MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,111
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
Bingo! :thumbsup:
Tractors and Small Properties
- Thread starter TheYard
- Start date
- Views: 9104
Bingo! :thumbsup:
dodge man
Super Star Member
Keep in mind, there is not always a right answer. There might be a wrong answer though. A 150 horsepower tractor would be to big and a weed whacker would be to small, you just need something in between.
Travelover
Elite Member
It all depends on your budget. For a fat budget, a BX sized tractor with a FEL for real work and a zero turn mower for cutting grass would be perfect for me. For a skinnier budget, a good quality lawn tractor with accessories for lawn and snow would get you by on most days. Home Depot rents BX tractors if you ever really need one for a bigger job.
prof fate
Platinum Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2018
- Messages
- 684
- Location
- beaver pa
- Tractor
- kioti ck3510 Cub Cadet 149, 2146, Toro Zero Turn
define harvest firewood please.
My kioti can lift 1800lbs on it's loader...I have lots of fallen trees when trimmed to logs it still can't lift. So more trips, more work, more time...something a bigger tractor would reduce.
Moving dirt..again, bigger can do more, faster. Teaspoon vs shovel.
To a point bigger isn't always better, nor is smaller. There are some jobs you need X size to do at all. It's why they make tractors in all kinds of sizes.
I moved snow with my kubota...the best I could. The kioti is double the HP and nearly 3 times the weight - there is no comparison when it comes to moving snow. Before we had any tractor we had a snowstorm even a pickup with a plow couldn't get through - needed a case backhoe to mvoe the drifts.
I mow 3 acres of yard at the farm - bigger isn't better as it just doesn't fit well in some places. But then when I have to brushhog/mow the 15 plus acres of pasture the bigger the better - again, used the kubota and now the kioti and the difference is scissors vs a power mower.
It seems MOST people get too small a tractor - so figure out what you need/want and get one size bigger!
My kioti can lift 1800lbs on it's loader...I have lots of fallen trees when trimmed to logs it still can't lift. So more trips, more work, more time...something a bigger tractor would reduce.
Moving dirt..again, bigger can do more, faster. Teaspoon vs shovel.
To a point bigger isn't always better, nor is smaller. There are some jobs you need X size to do at all. It's why they make tractors in all kinds of sizes.
I moved snow with my kubota...the best I could. The kioti is double the HP and nearly 3 times the weight - there is no comparison when it comes to moving snow. Before we had any tractor we had a snowstorm even a pickup with a plow couldn't get through - needed a case backhoe to mvoe the drifts.
I mow 3 acres of yard at the farm - bigger isn't better as it just doesn't fit well in some places. But then when I have to brushhog/mow the 15 plus acres of pasture the bigger the better - again, used the kubota and now the kioti and the difference is scissors vs a power mower.
It seems MOST people get too small a tractor - so figure out what you need/want and get one size bigger!
prof fate
Platinum Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2018
- Messages
- 684
- Location
- beaver pa
- Tractor
- kioti ck3510 Cub Cadet 149, 2146, Toro Zero Turn
I skipped the backhoe ($7500 option). I'm sure i'd use it, I need some waterline run next year. BUT I can hire or rent equipment for when I need that 'specialty'.
My main uses were mowing pasture - 25 acres. talking the Mrs into letting me hay 10 of it (finally did that - my tractor can do it).
Moving things with forks and loader - round bales of hay (lift capacity mattered), moving manure/compost piles.
Removing posts, putting in posts elsewhere. She's had a 'to do' list for most of the 20 years she's owned the farm but without a tractor it was necessary to pay someone - every year she'd spend $700 on stuff, plus snow plowing plus brush hogging - $2k a year, sometimes more.
IN the 18 months we've had the kioti I've put 400 hours on it - locally that's $60/hour to hire someone, perhaps more now, so that's what, $24,000 worth of work. Tractor has paid for itself already!
With haying the rough math says we'll get $4-5k in hay a year, at least, some we'll sell (2nd and 3d cuttings) and the first we'll keep.
More work..yeah, sorta.
A smaller tractor wouldn't have done all this, a bigger one was too costly. We went new cause you don't have to pay for a new one. Well, $300/month. Used it'd be $12k or more and pay right now!
Remember - the tractor is just a ratchet - without sockets it's useless. A tractor needs implements. I've bought some new, most used for a fraction of new. I've got a box blade, disks, hiller, auger, broadcast spreader ($35!!), 3pt fiish mower, had a brush hog sold it and got a flail mower, bucket and forks, a hay rake (1950s Ferguson 3 point), a 70s era new holland square baler. Next need a hay wagon, maybe 2. And a tedder. A haybine might be nice, but it's after the first two hay tools. Maybe a plow...wanted a tiller but got a cub cadet with that for 1/2 the price of a used 3pt one. MAybe hay fork at some point.
Started out just wanting to mow pastures and move snow... now we're leveling yard, clearing woods, haying...
My main uses were mowing pasture - 25 acres. talking the Mrs into letting me hay 10 of it (finally did that - my tractor can do it).
Moving things with forks and loader - round bales of hay (lift capacity mattered), moving manure/compost piles.
Removing posts, putting in posts elsewhere. She's had a 'to do' list for most of the 20 years she's owned the farm but without a tractor it was necessary to pay someone - every year she'd spend $700 on stuff, plus snow plowing plus brush hogging - $2k a year, sometimes more.
