Buying Advice Mountain Tractor

[spiglett]

Hey folks!
I have 96 acres of raw mountain in east Tenn. No house, no electricity, no barn no nothing but 30 minutes of gravel road to get to it. It has been logged about 10 - 15 years ago, and therefore is pretty messed up. The loggers leave all the top of trees, branches brush. logging trails have been eroding for 10 or 15 years, briars and thorns everywhere. It needs a ton of cleaning up.
After looking around for a year or so, it seems the best tool for cleaning up would be a 4x4 tractor with a grapple loader and a bush hog on back. I could also get a back hoe attachment to help maintain the roads and trails. I first thought track loader (skid steer with tracks) with grapple but the mountain is Really Steep and rocky.
The Cub LX tractor caught my attention, with its quick attach loader. looks like a skid steer style attachment. Is it? skid steers have such a ton of options. But if it is not standard, then it will be hard to find anything to fit it?
Although the LX seems to offer what I think I need:
Compact 4x4
grapple loader
bush hog
tiller
back hoe

Any advice?
I like Cub, I have a cub lawn mower and the Volunteer UTV (love it!)
but why get a Cub/Yanmar Tractor rather than a JD or Kubota?

 

[MarkV]

Welcome to the forum. From what you describe it about sounds like you need a dozer or track loader. There is a limit how much "steep and rocky" a compact utility tractor (CUT) can handle.

Good luck on the project. Keep us updated as you get started.

MarkV

 

[smstonypoint]

Do your objectives include reforestation of the tract and its management for timber?

If so, you might qualify for cost-sharing for site preparation, planting, etc. from the Tennessee Division of Forestry. See http://www.state.tn.us/agriculture/publications/forestry/TAEP_forestlandowners.pdf.

Depending on your objectives, budget and time constraints, cost-share assistance, etc., it might be worthwhile to hire out the site preparation and then use a CUT for maintenance of the property, roads, etc.

Just my :2cents:.

Steve

 

[Licklog]

Living in the mountains myself I believe that you need something on the order of a Bobcat Mini Excavator with a grapple. A tractor would not be my first, second, or third choice for the type of work you are looking to do.

I have a neighbor with one of these machines creating a trail for me on my property which was hit hard by the Southern Pine Beetle 10 years ago. The area was almost too difficult to climb through to set the grade. Had to crawl over and under downed trees, leaners, hangers, etc.

The Bobcat has been able to make its own way through the woods; knocking down trees, digging up roots tearing down vines and low branches, dragging leaners off of the hardwoods, cutting the trail in the mountain side, grading the road as it goes. The grapple is worth "the price of admission" alone. Picks up and places trees and limbs out of the way, then later we pick them up relocate to the slash pile.

Working on the side of a raw mountainside with a tractor is a harrowing experience at best. In the best of situations you are already on a significant grade and then your wheel falls into an old tree stump hole or bounces on a hidden root or limb. That gets exciting quickly. Make sure your life insurance is paid up.:laughing:

BTW a grapple on a tractor is handy but cannot compete with a grapple on an excavator with its 360 degree rotation, 15 foot elevation, root cutting power. They are amazing to watch with a good operator. When you finish the clearing with the excavator then sell it and buy a tractor for maintenance.

Licklog

 

[scoutcub]

Hey Spig - :welcome: to TBN!

I have a similar 62 acre property in NE Ohio, it was recently logged, got stumps and tops everywhere, along with thorns, briars, brush, etc. You probably have stumps hiding under all your brush.

