Tractor Sizing Need advice on the size of tractor to look for

[roadhunter]

I rented a mini-excavator for a weekend rate of $265.00. It was pretty darn easy to operate. I put in a 24' x 32' garage foundation 38" deep x 2' wide (all sand, so easy digging) and knocked down a bunch of small brush in 4 hours. I ran out of things to do and returned it a day and a half early. I was surprised how much work I could do with that little machine. I honestly thought it would take two days.

If I rented again, I'd get the largest compact excavator I could rent and still maneuver through the woods. I'd also get one with a thumb. I think I could pluck the OPs lot of those small trees in 2-3 days, tops, then spend 2-3 days doing any grading, site-work, road prep, etc... until the rental time ran out. Those little excavators are extremely useful and easy to operate. Just don't get one that's too small for the task.

Great advice! My thoughts exactly.

 

[jeff9366]

For a say 30HP approx tractor how does weight and size of the rear wheels fit into that equation? It seems to me that the bigger the wheels, 'and weight' the better the traction. But is there a trade off?

When you are lifting with an FEL stability is your key issue. It is VERY easy to roll a tractor with a load on the FEL bucket. It might be nice to spread the wheels but soon you can't get into the woods.

((Tracked machines/excavators are multiple times more stable than wheeled machines.))

TRACTOR FRAME WEIGHT, therefore, is desirable.

Traction is affected by tractor weight, type of tire (R1 ag tires more traction than R4 industrial tires) and by load on the Three Point Hitch.

(I assume every tractor working in woods has four wheel drive.)

Three Point Hitch transfers implement weight to the rear tires through the two Lower Links and to the front tires when the one Three Point Hitch Top Link is in compression.

New tractors all over the world have 99% the same Three Point Hitch design. Three Point Hitches come in five sizes, Category 0 - Category 4. Twenty horsepower to forty-five horsepower tractors have the original size: Category 1. Other sizes came later.

 

[MossRoad]

1. I have more time than money
2. I am not planning on buying new
3. I would personally rather buy than rent.

The plot is actually 2 acres but .5 acre is already cleared of and has a very small 24*28 house on it.
By buying you always have an asset and you are not confined to getting everything done at once. I agree on buying, and selling after the job is finished. Being new to these things after 50 years I might take some time to get up to speed, but Youtube helps a lot. I am not in a big rush, I would like to have it cleared out by the middle of August though so I have a good 8 months to get the job done.

I have an 'opportunity' to get a case 580B for $3000 and it needs about $1800 work in parts & labor. Is that big enough? LOL!!! I Just don't know if I want to get involved in a machine with a known issue and who knows what else may come up, even though I do want to build a house with a basement in a couple of years.

The property is narrow front to back 160ft*560ft approx. The drive way was determined by the path of least resistance. It is straight but not far enough to the side of the property so I will have to reroute that. But that again is not the biggest priority, probably the second priority after clearing the property. So I understand the place for BIG equipment. For a say 30HP approx tractor how does weight and size of the rear wheels fit into that equation? It seems to me that the bigger the wheels, 'and weight' the better the traction. But is there a trade off?

If you can get a 580B for $4800 that's almost 5 weeks of rental that a one week rental of an excavator that could do a better job. The job would be done in a week and you'd have $3800 left towards a good tractor. Good luck with your project and search. :thumbsup:

 

[joeu235]

you could probably get a skid steer operator in there for $600 a day. It would take me 1 - 2 days

 

[Integr8er]

I don't know what the rates are in your area but where I live I can hire a darn good operator with a finish dozer for $85 an hour and a $400 minimum. He could absolutely clear 1.5 acres of stuff like that in less than a day. Now mind you I went through the same process as you at one point although I am working on 100 acres not 1.5 so my choices have been different, but still it would have cost me much less to hire out the work than it did to do it myself, but I do it because I love it and wanted to learn how and be able to do it when I was available. So my best opinion is hire it or rent what you need to clear it then buy what you need to maintain it.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I would either rent a compact excavator with a hydraulic thumb, or buy a used one that I could sell after I was finished. If you buy a used one and don't overpay, you can get most or all of your money back when you sell it. The only problem for me is that I don't know what to look for when buying a used one, so I could buy an expensive bucket of parts if I wasn't careful.

Because you want to plant the property after it's cleared, you will need to remove the roots also. That's where an excavator with a thumb would be great.

An excavator is MUCH faster than a backhoe for this kind of work because the excavator can dig, move, dig, move, etc. The backhoe has to set up, get in the backhoe seat, dig, take it down, move, set it up again, etc.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

I had a dozer operator regrade my back yard (because it sloped toward the house) and then spread topsoil. He charged about $80/hr and had it done in two partial days. Total bill was $800.

 

[TJP89]

I don't care who you are or what you have, clearing that is going to make a mess. The OP seems OK with learning and taking his time, In his case I would by a good used tractor and go at it. 40/50 HP should easily do it, especially with a backhoe. Less HP would work, just take longer. We all know that a dedicated crew with the right equipment would do this is a snap.

To the OP, what exactly do you plan to do after clearing, because that will be a factor in what you buy up front.

 

[Integr8er]

I had a dozer operator regrade my back yard (because it sloped toward the house) and then spread topsoil. He charged about $80/hr and had it done in two partial days. Total bill was $800.

As I posted before, I second this plan, what's more if the dozer guy has a root rake then that is definitely the solution. Big trees when they get pushed over will pull the root ball up with them, it's those small ones that are a pain. They just bend over and then flip back up behind you unless you scrape off several inches of that expensive topsoil. A root rake just plucks out the roots. If you don't know what you are buying and you don't know how to work on it then you will risk possibly a lot of money buying one then trying to sell it, what's more you won't be able to move it yourself so there will be transport costs which will likely add up to as much as it would cost to hire it out. I have an old Allis Chalmers HD6G high Lift dozer that I paid $3500 for, but it cost me $1000 to have it moved to my farm.

I guess there is one option I didn't mention. Buy what you need to maintain it like a 25-30 HP compact with a loader and small backhoe and take the next year and a half and enjoy your weekends playing in the dirt. You can get it done with as little as a chainsaw and something to drag the logs away with, it's just a matter of if you want it done or you want an experience.

 

[Tractor Tom]

However you decide to clear your land now, buy the largest amount of Tractor HP you cam afford. Greater HP means greater lift capacity, greater digging capacity, greater implement size. As they say with cars, there's no replacement for displacement!!
It might be difficult now, but envision what you will want / need the tractor for in the future, buy a tractor with that criteria in mind.