moving dirt

[Anonymous Poster]

Help. I recently bought a 2 ac rectangle sodded plot in NW Fl w/ my home and a 1/4 ac pond. I need to keep the whole thing manicured. The place is flat as a pancake (see NW Fl, above). The house is on the front ac. and the pond is on the back ac.

My plans for the place include moving the excavated dirt (sandy material, see NW Fl, above) from the pond to the front of the property and create some raised berms for a more interesting 'golf course' look and help get rid of the pancake effect. The excavated dirt was spread around the back rim of the pond. I want to make a gentler slope to the water for a more pleasing look and to capture some runoff. As best as I can tell, I need to move about 30 to 50 cu yards of dirt.

I was thinking to buy a 'bota bx2200 or a b7500 or something similiar w/ a fel and mmm w/ turf tires to use as a mower (90% of the time) and garden tractor (10%) and to pull double duty as an earth mover (one time job). My justification to myself and the family CFO for the cost of a fel is that I would pay someone the cost of the fel to move the dirt around. Am I sane? A buddy at work said I was insane. It would be much cheaper to pay someone w/ a 'real' earth mover to do the job in only one day and I will spend weeks moving this dirt w/ a toy tractor.

What are your thoughts?

 

[ByuBill]

I guess that it all depends on wheather 'you' want have some fun, or pay to watch 'someone else' have some fun. Since the fel would only be for a one time use. Aw, what the heck. Buy it, use it, and then sell it. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
Bill

 

[Egon]

30 to 50 cubic yards of dirt isn't that much. The tractors you mentioned will do it easily. Then there is also the possibility the lanscaping has to be touched or rearanged a bit here and there every few years.

Egon

 

[8NTX]

I agree with the above post from purely a financial standpoint. I hired a med. size dozer and operator for some similar work at my place. It was absolutely amazing at what he did in the span of 8 hours. My cost was $500. Assuming that somebody could do it for that, a FEL is lots more unless you are gonna use it again. But I also have to agree about watching others have fun..../w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"...create some raised berms for a more interesting 'golf course' look..."</font color=blue>

Well, first of all, I'm ALWAYS agreeable to anything that involves "golf course looks! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Secondly, I say you buy the tractor. You'll find that once you have it, there are a lot more uses for the tractor and FEL than just the one time dirt moving job. Think about it. How many "beverages" could that FEL carry down to that pretty pond of yours for a nice family picnic /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif?

Go for the tractor!!

 

[Youare]

Having a tractor that is able to do what you want gives you the option later on of making minor changes to the landscape as you desire. Having someone else do the work for you leaves you at their mercy, plus the fact that the longer it takes them the more it costs you.

If you can swing it with the CFO buy the tractor it will always be worth about you paid for it a few years later and your land value will increase because of the added landscaping./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Randy

 

[MossRoad]

Why pay someone a little when you can spend alot more on your own? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Do you want a tractor or not? Of course you do, we all do.

As for moving 50 yards of dirt, my large bucket is 10 cubic feet. A cubic yard of dirt is 27 cubic feet. So it would take me about 3 trips to move a yard of loose sandy soil. So 150 trips back and forth across two acres would take me, based on my limited experience, about a day, give or take a few hours and depending on how many neighbors I stopped and shot the bologna with.

 

[BB_TX]

As much as I think a man should have every toy he can afford, I would think twice about an FEL on a tractor to be used 90% of the time mowing less than 2 acres, especially if you will be mowing around trees, shrubs, sheds, house, etc. At least get a quick attach FEL so you can drop the bucket off when not needed. The FEL will restrict your maneuverability considerably. Also you must be careful with the swing of the bucket when turning (wanna see pictures of where I almost took off the side of my shop door /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.

 

[MossRoad]

That's the beauty of the Power Trac PT400 series. You by the base tractor and it comes with the lift arms attached permanently. All of the implements are purchased separately. They attach to the lift arms in a matter of seconds, literally. I have changed from pallet forks to bucket in under 15 seconds without getting off of the tractor. Prices for the implements are very reasonable. Small loader bucket $300.00. Larger loader bucket, $360.00. Finish mower, $1200.00, 4' brush hog, $900.00 and lots of other implements. You might want to check them out just for fun. Interesting stuff to look at. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.power-trac.com>Click here for Power Trac website</A>

 

[BB_TX]

That passes the only hurdle I can think of. I would say go for it./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Richard]

<font color=blue>Aw, what the heck. Buy it, use it, and then sell it.</font color=blue>

Totally agree with you. Had work to do around house/farm other. Wife would NOT let me get a tractor ANYTHING, then she almost insisted I go ahead and buy this 90 hp Industrial Behemouth Loader/Backhoe affectionately known as Brutus!!
/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Goal is to buy, use then sell. She just last night made mention that even if we "lose" $5,000 on the sell of it, we more than made up for it with the work we got done.
AND..it was always there on demand ready for work. NO renting then having to deal with delivery or weather.

