... I plan on keeping the old hoe and dozer(notice I didn't say we) ...just need something dependable to help out....Still not sure of tire choice....QUOTE]
Presuming you can convince the Chairman of the Checkbook to go along with the idea, keeping the heavy duty industrial machinery sounds like a good plan. Using the TC or Massey (at this point I'd go with the Massey based on the dealer) to do normal lighter maintenance stuff and the heavy stuff for construction style work seems like a logical approach. You can always sell the heavy stuff later if you find you don't use. I don't it will depreciate much further if you keep it well maintained.
The loader on any compact is essentially a materials handling tool. You can dig some holes with it, but as has been said, it isn't going to be really set up for the work. You already have a hoe and dozer for heavy stuff. I would think a compact with a loader and back blade should keep things in pretty good shape after you build the trails and such with the other equipment, although I would encourage you to look into a grapple for the bucket. Those things are about as handy as a pickup truck.
Even if you only use the big stuff once a year, it's probably worth keeping. My FIL ended up keeping 4 different tractors after he quit farming, one for each implement he planned to use. He said the amount he would get for them used wasn't enough to justify all the work and time involved in changing implements around and besides the implements he had fit specific sized machinery so he would have had to get new implements if he went down to one tractor. Just the cost of the new implements for his big tractor exceeded what he would have gotten on trade for his three smaller tractor/implement combinations. We're talking about Fords here, a 9700 with cab, an 8000, a 5000 and a 4000(?), all used for production farming.
