New guy starting from scratch needs some advice

[Bee950]

Been lurking for a while, so I know some people on here have a lot of good advice. By trade I am an aircraft mechanic, and I have remodeled homes in the past, so I know what I am getting into.

I am retiring from the Army next year and plan on building a home on land we own. I also need to build a barn to house my side business. I dont own a riding mower, let alone anything else to build the place, but I am fixing to correct that by buying a Bobcat S650 and using it as a general purpose machine to do what I need.

I need to put in a driveway that will be about 400 yards long. The good news is I have a mountain of road base sitting on the land that is free. It should be enough to put in the road and a base for my barn. As soon as that is in, I need to put up a 30x60 pole barn. After that I can start on the house. I want to do everything that I can to save money, and just for the fact that I love building things.


If you had to start over from scratch with nothing ( as I am) would you start with a skid steer?

 

[Carl_NH]

Welcome to TBN!

Sounds like you are going to have some fun in the next few years. The Bobcat is a great machine for moving materials and lifting things, and it does have a number of attachments but are expensive.

For utility I and the projects you have I would get a TLB - Tractor Loader Backhoe combo with removable BH, for 3PTH implement usage. You can get rear blades, rakes, mowers, rototillers and all sorts of attachments for the rear you cant get with a skid steer.

For brands/models - used JD110, Kubota B26, L39, L48 and these are all in the mid $20 to mid $30K range. You will have a lot of utility with these machines plus with a QA (skid steer type) front bucket you can use grapples to clear brush, and many other skid steer attachments.

So my vote is a used 30-40HP TLB unit and the ones mentioned are made as integrated frame TLB's vs add on BH to a standard tractor so are more rugged overall.

Carl

 

[Localmotion]

Welcome :welcome:

Carl_NH is spot on with his advice - you'll definately find in the long run that a tractor suits you needs better when it comes to dealing with the land & garden.

If you've already committed to buy the skid steer, then it's fine as there is still lots you can do with it to start off with... putting in the driveway / hard landscaping etc... You can always hire in a 360 when it comes to digging footings etc (and personally I always perfer a 360 over a 180 backhoe for speed). Also if you're new to using this type of equipment, start off with something that you don't mind getting a little dented - once you've had the practice putting down your drive, laying hardcore and remodelling your land, you can buy yourself something better...

Good luck, and be sure to keep us updated :thumbsup:

 

[creekbend]

I tend to agree with the other previous members replies. I have used both of those two types of equipment. But, all in all, I sincerely believe that a tractor with implements would be best in the long run. It is your decision. My reply is only my thoughts. Best wishes in regards to all your future endeavors.

 

[clemsonfor]

I think if i was to buy a place i would buy a tractor. You can move dirt, grade dirt, dig dirt, move limbs clear brush, mow bushhog etc with a tractor. If you need the lifting power or speed of a skid steer you can rent them for $250ish a day here. But the tractor will be more usefull today and in the future. Of coure you can always sell a skidsteer once graded built etc but a good 35hp or so tractor can move a good bit of dirt and level etc, may be slower but i think you can pick up a used model cheaper than a Skid. also bushhogs and grapples etc for a skid are super pricy and rare used. Unless your digging stumps or foundations, or ditches or trenching, im not sure the back hoe is really necessary but its your choice.

 

[Bee950]

The tractor backhoe is something I will look at. I need to dig a septic system, and I was going to use my friends backhoe.

The brush on my property is very thick! I like the idea of the brush cutter on front of the skid steer so I can come down on the brush. You cant drive a tractor in my thick brush, and I dont want to spend the day driving backward. What can you put on the front of a tractor backhoe?

Forgot to mention. An air conditioned cab is a must!

 

[Localmotion]

The tractor backhoe is something I will look at. I need to dig a septic system, and I was going to use my friends backhoe.

The brush on my property is very thick! I like the idea of the brush cutter on front of the skid steer so I can come down on the brush. You cant drive a tractor in my thick brush, and I dont want to spend the day driving backward. What can you put on the front of a tractor backhoe?

Forgot to mention. An air conditioned cab is a must!

If you go down the tractor route, look for a reverse drive (Pasquali make several models) or something with a front 3pl and pto as well as the loader (which will cost you more). You can get hyraulic flails to fit onto a loader, but in my experience they are not as good as something working driectly off the pto (mainly because most tractor fel auxilary outputs aren't designed to drive something as meaty as a flail.

You may not want to spend all day going backward - but remember that you only have to do it once. When the brush is cleared you can see to drive forwards in future, and the cost saving may change your mind!

Air conditioned cab is a great idea - just look out for low branches when your clearing the bruch though!!!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Have you considered and priced a dozer to come in and grade the road bed and clear the brush. A medium sized dozer like a D6 can do a lot of work in a day or two. At about $85 per hour, they are a good buy for the work done. I would get a used TLB to work what ever I could with it and hire out the dirt work and shrub clearing to a dozer. You dont say how much land you have but if you have 400 yards of road to get to the house place then it must be a substantial amount of acreage so I would suggest a 35-50 HP TLB that you could use a 6 foot bush hog with to keep all your stuff mowed and a box blade or straight grader blade to keep the road maintained.