 

[wasabi]

Hey MossRoad, Would you mind commenting on how well your PT handles a load of heavier dirt, snow or gravel while under way? (I assume you have a "larger" bucket) Any idea what load yours is rated for...and do you have weights or liquid filled tires? Thx, Sabi

 

[rdricks]

My wife was the same way - not too excited about getting a tractor. I let it sit for a while, and she kept coming up with other items we could do if we had one. By last weekend she was telling everyone we were "getting a tractor". So who am I to let her down? Put the order in on Monday.

 

[MossRoad]

I have both a 5 cubic foot bucket with teeth and the larger 10 cubic foot light material bucket. It handles it very well. Two weeks ago I made about 50 trips across the outfield of a softball diamond moving old sod rolls that had been cut last year to enlarge the infield. I was using the small bucket with teeth(add $100.00 for teeth, well worth it). I had it floored in both directions, full and empty. The top speed is rated at 8MPH. It was very comfortable. The loader is rated for 800 pounds. It will definately lift that much safely. I do not have any fluids in my turf tires, as I want to keep the machine light for its main purpose, which will be mowing my lawn.

Anyway, back to the original topic, I think that this tractor, or just about any well thought out tractor, is a tremendous asset for a homeowner. And the more versatile the better. The more you can do with it in the least amount of time will give you more time to spend doing something that you enjoy, which in our cases is finding things to do on tractors /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif.

 

[frank_f15]

IN my case i use the fel very much, moving dirt, moving snow, pushing back brush, moving blown doen tress, so for me a tractor with out a fel is not a tractor.if u are absolutly sure u won't need the fell again then don't buy it, but it is amazing the things u can find to do with it.if in doubt, get the fel. if u do get don't expect yours will ever be used like this/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Wow. Thanks for all the comments. You guys are like a 12 step support group for tractor junkies!

Hello, everybody, my name is Mark and I'm a a a a tractor junkie and I don't even own a tractor yet.

OK, I'm gonna try and figger out a way to afford a FEL on a bx2200 or b7500. Next question: How long does it take to put the FEL on and take it off? Is there a quick disconnect kit?

mark

 

[rmcess]

Welcome to the Board!
I have had my BX2200 for a little over a month now, I took the front loader off one time just to see how to do it. With looking at the manual and taking it off it was about 5 minutes.
I put it back on the next day (just seemed naked without it) and that too was a very simple one man operation in under 5 minutes. I plan to take it off for mowing but since it can go on the same time as the mower I'll probably have them both on at times.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Your friend is right. You're nuts. Or maybe you just haven't priced out the alternatives.

If all you need is a mower then a ZTR-type mower will probably be quicker and do a better job than a small tractor with MMM. And cost less.

I agree that paying an excavator $500, or maybe even $200-$300 to rent a machine so you can play in the dirt, should get the dirt work done quickly and cheaply.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, since you have your heart set on a BX, I'll bow out with this... On my Power Trac PT425 it take me 15 seconds to take off my FEL and put it back on again. Is that fast enough for you? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[TresCrows]

No your friend is a nut, you are sane! I would get the BX with FEL. The BX is a superb mower for a two acre plot. The FEL snaps on and off in a ---snap!!!!!!--and so does the MMM. I do dirt work with the MMM removed and mow with the FEL removed.
Basically you want us to justify to you why we bought tractors and why you should also--because we wanted them and because you do too--that is why. You will find many uses for the FEL and if in the end it just sits in the garage you can sell it easily I am sure. The BX will be the envy of your neighborhood, quiet, smooth, powerful and capable, manuverable. Your property will continue to need maintenance and etc for many years providing plenty of opportunities to give the BX a workout.
Yeah, some people look at me funny when they find I have a tractor but you know, they live in a neighborhood with quarter acre or less lots and they simply cannot conceive of the work required on 5 or six acres much less 10 or so. I think they are the nuts for living in latter day cliff dwellings.
I think you can keep the BX busy and if you have to hire someone to set out your basic layout so what!!!! Also, I think you may be underestimating the costs of hiring it out, you could easily spend thousands moving dirt around. I am putting in a well, I have a 2410 and a BX, I do not have a trencher (4,000 dollars new). I will need to run lines, pipe, wires etc, I am going to either rent a trencher or hire it done--does this make my tractors a bad investment---not to me--they get plenty of exercise.
J