TreeFarmer2,
If you have not done so, look through the JD forums and you will see a few conversations about 4700s and/vs 5000 series tractors.
I looked at the 4700, 5105, 5205, 5210, and 5310 tractors. For my use the 4700 was the best bang for the buck. I hvae 53 acres all of which was 70ish year old timber. We had parts of it selectivedly timbered. I'm cleaning up the mess from the timber operation and making 5 or so acres of pasture with the 4700. I've used the 4700 to cleanup timber slash, clean up down trees from hurricanes, pull stumps, clean up my road( a never ending chore so far), clear land for a house site as well as a 500 foot long driveway.
I have the 460 FEL with a 4n1 bucket and it is invaluable. I use it constantly. The only problem I had with the FEL was the dealer setup which was not done correctly. I documented this in some other conversations but the bottom line is that the dealer fixed the problems ASAP and to my complete satisfaction. And in the long run, I think the setup problems will work out to my benefit since I built up a good relationship with the dealership.
I have LOTS of brush and timber slash to move. The 4n1 can do this but I think if I had a bucket with the brush grapples it would work better. The problem is I have to push the slash before I can grab it. I'm not sure how well a bucket with the brush grapples would push. If that makes sense. I supposed it would work ok but I think the 4n1 would push the slash easier and the 4n1 certainly can grab the slash it just takes a bit of technique and I don't think it gets as much as a brush bucket would. On the other hand I really don't have to pick up that much slash, just push it up in burn piles.
I have close to 180 hours on the tractor that I bought at the end of October in 2000. Once the FEL was setup correctly I have had no problems. I just works. And I use it HARD. I have dug up oak stumps with a JD48 backhoe and moved them with the tractor. Only one big, huge, heavy 36 inch bad boy really taxed the tractor. I got it out but it took 99% of the capacity of the tractor.
You should
ballast the tires. Skid plates would be nice but I don't have them. When I in "bulldoze" mode I have a couple of rules. Keep you head moving. Always look around, keep your situational awareness sharp. DONT allow the tractor to run over to much timber slash. Its unavoidable at times since you cant see it all but I try not to run stuff over. I open the 4n1 bucket up so that the "dozer" blade is used and the rest of the bucket provides some protection to the front of the tractor. When pushing timber slash DONT allow the wood to bend back and touch the tractor. Put the tractor in reverse, back out and push at a different spot.
Another thing I do is to walk through the area to be cleared with a chain saw to cut up downed slash into 6 to 8 foot long lengths. If you don't do this you just end up with a long windrow of timber. Its very hard if not impossible to make small piles since the different lengths of slash will overlap and make a long mess.
A bulldozer would do this quicker but I have seen them make a bigger mess and since I don't have the cash I have to spend the time.... I did see a bulldozer doing some land clearning for a road expansion project. I swear the blade on that thing was 20-30 feet long. It could certainly clear my 5-6 acres ASAP! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Rotary cutters. I have an MX-6 but I have only put a handfull of hours on the implement. It can handle 2 inch thick material. The heavier duty cutters have some high PTO HP requirements. If you need to handle 4 inch material check the PTO HP requirements to see if the 4700 can handle the cutter. Course I have never figured out how you could run over 2 inch saplings much less 4 inch trees........
Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty
