RTV or Tractor

[virtualanne]

My husband and I just moved to a 20 acre property in Western Oregon. Most of it is fairly hilly and wooded. We know we need some kind of machine for hauling things, but we think a tractor may be overkill, and may not be as useful in the woods and on the hills.

Most of the things we'd need a tractor for would occur so seldom, or perhaps not at all, that we'd probably be better off just hiring someone with a tractor to come do the work (burying a dead cow, grading the driveway, and so on).

We've been looking at the Kubota RTV 500 & 900. Looks like the 900 has attachments available that would dig fence holes & do some light grading (or at least remove snow from the driveway since it snows infrequently here).

The one thing we haven't figured out yet is how we'll turn the compost pile without a tractor/loader. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions/recommendations that don't involve a pitchfork?

 

[whistlepig]

With all due respect I think a tractor would be a better first choice than a UTV for twenty acres in the woods.

 

[timswi]

With all due respect I think a tractor would be a better first choice than a UTV for twenty acres in the woods.

Agreed, get a tractor with FEL first, CUT or SCUT..Get a UTV later.

 

[gc2310]

3rd the motion. Tractor 1st [ compact ] RTV next. Both are very useful by themselves and the combination is far greater. Good luck.

 

[virtualanne]

Well alrighty then. What brand do y'all recommend? All other things being equal, I'd love to have a red tractor

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Dig up a stash of cash and go shopping for a red tractor.

We have 15 acres that mainly hold the world together. We have not had a tractor since 1996 but this year got the late FIL 60 HP 265 Massey Furguson. My BIL talked me into getting a FEL but for $2200 more bought a 60 HP 1983 JD 310 backhoe.

Keep in mind older but nice machines are not likely to loose value since last week Washington has stated it goal to create inflation to help speed up the recovery.

Hiring tractor work done is cheaper if you do now have many needs or just are not farmers by choice. Most who post here see tractors are body parts.

 

[nolefan]

I went the opposite and bought my RTV first and then got the tractor a couple of years later. I don't live on my acreage full time so having something that could get me and tools to different areas of the property was the first priority. I used the RTV to repair fences and cut wood in areas a tractor wouldn't get me. I hired local help to grade the drive and bush hog a couple of times until I got the tractor. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give up the tractor for anything. Now I can do the grading, bush hogging. and all the other things the RTV couldn't. They each have their strengths it's just a matter of your personal situation and current needs. Good luck with your decision.

 

[TripleR]

I will have to go against the grain on this one. We have several hundred acres and no less than three tractors on each farm, but we have wooded property in which a tractor is essentially useless or REALLY scary. My wife and I consider our UTV about the best investment we ever made. We use it to work and for pleasure.

I love my tractors, but that is because I have work only a tractor will do, the OP seems to have limited need for a tractor. For those tasks we have only occasional need, we simply rent something like a back hoe skid steer etc.

 

[rswyan]

My husband and I just moved to a 20 acre property in Western Oregon. Most of it is fairly hilly and wooded. We know we need some kind of machine for hauling things, but we think a tractor may be overkill, and may not be as useful in the woods and on the hills.

Hard to second guess you - you're there and have a set of eyes on the ground .... (pics of the property would help :thumbsup

I don't know how hilly your property is, or how dense your woods are ....

I know if I were someone who didn't have much experience tractoring, a hilly wooded property would be about my last choice as a place to learn on ....

Having said that, tractors are incredibly handy things to have - they will allow you to do large amounts of work, that if you had to do it by hand would take you forever .....

Depending on your lifestyle, your inclination of a UTV maybe a correct one ....

Personally I'd love to have one myself - we live on 16.5 acres (mostly wooded and fairly flat) and for what we needed and wanted to do, there was no question about the matter - it was going to have to be a tractor straight out of the gate, with any UTV/golf cart/Japanese mini-truck coming later.

It's 1130 hours (on the tractor) and about 10 years later .... and still no UTV .... mebbe one of these days .....

The one thing we haven't figured out yet is how we'll turn the compost pile without a tractor/loader. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions/recommendations that don't involve a pitchfork?

Yeah - you can get or build a compost tumbler (google it) - basically a drum that is set on it's side and is on rollers ..... so that it can be easily turned ....

Wouldn't work for me - my compost pile 6' high, 8' wide, and 15' long - and is larger than my tractor ....

 

[Soundguy]

I can't imagine owning 20ac and NOT needing a tractor. your last sentances proives that point. same with the driveway grading.. etc. they are truly a utility machine once you get one. nice to haul trash down to the curb with if you have a long walk too.

soundguy

My husband and I just moved to a 20 acre property in Western Oregon. Most of it is fairly hilly and wooded. We know we need some kind of machine for hauling things, but we think a tractor may be overkill, and may not be as useful in the woods and on the hills.

Most of the things we'd need a tractor for would occur so seldom, or perhaps not at all, that we'd probably be better off just hiring someone with a tractor to come do the work (burying a dead cow, grading the driveway, and so on).

We've been looking at the Kubota RTV 500 & 900. Looks like the 900 has attachments available that would dig fence holes & do some light grading (or at least remove snow from the driveway since it snows infrequently here).

The one thing we haven't figured out yet is how we'll turn the compost pile without a tractor/loader. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions/recommendations that don't involve a pitchfork?

