Massey 1760M or 4707 or ? = Stuck newbie

[Crazydad]

Hi all,
I have been lurking here for a few years and enjoying all the info everyone brings. I live in central Texas and have about 8 acres divided into lots that I have to get ready to develop. That includes building a gravel road, removing cedars and everything but oaks, scrapping up the rocks to bushhog yearly and build fencing.

I also have taken over a 125 acre family property in central Arkansas with trees, about 50-60 acres cleared with weedy hay growing, a 1.5 acre pond to maintain and about 1500 gravel road. There is a 1960ish Massey 65 there with a 6 Shredder there that I have been learning how to use (run one of these out of gas and you will quickly learn all the parts of the motor).

The plan is to buy a good tractor to work in Texas for a year or so and trailer it to farm about 4 times a year to work while I am there. Then later permanently move to to the farm. The tow vehicle is a newer F250 diesel.

Ive looking at Massey because my current tractor sits outside and always runs. I was looking at the 2606h but from this site I think a cab is what I need. So I am at the 1760M but after speaking with Brunos tractor in Cabot Arkansas he said I need a bigger tractor with more hydraulics for attachments so in comes the 4707. Both have good reviews and their about 6 thousand or so apart in price so bigger is better but then the trees come into play and the 7 foot width and trailering.

For attachments I need a box blade the width of the tractor, front controls for a grapple, shredder, and some kind of rock bucket to start. The above dealer sells you attachments a little over cost when you buy the tractor like a pick you package. But they are Woods and I dont know if the quality is ok? Now the big one you guys have me hooked on is the front shredder or a mulcher! Man would that help me at both places, at the farm I tried the mow in reverse with the shredder up and it tore though all the under brush and small growth up to 3? Maybe that one is a if it sounds too good to be true then it is not.

After reading here I looked a koti and LS but the price is the about the same. I just left the farm and forgot to get pictures but I will see if I have old ones.

So do I get the 4707 for a great price from brunos and spend the bucks for a 28 foot trailer and deal with the extra height. Or go with the 1760m and possibly have to sell it to run bigger attachments later and have more depreciation on the sale. Thanks for your help.


[SUP][/SUP]

 

[Jchonline]

Towing - I have an F250 as well so guessing you are around 15k for max towing capacity not considering combined weight limits and such. 4707 ROPS is 7125 base weight, 8k with loader no bucket. Once you load the rears (if you do) + 1200# and the cab and fluids you are probably at 10-11k no other implements. If you have a 3000# trailer you are almost at your limit. The math is probably off, but you get my meaning. Consider this carefully...weight adds up very fast.

Land clearing - tractors arent the best at this. Cedar trees have terrible root systems, you probably cant just push them over easily but will see if others here have more experience. Do you need to excavate for the road? Just wondering if you are going to need to rent or hire some of this out. Typically roads are built with bulldozers and excavators

The 4707 will be great for mowing (provided you dont have tight spots), fencing - auger I assume.

A few questions:

1. Are you planning on baling hay in the future? If so you will eventually need more tractor for 60 acres.
2. Are you talking about a forestry mulcher on the front? If so you are you sure you have the hydraulic flow to run it?


Forestry mulcher - you need different glass if you get a cab...wood can come flying out and crack standard glass. If you dont have a cab and adequate flying debris protection, you should not be using one. I had a contractor do 20 acres of beetle kill pine on my place, 100HP fecon. It threw large chunks of wood 50+ yards at Nolan Ryan speeds.

 

[CHF4]

The 4707 is just so much more tractor.. also if you have any little ones that would ride with you the buddy seat on 4707 is nice. The tractor is a good bit larger though, for better or worse. Kubota m7060 is similar size (cab smaller) but weighs a bit less also which may be easier on your truck/trailer if that’s an issue. I had it priced around the same as the 4707. Kubota reliability is good also- this 4707 is newer but so far haven’t seen/read many issues.

 

[Crazydad]

Jchonline, you are right I will be at the towing limit but after reading a bunch on the ford truck enthusiast forum the consensus is most are running fifth wheels over weight and the truck handles it fine. But I don’t like the idea of getting in trouble. It’s a 11 hour drive. I have been speaking to Texas Pride about a trailer and they recommend 8000 lb axels to be safe or perhaps 9000 but the price goes up quick.

As for land clearing, trees in Texas are not too tall so in the past with rented equipment like bobcat I have push them over and pushed on the root ball until the come out then push to a burn pile. On larger I just cut them and come back in a year for the roots. Sounds like the forestry mulcher is out with a cab. How about the brush shark, land shark, lane shark type attachments with a cab.

For auger around here the big thing is the belltec tm48 for the rock and straight holes. Some guys just to holes for posts as a business. It’s around $9000 not too many used around.

