Is tractor realistic for me?

[sbeausol]

I bought a fixer upper in Essex MA on 2.5 acres of mostly flat land. It is a great piece of land that hasn't been maintained for many years. On top of that we have plans to make improvements which include the addition of a pool and a barn. I'm a big DIY person, and being in MA, hiring anything out is generally very expensive. Below are the some of the tasks I intend on tackling in the next 5 years.
1) Some idiot decided several years ago to plant about 40 spruce trees. Now in 2013, those trees are 30 feet tall and growing into each other. They look like ****. Not to mention that they have over taken several apple, peach, and pear trees on the property. These trees average 14-16" trunks. I plan to cut them all down, mulch what I can, and possibly use the straight ones for lumber to construct a timber-framed barn.
2) I need to redo the gutter drainage on the house. This entails digging trenches and routing the water away, nothing complex here
3) I need to build a barn. I plan to put up a 26'x32' barn to store the boat I plan to buy. I would need to do some leveling, and excavation for a foundation if I do end up going timber-frame
4) Wife wants an in-ground pool and I'm in full agreement. Except pools in New England go for $30k+ easily. We're talking a 20'x40' rectangle, nothing fancy probably with a liner
5) Fire wood. I recently had geo thermal installed, but I still plan to supplement with a cord or two per heating season.
6) I have a 225' driveway, but thankfully have a neighbor who owns a garden center with a large Case front loader that plows me out. Should he move, however, I will also have to plow when it snows.

As I've grown older, I realize that for the things I want to do, there is never one solution. For example, I have a surf rod, a boat rod, a bait rod, and a jigging rod just to fish inshore for stripers etc. Is it possible a single tractor, that I can afford (sub $20k) can do the things I'm planning? My hope would be to get the jobs done, then sell the tractor off and end up having done well since people always tell me that tractors have good re-sale value since my lot isn't something that will require such hardcore maintenance once the initial cleanup is done.

Things that complicate the tractor are:
1) I don't have a place to store it indoors
2 $$$$

I'm attaching a few shots of the the spruce trees that need to go...

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

If you do not plan on keeping a tractor long term then I would not want to spend $20K on one today. $5K will get you and older Ford, etc and a blade, trailer, etc that will have about the same value if you do sell them a few years down the road. I do not have any old iron that I would even sell for what I gave for it just 5 years ago.

 

[Shett]

*snip*
My hope would be to get the jobs done, then sell the tractor off and end up having done well since people always tell me that tractors have good re-sale value since my lot isn't something that will require such hardcore maintenance once the initial cleanup is done.
*Snip*

Consider how much it will cost to rent some heavier equipment to do what you want. Depending on your market, you might get a good sized backhoe for a weekend for between 300-500. Calculate how much time you'll need the equipment and how you're willing to invest your time. If you can invest large chunks at a time, then renting becomes more viable. If you can only do a little here and there, renting may not be an option. These machines do hold their value well but you're still going to take a financial loss on a new machine (most likely), so it may be worth while to work up what the numbers would look like if you rented equipment vs the loss you would take if you buy & sell.

Also consider what Gale said, you can get a pretty good bank for your buck on the used market and may not even lose anything if you find the right deals.

 

[dave1949]

Welcome!

You have my sympathies on the spruce. At least the lower branches have been trimmed up and that helps a lot if you start chipping them. But, after that, would you need a chipper? That would be a lot of material to put through a small chipper/shredder, and it will take time to chip it with 4"-6" PTO powered unit too, but they would handle it easily.

If the 20x40 in-ground pool is going to be at all deep, like 6', that will be difficult to dig with just a loader. Not impossible, but not easy either. What are your chances of not hitting any sizable rocks or ledge? It looks like your septic is a raised mound type, that may be due to what is below it. You don't want to drive a tractor of any size on a septic mound by the way.

The drainage trenching around the house, the barn excavations and digging the pool would be much easier done with a backhoe attachment on the tractor if you are fixed on doing it yourself. That will up your investment, but it has resale value too.

As usual, the size tractor you need now is probably not the tractor you would want to keep forever.

 

[Sysop]

In sticking with the OP's original plan:

I'd say jumping on any of the smaller tractors that's available for that budget would likely do all you want (a higher end B-series Kubota, Mahindra Max, or anything else on the upper end of the SCUT market). I would get a backhoe with whatever you get for the digging you have planned. You'll always want to dig the soil loose with the hoe before moving it with the front end loader. Keep in mind that with a small tractor, there's always a chance you'll need larger equipment to come in for unforeseen things your machine cannot handle. Some things are cheaper to have done than the repairs can cost by doings something stupid with too small of machine. I don't think I'd buy new with a plan to resell, there is always additional dealer markup that immediately disappears from the value of a new unit once it leaves the lot. A upper-20s horsepower B series or Max might be bigger than would be needed for the continued maintenance, but it would be able to do it, and be around for later uses you haven't thought of yet.

Thoughts on good points others made:

You could do very well considering the used market as well. As was stated, searching out the deals on good old hardware where the hours you'll add to it won't be enough to detract from the value (if used with care and properly maintained of course), you could get in the machine, use it, and get out of it, without it really costing you much of anything. Is the difference in price for an old Massey going to be that much when it went from 5100 hours in great shape to 5800 hours and still is in great shape? (you can do a LOT of work on 2.5 acres in 700 hours of runtime...)

You do also want to know what is under the ground, and how it is under the ground. All types of things can be hiding under the sod, and you want to know about them all before you plan on bringing a tractor on it. Old gas lines, septic systems, underground drainage systems, all sorts of things can be ruined even running some of the larger lawnmowers on them if they weren't installed to standards that would accommodate the weight. A neighbor I had once upon a time crashed his new Husqvarna rider into his septic tank. Top fell through, and it was quite a bit less than 1000 pounds of man and machine... I crushed a water line we have running off the hill from a cistern with the weight of my tractor because the line has slowly surfaced over the years as the hillside has moved. Now the cistern won't hold water from the spring and the pasture has a huge wet spot just below where it surfaced and was crushed.

I also think you need to plan for needing equipment you're not willing to buy; so don't overbuy in hopes of doing it all, plan on a rental if the going gets tough.

There has never been a "do all" machine created, which is why there are so many. A tractor is the most versatile hands down, but they come in a bunch of sizes for a reason. For your reasons I think you're on the right track.

 

[GManBart]

I think you could come up with something that does pretty much all of your tasks, and stay under $20K. Several of your tasks are probably better served by a backhoe than a tractor, but those get pretty pricey. I'd look for a Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB)...they're quite a bit better at backhoe functions than tractors with added BH attachments. Here's one I saw locally that looks to be a good deal at $15K:

KUBOTA L35-TRACTOR-LOADER-BACKHOE

 

[flusher]

Get yourself a diesel CUT with 30 hp (pto), hydrostatic transmission, 4WD, power steering, dual rear hydraulic remotes, single front hydraulic remote (to run the front-mounted snow blower), front end loader (FEL) with 5-ft wide bucket and skid steer quick attach option on the bucket arms so you can switch from the bucket to the snow blower.

All the major tractor manufacturers have new tractors like this in their product lines within your budget.

Good luck.