40 Acres, Steep!, 1 Mile Road; Need Advice

[Tractor Seabee]

Thanks Jeff, currently browsing the landpride catalog. Have an opinion on an 84 or 96 inch back blade? Two passes with a 96" would clear my road of snow nicely, but could see a narrowe being easier to handle for dirt work. Perhaps it is a large enough tractor that to 96 will be fine.

Thanks for the links. Those messicks videos have helped me a lot. What made you go with Kubota over other brands?

Be sure and get the skid shoes. Gauge wheels would be nice in doing maintenance grading.

Ron

 

[jeff9366]

I am in the process of purchasing 40 acres of mountainous terrain in NE Washington State. It has a roughly 1 mile access road I will be responsible for.

Gauge wheels OK but better hydraulic adjustment for ONE MILE of road.

 

[Xfaxman]

Faxman,-----------------------------------
How would a toolcat do at road maintenance?

------------------------------------------------------ Am just curious.

It would be fantastic with a land plane like this front or rear mount: Skid-Steer Attachment :: Road Boss Grader

I have used a 6' landscape rake on our gravel driveway, worked good. :thumbsup:

.

 

[jeff9366]

Pugemasta:

When you near finalize your tractor order, knowing your wheels/tires and wheel/tire ballasting, get back to this site on selecting rear/angle blade.

Our in-house blade and blade control expert is MtnViewRanch, AKA Brian, at Fit Rite Hydraulics. (Post #76.) Brian has several heavy blades with hydraulics. Brian usually recommends Land Pride blades. Most of us feel the value in Land Pride implements is in their heavier models, which is what you are after.

I have a lot of implements, but not a rear/angle blade.


Until then.....

rear blade for Kubota MX site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[Egon]

Some road building dialogue. It also shows how a road grader should have the blade set for different jobs. With small tractors the more of these settings your attachment can be set to the better the job you can do.

[video]http://www2.ku.edu/~kutc/pdffiles/FHWAGravelRoadsGuide2015.pdf[/video]

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Faxman, I suppose you are right as the limited PTO hp wouldn't matter as the toolcat snowblower would be hydraulic. It is out of budget though at 50k or so by my account. How would a toolcat do at road maintenance?

We're pretty much set on 55 hp or so. So blade size for that sized tractor. Am just curious.

A great blade for that HP range-size tractor is an RBT3596. So an 8' blade. There are other manufacturers that have blades equal to these. The LP units are just an example. Be sure to check offset capabilities, everyone does not have the same when it comes to the amount of offset capability.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Pugemasta,
I operated heavy equipment all my working life and one idea you need to forget right now is that you can do anything with one pass. It just doesn't happen if you care at all about the end result. The most important thing to keep in mind is take your time and do it right. This will not only give you a better job in the end but will also go a long way in keeping you and your machine safe.
I'm sure it's been mentioned but I would not have a machine without TNT if you are using any type blade other than maybe a land plane.
The most important thing with operating equipment of any kind is time in the seat. There are no short cuts you just have to put in the time to learn. Some people pick it up a lot quicker than others, especially women, but it takes time and ,of course, patients.
Good luck

 

[flusher]

Buy whatever tractor you figure is right for you and then make a simple modification for work on steep slopes.

You can trick out your tractor with a set of rear wheel spacers and two extra wheels to make a dually tractor that has a wider stance for added stability on the slopes.

Or you can modify your tractor to look like my 1964 MF135 diesel.



Those are 18.5 x 16 rears (16" diameter rims that usually are found on larger ag equipment like combines) that lower the tractor's center of gravity and widen the stance for stability on hills. The front axle spindles were replaced with shorter ones to keep the tractor level. (The previous owner of my 135 made these modifications for work in his orchards).

It helps that the 135 is a straddle tractor (you sit with your legs straddling the transmission, like riding a horse). Most CUTs are platform tractors where you sit with your boots resting on the floor that's attached to the top of the transmission. That raises your CG. The Case IH JX series of tractors are modern versions of the straddle tractor.

Good luck

 

[jeff9366]

The same approach to lowering C-of-G to increase tractor stability on slopes.

My land is steep. I had my Branson dealer put IND-10 wheels and tires on my 3725, and 2" spacers on the rear. It lowers the tractor a few inches which lowers the CG. It's very stable on slopes. A drawback is less ground clearance but that has not been a problem for me. If you're going to be crashing about the woods without paying attention a couple inches clearance won't matter. Either way it'll need skid plates if you're going to do that.

The IND 10 tires may be slightly narrower than stock; I did not measure. the 5220 may come with IND 25s. They really fill the wheel wells. you could switch to IND 20s and still get the adjustable width rear wheels.

 

[fried1765]

Pugemasta,
I operated heavy equipment all my working life and one idea you need to forget right now is that you can do anything with one pass. It just doesn't happen if you care at all about the end result. The most important thing to keep in mind is take your time and do it right. This will not only give you a better job in the end but will also go a long way in keeping you and your machine safe.
I'm sure it's been mentioned but I would not have a machine without TNT if you are using any type blade other than maybe a land plane.
The most important thing with operating equipment of any kind is time in the seat. There are no short cuts you just have to put in the time to learn. Some people pick it up a lot quicker than others, especially women, but it takes time and ,of course, patients.
Good luck

Hopefully there will be no patients in the seat......only patience....