an engine and rebuilt a motorcycle, swapped clutches on cars, done basic maintenance. Got a TIG welder last summer, had a MIG for over a decade... not too practiced though.

A few machines does seem like a reasonable approach. The guy I bought this place from had a CAT d5 bulldozer, a Case 9040 excavator, a dumptruck... all just for "fun" (and keeping things in check). I don't quite think I need such large items (especially the excavator) but I've definitely been considering some crawler loaders, saw one on craigslist with a backhoe attachment for about $15k but it was gone by the time I closed the sale on this property

Is your loader/backhoe wheeled? Can you take it off (gravel) roads, or would you be able to build a road in front of it (i.e. pulling stumps and grading as you go)? Or does it need at least gravel, would it get stuck in just dirt (maybe depends on how wet the ground is)?


Around here the summers usually get basically no rain, so some things could probably be limited to those months, and other times something like that could just be used to grade the gravel roads and pickup/move downed trees across them.

 

[Richard]

Is your loader/backhoe wheeled? Can you take it off (gravel) roads, or would you be able to build a road in front of it (i.e. pulling stumps and grading as you go)? Or does it need at least gravel, would it get stuck in just dirt (maybe depends on how wet the ground is)?

Pretty much take it where I want to go. It is however 2-wheel drive and I think 4 wheel would be beneficial for me at times.

I did once get it stuck in the muck when the lake was lowered and I took it into the "water" (which was gone) to dredge out some silt. Ended up sinking into the muck about half way up the rear tires. Was a fine mess I'd gotten myself into but finally got it out using the hoe to lift & move the back end around.

 

[deezler]

Wait, you were considering a $2500 tractor, and then got a quote for a $125,000 forestry excavator?!? Talk about scope creep.

Just get a nice 40-50HP tractor. 3500 lbs minimum machine weight.

 

[nmz787]

What is this "logs" you write of?
A 10 ft section of 24" oak log weighs about a ton.
9' is about the minimum length if you want good 8' boards.
I'd go with at least a 40HP tractor.
I was in a similar situation and ended up with my Kubota M4700. Right now I've 5 sections of pine, about 10' long to get down to my mill.

Mostly doug-fir, lots of leftovers from the last logging where the logger ended up not finishing the job. Here's an example pile:

https://imgur.com/a/B12xJz6

 

[nmz787]

Wait, you were considering a $2500 tractor, and then got a quote for a $125,000 forestry excavator?!? Talk about scope creep.

Just get a nice 40-50HP tractor. 3500 lbs minimum machine weight.

I'm totally new to these machines and their pricing, capabilities, limits... I saw something I liked the specs of, and made a call to get a price. If it was half that cost, with 5 year financing... I think it might have been something I could convince the wife of. New and reliable and no (major) maintenance is nice insurance.