Buying Advice How much do I need?

[rswyan]

... This whole thing is a process. Sounds like go bigger.

Mebbe not ...

A larger B-series machine (not BX) might fit the bill nicely.

Get the tooth bar.

I would ... and did.

Forget the backhoe due to price.

Yup ... $7,000 will buy a lot of mini-excavator rental time ...

Mini-ex's tend to be much faster - and usually more powerful - than using a backhoe on a tractor.

Get roto tiller.

Yup ...

Rototillers come in a couple of flavors: the final drive being either chain-driven or gear-driven. Gear-driven are probably more durable.

King Kutter makes reasonably priced gear-driven tillers and they are often carried by ag chain stores.

I own a 60" King Kutter tiller myself.

Maybe rent when post holes are needed.

If you are planning on doing lots of landscaping and tree/shrub planting - in addition to fence posts - then I'd strongly advise that you consider a post hole digger (PHD) for the 3PH.

You can buy the augers (or "drill bits") in various diameters.

The larger augers are very handy for planting shrubs and small trees ... makes it real easy (depending on your soil) to pop a large hole in the ground a couple of foot deep ... in just a couple of minutes.

I have a County Line PHD from Tractor Supply ... they are reasonably priced ... you might even be able to score one on an end-of-season deal.

I have 6", 12" and 24" augers that I use on mine. The 6" and 12" are usually carried at most TSC's ... the 24" had to be ordered ... took about a week. There was also a 30" available that I would have liked to have had ... but it cost nearly as much as the PHD itself. I think the 24" auger bit alone was around $500.

Then forgot to answer driveway of gravel. That one is 12' wide and 150' long

Boxblade or land plane/grading scraper.

Either can be used to level any areas that need to be, in addition to maintaining your driveway.

One advantage they have over a Ratchet Rake is that they are mounted on the 3PH ... and therefore the side-to-side angle of the implement can be adjusted independently of the tractors wheels, via the tractor's adjustable side link.

IOW, a box blade or LPGS can be tilted side to side ... something that one cannot do with any FEL-mounted implement.

 

[AxleHub]

1. I'm surprised no one has mentioned a BX2670 as a choice. With this choice you have the closer price comparison to a non-backhoe product but the heavier motor and a price savings.

2. You mentioned the closest dealer is Kubota and then evrrything after that is about Kubota. What other dealers are in the 30 mile radius and also . . Used options at those dealers ?

3. A 150 foot gravel driveway will be cleared by . . . Bucket on front end loader or a plow attachment or a plow on an atv or your walk behind snowblower or ???? Do you get alot of snow ? Aren't you in a "lake effects" area where you get really big big big sudden snows ?

4. Someone mentioned 13 inches of clearance vs. 9 inches . . but I didn't see where anything you were doing was a big clearance concern . . but an inexpensive 3ph finish mower would be nice for cutting lawn spaces and preserving the exmark especially on any rougher turf areas.

 

[tman1020]

I would definitely get a rear blade. It would be great for driveway maintenance all year long. They move snow pretty well and can be angled and pitched to help create a crown on the gravel portion of driveways. Plus it's probably one of the cheapest attachment so you can get. For the longest time it was one of the only attachments I had. They are very versatile.

 

[Schmoopette]

Quote Originally Posted by AxleHub View Post
1. I'm surprised no one has mentioned a BX2670 as a choice. With this choice you have the closer price comparison to a non-backhoe product but the heavier motor and a price savings.

Have to look at that one.

2. You mentioned the closest dealer is Kubota and then evrrything after that is about Kubota. What other dealers are in the 30 mile radius and also . . Used options at those dealers ?

Kubota is 5 minutes away and a bigger dealer 10 miles away. Mahindra has dealers 30 and 37 miles away. John Deere is 10 miles away, but they ignored me at the county fair when I stood there for 10 minutes and sat on 4 machines. Rep was too busy talking to his friends. Kioti is 41 miles. New Holland is 24 miles.Massey is 31 miles.

3. A 150 foot gravel driveway will be cleared by . . . Bucket on front end loader or a plow attachment or a plow on an atv or your walk behind snowblower or ???? Do you get alot of snow ? Aren't you in a "lake effects" area where you get really big big big sudden snows ?
Can't tell for sure what the lake will do to us. I don't think it's that often that we will get that. We're 50 some miles from the lake.

4. Someone mentioned 13 inches of clearance vs. 9 inches . . but I didn't see where anything you were doing was a big clearance concern . . but an inexpensive 3ph finish mower would be nice for cutting lawn spaces and preserving the exmark especially on any rougher turf areas.
We don't have a lot of clearance issues.

 

[DieselBound]

B7800, tooth bar, box blade and field mower (mine runs a 5-footer really well). Lot of ground clearance (tippy, but this is mitigated somewhat by using ballast). If you need to dig rent an excavator.

Although I'm (now) in need of a larger tractor, my B7800 has performed brilliantly (and this is what makes it hard to get another tractor- I very much doubt that anything could, relatively speaking, work as well and as hard as this tractor). Even after getting another tractor my B7800 shall stay with me.

I've got 40 acres. Most of it was brush and trees.