Prospective purchase for the mountains.

[boozle]

Hey all,

Last year, we purchased 105 acres in the mountains of Western North Carolina that are mostly wooded with about 6 acres of meadows in hollows and plenty of overgrown old logging roads that we'd like to reclaim. The prior owners quit maintaining everything a few years ago except for the lawn around the house and the driveway.

The main driveway is about a 3/4 mile and is useable for now. The other trails and meadows are overgrown and need a lot of work to get back to usable condition. In addition to cleanup, there seems to always be something on the property that needs done (trees, brush, etc).

Our original intent was to hire out local professionals to support the maintenance, but it is clearly cost prohibitive considering the ongoing work required. I'm capable of learning, but an I am admitted "city slicker" with no experience with tractors.

I'm looking for advice!

I tried local dealers with experience in the area, however nothing is in stock. I've found a 2038r in North Florida for what I consider an acceptable deal in these current times. However, the advice from dealer seems limited to their experience in tropical temps and flat ground use. For example: I was told that extra ballast isn't required except for filling up the tires with water (only water). Wheel spacers are not beneficial. I'm not knocking them, because they know their stuff.. just not familiar with the terrain of another area.

So I'm seeking out some advice and support from the forums. My first and major concern is safety with regards to tipping/rolling the tractor in the mountains.

1. My inclinometer has 13 degrees vertical as the max of our main roads on the property and that's just the driveways. I'm very concerned about tipping the tractor and wanting to configure it in the safest way for the mountains.

2. I was going to start with box blade, forks and bush-hog, (and ballast) and wait until determining if I need other equipment. Looking for input on if the standard frontier implements BB2060, RC2060 is adequate.

3. What comparative models would you recommend from Kubota, Massey etc..

4. What advice would you give to someone who is using their equipment higher in the mountains? I would probably use a Zero turn for the lawn grass. Tractor is truly for utility.



Thanks everyone!

 

[sea2summit]

How much time do you have? That tractor will take a long time to take care of a 3/4 mile driveway, specs on flat ground from JD it looks like you'd be traveling 2-3 mph while doing work so it's going to take an hour or more (my guess is a lot more) to do three passes to grade the drive and that doesn't account for the grade.

As for the rest of the tasks you really need to consider what you what to get done "maintenance" doesn't help with recommendations if we're thinking you need to drag a road but you're thinking you want to lift a a 8' section of 24" oak that fell across the road.

Tractors were built to be used in fields, once you go to the mountains you must exercise extreme caution. Other tools might be better for your "utility" tasks but we'd need more details. If it were me and I was in hills I'd probably get a small-ish excavator for chores and have someone else maintain the driveway but my vision of hills could be different than yours.

 

[rScotty]

Our original intent was to hire out local professionals to support the maintenance, but it is clearly cost prohibitive considering the ongoing work required. I'm capable of learning, but an I am admitted "city slicker" with no experience with tractors.

I'm looking for advice!

I tried local dealers with experience in the area, however nothing is in stock. I've found a 2038r in North Florida for what I consider an acceptable deal in these current times. However, the advice from dealer seems limited to their experience in tropical temps and flat ground use. For example: I was told that extra ballast isn't required except for filling up the tires with water (only water). Wheel spacers are not beneficial. I'm not knocking them, because they know their stuff.. just not familiar with the terrain of another area.


Thanks everyone!

Hello, you are about to get a ton of opinions. Here's mine. BTW, I'm 75 years old, have had maybe a dozen tractors, and been using them in the mountains for 50 years, from before compact 4wd tractors were first on the market.

Most all the popular tractors sold in the US excel at flat land work and are terrible on even mild slopes. That goes double for the the consumer size or up to the compact size tractors - which are all of them up to approx to 40 hp. US models of utility size and larger (40 to 60 hp or more) tractors are slightly better than the small ones on slopes, but still not very good. We can go into why if you want to.

Just as an aside, there are a number of tractors sold in Europe made for use on the sloping mountain hay fields common there, but I have no idea where one would get one in the USA, much less where to go for parts or service .

I recommend that you get whatever model appeals to you to start. You need the experience so that you can make an informed opinion next purchase. The top brands maintain value very well, so you will learn a lot for a little bit of expense. Buy whatever appeals now, and use it. Then you can feel good about what you really want to end up with.

And simply STAY OFF THE SLOPES! until you get a feel for what you are doing. And then still stay off the slopes....same advice, but no longer in caps.

You are going to find that even the slight crown and slopes of a normal dirt driveway that seem like nothing in a car can become a challenge on a tractor.

Of course you want wide tires, a low CG, and probably do want wheel spacers. Your "between the lines" suspicions are correct in that the people who told you otherwise are simply wrong.

Your original idea to hire professionals at least for a while is right on. Watch them. Next step might be to rent a machine for yourself for a few weekends.

 

[requiredwhen]

I have 180 forested acres up in Ontario Canada. We started out by making a list of the tasks we planned to do and what attachment we'd need for it. That lead us to a JD 2130, big enough to run a decent wood chipper and pull large logs. But like sea2summit said, tractors are for puling things in a field, they are hard to maneuver around in the woods and don't have great traction off trail.

Are you planning to only reclaim what the old owner cut out from the forest or are you planning on creating more trails and fields?

Do you want to learn how to mix and maintain a tractor, or buy something newer that you can take to the dealer for repair?

