Tractor for land clearing and preparation

[ddurrant]

Good day everybody,

I'm looking to buy a tractor which will be mainly used for land clearing and preparation in the beginning. Land is full of small 1-2 inch thick trees which need to be cleared.
Short story, I bought recently 300 acres of virgin land which needs to be cleared, leveled, prepared from scratch.
Initially I was thinking to start with an 80 hp tractor with a front and loader , grapple and leveler but afterwards I had second thoughts that it might be cheaper fuel wise to start with an 50-60 hp tractor which might reduce my costs for clearing the land but I will have to buy a bigger tractor afterwards for land preparation, tilling, planting.
Though these are just thoughts, I have no experience with tractors beside all the reading
I'm not living in USA , in case you are thinking of recommending some tractor models
To be honest, I'm stuck a bit and I would appreciate some advice

Thank you.

If i was to be clearing land with trees i would probably buy an excavator with a "thumb" grab as an attachment. Depending on how many trees and what area i was dealing with. 300 acreas is a pretty big area!

 

[Rocket Surgeon]

Consider buying/renting/leasing a skid steer with a forestry head. It will save you weeks of work.

And always buy the bigger tractor, Fuel costs are the least of your worries.

 

[buck hunter]

Dozer with root rake. Or, tractor with quick hitch mulch head attachment

 

[cannuck]

What's your rock situation? I bought a D5 with 6 way blade for clearing our property and levelling building sites. Built a root rake, only to find that the "little" rocks will bend the 2" steel plate teeth with ease when trying to pull up willow root systems. Have to do one pass with blade, follow that with excavator to pick 200 Kg rocks and load them in 5 ton dump then use root rake followed by profiling wit 6 way. Trees get stockpiled to feed chipper that DOES run from 45 hp tractor.

Also: how deep is your topsoil? It takes extreme skill and care to open unbroken prairie grasses without taking most if not all of the topsoil along with grass matt.

As OP might realize by now, this is NOT work for a little tractor.

 

[paulsharvey]

I will say with 3-4" trees; don't cut then off flush, leave them up 3 or so feet, and then you can use that 3 ft of leverage against the root system. If you cut flush or worse, grind, you'll never find all the stumps/root balls, until your running the expensive planter though there...

 

[Elroy1986]

Has anyone mentioned napalm?

Oh man!
That gave me flashbacks to Nam back when my dad was there.

 

[Elroy1986]

I’ve read and skimmed almost every post.

Tanzania?! Wow! You’re really committed. But who could blame you with a good price on land. I think I’m a little more practice than most of those responding. Going big is not always the best way to go if you’re limited in resources (parts and equipment). Definitely buy something you can repair. You should start by making yourself a vegetable garden, assuming you have access to water. If no water, drill by hand. There are videos on YouTube that can help. If the water is too deep that’s a whole different research project. A veritable garden will give you food to eat and sell or barter with. It will also give you a feel for the soil. I’d start by clearing about 5 to 10 acres. I’d definitely start with a decent size tractor. But nothing less that 50 HP. I have a 20 HP Mahindra. It’s awesome. Bought it for excavating (digging and moving 2700 psi clay and stones varying from 3” to 18” mixed in. This thing is super powerful and strong for a subcompact tractor. It would be great on a 5 to 10 acre property.

Buy a beginner mug, tug welder. Flux core welding could save you a lot of trouble finding and buying the gases used for them. Learn as you go or OJT it. Just don’t get to brave with structures that could kill or injure yourself. Lots of YouTube resources for that too.

There are several tractor implements that will enable you to achieve your goals. But I’d parse out the land in a way that makes sense and clear and cultivate as you go. In order to prevent erosion problems plant something that you can turn into the soil later and after a spell plant your desired crop. Make sure you have a way to provide enough irrigation to the fields though. Water filled tires can really help you lower the center of gravity who’ll adding much needed weight to your tractor. Add something that plugs up punctures too. Start basic and add ass you can. My grandfather had a farm with 40 head of cattle. He planted several different crops like snap beans, field peas, corn, melons, potatoes, etc. he also grew hay for the cattle. We were all expected to help.

Terrain wise I assume there aren’t a lot of “real” trees like in our forested or wooded areas. Probably like midwestern Texas. Mesquites. Small trees.

I wish I could help just for fun and the experience. But I have my own family. My crop is lawn grass.

I miss being on the farm. Great experience.

Bulldozer is way out of wack unless you’re clearing and grading land for development (homes). I have experience in all of these areas. Excavators are nice but you can do those things with a backhoe and loader. I’m also an experienced civil engineer. Surveying and mapping are part of my skill sets. City Planner too. I wanted to do environmental Engineering but learned it OJT. Terrace you land. Learn to grade.

 

[Pecosbill7]

I’ve got 140 acres in the Texas Hill Country. My experience has been with clearing fields that nature has tried to reclaim with small trees, primarily mesquite and cedars. The roots on these trees are very deep and spread out. I have a John Deere 310D backhoe and a 65 hp JD tractor with a loader and a grapple. Clearing the land of these pesky little trees, which are primarily 1” to 3” in diameter is slow and tedious work. I dig each tree up with the backhoe to try to get the roots. The holes I dig are quite large and I’ve gotten fairly good at replacing the dirt and smoothing it out after the tree is gone.

In a previous life I cleared some North Carolina land of pine trees that were about 10 to 15 feet high. Their roots are not nearly as complex or as deep. I cleared them with a John Deere 2040 and a subsoiler and it wasn’t all that hard. Hardwoods are a completely different story.

One day (in Texas) a natural gas pipeline company came and decided they wanted to put a pipeline across one section of my property. They came with large excavators and accomplished in two days what would’ve literally taken me six months of everyday work. My advice is to go big, and go with equipment that is designed for what you are trying to do. Hire it out, if you can afford to do so, to someone who already has the equipment. Then you will still have plenty left to do, but you’ll find yourself spending more time enjoying your land and less time agonizing over how long it is taking you to do what you want.

 

[Williy]

Is this a bad idea??? when you plow attach a disc behind
the plow so you plow and disc at the same time.

willy

 

[Torvy]

Is this a bad idea??? when you plow attach a disc behind
the plow so you plow and disc at the same time.

willy

I've seen it done quite a bit back in the day up north.