75 acres of timber with house - trails, small garden, invasive control

[nmz787]

I just bought 75 acres of timberland that needs about 40 acres replanted. some is reasonably flat or gently sloping, some steeper.

• Would like to pull logs to a mini sawmill (don't have yet), or onto a trailer for pulling to a neighbors for them to mill.
• Would like to make some new hiking/ATV/dirtbike trails, and keep existing trails clean
• Control invasive himalayan blackberry... some in unplanted areas, some amongst seedling trees (might need a handheld brush cutter, like a weedwacker with saw, for this)
• till small garden
• grade/flatten the gravel roads
• maybe plow some snow

Had been thinking a backhoe could be useful too, but don't have any immediately obvious need for one.

I have looked online at crawler loaders (seem expensive/time-intensive when repairs are needed), tracked skidsteers (not cheap to buy, similar repair concerns and issues trailering/moving it around). Have not thought too much about traditional tractors because of the concern over tipping on the slopes and not really planning much "ag farm" work.

Have most recently been thinking to get a pull mower (brush or flail) for cutting trails and maintaining them, and also mowing the 1/2 acre or so of grass near the main driveway that the neighbor can see. (or just pulling my push mower haha)

Today at my "city house" I was talking to the neighbor and he's got a Yanmar 165D for sale, about 700 hours on the clock, with a bucket on the front, a brush mower (needs new bearing), a drag blade, and a tiller. Wants $2500, says the bucket should normally lift 500lbs but lately it's only doing about 300... so something needs worked on with that. One of the front bucket hydraulic cylinder brackets, the upper one, is bent a little (he hit something too hard) but he said there's so little articulation with it that it doesn't affect anything, no binding, etc...

It seems like an easy buy, small enough that I can pull with my diesel Jetta or Chevy Colorado, and a small utility/automotive trailer... but also maybe too small for some jobs (and I'm concerned that it will just be too small). Definitely seems wayyy easier to work on, or get loaded and take to a mechanic by myself (i.e. no calling a lowboy to come in).

This would be my first "heavy equipment" purchase.

Would love to hear some opinions to help round out my thoughts on the matter. Thanks.

 

[ericm979]

You're probably going to want a larger tractor than that. Maybe not right away. But that one sounds pretty beat up.

My land is really steep. Half is heavily wooded and the other half has 60 years of brush growing on it. I started with a 17hp Kubota. It was ok for a while but the brush was taking over. The tractor I have now can run a much larger PTO chipper which gets a lot of use. As does the grapple on the front which I use to move brush and logs for firewood processing. It's a lot less work to move 8' logs than to cut them into rounds in the woods and then carry the rounds out to a road.

With how steep the land is (it averages 33% from top to bottom) I can only operate from the roads on the steeper parts. I've ordered a forestry winch that I can use to pull trees out to where I can get to them. I have chains and cables but they're limited by needing the tractor to pull.

The larger tractor can run a bigger mower than the little one did which is useful as I've cleared a lot of brush so there's more mowing to do. A lot of that is for fire safety, which is probably something you'll be thinking about if you're on the west coast.

I've yet to have to take a tractor to a dealer or mechanic. If you can do basic maintenance you probably won't need to either. So far the most complex thing I've had to do was replace a PTO shaft seal and some hydraulic hoses.

 

[jeff9366]

TractorData.com Yanmar YM165 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

Yanmar 165D is a subcompact tractor, light (1,250 pounds bare weight) and low powered (16-horswpowr from 40 cubic inch displacement engine) even within the subcompact category.

According to TractorData.com last production was in 1986; thirty years ago. Spares likely very difficult to obtain. How close is your nearest Yanmar dealer and Yanmar mechanic?

Clutch and gear transmission. Have you experience with traditional clutch and gear?

Few here will recommend a tractor with 6" ground clearance for use in cleared forest.

Tractors are inherently unstable operating on sloped ground. Tractor rear wheel/tire spread is a critical factor increasing compact tractor stability working sloped or uneven ground. A 6" to 10" increase in rear axle width substantially decreases tractor rollover potential. Tractor width is an approximation of rear axle width. As a newcomer to tractors, a heavier, wider tractor is much safer than a subcompact tractor or light compact tractor performing heavy tasks.

Small tractor wheels drop into holes, disrupting traction. Larger wheels and tires supplied on heavier tractors bridge holes and ruts, increasing traction. Larger wheels and tires permit higher operating speed over uneven ground by reducing implement bounce and operator perturbation.

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.



MORE: Tractor Sizing - Almost Daily Thread: SUBCOMPACT or COMPACT TRACTOR?

I recommend minimum of a 4,000 pound bare weight compact tractor, typified by the Kubota MX series. MX series is a current Kubota model which sells in volume. MX series have been sold since 2006. There are plenty available used. Unfortunately, 4,000 pounds bare weight rules out your current truck and trailer for moving.

 

[Jstpssng]

While that little Yanmar could be a good second tractor to complement something bigger, instead it sounds like a money pit waiting to happen. As others have suggested, I would keep looking.

