Enough Tractor

[wisc]

Gents
I am in the military but have a few acres back in the Carolina's and have orders that are moving me closer.
I have 2 projects in Mind and need advice:
Project 1: Want to clear out an area that is probably 75x 75. The property is over a 100 years old. 3 owners ago grew his on muscadines to make wine. The area hasn't been touched probably in 25 years. Old vines, sapling trees etc.. I have a Kubota 2800. I have a bush hawg but the guy has cables all through the area to hold up his vines. If I purchased a front end loader work would it push this stuff up, similar to a dozer? I assume not but you guys have the knowledge.

Project 2: Cutting some pines to make a grass strip. Is there anything I can purchase for the tractor that would pull up the stumps? I assume the tractor is too small but over to you guys.

I am afraid I will have to either hire someone or rent some heavier equipment but maybe you guys have some other opitons for me.
Thanks

 

[Bigfoot62]

Keep your little Bota for the maintenance of your place. It'll do fine.

Hire a contractor with a bulldozer and excavator (trackhoe) to clear the area. Have him dig a hole with the excavator in an out-of-the-way area. Then, push all the cables, vines and debris into the hole. When it dries, burn it. What doesn't burn, you can cover.

 

[Ken45101]

^^^^^ What he said. It will be cheaper and you won't risk tearing up your equipment.

Ken

 

[terry.dinerman]

First of all....THANK YOU for your service, Brother...

Around my neighborhood, a medium sized dozer with operator goes for about $65 per hour or so...rough estimate $500 for a days work.

How much would a new clutch for your tractor cost? How about the gearbox on your shredder?

A dozer is the right tool for this job...even on a small project like your plot or a few large trees, it makes sense to develop a relationship with a local owner/operator...

...lump up several smaller projects to make the minimum charge, mileage or mobe-demobe charges worthwhile...

Anwyay, whatever you do, be CAREFUL out there...

T

 

[teg]

...Project 1: Want to clear out an area...Old vines, sapling trees....

Project 2: Cutting some pines to make a grass strip. Is there anything I can purchase for the tractor that would pull up the stumps?...

What size pine trees are we talking about? I push over and uproot 8" white pines with the FEL and a toothbar. If you get a backhoe (yes, big money) you can take out the stumps. A grapple helps a lot with clean up but again extra $$$.

Bottom line yes it can be done but it takes time and $$$.

 

[Ken45101]

Bottom line yes it can be done but it takes time.

The thing that would worry me the most is the old cables laying around. Just plain nasty if you find them the hard way....

Ken

 

[Verticaltrx]

What size pine trees are we talking about? I push over and uproot 8" white pines with the FEL and a toothbar. If you get a backhoe (yes, big money) you can take out the stumps. A grapple helps a lot with clean up but again extra $$$.

Bottom line yes it can be done but it takes time.

x2

A loader with tooth bar and a backhoe could clean up all that with some time, experience and patience. With that said, since it sounds like your tractor doesn't have a loader, a new Kubota loader and backhoe for your L2800 is going to run about $11k. You could hire a lot of work done for that much. However, if you want to spend the money on the attachments and do it yourself, by all means give it a try.

 

[wisc]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like hiring someone is the way to go.
Maybe I can rent this equipment and have some fun...if I only had the time and experience.