17 acres in maine-

[rubicon]

Wow! just a few hours and some great ideas already. It was my plan to cut back all the trees to stumps and sub out the stump removal and rough grade of the road. we will be building the house ourselves and will need to dig the holes for the piers and to get below the frost line I thought renting a post hole digger would be the way to go but still need to get the specific specs worked out (depth,width etc.). I do not plan on clearing much of the land beyond keeping the old blueberry fields from becoming woods. there are some great older trees on the property and i will need to selectively remove some competing trees to let some of the existing hardwoods thrive. and yes easygo we sure do have rocks! we have been calling the property "rock farm" for the last couple of years. I guess the reason I have been thinking of a 50 h.p. is worrying about "going to small" and regreting it as I plan on this being my forever tractor. thanks again everyone lots of great ideas.

 

[bp fick]

If the frost laws up there are 48" post holes, and your plans show a 12" diameter hole, you may find that about as deep as you can go with your own equipment. I know some places up here are 60". It would nice to know if the guys on here think that is doable with a PHD on your average mid-sized tractor.

One concern that counter-balances out the "go as big as you can so as not to have regrets" theory is that reality that once the big old grunt work is done, sometimes there is a mis-match for what is needed in a practical maintenance tractor later on.

This stuff can be a head scratcher sometimes.

 

[dave1949]

Wow! just a few hours and some great ideas already. It was my plan to cut back all the trees to stumps and sub out the stump removal and rough grade of the road. we will be building the house ourselves and will need to dig the holes for the piers and to get below the frost line I thought renting a post hole digger would be the way to go but still need to get the specific specs worked out (depth,width etc.). I do not plan on clearing much of the land beyond keeping the old blueberry fields from becoming woods. there are some great older trees on the property and i will need to selectively remove some competing trees to let some of the existing hardwoods thrive. and yes easygo we sure do have rocks! we have been calling the property "rock farm" for the last couple of years. I guess the reason I have been thinking of a 50 h.p. is worrying about "going to small" and regreting it as I plan on this being my forever tractor. thanks again everyone lots of great ideas.

Oh yes, we are good at spending money here

I think you are on the right track. Might take a good tracked excavator about 2 days to rough in your drive and house site. So, it isn't worth equiping yourself for that.

I would try to backhoe the pier holes rather than post hole auger. Depending on the size of the rocks, that could be a disaster.

A grapple and/or rock bucket would be great attachments for your FEL. Be sure to get a quick attach or skid steer style FEL and the third function front hydraulic plumbing.

Welcome to Maine.
Dave.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't think the JD 310 has a removable backhoe and three point.

Correct. It is however a pretty good basic TLB and could be used for initial work requiring a bigger BH and loader than would typically be found on a 40hp tractor. It might make sense as part of a two step process with sale of the TLB down the road a piece. Lots of ways to go about this project including hiring some of it out rather than trying to get a "perfect" tool that doesn't meet long term needs.

 

[IslandTractor]

One concern that counter-balances out the "go as big as you can so as not to have regrets" theory is that reality that once the big old grunt work is done, sometimes there is a mis-match for what is needed in a practical maintenance tractor later on.

This stuff can be a head scratcher sometimes.

Unfortunately some of our buddies here on TBN are so horsepower crazed that newbies get scared of buying too small and can make the mistake of assuming bigger is better. We hear a lot about people buying larger tractors but that does not mean the smaller one was a mistake...needs change. Buying too big a tractor however can also be an expensive mistake especially considering the investment in implements. It is often said that smaller tractors can do most of what bigger ones do (I'm talking CUTs here and CUT type projects, not hayfields etc). I find that to be true. I may be able to pull out a six inch stump in a minute with my 40hp tractor while it took 5 minutes with the 20hp tractor but they both got it done. The 20hp version was useful around the yard and easy to manuver and store. The 40 is not nearly as useful outside the pasture. Sometimes it is better to err on the small side as that only costs you a bit of time once in a while. Getting too large a tractor can be an impractical and financially painful experience.