If you look in my avatar you'll see the weapons I chose to work the property. I started with the dozer, but kept running into stumps, so got the excavator. Got both pieces of equipment at a very good price so I can use them for a few years and sell them for close to what I've got into them.
If I had to go for only 1 piece of equipment, I'd get the biggest excavator (trackhoe) I could afford with a front blade and a hydraulic thumb. Mine has a mechanical thumb which is OK, but no match for hydraulics.
Steve has a great point about reforestation status, I would check that out as well. Some nice tax breaks and possible financial assistance, but I believe you have to put a plan together for harvesting the timber down the road.
Once you get the property cleared/trails in/homesite etc etc then sell the equipment and get the CUT. I have 3 Cub compacts that I also work the property with (and a volunteer!) but I'd love to trade one up to a LX 490 somewhere down the road.
Cub hit a home run linking up with Yanmar in 2008, and thus far the Cub/Yanmar line has been very successful. They just added the LX line this year. Kubota and JD also make great machines, just depends on what feels best for you.

good luck and keep us informed!

 

[ljohnson778]

Hey folks!
I have 96 acres of raw mountain in east Tenn. No house, no electricity, no barn no nothing but 30 minutes of gravel road to get to it. It has been logged about 10 - 15 years ago, and therefore is pretty messed up. The loggers leave all the top of trees, branches brush. logging trails have been eroding for 10 or 15 years, briars and thorns everywhere. It needs a ton of cleaning up.
After looking around for a year or so, it seems the best tool for cleaning up would be a 4x4 tractor with a grapple loader and a bush hog on back. I could also get a back hoe attachment to help maintain the roads and trails. I first thought track loader (skid steer with tracks) with grapple but the mountain is Really Steep and rocky.
The Cub LX tractor caught my attention, with its quick attach loader. looks like a skid steer style attachment. Is it? skid steers have such a ton of options. But if it is not standard, then it will be hard to find anything to fit it?
Although the LX seems to offer what I think I need:
Compact 4x4
grapple loader
bush hog
tiller
back hoe

Any advice?
I like Cub, I have a cub lawn mower and the Volunteer UTV (love it!)
but why get a Cub/Yanmar Tractor rather than a JD or Kubota?

Ok, first I'll echo what everyone else said... If your land is too steep and rocky, no CUT will serve very well for the initial clearing. That having been said, I can answer some of your questions on the lx series. First, yes it is a standard skidsteer style quick attach system, so your attachment options are wide open. Also, the loader on the lx series is a monster. It's something like 2500 pound lift capacity at the bucket pins, with an almost 4k break away capacity. Also, I have owned the new cub cadet yanmar series for a while, from an ex2900 to an ex450, now an lx450, and I can't speak highly enough about them. Great engines(guess that goes without saying) and really well put together.

 

[spiglett]

wow what a great forum.
glad to hear a lot of excitement on the Cub/Yanmar lineup.
My Volunteer UTV has been fabulous on the mountain, so Im poking at a Cub CUT now.
But the consensus is do not waste a LX4-0 on the clean up work. Get a track loader or excavator. This makes sense. It is likely this job is Much More than I anticipate. (which i thought was a lot)
thanks gize.
Ill keep in touch.

 

[Soundguy]

wow.. almost sound slike mini-dozer teritory.. one with a rear 3pt and pto.. that steep stuff can be scarry.

soundguy

 

[Little_Grizzly]

Google "Yuchai Dozer". Nice little 30HP dozer with a 3pt hitch. It's known by a lot of other names. Nortrac sold it for awhile. Tytan Tractor still sells a version of it. You can also read lots of threads about it here and on CTOA.net

Just my 2cents

 

[scoutcub]

Ok, first I'll echo what everyone else said... If your land is too steep and rocky, no CUT will serve very well for the initial clearing. That having been said, I can answer some of your questions on the lx series. First, yes it is a standard skidsteer style quick attach system, so your attachment options are wide open. Also, the loader on the lx series is a monster. It's something like 2500 pound lift capacity at the bucket pins, with an almost 4k break away capacity. Also, I have owned the new cub cadet yanmar series for a while, from an ex2900 to an ex450, now an lx450, and I can't speak highly enough about them. Great engines(guess that goes without saying) and really well put together.

Johnson -

Just curious....why did you go from the EX 450 to the LX 450?
Oh, and you need to update your signature line!