I am absolutely in mad circle on what to go with. For about a month by now.
here's situation:
6 acre property in PacNW. Rains half a year or more. Property is 2 tiered. lower tier is partial wetland. Wetland adds up to 1.25 acre. It gets muddy and full of puddles rain season but dries to the bone from mid May all the way till fall rains start.
Lower tier is "curb appeal" lawn. Tiers are roughly same size. Upper tier is just normal clay and rocks soil with some wet spots.
Hence, MOWING is weekly chore starting mid March and every other week late June through September. Average mow time is 4 hrs.
Problem with mowing: VERY uneven property. Especially the lower tier. Small hills and valleys, rain runts, mole mounds. Mower has to creep through that area at walking speed, or it is impossible and destructive on the machine.
No farm animals. None intended. So no bails of hey and such. Regular property maintenance done by 2 people. We did Ok so far with hands and manual labor. Cleaning property from fallen brunches after storms, garden beds, flower beds, bark, topsoil, things of that nature.
So far the biggest issue is mowing as it is literally painful due to property never properly graded. it was simply cleared from vegetation and left "as is".
I had 54'' Hustler ZTR that turned out to be POS sold at 30 hrs. Upgraded to 60'' Hustler ZTR. That stays in one piece, I am surprised, it didn't crack in a half yet on all those bumps. But it has zero suspension, even with torque forks, and painful 4 hrs.
!. My first plan was to get an ATV to tow a mower. I am inclined towards flail mower, as they go through very tall grass. 500lbs, $2000. Bought used Honda Foreman 500, was waiting on flail mower price drop. Fun machine to have, as it also towed our utility trailer, so it came handy for many haul this or that tasks. WHEN IT WORKED. In about 6 months of ownership, I went through new fan, ECU, 2 carburetor, master brake cylinder, and it was still dripping gas and started flashing new error codes sporadically. Sold. Got tired of it, wife called it "every weekend project". But it had FUN FACTOR and was useful around property as towing device. Plus, 4x4 allowed to go through any mud and puddles.
2. At this point, I have cash from ATV sale and went back to drawing board. I started looking at side by sides. 2 people can sit, has some cargo box in the back, same 4x4, can tow reasonably well. Sort of upgraded ATV. Don't want to buy used ones anymore. Ok, so they go anywhere from $9000 to 12000 for say Polaris Ranger. With me leaning towards Pioneer 500 as it has geared transmission, vs CVT belt in Polaris. FUN FACTOR is still there, we might as well take it to a trail ever so often.
Ok, looking at $12000 plus $2000 for tow behind mower... at that point, I realized that
3. I am looking at a tractor cost. I looked at compact tractors and I can get sub compact with mid mount mower and FEL for $16K. Prices may vary, depending on which make to go with, but it's somewhere around thta number. That made me think of:
4. hmm, a tractor.. so maybe I can use it to re grade my property? It's a tractor, after all. Had a post on that here and realized one thing. Subcompact will NOT do it, even going very slowly. Just does not have power enough. That made me look into:
5. 30 hp compacts. There is Kubota that has mid mount PTO and can take 60 '' mid mount mower ( I can't do PTO driven tow behind one due to some very tight areas to mow). There is JD that has about same. Price now jumped into $23K-$26K.
That made me think:
6. Why exactly do I need a compact tractor if I do not really need any major power as soon as I am done with taking hills off and filling low spots. Then it is nothing more than a fancy/pricy lawn mower. As again - no bails of hey, no truck loads of dirt to move with loader, no real use for it as a tractor, as far as property is turned into more level and mowable.
That made me think:
7. Skid steer, tracks,, rental is $1000 week. I can take week off, rent skid steer with blade, do grading and be done. Drag something over the property, like a landscape rake, ever so often, to keep it level.
That made me think:
8. No tractor, go back to SxS (fun factor and general basic use as tow truck) and flail mower. Rent skid steer, grade what you need to, use SxS to tow a drag or harrow or some home made land plane to maintain more or less level surface. My only concern is - holding gas pedal sturdy for couple hours when mowing. That's how you end in muscle cramp. But it is better than ATV throttle lever, as then your thumb dies.
That's how the circle closed. Snake bit its tail. Hope this makes sense. tractors are sort of staple around here, on large properties. neighbor has one but I know how little use he has for it. We, on the other hand, stay rather healthy by doing a lot of physical labor and we do not mind it. feels good. So with tractor, I know for sure that as soon as I am done with grading project, it'll be doing not much more that mowing - and it's too fancy a mower to my frugal taste. I, also, do not like being in debt. Not that I can't afford, I can step out and buy tractor cash right now. It's against my principles.
So here I am in my mad circle. DW is no help to make decision, she does not mow, so for her it's my "story" to get a new expensive toy. She, surprisingly, also wants something with fun factor, considering we have a grandson and he loves riding his JD tractor (toy) being "chased" by grandpa in ATV.