There will probably be 2 phases to your journey. The creation phase where you cut new trails, clear land, move lots of rocks and dirt. Something like a tracked skidsteer or excavator would be better for this. The machines and attachments are not cheap. Maybe you could buy used and sell them in a couple years.

Once all that's done the next phase is maintenance: cutting the grass on tails and cleaning up blow downs. A medium sized (40-50hp) tractor with 4x4 in your case would be well suited to this.

 

[jeff9366]

What advice would you give to someone using equipment in the mountains? I would probably use a Zero turn for the lawn grass.

Consider a Ventrac or Steiner for your primary mower.
Ventrac is a division of Toro.

Expensive, durable, two-plane articulated equipment designed for mowing slopes.

The primary market for both Ventrac and Steiner is golf courses. Service should be available in western NC.

VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ventrac+Steiner

Another slope mower:

 

[RickB]

R-1 tires and a minimum of 50 engine hp, 60 will be better. FOPS certified canopy. Reclaiming old logging roads isn't for the faint of heart or small tractors.

 

[jeff9366]

I am a "city slicker" with no experience with tractors.

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Tractor weight is more important identifying compact tractor capability than tractor horsepower.

The most efficient way to shop for tractors is to first identify potential tractor applications, then, through consulataton, establish bare tractor weight necessary to safely accomplish your applications. Tractor dealers, experienced tractor owners and TractorByNet.com are sources for weight recommendations.

Bare tractor weight is a fundamental tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models, new and used. Shop your weight range within tractor brands. Budget will eliminate some choices. Collect a dealer brochure for each tractor model in your weight range.

I spreadsheet tractor and implement specs, often a revealing exercise which cuts through specification clutter. I have a column for cost per pound.

Selling a used tractor is easy. Selling multiple light implements in order to buy heavier, wider implements for a new, heavier tractor requires a lot of time. Depreciation on implements is worse than depreciation on a tractor.

A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most new tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction. My kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after eight years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR.​

I've found a 2038r in North Florida for what I consider an acceptable deal in these current times.

The Deere 2038r is in the lighter tranche of compact tractors at 2,500 pounds bare tractor weight. Compact tractors under 3,000 pounds bare weight operate in landscape, kitchen/commercial garden or hobby farm applications on one to ten flat acres. I would consider the forward PTO of the Deere 2038r or any other light tractor a damage prone hindrance on slopes or in woods.

For 105 acres, reclamation and maintenance I recommend a wider, heavier tractor weighing 3,500 to 4,500 pounds bare tractor weight.These are the mid-weights in the compact tractor category and sell in high unit volumes. Every tractor brand has at least an economy and deluxe compact tractor model in this weight.

Tractors are inherently unstable operating on sloped ground. Tractor rear wheel/tire spread, sometimes adjustable, is a critical factor increasing compact tractor stability working sloped or uneven ground. A 6" to 10" wider rear axle substantially decreases tractor rollover potential.

As part of property maintenance of 100 acres of forest you will need to pick up tree trunk sections weighing 1,000 to 2,000 pounds on a regular basis.

T-B-N ARCHIVE:
TRACTOR FOR STEEP HILLS SLOPES MOUNTAINS site:tractorbynet.com


When considering a tractor purchase, bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.


RELEVENT THREADS FROM THE T-B-N ARCHIVE:

tractor for sloped hilly steep ground site: tractorbynet.com

 

[ericm979]

I have a steep piece of property here in Northern California. From corner to corner it's 33%. I can't operate any vehicle on part of it that has 45 degree slopes that are heavily wooded. Not even off road motorcycles. The lower half is less steep and has a lot of brush, and there are roads up into the wooded half. I mow part of the lower half and around the house, and have been removing and chipping brush. I'll be clearing more old roads and making a few new ones.

I've had two tractors. The first was a Kubota B7100 which could run a small PTO chipper. The current is a 37hp Branson 3725. I got the 3725 with smaller diameter wheels and tires that come on a slightly lower HP model, rear wheel spacers, and rear tires loaded with Rimguard. It's very stable on the slopes that I'm willing to take a tractor on. I can mow up and down 25% slopes. To do this you need flatter areas to turn around on.

I run an 8" PTO chipper, rotary mower, box blade and grapple. The grapple is really useful for moving brush around and carrying logs instead of dragging them which tears up the roads and gets a lot of dirt in the bark to dull the chainsaw. I have forks which mostly get used to move IBC totes of firewood.

What you need depends on your specific chores. A CUT is designed for pulling, though it is very versatile and can do a lot of other things at varying levels of competence. If you want to do a lot of mowing of steep slopes something like a Ventrac might be better, but they are not as versatile.

37hp is enough for everything I do except the chipper. I could use more power when chipping larger material. Even though it's only 20 acres there's a lot of trees that die or fall or need removal so I have no shortage of wood. Someone who burns everything over 4" would not need as much power to run the chipper.

 

[/pine]

FWIW...Where I operate a small B series tractor is some of the steepest terrain the N. GA mountains have to offer...like everyone else who does the same it becomes a second nature to "always be aware"...around here the ONLY flat spots are ones made with dozers...everything is either up or down to some degree...

4X4 is a must for any tractor with a loader...

First rule to learn is:....LOW and SLOW

Good Luck...

 

[Goose1776]

I just bought a PowerTrac, specifically because I have very little flat ground.
Built in USA, very versatile
They excel in areas that traditional tractors cannot operate safely, and they are priced very competitively.