too old to do it by hand

[BarryinMN]

I'll jump in little.

Pix of my grapple attached. The tractor is a little heavier 55 pto @ 10K lbs with a 5500 lb loader breakout and a 6800 lb 3pt lift capacity. The grapple is attached to a commercial grade rock bucket with quick tach. Hydraulics are run from the rear remote lever (cheap install.)

Take a close look at the bucket and grapple materials you might buy as some are made of soft steel and get bent & mangled easily. Harder steels transfer the force into the loader arms. Lifting force is one thing but remember that the load can wedge against something & lever significant forces into your machinery.

Anyway, I do the same as others have said thru your thread: Dig with a backhoe grab with grapple. I've also simply grabbed a blow down 30'+ whole tree by the root ball & drive down the trail to the sawing/chipping area. Saved 1/2 hour sawing/chaining/dragging, etc.

You'll get a feel for your machine limits on your terrain with practice.

I also have a JD dozer that I simply wait till Winter & shatter the tree trunk at the base leaving the root ball frozen in the ground to make trails.

With my slopes approaching 100% in places a tracked machine is a lot more stable when dragging a or pushing.

Putting a backhoe on a slope can be disturbing. Practice a bunch on small stuff & flatter ground before going upslope /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

A final thought with your budget maybe buying used Industrial TLB like a Case 580 to take the abuse and then sell it.

Buy a new tractor after the hard stuff is done. It'll stay new looking longer /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[miles2go]

I am now leaning towards the Kubota L3400, in preference to the Mahindra 3015.

They are similar in size and cost and hp.

Kubota is a tier-1 tractor company, while Mahindra/Mitsubishi is considered tier-2 in the US.

The Kubota would be easier to sell, should I decide I want/need something different at some point.

The Kubota dealer is located closer to me.

And finally, what really got me looking at the Kubota ... the Mahindra 3015s are apparently hard to obtain presently.

 

[SnoFalls]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'll jump in little.
)</font>
wow ... that's a "pink" tractor !!!

with all the "green" vs "orange" vs "red" ... that's a tractor that makes a STATEMENT!

I'm assuming you didn't paint it to make a "lifestyle" statement either /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BarryinMN]

He.. He..

My cheap digital camcorder is off. The true color is a reddish orange mix reminds me of gramps Allis Chalmers. The buddy seat is a real kid magnet ages 4 - 70

www.zetor.com

The real question is how many times have you done it in a tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Miles2 = You are right on resale value. You could project hourly depreciation expense by looking up 3-5 year old used tractor values as % of new. Condition and local market will be keys.

I ended up with this tractor because it was $20K less than a green 5420. The MF and blue models were priced similar to green paint. Local dealer is important & he now sells Montana as well as the large 200+ HP Valtras.

Anyway I was/am not concerned about resale as the new tractor was a safety expense roll bar & seat belt etc. The stuff I'm likely to get rid of is branded: dozer, TLB, etc when their usefulness drops off.

 

[IslandTractor]

Hi Miles2go,

I don't want to go back to the beginning again but your comment that you could get the L3400 plus FEL for $17K (good deal) reminds me that you could also get a lower Hp tractor AND a backhoe for that same price. Backhoe will beat FEL every day for stump pulling unless you are getting into the 50+hp range with a much heavier grapple set up. Look back at some of the earlier posts regarding just how much lift capacity you'll have left over with a big grapple. Adding an "Add a grapple" or equivalent to the FEL barely lowers lift. Given you are not a professional farmer or landscaper (I think some of the guys posting photos of big ole' grapples are) I think you would do just fine with and FEL, toothbar and add a grapple. Even if you go with the 3400 series, you might be able to swing a TLB if you go that route.

 

[miles2go]

Pulled the trigger!

Kubota L3400 HST 4WD it is!

Taking delivery tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

Industrial tires; liquid-filled rears, LA463 FEL, 60" box scraper. Lifting hooks on bucket. Pictures to follow after it arrives.

I appreciate the process everyone in this thread has allowed to happen. Now I can't wait to get some seat-time on this bad boy. (And the CFO has just a few projects in mind ... )

Thanks to you all!

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

M2G -

Wow, a man of action - nice job! That's a good amount of tractor you've got there - sounds like it'll fit the bill very nicely for doing all the tasks you have in mind. Not too heavy for the mowing, and it'll move a lot of manzanita too.

Are you planning on getting a backhoe down the road? I was thinking a little more about your situation and was wondering if maybe you could just rent a backhoe to dig out the stumps after you've cleared the trees, but it'd be nice to have a backhoe attachment too. If you do get a hoe, I'd really recommend a sub-frame vs. putting it on the 3PH.

Are you getting a QA for the loader? Maybe you could get a lighter-weight "dedicated" grapple like the 60" WR Long - they're a lot lighter than mine, but look very capable.

And maybe you have some room left in your budget for top-and-tilt for that box blade? Hey, if you thought this thread got a little "warm", check this one out: Remotes and top and tilt?.

Again, congratulations and your new purchase - enjoy!

John

 

[Jw5875]

Yo!
Congrats on starting out the New Year with an L3400. I did the same thing last April. I do suggest that you look into the re-inforced top link bracket that fits under the seat and goes down 90 degrees to the bolt holes that hold the two piece top link, after I installed mine, I welded the two piece bracket to the re-inforced bracket. This will give your back blade more support and less of a chance to tear a hole in the rear end housing. Several threads back some one posted pics of this happening to them. Also this is recomended along with the sub-frame if you do decide to attach a 3pt backoe later.

Talk to Tim at Craver Equip (have your serial no.) abiut the re-inforced top link bracket. Be carefull pushing backwards with your blade, this really puts stress on that top link bracket attachment area.

Enjoy!

jw5875

 

[miles2go]

John,

CFO wants to see what we can do with the current equipment package, before further expenditures are contemplated. Backhoe and/or grapple are possible in the future, if they seem cost effective.

The most immediate projects will involve scraping/scooping soil from one area and distributing it to another area: ie road work, grading, and leveling out around our house. Manzanita will be collateral damage in some of this work, so we will get a sense of how the brush removal will eventually go.

CFO feels we have made our tractor equipment purchase for the current fiscal year, so the focus now is on seat-time and improving our technique.

 

[miles2go]

JW,

Thanks for the heads-up about the top-link bracket and the rear-end housing.