Like you I have 10 acres, very flat, including 28 almond trees remaining from an old orchard. Last May I paid $12,600 for a new B7510HST with LA302 FEL. Don't put many hours on the tractor (31 hrs presently). Sounds to me like a pretty good price for one with 83 hours.
In June I bought a KK box blade (48") for $375 at Tractor Supply Co. and a KK brush hog (48") for $675 also at TSC. I've used the BB to cut a half-mile exercise path along my fence line. Now that the rains have reduced the grass fire hazard, I'll get the hog out next week and do some major weed whacking.
In August I bought a used Yanmar RS1200 tiller (48") for $300 from Lane Tractor in Los Molinos. Plan to use this in March to landscape about 1/2 acre around my new house. I'll probably get some type of lawn tractor for the grass. The Kubota has ag tires and they really tear up landscaping. And the
B7510 is a bit too large to navigate around all of the planting areas currently in the landscape plan.
I've found that the FEL is a must. I've used it a lot for moving material, lifting and toting jobs, excavating for paver block walkways and for a future pergola (one of next year's projects).
The Kubota dealer welded three chain hooks on the FEL bucket that have become almost indispensible (see attachment). For example, there was an old cast iron or steel bathtub in the weeds along the North fence line. Probably weighed at least 350 lb and at 5ft long would not fit in the FEL bucket. No problem. I chained the tub to the bucket and moved it over to the junk pile yesterday. A 10-minute job thanks to the chain hooks.
Hope this helps.