 

[newbury]

Would like to pull logs to a mini sawmill (don't have yet), or onto a trailer for pulling to a neighbors for them to mill

What is this "logs" you write of?
A 10 ft section of 24" oak log weighs about a ton.
9' is about the minimum length if you want good 8' boards.
I'd go with at least a 40HP tractor.
I was in a similar situation and ended up with my Kubota M4700. Right now I've 5 sections of pine, about 10' long to get down to my mill.

 

[ericm979]

Dragging logs gets them dirty, and the dirt is hard on saw blades of all types. It's also hard on your roads (unless you do it when they're frozen, if that happens where you are). Sometimes it's unavoidable but I try to minimize it.

If you're going to lift good size logs you want a heavy tractor with a good lift capacity. HP is a proxy for size and weight but only very approximately. For example a Kubota L3901 has the same engine power as my Branson 3725H but the bare Kubota weighs 2800 lbs while the Branson is 4100.

 

[fried1765]

I just bought 75 acres of timberland that needs about 40 acres replanted. some is reasonably flat or gently sloping, some steeper.

• Would like to pull logs to a mini sawmill (don't have yet), or onto a trailer for pulling to a neighbors for them to mill.
• Would like to make some new hiking/ATV/dirtbike trails, and keep existing trails clean
• Control invasive himalayan blackberry... some in unplanted areas, some amongst seedling trees (might need a handheld brush cutter, like a weedwacker with saw, for this)
• till small garden
• grade/flatten the gravel roads
• maybe plow some snow

Had been thinking a backhoe could be useful too, but don't have any immediately obvious need for one.

I have looked online at crawler loaders (seem expensive/time-intensive when repairs are needed), tracked skidsteers (not cheap to buy, similar repair concerns and issues trailering/moving it around). Have not thought too much about traditional tractors because of the concern over tipping on the slopes and not really planning much "ag farm" work.

Have most recently been thinking to get a pull mower (brush or flail) for cutting trails and maintaining them, and also mowing the 1/2 acre or so of grass near the main driveway that the neighbor can see. (or just pulling my push mower haha)

Today at my "city house" I was talking to the neighbor and he's got a Yanmar 165D for sale, about 700 hours on the clock, with a bucket on the front, a brush mower (needs new bearing), a drag blade, and a tiller. Wants $2500, says the bucket should normally lift 500lbs but lately it's only doing about 300... so something needs worked on with that. One of the front bucket hydraulic cylinder brackets, the upper one, is bent a little (he hit something too hard) but he said there's so little articulation with it that it doesn't affect anything, no binding, etc...

It seems like an easy buy, small enough that I can pull with my diesel Jetta or Chevy Colorado, and a small utility/automotive trailer... but also maybe too small for some jobs (and I'm concerned that it will just be too small). Definitely seems wayyy easier to work on, or get loaded and take to a mechanic by myself (i.e. no calling a lowboy to come in).

This would be my first "heavy equipment" purchase.

Would love to hear some opinions to help round out my thoughts on the matter. Thanks.

WAY too small for what you will need to do!

 

[Williy]

If you have a Yanmar dealer check out this tractor:

willy

 

[MossRoad]

Welcome to TBN!

Smaller tractors can do a lot of work. However, you have to take smaller bites and take longer time to do that work. And there are some things they just can't do well, like moving larger logs. If you were cutting a large log up into firewood, it wouldn't be a problem to use a small machine to haul smaller pieces. If you're wanting boards out of logs, you have to keep the logs in longer lengths, and that ends up being pretty heavy for a small machine to handle.

You could look into a logging arch to pull behind the tractor. That can resolve a lot of issues as the arch takes the weight of the log and lifts it off the ground, reducing drag. But you still have to consider that the machine you're looking at weighs only about 1250 pounds, plus weight of loader and operator. You might not have enough traction to pull logs of enough size to make decent lumber. Then even if you can get the logs moving, and even with a logging arch, you have to be concerned with controlling the weight on slopes.

I have a 1500# machine, and I can move a 1500# car hauler trailer loaded with 5000# of firewood on flat ground. However, even the slightest slope and nope. Not gonna move it. Not enough power to push/pull it up a hill and not enough braking force to stop it going down a hill.

So consider what size logs you're looking at moving, and what slopes you have to travel on.

As for replanting your 40 acres, if you're talking about trees, I suggest looking into your state programs that might be available to you.

In Indiana, we have free state forester service where they'll come out, evaluate your land, tell you what types of trees will do best, help you develop a forest management plan, etc. All free. There are also reforesting programs where the state will pick up part of the planting costs for things like erosion control. Some are restrictive in what you can do and others are pretty non-restrictive. All I had to do for ours was mow or side-spray the trees for weeds annually for 5 years, and then I could mow them all down if I wanted. The state picked up 75% of the cost for the trees and planting. I ended up paying $265 for 2150 trees planted and sprayed the 1st year. Great programs.

I highly recommend you look into the services provided by your state. If they have programs that make it fiscally attractive to have someone else plant the trees for you, there's no point in purchasing tree planting equipment or doing it by hand.

Good luck in your decision making process.

 

[stuckmotor]

nmz787,
WELCOME from South Carolina.
If you'll add some idea of where you live, it might help members here in answering your present and future questions. Something as vague as what I have will be helpful. I promise not to show up for supper.

Should you decide to do this, clicking on your initial on the blue line near the top of the page, then on "account details" should get you to the right place.