thoner7
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2019
- Messages
- 143
- Tractor
- to-20 Ferguson and Kubota m5400 with Quickie loader
Hello all. I’ve basically decided to buy a TYM with the kukje engine. But I’m trying to decide whether I should go to the bigger machine or would be alright with the smaller frame size.
I should be closing on a 32 acre property soon. This will be our homestead and we plan to build a house, barns, run in sheds, garden, the works. This property is currently half cattle pasture and half wooded hillside. I’m hoping to tell y’all what my plans are for the machine, and you can help me determine what size I should go for.
I used to have a kubota m5400 which was a 54 horse cat1/2 machine. It was probably bigger than what I needed but also do everything I asked of it fairly easily. So that’s what I’m used to working on.
Here are the jobs I’ll need to do, some are routine obviously other will be done once:
1- Bush hog, I’d like a 6’ mower and about 36 pro HP.
2- logging and firewood. Using a sawmill for lumber. Building with logs so, a loader that can handle a 20’ log that’s 14-16” diameter. Will a 3000-3600# machine work? The larger sizes are 4000# plus. My m5400 was 4200#(?) and did this work no problem
3- building some run-in style out buildings with logs, grading/hole digging/log moving.
4- I will need to run about 1000’ of pex water line from the street back to where the house will be. Our frost line is 12” so to be safe I’d like to find a real heavy duty subsoiler and pipe layer to do this myself. Our ground is pretty hard, and we do have some rock outcroppings in the area. So I might hit some rocks
5- building a 1000’ driveway. I don’t really plan on boxing out the driveway as the ground is so hard, and I hope to have the gravel tailgated so I don’t have to move so much, but I’m sure it’ll need dressing up and maintaining.
6- plowing. I don’t think this property has ever been row cropped, because I’m not sure how deep the top soil is in spots. But it’s wide open and my wife would like some trees planted around the perimeter of the property for some privacy. In order to do a mass planting of trees and shrubs, I plan to plow a few rows along the fence line, then spread walnuts acorns pine cones maple fliers by the thousands. So, I’ll need to plow ground that I might hit bedrock!?
7- fork lift - I’ll be building an entire house, so moving lots of building materials on pallets and using the forks as a scaffold etc.
8- I’d like to use one of those bolt on bucket spades or stump bucket. Do those really dig well?
Now - how realistic is it to use a finish mower behind a big boy like this? Or would a flail mower be better!? I absolutely hated the old ford flail mower I used to have but, I’d like to avoid the expense of a zero turn if it’s at all possible.
I think I can make this tractor pay for itself. I could save a few thousand running my own water line. Save maybe $10,000 doing the drive myself. A few more thousand on various grading, landscaping, and stone placement. Also I’d hopefully not need to rent any equipment throughout the building process.
I should be closing on a 32 acre property soon. This will be our homestead and we plan to build a house, barns, run in sheds, garden, the works. This property is currently half cattle pasture and half wooded hillside. I’m hoping to tell y’all what my plans are for the machine, and you can help me determine what size I should go for.
I used to have a kubota m5400 which was a 54 horse cat1/2 machine. It was probably bigger than what I needed but also do everything I asked of it fairly easily. So that’s what I’m used to working on.
Here are the jobs I’ll need to do, some are routine obviously other will be done once:
1- Bush hog, I’d like a 6’ mower and about 36 pro HP.
2- logging and firewood. Using a sawmill for lumber. Building with logs so, a loader that can handle a 20’ log that’s 14-16” diameter. Will a 3000-3600# machine work? The larger sizes are 4000# plus. My m5400 was 4200#(?) and did this work no problem
3- building some run-in style out buildings with logs, grading/hole digging/log moving.
4- I will need to run about 1000’ of pex water line from the street back to where the house will be. Our frost line is 12” so to be safe I’d like to find a real heavy duty subsoiler and pipe layer to do this myself. Our ground is pretty hard, and we do have some rock outcroppings in the area. So I might hit some rocks
5- building a 1000’ driveway. I don’t really plan on boxing out the driveway as the ground is so hard, and I hope to have the gravel tailgated so I don’t have to move so much, but I’m sure it’ll need dressing up and maintaining.
6- plowing. I don’t think this property has ever been row cropped, because I’m not sure how deep the top soil is in spots. But it’s wide open and my wife would like some trees planted around the perimeter of the property for some privacy. In order to do a mass planting of trees and shrubs, I plan to plow a few rows along the fence line, then spread walnuts acorns pine cones maple fliers by the thousands. So, I’ll need to plow ground that I might hit bedrock!?
7- fork lift - I’ll be building an entire house, so moving lots of building materials on pallets and using the forks as a scaffold etc.
8- I’d like to use one of those bolt on bucket spades or stump bucket. Do those really dig well?
Now - how realistic is it to use a finish mower behind a big boy like this? Or would a flail mower be better!? I absolutely hated the old ford flail mower I used to have but, I’d like to avoid the expense of a zero turn if it’s at all possible.
I think I can make this tractor pay for itself. I could save a few thousand running my own water line. Save maybe $10,000 doing the drive myself. A few more thousand on various grading, landscaping, and stone placement. Also I’d hopefully not need to rent any equipment throughout the building process.
