Dirt Moving First timer embarking on multiple tasks - rented tractor.

[LostInTheWoods]

Thanks for the kudos, friends. It was a lot of fun. I got on the tractor for another 90 minutes on the morning before they came to pick it up... total 9.5 hours I put on the tractor. "Tilled" the garden using the box blade, moved some large concrete slabs, and did some more digging, and filling & smoothing of the driveway. did I mention I "took out" a small old tree stump "for free" :thumbsup: i.e. it was in the way and when I pushed it with the BB, it came right out... rotted at the roots.

Amazing the number of projects you can tackle with a tractor that you wouldn't even think about previously. Good to see you were able to accomplish as much as you did on your first day. :thumbsup:

One thing that hampered me a lot was that the BB had no side-to-side tilt. Made it so I couldn't do the swale I'd hoped to do. I tried to be creative, and put the ripper teeth in on just one side, hoping that might pull that corner down into the soil to make a ditch.

The 3PH on your tractor should be manually adjustable. A little aggravating to do it by hand, but it would allow you to angle your attack on the swale.

 

[CurlyDave]

Slope: 15 foot rise in 150 feet is a 10% slope. Of course, this is an average and there will be places with higher slope and places with lower.

Personally, I am not comfortable on a 10% side slope even though I have a tilt meter and know that it is safe. Keep the bucket low and don't try to turn around on that slope.

What strikes me is that many of the tasks you describe are going to be fairly time-consuming.

Moving a large quantity of dirt 150 ft with the FEL is not going to be a quick task. For my own purposes, anything over about 50 feet and I start to think of loading a dump trailer with FEL and carry dirt to its destination in the trailer.

Getting rocks into an FEL is not quite as easy as it looks, especially for a beginner, Be prepared to dismount and roll the rock into the FEL manually.

Have fun and tell us what tractor you decide to buy.

 

[rScotty]

Also, renting really helped me to know that I'd prefer a CUT over a SCUT for our land. I was concerned it might be too big to get around all over the place, but it squeezed through just about everywhere.

What's defines the difference between a CUT and a SCUT?
rScotty

 

[rScotty]

Amazing the number of projects you can tackle with a tractor that you wouldn't even think about previously.

We started with a 12 hp garden tractor and kept on adding things as each successive tractor grew in size and weight. Everything was an advantage, and every new implement made another range of projects possible.

Looking back, the first really big change was when we added a loader to the mix. That wasn't really a surprise; we knew a loader would be handy....just didn't realize how handy it would turn out to be.

but the tool that really surprised us happened a couple of years back when - as a last minute offhand decision - we added a hydraulic thumb to the new backhoe on order. That thumb has changed the backhoe from being a digging implement into the most handy tool on the place.
rScotty

 

[PatasColo]

What's defines the difference between a CUT and a SCUT?
rScotty

There's some pretty long and interesting threads on this RScotty, but I think it's a good question. From my reading of TBN, I've got a "sense" for this which I've applied to tractor series. To be specific, look at Bobcat: the CT1xx are SCUT, the CT2xx are CUT. For Kubota: the BX-series are SCUT... the B-series is CUT. This is just my sense after a lot of reading and looking, YMMV.

The harder thing is if someone points out a specific tractor: A BillyBob 23X21 tractor for example, and says, "Well now, is that a SCUT or a CUT"? Does it really matter? For me, they're just useful shorthand to get a general sense of a tractor's size/height/etc.

One last thing: on quick glance at a small tractor, one thing that speaks to me of SCUT vs. CUT is that SCUTS seem to have front and back wheels that are much closer to the same size (like a riding lawn mower), a CUT has relatively larger back wheels in proportion to the fronts (more like the "classic" tractor look of yesteryear). Look at the tractors I mention above for visual examples.

 

[PatasColo]

We started with a 12 hp garden tractor and kept on adding things as each successive tractor grew in size and weight. Everything was an advantage, and every new implement made another range of projects possible.
rScotty

Yeah, we're considering going a similar route. I guess our needs, wants, and what deals show up will be some of the determining factors. We've seen a couple walk-behinds (BCS or CBS? and Gravely) with multiple implements (tiller, sickle mower, blade, snowblower) on Craigslist in the last 6-7 months. Thought about them, and it seems they'd meet a lot of our "regular" needs for a lot less money (between $500 and $1500). Seen garden tractors with a couple implements for $900 to $3500, and thinking on those too. I guess we're still figuring out what we're going to do, and that's part of the fun.

What I realize is that a real tractor is not a "need" for us... but I liked what someone said (it might've been you... hafta' look at the thread again): There's a lot of things I could hire out for cheaper, but I'd like to do for myself, and a tractor would sure be nice for that. Plus, the convenience of it being there for me to use right after a big snow-dump, or washout, or whatever. Nice! :thumbsup: I especially liked the part about "having someone do your fishing for you." :laughing:

 

[PatasColo]

Slope: 15 foot rise in 150 feet is a 10% slope. Of course, this is an average and there will be places with higher slope and places with lower.

Personally, I am not comfortable on a 10% side slope even though I have a tilt meter and know that it is safe. Keep the bucket low and don't try to turn around on that slope.


Getting rocks into an FEL is not quite as easy as it looks, especially for a beginner, Be prepared to dismount and roll the rock into the FEL manually.

Yep... you probably saw the pics of my brother over, helping me do just that. Actually, I got the lip of the bucket under a few, and then we'd push'em in. I also wanted to keep the rocks from splitting or getting too roughed-up by the FEL, so doing it by hand was fine.

I was pretty careful on the grade, and did my turns cautiously and on the flatter parts wherever possible. But you oughtta' see the land out back of the house: it's a 300 foot rise over 1200 horizontal feet (there are online topo maps).... That's 25%! on average, and I assure you it is not all "average"! I'll attach a couple photos: The first is after you've hiked over our butte (at 1200 feet from the house), dropped into the valley, and then started going up the other side, then turned around and looking back towards our house (on other side of butte, which you can see at top of picture). The second is coming back to the house from the butte: I'm not far up the slope from the house, but I'm above the rooftop.

We love our land.

 

[TripleR]

Very pretty scenery:thumbsup: