Buying Advice I need a better wheel barrow!

[Lelandwelds]

I bought 4 acres next to my dad's 25. It is very rocky Central Texas. I have hundred year old live oaks that are only 20 ft tall and 6 inch caliper. It is hot here so the trees are precious. I pick up a lot of rocks. My fence lines need work. I mow about three acres. One quarter acre is mowed weekly. I rarely lift more than 2000 pounds. I need to build some outbuildings and a shop. I need to fine tune a ditch and some berms. I plan to build a sound control wall or some gabions.

Dad has a 873 Bobcat with a lot of hours. It is about the right weight but tears up stuff too much. It is reaching the point where it is becoming a money pit. I want to move away from the Bobcat except for drilling with the Beltec.

Except for a brief Kubota rental, the last tractors I drove were a 1960s Case 930 and 740 FEL and a 1970s IH hydrostatic. I like the hydrostatic and dislike heel and toe throttle. I have sometimes wished for something narrower.

I am almost excited about having a PTO again. Stump grinding would cause less mess. I had a 16 hp chipper and it was too small. A 5 or 6 ft flail mower would be great. A FEL and a dumping 3 point box would be great.

What new or used diesel should I be interested in?

 

[jeff9366]

Mowing is the tractor application which will require the most repeat time.

Use this MOWING CALCULATOR, then tell us what period of time you are will to spend mowing.
Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour


Lifting 2,000 pounds with a tractor FEL on HARD, FLAT ground requires a bare tractor weight of 4,500 pounds plus at least 1,200 pounds counterbalance mounted on the Three Point Hitch.

If lifting 1,000 pounds on the FEL is sufficient, a tractor with a bare weight of 2,700 pounds, with 500 to 600 pounds counterbalance mounted on the Three Point Hitch will do it.

The lift capacity of all tractor FELs decreases rapidly with lift height. You may be able to lift some loads 6" and no higher.

If lifting to a very limited height (12" or a tad more) suffices, consider Three Point Hitch pallet forks.

Bare tractor weight is a tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models, new and used.


Most would carry loads in the FEL bucket, rather than a dumping bed, but one dumping bed is made in Kentucky, Pat's Easy Mover:
greenwellmfg - Home

 

[Lelandwelds]

Mowing may be the most frequent task but it is the one I care least about. Truthfully, I can buy a used commercial ZTR for about what a shredder costs and the ZTR is the fastest, most efficient way to mow. And, as long as I am be honest, a tractor falls into that gray area between "toy" and "necessary" tool. If pretty much any of my many, many projects isn't finished in a timely manner, the world will still turn and I will sleep soundly.

My future shop will have an overhead hoist if not a full bridge crane. Even that will probably only see 500lb.The only thing that might hit a ton would be surplus machine shop equipment. That isn't extremely likely. I can always find a way to lift what I need to.

I never dreamed anyone mfg a three point dumping box much less a scooping one. My preferred way to move material would be a dump truck that I filled with a FEL. I pictured welding up something like a third or half yard dumpster with a mechanical latch to dump. I would use the 3 point to move and still fill the bucket. I might fill the dumpster with cactus for example and the bucket with rocks. I hate running back and forth with tiny little bucket fulls.

I started looking for a reliable used tractor a month ago. John deere alone produced so many models (many were only made for 5 years) that reading up on reliability problems was difficult. There are so many out there.

 

[searcyfarms]

are the rocks sticking up or do you have to move soil to get to the rocks? I would much rather mow rocks with a Rear Mount Mower/Bush Hog than a ZT.

Are you going to have to do a lot of rock picking before you start mowing?

 

[jeff9366]

I started looking for a reliable used tractor a month ago. John deere alone produced so many models (many were only made for 5 years) that reading up on reliability problems was difficult. There are so many out there.

I am one who believes the prudence and experience of the owner and operator is key to reliability.

Prudence and experience operating the tractor. Prudence and experience performing preventative maintenance on schedule.

Tractors used commercially are operated by an ever changing cast, HARD.

Better to find a one or two owner tractor. Inside stored is better than outside stored.


Here are tractors for sale via eBay near Austin, Texas:
tractor -garden in Business and Industrial Supplies | eBay

 

[Lelandwelds]

are the rocks sticking up or do you have to move soil to get to the rocks? I would much rather mow rocks with a Rear Mount Mower/Bush Hog than a ZT.

Are you going to have to do a lot of rock picking before you start mowing?

The parts that I mow frequently are pretty clear. I have been mowing Dad's for 40 years off and on. I have been clearing mine with a digging bar for two years. I started clearing before I broke ground on the house. The parts I mow monthly are pretty rough. I walk it before to brush up the old memory. Some is weedeater only.

I am hoping a landscape rake will collect surface and near surface rocks. I am hoping i can come up with a front or rear mounted ripper that will handle some that are a little tougher. I dont want to break equipment. I am patient. Rock picking is a never ending job.

I am looking for that one owner, low miles tractor driven only on Sundays by a little old lady from Pasadena.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

I am hoping a landscape rake will collect surface and near surface rocks. I am hoping i can come up with a front or rear mounted ripper that will handle some that are a little tougher. I dont want to break equipment. I am patient. Rock picking is a never ending job.

Yes, having rocky soil myself, rock picking is never ending, as each frost/thaw cycles brings more to the surface, and I swear they come to the surface on their own regardless.

A landscape rake will collect smaller surface rocks and gravels. A box blade with scarifiers down will pop out buried rocks up to maybe 10" across or so, and collect them, but will also obviously rip up any existing sod to a certain extent. The areas where I meticulously removed all rocks down to where the box blade scarifiers would reach and then seeded with grass, seem to be doing better. A thick layer of healthy grass has helped the rocks from coming up so far. Rocky land seems to always be rough land. This year during the cold season when all the grass has died down, plan to level out some of my lawn and re-seed for easier mowing with a riding mower in the future.

I have nice trails through the rest of the wildness and will make a few more. Those I can de-rock and level out. The rest I let Mother Nature do the landscaping.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I never thought of using a box blade. I thought it odd so many people own one. We never used one on the family dairy farm. It will collect and hold rocks? I would've guessed it would randomly drop them somewhere. Plus, I find one hard to use well.

It doesn't freeze here but the rocks still rise. I was guessing some version of a deep chisel or one of those spring mounted rippers would be needed.

 

[searcyfarms]

ok was just curious on the rocks, we have some areas we take care of with rocks and well..........after a few MMM issues we went to total RMM/Brush hogs and keep them HIGH =

 

[Lelandwelds]

If I choose one of those tempting Itty bitty tractors, a 48"or 52" MMM will fit everywhere I want to mow. I think it might be faster than a 7 ft shredder! All the other chores would be better done with a heavier, more powerful tractor.

I watched a crew mowing the ROW with a (12 ft?) flail mower a few years ago. It was impressive. Years later I can't forget the disappearing 4 ft tall grass. It was a bit like magic.