IN the 18 months we've had the kioti I've put 400 hours on it - locally that's $60/hour to hire someone, perhaps more now, so that's what, $24,000 worth of work. Tractor has paid for itself already!
With haying the rough math says we'll get $4-5k in hay a year, at least, some we'll sell (2nd and 3d cuttings) and the first we'll keep.
More work..yeah, sorta.
A smaller tractor wouldn't have done all this, a bigger one was too costly. We went new cause you don't have to pay for a new one. Well, $300/month. Used it'd be $12k or more and pay right now!
Remember - the tractor is just a ratchet - without sockets it's useless. A tractor needs implements. I've bought some new, most used for a fraction of new. I've got a box blade, disks, hiller, auger, broadcast spreader ($35!!), 3pt fiish mower, had a brush hog sold it and got a flail mower, bucket and forks, a hay rake (1950s Ferguson 3 point), a 70s era new holland square baler. Next need a hay wagon, maybe 2. And a tedder. A haybine might be nice, but it's after the first two hay tools. Maybe a plow...wanted a tiller but got a cub cadet with that for 1/2 the price of a used 3pt one. MAybe hay fork at some point.
Started out just wanting to mow pastures and move snow... now we're leveling yard, clearing woods, haying...
I made a list of all the things that I could do. I can break this work up all sorts of ways - hire, diy and rent, diy and buy. If anyone has some thoughts on what would be a good match equipment wise, I'd love to hear...
Destruction - Remove 15 large oaks (60ftx18 average), grind the stumps, cut down 1/2 acre of sapling and brush and pop small stumps, do something with all the "stuff", pop about 100 2 cubic ft rocks and set aside for use later, scoop out 30 shrubs ranging from 3' to 7' and set aside for replanting. Pull out some old footing from an old deck and shed.
Construction - 100 ft of gravel path 6' wide from driveway to backyard, replanting of shrubs, planting of 20 3 gal trees, 36'x3'high dry stone wall, 200 ft of drainage ditch filled with riprap, 16 or so fence posts, 14 bluestone steps, 350 square ft of bluestone patio, 400 ft of 18" trench for driveway lighting, 15 or so lampposts, footings (4' down) for new shed, 100 ft of trench for gutter drainage pipes with gravel on top, 500 ft square of gravel paths. Move existing potting shed 100 ft
Maintenance - mow 1/3 acre, mow 1/2 acre of woods, blow shred and mulch a whole lot of leaves from 1/2 combined acre of lawns and gardens and put back into assorted garden beds, clear snow from 5000 square feet of driveway. Prune shrubs and trees and dispose of branches
Destruction - Remove 15 large oaks (60ftx18 average), grind the stumps, cut down 1/2 acre of sapling and brush and pop small stumps, do something with all the "stuff", pop about 100 2 cubic ft rocks and set aside for use later, scoop out 30 shrubs ranging from 3' to 7' and set aside for replanting. Pull out some old footing from an old deck and shed.
Construction - 100 ft of gravel path 6' wide from driveway to backyard, replanting of shrubs, planting of 20 3 gal trees, 36'x3'high dry stone wall, 200 ft of drainage ditch filled with riprap, 16 or so fence posts, 14 bluestone steps, 350 square ft of bluestone patio, 400 ft of 18" trench for driveway lighting, 15 or so lampposts, footings (4' down) for new shed, 100 ft of trench for gutter drainage pipes with gravel on top, 500 ft square of gravel paths. Move existing potting shed 100 ft
Maintenance - mow 1/3 acre, mow 1/2 acre of woods, blow shred and mulch a whole lot of leaves from 1/2 combined acre of lawns and gardens and put back into assorted garden beds, clear snow from 5000 square feet of driveway. Prune shrubs and trees and dispose of branches
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,111
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
I am fortunate to have about 10,000 locust trees on a 10 acre swath across our 20 acres. Each year I harvest 50-60 of them to cut 6 cords of firewood to heat our home. They are about 50' long telephone-pole size when I drop them. I use tongs on my FEL arms to drag them out and pull them 1/4 mile to my landing. While I can lift 800, I can drag 1500. So I try and trim them to a length I think the little machine can pull. Usually takes me 1 day to drop all the trees, and 1 afternoon to drag them out. Then it takes a couple weekends to cut to 18" lengths, load them on a trailer and haul them home, about 4-5 loads, where I split and stack for a couple weekends.
As for moving loose dirt and mulch from point A to point B, this little 1500# machine with 1/3 yard bucket is way faster than my old 8000# IH2500b with much larger bucket. Excavating hard soil would be a different story, as the little machine doesn't have enough weight.
Also, my larger machine had a harder time on hills, got stuck in our soft sand often, could not fit through my forest without damaging many trees, etc...
So yes, different machines have their place. Bigger ones can stay off of mine. :laughing:
jpm
Platinum Member
For the trees just hire it out . A excavator can pop the stumps out much better and quicker than grinding. And what are you going to do with the trees after they are down? Just something to think about
The trees are the real kicker here. I have had quotes ranging from $15K to $22K. That's without stump removal (some stumps are near a gas line, so I'm figuring it would be prudent to grind those - the rest could definitely be popped).
And you are right - what to do about the trees when they are down? I figured I could rent a chipper for the small stuff, and have the logs taken away to a mill on the other side of town. A tractor would help get the logs down to the street where a truck could pick them up. Overall, it's the part of the project that gives me the most pause....
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,111
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
Why do you want the trees down? Just curious.