Hydrostatic Tractor, Loader, Backhoe Options

[roadhunter]

Renting a 30K excavator is on my list of options. Cost for that is about $2000 per week or a little more with delivery and rental protection.

That would be the quickest way to take care of the problem IMO.

You might be able to find one of these older Bobcat TLB's in your price range.

 

[roadhunter]

Don't know of any other tlbs' being available larger than the M59 at 59 hp. You might find an ag tractor that is larger with a hoe on the rear but doubt the hoe will be larger than the 12' hoe on the M59. Deere used to make the 210 with a hoe available but I think that was many many years ago and doubt it would measure up to the 110 or L45 offerings today.

The combination of the three, tractor loader and backhoe seems to be limited to large compacts. You can get the larger tractors or larger loaders or loader backhoes or larger excavators but not the combination of the three.

If anyone knows of a larger dedicated tlb with removable hoe and three point hitch I would like to be corrected. I would particularly like to know of any of these large tlb's that are within the $20,000 budget. Might buy it myself.

JCB makes a line of tractors in the size you are looking at but I"m not sure how the hoe attaches and if it can be removed easily. They come in several configurations including backhoe and box blade on the back

 

[jenkinsph]

That would be the quickest way to take care of the problem IMO.

You might be able to find one of these older Bobcat TLB's in your price range.
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I agree a larger excavator would be a good choice.

The Bobcat B200 would be stuck at every stump hole imo.

I thought about mentioning JCB as I seem to remember they offer a wide variety of options.

 

[roadhunter]

Few more

 

[jenkinsph]

JCB makes a line of tractors in the size you are looking at but I"m not sure how the hoe attaches and if it can be removed easily. They come in several configurations including backhoe and box blade on the back
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I looked into JCB and Terex before buying the 110tlb, both had some good options or pricing at the time. The first time I looked at the 110 I was not impressed and was considering a Cat 904 loader and 304.5 mini excavator. Just did not pencil in well with the extra moving costs for my jobs.

Still have not seen larger tlb's that are big enough to make a difference. JCB looks pretty good imo.

 

[jenkinsph]

Few more
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Other than the /deere 110 shown and already discussed the other three, Terex, JCB and Case do not offer a tractor loader backhoe with 3ph and removable backhoe.

 

[rScotty]

I realize my price range limits what I might find. That is why I'm seeking input.

Stumps vary in size. I rented a 7,000 lb excavator to see what I could do with that and it left something to be desired. After a few I just drove around the larger pine stumps.

I think I could aggravate most of my stumps out with a mid size backhoe and if I owned it I wouldn't be pressed for time. I could always dig around the biguns and just burn them in place.

Excavators are too popular and pricey for me and then when you are done with what they will do you still need a tractor. A TLB would be the most versatile option I think.

Good on you for renting an excavator just to see what it would do. That's the ticket! I don't know the specs on the excavator you used, but it sounds like it would fit somewhere between our M59 and JD310SG TLBs. Both of those are pretty capable machines.

Maybe our experience here will help. Unfortunately so far most of what I know is what doesn't work well. We had a pine and fir tree die-off after some flooding last year and are still cutting down about 50 dead trees in the 8" to 20" range over about 5 acres. The logs become firewood, but even with our equipment it surprised me just how difficult even the smaller stumps are to remove. Think "rootball" rather than "stump". Stumps are tiny things and form an almost insignificant portion of what eventually comes out of the ground. Take an honest look at your soil, too. Our soil is sand and rock; pine trees in particular tend to wind their roots around everything available. That means a single stump and associated rootball can take an hour of concentrated work to dig out while creating a surprisingly large hole. Using the bucket teeth to snap side roots is kinda hard on the machine, too.

Then when the darn thing is out of the ground...what's one to do with the resulting rootball? Rootballs are huge and ugly, too intertwined with dirt, sand and stones to be reasonably chainsawed, too wet to burn - and still attached to this long handle that used to be nothing more than a fairly smallish stump sticking out of the ground. I guess we'll find an answer, but so far I'm hoping for a different method that doesn't involve digging them out; grinding in place would be a better answer if the soil here wasn't so rocky. It might still work. We haven't tried it.

So it turns out that for us a lot of the reason why digging stumps hasn't worked well has more to do with the kind of tree and type of soil than which machine to use. In clay or loam it could be a different story entirely. Hopefully this will give you some more info on where to start.

Right now the eventual plan - once we get more rootballs dug up - is to pile them next to the creek all chained together to form a flood barrier and wildlife habitat.
Good Luck beats Good Planning,
Enjoy, rScotty

 

[jenkinsph]

rScotty,

You may find it is better to use your backhoes to dig around the stumps a few inches deep to clear away the rocks then grind the stumps just below the surface. Leave them be. Might not work in all cases but would make a lot less of a mess.

FWIW a 7000 lb. excavator won't do as much as your M59 but may be more capable than the 110. Splitting hairs here. The 310SG is way more capable than a 7000 lb. excavator pulling on a stump.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

No offense, but maybe you aren't profecient at digging out stumps. I have a 3 ton kubota mini ex and my son can't dig out a stump without clearing off a half acre. Me, you can hardly tell there is a hole left. Also, when digging stumps, use a ripper bar, much more concentrated force. It's definitely a learning curve. Good luck.

 

[jenkinsph]

No offense, but maybe you aren't profecient at digging out stumps. I have a 3 ton kubota mini ex and my son can't dig out a stump without clearing off a half acre. Me, you can hardly tell there is a hole left. Also, when digging stumps, use a ripper bar, much more concentrated force. It's definitely a learning curve. Good luck.

I agree that seat time makes a big difference. Combine seat time with the correct machines and you have a winning combination.