 

[virtualanne]

Okay, so now I'm thinking we may have been leaning the right direction after all in thinking that an RTV/UTV (what is the difference there anyway?) may be the better option - at least to begin with.
I have photos of the property, but none that would really show what the terrain is like. It's sloped toward the South, from about 400' to 600' elevation - very thick underbrush in the woods (a mix of Oregon White Oak and Fir with lots of poison oak as a "ground cover").
There's really only about 3 - 4 acres of pasture right now, and the rest is woods. Our plan is go get some goats and pigs in the woods there to clear out the underbrush. We're just headed into the rainy season now, so I haven't experienced it, but it's clear that there are several seasonal streams & creeks throughout the woods.
So it seems to me that the vast majority of our property is not currently accessible with a tractor. Once the goats & pigs clear out out some of the underbrush and we do some thinning of the fir, we expect to have more of an oak savanna with some pasture area throughout. At that point a tractor may become more useful.
So if we decide to go with an RTV, what we've been looking at is the Kubota 500 or 900, and I'm leaning toward the 900 because of the option of attaching a fence post digger and blade. Other suggestions?
Still no idea about turning the compost. The tumblers are not going to handle the amount we've got. We do have an 18 year old & a 20 year old, so if we can get them to come down to the property once a month, that might do, but that's a big "if", given all the other stuff going on in their lives. Anybody know of any pwer equipment besides a tractor that will take care of this job?

 

[TeamNH]

A smaller tractor... 20hp to 35hp depending on make... will get you into a tractor frame size number 2. I would get one without a cab... and get one with supersteer... and a folding rops, this will allow you to get thru the woods. You could also get one that the FEL will come off... this will give you more room to move the tractor around in the woods.

On the Hills... I would get the tires loaded and 4wd.

 

[9973720wb19]

Sometimes it's not what you "need"; it's about the projects and tasks you would otherwise not even think of doing without a tractor. I've got both...a JD tractor and Kubota 900.

Get the 900 For:
1) getting around the property quickly
2) taking out the trash
3) hulling and dumping
4) carrying fuel cans to your tractor

Get a Tractor For:
1) moving things with loader
2) mowing - brush & finish

When I'm working outside, I seem to always need, use and have both.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Vote for Orange, look at a B series or L series Kubota first and look at the RTV 1100 second,the cab is nice for the weather that we have here. Use tractor for brush hogging and have grapples for getting logs for firewood and brush.

David Kb7uns

 

[TripleR]

Still seems like "most" of your "needs" will be better suited to a UTV as opposed to any size tractor. For one thing with a tractor, one of you will be driving while the other walks around behind/beside/front etc. Of all the tractors we own from 23 to 85 HP, not one will go where our UTV goes. If you do get stuck, your winch will easily pull you out, trust me it is much easier to extricate a UTV than about any tractor.

For mowing, get a tow behind trail mower.

Once a year, go rent a tractor for a couple of days to turn your compost or other stuff. In my area we can get a small backhoe for a weekend for under $200.

I agree that a UTV and SCUT/CUT are the best option, but if you can't afford both, I would go with the UTV until you can.

As to which UTV, John Deere, Kubota, Polaris all make goo ones. We have a Rhino, but would not recommend it for your needs.

 

[troutsqueezer]

There are two approaches to compost piles: The short term method - turning frequently to speed decomposition and the long term method - leave it alone and let nature do its work. The latter takes longer but is much easier. I've been doing it this way for 25 years and always have a good supply. I keep two piles, one ready for use, the other gets the new stuff. Every year I switch back and forth.

No tractor, no UTV needed.

 

[Soundguy]

ditto that. I have a CUV vehicle with a manual dump bed. it's a feed hauler and fence runner, and general get up and go real fast kind of vehicle.. more nimble than a tractor.. gas job.. etc.

soundguy

Sometimes it's not what you "need"; it's about the projects and tasks you would otherwise not even think of doing without a tractor. I've got both...a JD tractor and Kubota 900.

Get the 900 For:
1) getting around the property quickly
2) taking out the trash
3) hulling and dumping
4) carrying fuel cans to your tractor

Get a Tractor For:
1) moving things with loader
2) mowing - brush & finish

When I'm working outside, I seem to always need, use and have both.

 

[pitt_md]

I have 30 acres 5ish wooded the rest fields or pasture. When I bought the place the first thing I bought was an Sportsman 500 ATV with a snow plow. It worked well for lots of things and both my wife and I thought we could never get along without it. Then we got horses and a 50 hp Kubota with a FEL. If I were to do it over I would have bought a tractor even if I didn't ever intend to get horses/lovestock. JMO but I have kind of been-there-done-that and for 20 acres with woods a small tractor and FEL would be how I would do it.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

20 acres I shoot for about a 35hp compact utility tractor.

You don't mention if you get snow where you're at; but I've seen thick and heavy snow in the hills either side of the Willimalet (sp) valley. So somekind of snow removal may be necessary.

You mentioned cow burial, and that's something that you want to do right now; waiting for someone else means it's going to be messy and cost more.

Tractors work nice snaking logs out; but that does take a bit of skill to do it safely. And as long as you're not trying to haul redwoods or Douglas firs that are 5 feet or more in diameter.

Road grading is great with a back or box blade. And if you're moving gravel to fill in, an FEL is good to have.

 

[whistlepig]

I buy equipment that saves me time and the wear and tear on my old bones. The tractor with the loader by far has been the best work saver that I have ever owned. I do have a Polaris 800 Sportsman that I use around the farm but for the heavy stuff the tractor and loader is my first choice. The tractor does the lion's share of the work.