 

[Qapla]

...For brands/models - used JD110, Kubota B26, L39, L48...

I would consider the Kubota L59 also. It is a bit larger and will do a great amount of work. As for mowing backward, with the L59 (and perhaps something on the order of the L48) you should be able to drive forward with the FEL bucket to clear much of that brush. If it is light enough to bush hog, then a FEL should have no problem with it. I push over "brush" much to large to mow with our NH TC40D on a regular basis.

 

[Carl_NH]

Gary's spot on - make a master plot plan, grades, and roughly where you want to build and then have a D6 or similar come in for a few days and develop the "core" plan and grade.

This "site development" or master plan will serve you well in planning not just today but for trees, gardens, windbreaks, and the "long term view" of what you want in 10-15 years from now.

Its easy to site a house, or a barn location, then build that, then 2-5 years later dig a trench for a water line, then 4 years after that build another shed, and need water and electricity.

All this is disruptive to dig up stuff again (plants, pipes and wires) so a master plan with piping, electrical, septic and well, buildings and trees will pay off long term.

Do a plan, engineer review, plan some more then act.

By the way a grapple on a 40HP machine will clear a lot of knarly brush..

Carl

 

[Bee950]

I am working on the master plan now. I borrowed a friends small tractor to brush cut the clear areas where the road and barn will go, so tomorrow will be spent mowing weeds. A lot of this property hasnt been touched in 100 years, and in one 100 acre block, only 5 acres or so are clear. A D11 would be nice, but that isnt going to happen. I would spend days if not months in reverse on a tractor! The Davco brush cutter is on the short list...

Once I get it down to where I can actually see the grade, I will have a better idea of what needs done. The place I picked out for the house and drive is pretty level.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wouldnt think that you would want to clear 100 year old trees, just the small scrub stuff. A D6 will do that with ease and is really not that expensive when you look at the work it does. I assume that like most retired military, you will be looking at a second career and not want to spend 24-7 working on underbrushing. Getting too aggressive with tractor or other small equipment will cost you in repairs and wear and tear on the equipment much more than the dozer work. I know it is tough to lay out the money lump sum like that, but really that is the cheapest in the long run.
Get your tractor with FEL and add a backhoe if you really need it. I do a lot of stuff with my B26 but it isnt a land clearing machine. Yesterday I cleaned up a blown down pine with it that was about 12" at the butt, dug up the stump, loaded up the roots and hauled away the tree, It took me about an hour on the one tree, so my comment is while a TLB can be used to remove trees, it isnt the most effective tool for the job.
With a 50 HP tractor with heavy duty bush hog, you can simply push over much of the scrub stuff with the FEL and chop it up with the bush hog. I cleared a lot of my place with a 45HP CUT and Bush Hog but pretty much did away with the hog in the process. Any thing that I could pushover with the tractor got chomped with the cutter. With the toothbar on the FEL, I scraped up the remains of larger ones into burn piles. My point is, you dont have to mow in reverse for scrub removal, if fact that is a good way to bend up your mower like I did backing into a briar thicketwith mine an hit an unseen object the pushed in the sheet metal that the blades the chewed up a bit. The tail end is not as strong as the front and hitting immovable objects with it will really bend it up, break off the tail wheels and even warp the whole frame. Best way is to lower your FEL with the bucket tilted up slightly so it will ride up on rocks etc and go really slow in thickets where you cant see what is there. For 4" diameter trees you may need to raise the bucket high to get some leverage to push them over but lower it down as the tree starts to go over.
Good Luck in what ever you decide to do.

 

[Bee950]

Thanks for all your information. I will be looking at tractors this week to see what will work for me.

 

[clemsonfor]

Your retired military and can afford 100 acres! Must have been smart all those years and saved and used the housing stipend and no more and not bought a new escalade every 4 years and pimped it out with 26'' ers. I work for the military on active bases and see it all the time. Even see many guys retirement age and they have nothing casue they spent it all or were so underpaid that they could not save.

Congradualtions on retirement and thank you for your service.

Also being a forester i suggest NOT pushing over 100 year old trees. You may want to get the state forestry agency out there for an opinion. If you want much of it cleared you could log it and then use that money to rent a track hoe to stump the place. All the small brush will be pull or run over in the skidding process, opening it up where you can drve a tractor in there.

 

[Bee950]

I have no plans on mowing down the big trees, but the brush is so thick in spots you cant spit one foot into the wood line. After looking at options, a skid steer is still at the front of the line. It seems to be the most versatile for clearing brush, putting in the road, building the house, running an auger for fence, a trencher for the water line, etc, etc,....

I cut brush clearing an area for the barn yesterday. Once it got to 100 degrees outside, The fun factor died pretty quick. A skid steerwith AC (or anything with an enclosed cab and AC) is a necessity since the sun and I dont get along anymore....

 

[jrepp44]

Can you post some pictures? I wasn't aware the hill country was that bushy.