Short Term Tractor Purchase

[m1garand762]

Half acre is chump change take a day off rent a skid steer and move on

 

[Torvy]

The only real problem with the original premise is the misperception about resale. When you look at resale as a % of what you paid, there is effectively no difference. Sure Kubota and Deere will get more at resale, but will cost proportionally more to buy. For what you are doing, find the tractor that has the ability you need and forget about brand.

 

[DaBear3428]

He's better off to buy somthing, then sell it when done. Far better off than asking around for help. Been there done that, many times.......

sorry do not agree, I personally would not buy a CUT or SCUT right now with the intention of keeping it for 2ys or less. as i see it he needs a tractor for about 30hrs of work even if he payed $100/hr for some one to do the work that is $3k. with the market the way it is right now he could very well lose twice that buying a tractor that he has no long term need for.

 

[jb1390]

sorry do not agree, I personally would not buy a CUT or SCUT right now with the intention of keeping it for 2ys or less. as i see it he needs a tractor for about 30hrs of work even if he payed $100/hr for some one to do the work that is $3k. with the market the way it is right now he could very well lose twice that buying a tractor that he has no long term need for.

I agree with this. My 50 hp tractor would run circles around anything the OP is looking to buy, and the assumption of no lost cost isn't necessarily valid. Plus there's the chance of damage plus maintenance costs, and it sounds like there's a list of implements that will be needed (box blade, auger, maybe more).

Between the hassle of getting the machine there, it being small for what the OP wants to do, and no real desire to own one afterward, the OP is likely far better off either renting or hiring someone with the tools to do this.

 

[cathy liebchen]

Here are more specifics about my needs:

It is a half acre residential lot in town. 1) There are quite a number of overgrown scrubby bushes that I don't want to hand dig out. 2) I need to plant 45 arborvitae trees along one of the property lines, and would like a post hole digger to help dig those holes. 3) there is a large, 1000 square feet area of the yard that is gravel, I want to remove the gravel and plant grass. 4) there are three areas that are currently dirt/gravel, maybe a combined 1,000 ft², where I want to pour concrete, so I need the tractor to remove the existing dirt and gravel, and move in clean gravel to compact for under the concrete. What's the bushes are removed, the trees are planted, the grass is planted, and the concrete is poured, I don't anticipate needing a loader tractor after that.

I would rent equipment as needed

 

[finn1]

Rent a skid steer, as Rusty suggested. Preferably a tracked machine if the ground is soft or wet.

Those are construction equipment tasks.

 

[fuchifarm]

I agree rent the smallest tracked skid steer, a 4n1 bucket, and a post hole digger with 18in auger. Do a weekend rental on all of it and get it done. Don't worry about torn up spots in the grass they will grow back in over a few weeks. I know I have made plenty of bare spots in my own yard cutting turns to hard. They always grow back.

1. For the bushes the 4n1 can grab and pull them out.

2. The 18in auger on the skid steer will power through the 45 holes in no time.

3. The 4n1 will do a good job of scraping up the gravel with some dirt. Maybe bring in a dump trailer of decent dirt. I would just use a bow rake to prep a seed bed for that size area and a $20 fertilizer spreader to broadcast seed. Then drive over it to get good seed contact.

4. Don't mess with the existing surface. Hire the concrete work let them grade and pour. Unless you do lots of concrete work and have the tools and experience to do it yourself.

1,2,3 should easily be doable on a weekend and still have time to learn the machine a bit.

 

[pike14130]

I have kind of a weird situation. I need a compact loader tractor to do a bunch of work on a neglected property that I purchased, but once that work is done I won't really need the loader anymore. Therefore, I am thinking about buying a used tractor this spring, using it all summer, and then either selling it in the fall or next spring. I am looking at used, since I don't want to take the depreciation on a new tractor for such a short term need. It needs to be a model that has decent resale potential, so I am kind of leaning away from the off-brands, even though I know people love some of them. I am looking at a Deere 1025R, Kubota BX2680, or similar. I deck would be nice but not necessary since I have a Deere GX345 for mowing. Any suggestions as to what models or manufacturers I should include in my search? Thanks, Joe

Most of the folks have offered good advice, my two cents worth is from my experience of clearing a heavily wood property for "just getting off the road" in rural western NY. and having seen what other property owners on either side of me solved their problems.

As many have commented, the buying used tractor route has its pitfalls. Worn out hydraulics for the loader, steering, tires, , bad injector pump,etc., for about 1/2 the cost of a new one. Going new with a 4wd gives you the reliability when needed. My first purchase was a used JD1010 2WD farm tractor with no loader. A 6ft box scraper with weld hooks on the rear crossbar for the ripping forks, took care of hauling 3 fourty foot long trees to lower "logging area" by the road for limbing and "free firewood" at the road. The JD1010 was a beast of a machine but after 5 years worth of clearing and a busted oil pump drive pin siezed the motor, I purchased a JD4510 with a power reverser and backhoe attachment. A night and day difference with having a FEL but also very light when hauling same logs on the box scraper. At that time, I had the house already built and was now doing more landscaping, than clearing. That same tractor sells for $50K

The next door neighbor rented a large skid steer with cleated tracks and a grapple attachment for his home site clearing. The skid steer was impressive, in that it could take 3- 40 ft logs , transport it 200 ft across a tore up property and after a D5 dozer would pop the stumps, could take 2 stumps at a time that had 8 ft diameter root balls to the other end of the property for burial. They cleared 2 acres of a heavily wood lot that had pines, ash, oak and cherry trees on it in a 3 day weekend of 10 hour days. The dozer graded the 2 acres for drainage and landscaping. 2 weeks later the trackhoe showed up, dug the 50' x 50 ft foundation and then well away from the house,buried the stumps with a 10 ft dirt cap over it.

examples of 2 extremes, nickle and diming it like I did or finding a place to rent the equipment for a week at a time, which would be cheaper that doing it for a 2 day weekend.

 

[Bison]

Yep, skid steer is your best bet on a small lot like that

 

[Buzzard7]

I have kind of a weird situation. I need a compact loader tractor to do a bunch of work on a neglected property that I purchased, but once that work is done I won't really need the loader anymore. Therefore, I am thinking about buying a used tractor this spring, using it all summer, and then either selling it in the fall or next spring. I am looking at used, since I don't want to take the depreciation on a new tractor for such a short term need. It needs to be a model that has decent resale potential, so I am kind of leaning away from the off-brands, even though I know people love some of them. I am looking at a Deere 1025R, Kubota BX2680, or similar. I deck would be nice but not necessary since I have a Deere GX345 for mowing. Any suggestions as to what models or manufacturers I should include in my search? Thanks, Joe

Now that I have a front end loader, I would never have a tractor without one. So many things they can be used for that you can't even think of right now.