What class of tractor for maintaining two miles of road at higher elevation?

[In.the.Piñons]

I've been spending some time looking at the capabilities of the M6060 on you tube.

Looking at these videos (linked below) it seems very capable of moving dirt around and rebuilding washed out roads etc. Do you guys feel this man is abusing his tractor, or are they designed to do this kind of heavy work, day in day out, without premature wear? I'm also impressed at how well it does on un-even ground. I have a small dam that's down bottom of a steep road. Both the road and dam need rebuilding, but I thought I'd need a dozer for such work. Maybe not?

Here are the vids (tractor is a m6060 with wheel weights and liquid filled tires)

 

[paulsharvey]

Some of the Massey 2607 models are surprisingly affordable. They are maybe a touch on the primitive side for a new production machine; no HST, no Power Shuttle, ect

 

[Too many Kubotas]

They are maybe a touch on the primitive side for a new production machine; no HST, no Power Shuttle, ect

If only pulling stuff around on a field, or dragging a driveway, fine, but for loader work and many other things, a stick shift gets old fast.

 

[paulsharvey]

If only pulling stuff around on a field, or dragging a driveway, fine, but for loader work and many other things, a stick shift gets old fast.

Oh, I agree. I dont know if they have a dry clutch, basic shuttle, or if it is truly an old hunt-peek shifter, just pointing out, for something like $37k for a brand new, major brand, loader, full body utility tractor, they are a Lot of machine for the price.

Note: I had to do some digging, and the 2607H is a sycro shuttle. Also, I see half a dozen or more, 4wd, with loaders at $42,500; but the only ones I'm seeing in the $29-35k range right now, are 2wd, no loader

 

[Too many Kubotas]

They're definitely not cheap anymore. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Recently I decided to get a longer gooseneck flatbed, equipped like the 32' PJ I have, with hydraulic dove tail, air suspension, and disc brakes. Well, when spec'ing a 35' Diamond C the same way the MSRP was just shy of $50K.

Crap, I thought, and then ordered one, knowing they wouldn't get any less costly if I waited. Now this is a flatbed trailer, a much simpler thing. Looking at it that way a tractor for the same money, or more, isn't really expensive.

Anybody want to buy a like new 32' PJ, by the way?

 

[Sportsman762]

Do you guys feel this man is abusing his tractor, or are they designed to do this kind of heavy work, day in day out, without premature wear?

Here are the vids (tractor is a m6060 with wheel weights and liquid filled tires)

I would not consider what he is doing as abuse. However it is very high wear work and nearing the borders of the machines capabilities. He will have to replace the clutch in 1/4 to 1/3 of the time of a person doing hay or feeding cattle. The bucket will most likely need replaced before the tractor wears out. The maintenance will be significantly higher than normal ag work. The wildcard would be the loader and it might fail in a significant way before the tractor is worn out. Ag loaders are not build any where near as heavy as industrial loaders.

In regards to the video I noticed that his property had very few rocks. Rocks quickly increase the loader requirements. If he had been digging through shale or other rock with the M6060 the way he was digging through the dirt then it would have been abuse and the machine would not have done it well.

I have a small dam that's down bottom of a steep road. Both the road and dam need rebuilding, but I thought I'd need a dozer for such work.

Depends on how steep the dam and road are along with what exactly needs done. You can do a lot with a loader, but slopes take considerably more skill with a geared tractor than a hydrostat. Slopes can quickly become dangerous with a geared tractor if you are not skilled with one.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. My 2009 Kubota M6040 is perfect for driveway maintenance. I use a Land Pride GS2584 LPGS and an eight foot Rhino 950 rear blade. The LPGS weighs - 800#.......the rhino rear blade - 1015#.

I would NEVER consider building a driveway - like mine - with my M6040.

Before my driveway - it was all virgin open range land. It was roughed in with a D6 Cat. Finished with a much smaller dozer. The smaller dozer pushed the gravel around, created the crown, compacted the driveway.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Around here there's no need for dozer work, but a fair amount of 4- needs to be brought in to build a driveway up sufficiently to make it work in the winter.

My main driveway was already done, but I've made a few extensions and some rerouting and widening which the M6040 had no problems with.

Heck, I could've probably done them with the L3800, too, if spending 10 times as much time.

 

[rScotty]

200 acres in the mountains? No problem. For snow up to 18” we have an old high hour Deere 310. It has 90 hp, 4wd, weighs a bunch, heated cab, & they are commonly for sale within your price range….. everywhere in the USA. To clear a couple of feet of snow for a mile of dirt road, just put that huge heavy FEL bucket in ‘float” and drive forward. No implement needed.
After a few yarda it is pushing a wedge of snow as wide as the road.
And it does the job without effort or wear - in comfort.

rScotty

 

[paulsharvey]

As far as, is the video abuse? Nah, but it is heavy use. Buckets are a replaceable item, and if we assume this is 40 hours of the work this machine does, over a 4000 hour life, so be it. If this is going to be a 1000 hours of it's life, maybe it will be pretty used up in 1000 hours. What I saw was the tires nearly constantly slipping, which means he isn't weighted down enough, and the tires are running out of traction before he likely risks breaking anything.

I would guess, and it's just a guess, every hour of use like the video, is probably equivalent to 3-5 hours of light/medium use. But, keep in mind, it's not like pulling a chisel plow or 8 ft off set disc is a walk in the park for a machine; that's heavy loads too, and they are meant for it.

If we are talking dirt work, a tracked skid, full sized TLB, or Industrial machine are the way too go, if we are talking 6-10 hours per day, 4-6 days per week. If we are talking about 80 hours in the first year of dirt work, and then 20 hours per year of dirt work after that, something in the 45-85hp range should handle it.