 

[JoelD]

Here's my two cents (your two cents by the way).

Anyway, I'd definately rent an excavator for any serious digging, there is absolutely no comparison between an excavator and a backhoe when it comes to digging.

My first thought when you said post hole digger is rocks, where I live there is absolutely no possibility of using a post hole digger, none.

As I've posted in the past, I rented a 25K machine for 500 per day delivered. You can not imagine the work you can do with a machine like that in a day.

Based on what your long term needs are, I can't imagine how a 40HP or so machine would not be more than enough.

I bet for $2-3K you could complete just about all your digging, and have more than enough left over to buy used what you need for $15K or so easy in today's market. That would be TLB. Best part is you'd not be digging for weeks on end.

I will never attempt serious digging again with my machine, I'll rent an excavator every time.

Good luck,
Joel

 

[Jay4200]

MY wife and I purchased 17 acres in coastal maine 5 years ago and will be moving up there in the spring(2010) with our two young girls and build a home. the property has 80% trees 20% old blueberry fields. with a right of way of approx 1000' to the edge of our property line that we will need to put a road on. I will be doing most of the work myself for $ reasons( I like to do things on my own anyway) and am thinking a tractor with approx. 50hp.pto fel.4wd.filled tires.couple hyd points on the rear for future implements. I have been reading hundreds of the posts on this list for the last coule of years and cannot begin to say what a help it has been. I guess my first question will be about new versus used. I would love to go new but I could probably get something a bit larger and more powerful for the same money used. one thing I seem to be reading a lot about is wishing you got a bigger tractor to begin with so I want to do it right the first time. I have started to search the used postings in the northeast and have found a lot of very low hour tractors and was wondering about the new versus used pitfalls the budget is 24000 max sorry for the long post thanks

As much as I love my tractor, a tractor is more of a lot maintenance tool, as opposed to a lot improving tool. If you are building a road and house, buy an excavator - now is a good time to find a used one. When you are finished with the major construction, sell the excavator and buy a tractor (or keep both - even better).

JayC

 

[woodlandfarms]

You said you are having the road and stumps removed by a sub, correct? I assume having the general home building area leveled as well?

What I am wondering is what your plans are with the tractor after this large dirt work is done? Are you going to use it for digging, tilling.

IMO and it is a marginal one at best... A tractor can do everything a bulldozer and a track hoe can, but at a speed and agility that is generally not cost efficient. I am not sure I understand why 50HP is important. if you are plowing, yup, need it, but if you are dragging stuff around, scooping stuff up and doing general maintenance it may be overkill.

Also, what kind of conditions are your property (Hilly, flat?) those things will play into your decision.

I guess what I am getting at is you might be happier and spend less money by farming out the major ground work, and getting something a bit smaller for less of a price (thinking 35 to 45HP).

Carl

 

[tommu56]

rubicon

Wow! It was my plan to cut back all the trees to stumps and sub out the stump removal and rough grade of the road.

From my experience if you are going to get the stumps out let the excavator push the whole tree over.
It will take him a lot less time.
A good operator can finesse them all in to a pile or two
You can cut the stumps off and save the wood at your leisure.

Talk to the excavator and see what will be the least expensave.

tom

 

[easygo]

It may be a little cheaper to let the excavator pull the hole tree, but the piles it will make with the trees is going to be one giant tangled mess that is tough to deal with afterward. That would be my guess. Any decent size excavator that is good to rough in a road can easily pull the stumps.
One thing you probably want to do is SAVE THE TOP SOIL. Have them put the large rocks separate from the soil. If it can be piled up as the machine roughs in the road and the house space later you can go to the piles with your tractor and use the soil to spread around when the house construction is done. It will make great starter for grass, flowers, gardens and all other fun stuff to have later on.