That's my story... What would you do?
here's situation:
6 acre property in PacNW. Rains half a year or more. Property is 2 tiered. lower tier is partial wetland. Wetland adds up to 1.25 acre. It gets muddy and full of puddles rain season but dries to the bone from mid May all the way till fall rains start.
Lower tier is "curb appeal" lawn. Tiers are roughly same size. Upper tier is just normal clay and rocks soil with some wet spots.
Hence, MOWING is weekly chore starting mid March and every other week late June through September. Average mow time is 4 hrs.
Problem with mowing: VERY uneven property. Especially the lower tier. Small hills and valleys, rain runts, mole mounds. Mower has to creep through that area at walking speed, or it is impossible and destructive on the machine.
No farm animals. None intended. So no bails of hey and such. Regular property maintenance done by 2 people. We did Ok so far with hands and manual labor. Cleaning property from fallen brunches after storms, garden beds, flower beds, bark, topsoil, things of that nature.
So far the biggest issue is mowing as it is literally painful due to property never properly graded. it was simply cleared from vegetation and left "as is".
I had 54'' Hustler ZTR that turned out to be POS sold at 30 hrs. Upgraded to 60'' Hustler ZTR. That stays in one piece, I am surprised, it didn't crack in a half yet on all those bumps. But it has zero suspension, even with torque forks, and painful 4 hrs.
!. My first plan was to get an ATV to tow a mower. I am inclined towards flail mower, as they go through very tall grass. 500lbs, $2000. Bought used Honda Foreman 500, was waiting on flail mower price drop. Fun machine to have, as it also towed our utility trailer, so it came handy for many haul this or that tasks. WHEN IT WORKED. In about 6 months of ownership, I went through new fan, ECU, 2 carburetor, master brake cylinder, and it was still dripping gas and started flashing new error codes sporadically. Sold. Got tired of it, wife called it "every weekend project". But it had FUN FACTOR and was useful around property as towing device. Plus, 4x4 allowed to go through any mud and puddles.
2. At this point, I have cash from ATV sale and went back to drawing board. I started looking at side by sides. 2 people can sit, has some cargo box in the back, same 4x4, can tow reasonably well. Sort of upgraded ATV. Don't want to buy used ones anymore. Ok, so they go anywhere from $9000 to 12000 for say Polaris Ranger. With me leaning towards Pioneer 500 as it has geared transmission, vs CVT belt in Polaris. FUN FACTOR is still there, we might as well take it to a trail ever so often.
Ok, looking at $12000 plus $2000 for tow behind mower... at that point, I realized that
3. I am looking at a tractor cost. I looked at compact tractors and I can get sub compact with mid mount mower and FEL for $16K. Prices may vary, depending on which make to go with, but it's somewhere around thta number. That made me think of:
4. hmm, a tractor.. so maybe I can use it to re grade my property? It's a tractor, after all. Had a post on that here and realized one thing. Subcompact will NOT do it, even going very slowly. Just does not have power enough. That made me look into:
5. 30 hp compacts. There is Kubota that has mid mount PTO and can take 60 '' mid mount mower ( I can't do PTO driven tow behind one due to some very tight areas to mow). There is JD that has about same. Price now jumped into $23K-$26K.
That made me think:
6. Why exactly do I need a compact tractor if I do not really need any major power as soon as I am done with taking hills off and filling low spots. Then it is nothing more than a fancy/pricy lawn mower. As again - no bails of hey, no truck loads of dirt to move with loader, no real use for it as a tractor, as far as property is turned into more level and mowable.
That made me think:
7. Skid steer, tracks,, rental is $1000 week. I can take week off, rent skid steer with blade, do grading and be done. Drag something over the property, like a landscape rake, ever so often, to keep it level.
That made me think:
8. No tractor, go back to SxS (fun factor and general basic use as tow truck) and flail mower. Rent skid steer, grade what you need to, use SxS to tow a drag or harrow or some home made land plane to maintain more or less level surface. My only concern is - holding gas pedal sturdy for couple hours when mowing. That's how you end in muscle cramp. But it is better than ATV throttle lever, as then your thumb dies.
That's how the circle closed. Snake bit its tail. Hope this makes sense. tractors are sort of staple around here, on large properties. neighbor has one but I know how little use he has for it. We, on the other hand, stay rather healthy by doing a lot of physical labor and we do not mind it. feels good. So with tractor, I know for sure that as soon as I am done with grading project, it'll be doing not much more that mowing - and it's too fancy a mower to my frugal taste. I, also, do not like being in debt. Not that I can't afford, I can step out and buy tractor cash right now. It's against my principles.
So here I am in my mad circle. DW is no help to make decision, she does not mow, so for her it's my "story" to get a new expensive toy. She, surprisingly, also wants something with fun factor, considering we have a grandson and he loves riding his JD tractor (toy) being "chased" by grandpa in ATV.
That's my story... What would you do?
