Attachment recommendations

[Lacal]

O.K. here is the house I'm buying which has been vacant for over a year. It has five acres of Arizona desert with hints of having been landscaped once upon a time. I'm wondering just what implements I should be looking at for the TYM tractor I'm planning on buying. My plans are to landscape around the house, build a new backyard retreat, and plant some fruit trees and a good size garden. The driveway is crushed stone, but needs to be restored with maybe additional stone.

 

[mred]

Ok I'll bite knowing nothing about Arizona plant species, how about a backhoe for irrigation installation and tree planting along with removal of unwanted species, a bucket to move "soil", and gravel around and maybe a rake with drop down blade for driveway maintenance.

 

[Lacal]

mred - thanks. Being new and probably having read 50% of all the threads I never knew there were so many different attachments. I have learned more about Mesquite trees and their removal than from the locals I have talked to thanks to this site. Your recommendations sound basic which makes sense to this newbie. I have figured I can rent the posthole digger since I only have about 1,000 feet of fence. I hope to clear/clean around a lot of the Mesquites in the front area and hope to plant a lot of native grass and wildflowers.

 

[J_J]

Box blade, bush hog, forks/grapple. Rear remotes. Zero-scape it with lava rock, mulch, and natural elements, some large rocks, and plants/trees. There are probably some people from your area that will give some good advice .

 

[bigtiller]

Since you are in the middle of what the locals call the "monsoon" season, I would start with a big bottle of round-up to get some of the sticky brush killed off.

 

[bjr]

The first thing I'd wanna know is "is there enough water available to irrigate with?" If not then DON't disturb any more soil than absoloutly nessary. Like one of the other guys said use weed killer then just zero scape with as little greenery as you can. I've heard horror stories about trying to support big lawns and trees with little or no water. Anything disturbed going to blow away on you with the first good wind storm. One good thing about zero scape NO lawn mowing and maybe a little weed wacking. bjr

 

[Lacal]

One of the best things I have done so far is find this site.

Once we close on the property I am going to have a well person inspect the well for capibility, but since the last owners had ten acres and we only purchased five and there are irrigation lines placed over the ten acres I am "assuming" that water won't be a problem.

The last thing I want to do is put in a manicured lawn. I hoping more for native grass and wild flowers for keeping the dust down. The grass would not be irrigated. I do like the ideas suggested about weed killer and zero scape. Since there are plenty of mesquites I figured I could just clear around them.

Now I can start researching the attachments suggested. I can hear my wife now "more money".

 

[Deadman]

Will fruit trees even grow in that sand?
I'm not sure anything will grow there.

 

[Lacal]

Deadman - Willcox is high desert (4'300' elevation) and is known for it's corn, apples, peaches, pecans and is becoming the wine region of Arizona.

These people are 20 miles down the road:

Apple Annie's Orchard, Produce, & Pumpkins - Willcox, Arizona

 

[Kfbeal]

Out of curiosity, how deep are the wells there? Being where I'm at the well is 90' deep with pump sitting at 60'.

 

[Lacal]

I don't know how deep the well is on the property, but I have an additional 18 acres about 50 miles from this house and the well is 480' with static bringing up to 375' and estimated 55 Gpm. So water is not a problem. The land is surrounded by mountain ranges which I'm sure contribute to the water table. The history books of the 1800's talk about wells only 20' deep, but the cattle ranches and farming during those years really drained the water table in years of drought.

 

[Lacal]

I don't know how deep the well is on the property, but I have 18 acres that are 30 miles away and my well there is 470' with static at 350 and 55gpm.

One of the first things I have scheduled when I pass papers will be to have the well checked. The current cost to install a well here is about $10. a foot and another $10. a foot for casing. The well on my 18 acres with pump and two holding tanks was 20K

 

[texasjohn]

If it were me, I'd try to get an assessment of the well BEFORE closing the deal.... land with no water or insufficient is true hard scrabble

You'll need water storage.... BIG gallonage.... for the house and whatever irrigation you want to do..... suggest drip irrigation...

Attachments:
FEL with quick attach, heavy duty bucket, chain hooks on the bucket, toothbar.

A small trailer to pull behind the tractor or other vehicle to carry your tools, supplies, etc...alternatively, or in addition, a carry all on 3PH... with trailer hitch on it so you can pull the trailer and drop it at work site.

If soil allows, consider strongly reading the threads about using a "subsoiler" to bury plastic pipe by just pulling it into the ground... no need for ditching.

If you purchase a backhoe for your tractor, doubt you will need a post hole digger. No more fence than you have, you can dig the few end posts by hand ... I've done it a lot...I recommend using the FEL to press T-posts into the ground... as line posts...

If you are going to be doing work up in the air... think seriously about getting a quick attach platform for your FEL... for safety... I've stood in my FEL bucket... but would not want to work from it for hours on end.... dangerous for falling risk.

What size tractor are you planning on.... ??

I have found a hydraulic dump trailer to be very handy for moving dirt around...

Out there, I'd consider a cab seriously.... allows you to work even in extreme heat, dust, cold... and is safer IMHO...I love mine.

Garden... a disk harrow to turn over the soil, mix it up
... a spike tooth harrow to smooth things down.
....a walk behind seeder with numerous plates to plant all sorts of seeds

 

[Lacal]

If it were me, I'd try to get an assessment of the well BEFORE closing the deal.... land with no water or insufficient is true hard scrabble

You'll need water storage.... BIG gallonage.... for the house and whatever irrigation you want to do..... suggest drip irrigation...


Texasjohn: The positive side is the well is only 9 years old. The owner is required to provide the well information, inpection report and pay for transfer of well permit. The land has several drip irrigation lines througout the property and believe it or not use to take care of a ball field on the 10 acres we are not buying. All domestic wells must meet a minimum of 35gpm.

Wow your equipment list is huge for ten acres - lol. I am leaning towards the TYM-T273. I would think that for ten acres this would be enough of a tractor, but I don't think I can get a cab for this size, can I?
Thanks for all the information. You and all the others have given me a lot to sort through.

 

[Carykong]

You have a beautiful 5 acre sandbox. With irrigation,anything will grow. If you leave it natural,I would install some natural windbreaks with stone,sand burms,high desert trees that can slow down the wind and provide shade

 

[texasjohn]

Lacal... it's not the size of your acreage that determines the size of your tool, it's the size of the job to be done.

Glad your water is properly available. Not always the case here in Texas.

I'll let others more familiar with the particular tractor you are interested in reply... how many horses is it?

 

[Lacal]

The TYM T273 is only 27HP, but I assume it is o.k. given that I'll be working in a sandy soil and other than Mesquite roots not much in the way of resistance.

Carykong - I like the idea of windbreaks. I plan on leaving the mesquites around the perimeter which will help and then plant some native shrubs or trees. Too many non-native stuff here including tumbleweeds.