Not going to bale now but maybe later. Someone was baling for free just to keep it mowed. I’ll just mow it and ask my tax guy if there would be any benefits to selling hay for a small profit this year. Next year I might bale or turn the soil and replant to get the junk out. When you say more tractor for 60 acres do you mean bigger the the 4707. Then I would get the smaller one for now. If you look at the picture that’s the smaller 5 acres fenced around the house and pond. Then the bigger area beyond. I need to clean everything up and push back the tree creeping back into the open field.

 

[Crazydad]

CHF4, thanks I’ll check out the m7060. If it’s the same price that’s good. Thanks.

 

[Crazydad]

Here is some pictures of the pond at the farm I have to clear everything except the two tall pines. All those trees suck out the water and can compromise the dam. The trail is the dam and both sides must go. I will cut down the bigger ones and pull the out with the tractor. I was hoping I could shred most of this.

 

[Crazydad]

This is the Texas property. Most of this needs to go. I keep some cedars that have straight trunks and are not near oaks to have some green after I limb them up.

 

[Jchonline]

Jchonline, you are right I will be at the towing limit but after reading a bunch on the ford truck enthusiast forum the consensus is most are running fifth wheels over weight and the truck handles it fine. But I don’t like the idea of getting in trouble. It’s a 11 hour drive. I have been speaking to Texas Pride about a trailer and they recommend 8000 lb axels to be safe or perhaps 9000 but the price goes up quick.

As for land clearing, trees in Texas are not too tall so in the past with rented equipment like bobcat I have push them over and pushed on the root ball until the come out then push to a burn pile. On larger I just cut them and come back in a year for the roots. Sounds like the forestry mulcher is out with a cab. How about the brush shark, land shark, lane shark type attachments with a cab.

For auger around here the big thing is the belltec tm48 for the rock and straight holes. Some guys just to holes for posts as a business. It’s around $9000 not too many used around.

Not going to bale now but maybe later. Someone was baling for free just to keep it mowed. I’ll just mow it and ask my tax guy if there would be any benefits to selling hay for a small profit this year. Next year I might bale or turn the soil and replant to get the junk out. When you say more tractor for 60 acres do you mean bigger the the 4707. Then I would get the smaller one for now. If you look at the picture that’s the smaller 5 acres fenced around the house and pond. Then the bigger area beyond. I need to clean everything up and push back the tree creeping back into the open field.

1. Trailering - that trailer is probably going to weigh 4000 lbs itself, be sure to check. Like I said it adds up quick!

2. A Tractor is not a SS. If you go pushing on trees like you can with a SS, you are likely going to bend the FEL arms. As you know, SS arms are reinforced by the frame when in the fully down position, giving incredible strength. Tractors with a FEL do not have this support.

3. I grew up in TX, still have 100 acre family hay/cattle farm in Athens. I know cedars all too well, I just havent pushed them over with tractors

4. Forestry mulcher - you may be able to get bulletproof or comparable glass installed, it will just cost more. I am not sure. I know for SS mulchers, they require special glass for the mulcher models. Not sure on the land shark, but a well made bush hog on a 4707 should cut some serious growth. Some rotary cutters can work on 4" saplings...that is some serious cutting!

5. Ouch on the auger, any chance you can rent one? Assuming you dont want to go into the fencing business

6. Baling - good, it is expensive. Get ready for a new tractor and some serious equipment investments if so. Another option popular in TX is baling on the halves. You let a larger operation bale it, they take 1/2 and leave you 1/2 of the bales. You could either sell them or use to feed as needed.

7. More tractor IF you are planning on baling/haying is what I meant. The 4707 seems great for 60 acres for everything but baling.

8. Keep in mind if you are mowing, you are not going to want to mow 50 acres with a bush hog. It will take you days. You may want something with more width (multi spindle, batwing, etc). We used what I called "weed slingers" that was a gearbox tied to the blade and wheels. It was a pull behind. Wheels turned, blades turned. We use this for field mowing when not haying. Not sure what others use today.

 

[Jchonline]

The 4707 is just so much more tractor.. also if you have any little ones that would ride with you the buddy seat on 4707 is nice. The tractor is a good bit larger though, for better or worse. Kubota m7060 is similar size (cab smaller) but weighs a bit less also which may be easier on your truck/trailer if that’s an issue. I had it priced around the same as the 4707. Kubota reliability is good also- this 4707 is newer but so far haven’t seen/read many issues.

A user on these forums "Bigpuddie" has a 4707, he loves it, you may want to PM him for more feedback.

 

[Jchonline]

Here is some pictures of the pond at the farm I have to clear everything except the two tall pines. All those trees suck out the water and can compromise the dam. The trail is the dam and both sides must go. I will cut down the bigger ones and pull the out with the tractor. I was hoping I could shred most of this.

You may very well be able to pull some of these right out of the ground. Tractors are great at pulling. You will need a drawbar and an awesome chain. Just dont pull in a situation where a tree could fall on you (ie get a chain longer than the tree is tall). The shorter cedars seem fine. Other options are tree pullers (some have hydraulic jaws) that you can grab the base and rip it up. For the cedars that might work well. For tall trees it is a bad idea as one could come loose and fall toward you.