Tractor Sizing Recommendations on size of tractor

[finn1]

I sold my skid steer when I purchased my compact tractor. Big mistake. The skid steer excels at moving dirt. The compact tractor has its own strengths, but heavy dirt work isn’t one of them.

I ended up buying a mini excavator for trenching and have my eye on listings for a tracked skid steer next.

The tractor will be kept for snow blowing.

 

[sea2summit]

Hi All - Looking for recommendations on the size (not brand) of tractor with FEL and BH I need. I have a 2 acre parcel in a rural area that has some semi-steep slopes (barely manage the mowing with a 26HP Kubota riding mower). The tractor will be used for:

- Initial project is 600 feet of drainage trenching, some of which will go down 5-6 feet
- Installation of a 70'x40' sloped bank pond, up to 6' deep
- Mowing (do not want a mid-mount mower)
- Shrub/Bush transplanting
- Light grading work, leveling out areas with new topsoil vice digging/dragging out high spots
- Might do some terracing on the sloped areas
- Waterline maintenance (500 feet of underground line)

I live on an island in Puget Sound Washington, so snow is not a "normal" consideration for tractor work. Being on an island, equipment rental prices and fuel prices are extremely high, so no, I don't want to rent an excavator for the dirt work. Soil conditions are about 2-3 feet of topsoil over alternating layers of hard-pan and rock/sand (glacial till).

Which part of Puget sound? I got my first tractor at J&I power equipment in Yelm and they have a shop in Olyimpia as well. I really recommend them, if I would have listened to them I'd be on tractor #2 not #3. They got a lot of my business because Greg (owners son and managed the Yelm store at the time) spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I wanted to do then put the right piece of kit in my hand rather than trying to sell me the kit first. I think something like a BX would do well except when you talk about sloped areas, a B might be better but I'd have to see it.

 

[welyell]

Which part of Puget sound? I got my first tractor at J&I power equipment in Yelm and they have a shop in Olyimpia as well. I really recommend them, if I would have listened to them I'd be on tractor #2 not #3. They got a lot of my business because Greg (owners son and managed the Yelm store at the time) spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I wanted to do then put the right piece of kit in my hand rather than trying to sell me the kit first. I think something like a BX would do well except when you talk about sloped areas, a B might be better but I'd have to see it.

Vashon Island, not too far from Yelm. When I get to the point that I'm just running myself in circles on the internet I'll definitely swing by there for a real world tour of the machines

 

[searcyfarms]

i will say this - i hope you have a lot of time on your hands for digging those depts. lengths with a BH attached to a SCUT or CUT - that is something for more serious equipment but if you are retired and nothing better to do.........go for it, nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself and saving $$$ i would get something a little bigger vs marginal as you already mentioned worried about cutting grass going up hill, you think a mower taxes a machine on a hill, try digging for hours on end riding the back end of that tractor digging 6 feet deep!!!! you will get frustrated quickly if you are loading down the hydraulics and trying to gain leverage - just my 2 cents

 

[GSVette]

At those depths and through hard pan, I’d seriously consider a real backhoe-I am working on the other side ( near Spokane) and have done much of the same digging to nearly same depths- I doubt a compact or SCUT based backhoe could break through the decomposed granite layer I hit at around 3’. I have a 80’s vintage Case 580D extendahoe that does the job. I suspect that if I ever wanted to sell it, I could get at least as much as I paid for it.

 

[abunchofidiots]

One of the reasons I went with the Yanmar YT235 was the additional capacity on the backhoe over other compact tractors. The digging depth is about 7ft. The reach from center line is just short of 10 ft.

 

[welyell]

I mow my lawn and field headlands w/ an MX, and it is very maneuverable , however it isn't really designed as a slope mower. Is all of your property sloped?

Which MX model do you have (HP)? How is the fuel consumption? I guess I'm wondering how many work hours can you get out of 10 gallons of diesel running at RPM's sufficient to power the mower and tractor? Not sure if that's a good way to judge the fuel consumption....

 

[sea2summit]

Which MX model do you have (HP)? How is the fuel consumption? I guess I'm wondering how many work hours can you get out of 10 gallons of diesel running at RPM's sufficient to power the mower and tractor? Not sure if that's a good way to judge the fuel consumption....

MX is a big tractor for two acres...I like it:thumbsup:

I have the 5800 at I average .7-.8 gph running it but I've never run it at max RPM for a full tank like that. I'd bet it's probably 1.2-1.5 gph mowing.

 

[welyell]

MX is a big tractor for two acres...I like it:thumbsup:

I have the 5800 at I average .7-.8 gph running it but I've never run it at max RPM for a full tank like that. I'd bet it's probably 1.2-1.5 gph mowing.

The island I'm on has off-road diesel available, but its priced around 50-60 cents more a gallon than in Seattle/Tacoma, and the Washington State Ferries will only allow up to two, six gallon containers on the ferry (per vehicle), so keeping an eye on fuel consumption is one of the big considerations.

 

[jeff9366]

MX4800 is naturally aspirated.

MX5200 and MX5800 are both turbo-charged and probably use a little more fuel per unit of work than MX4800.


I return home immediately after purchasing gas or diesel in cans. The probability of being rear ended with fuel in the trunk is too high for me.