Land Planes, Rear Blades, and Boxblades

[msmud]

Steve,
I have been debating the very things you talk about. I live in Lafayette County MS by the way, a couple of hundred miles north of where you were.

This land is getting a lot less hillier thanks to my Komatsu, and a good part of it I plan to keep in trees anyway. There seems to be a bias on the site against maintaining larger plots of land with the smaller CUTs. I have written before that my mom bushhogs 40 or her 100 acres with a 3320 cab model and a 5 foot bushhog. Takes her about 45 hrs per year to cut it twice. It's no big deal in airconditioning.

Right now I am leaning toward keeping the dozer, because it is so d***ed useful, and getting a cheaper model Deere hydrostatic tractor that can power and carry a 6 foot hog, something basic like Woods HC72, 594#, 20 min PTO HP. Right now I've got about 15 - 20 acres opened up and I expect to stop at around 30 or so acres, some of that achieved with timber cutting.

Tim

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I think that you will find that the day that you sell your dozer will be a sad day in your life. You have enough land that even after you think that you are done with it, you will find a job that would be perfect for the dozer. My brother and I have 120 acres, started working the land with an old 580 Case CK backhoe and and old Case 310D dozer. We have many more tractors today, have traded up to a newer 580E backhoe. Still have the 310D dozer. Don't use it all that often, but it sure is nice to have when it is needed.

Long story short, if you can afford to keep the dozer, keep it. As far as getting a utility tractor, instead or thinking of getting by with a smaller one, maybe think about how big of one would work for you. Yes a 35-40HP tractor will do the job, but in how much time? Our first utility tractor is a 75HP machine, works great for getting stuff done. Not so good for clean up in smaller or tighter places. For that I bought a 32HP CUT, this fills the bill for us. It is almost impossible to have one machine to do it all when you have a larger piece of property.

Just my opinion, others will vary.

 

[jenkinsph]

Tim,
Choosing the right tractor can be a tough balancing act for sure hope you can find something that fills the bill for you.

My 110tlb was my 18th tractor purchase and the 4520 was my 19th, having had many tractors from 14hp through 175hp I have decent idea of what the various machines will do. I look upon the 4520 as a small tractor yet is had a reasonable amount of power for running either th 3pt MX6 or an MX8 pull type mower. I don't think you would regret the increased power and abilities of the 4520 over the 3032E or 3038E.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

IMO, from reading this thread I have 2 suggestions...

WWSD (What Would Spudland Dave Do?) = Keep the dozer and buy something along the lines of a 3038e or one of the Budget 5x series machines. If your budget allowed, I'd say go get a 3x20 Cab machine....

Option B, IF you do sell the dozer, I'd second jenkinsph's reccomendation of a 4520.

Option C...and one I'd think about depending on your longer range plans...buy a good used older Farm tractor (IH 1066, JD 4230, 4010, or similar)..for +/-15k you could have 100 hp and a 10' mower....

Like you mentioned, rather then sit in an open station, I'd rather downsize tractor and spend a little more time in a nice Cab.

You are right, there is a bias here against larger properties and small tractors...IMO any job you can do with large equipment you can do with small equipment...The only thing different is the time required to complete the job.
I think the bias is because alot of what is done here is seriously "recreational" more then anything, yeah I know we're actually getting work done...so the minute its not fun anymore people want to upgrade.

 

[msmud]

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses and suggestions.

I can't ignore Spudland Dave's point that this is recreational for most of us, not professional. I spend about 70 - 80 hours per year on the dozer. That's alot of money per hour. My mom uses her 3320 Cab model about 50 - 60 hrs per year total; still not real cheap per hour. So if I get a 4520 with MX8, this is getting back to dozer economics as I reduce the number of hours needed to get the work done, and sharply increase the cost.

All of this is fun, but sooner or later the costs matter. Every time a good man or woman asserts that you can't have too much tractor on this site, I can just see those executives smiling up there in Moline.

I'm thinking more and more about that 3032E for my bushhogging!

Tim