What class of tractor for maintaining two miles of road at higher elevation?

[In.the.Piñons]

Thanks airbiscut. That DJ 5055E could be worth a look, but too many hours on the others, I think.

At this point I'd rather just spend the money to get something under 500 hours with the hope that it won't need much work other than regular maintenance. I've had bad experiences before buying older equipment (super high quality RV). You'd fix one thing and something else would break the next week. The engine and trans (Cummins/Allison) was solid, but everything else...

Funny, but I bought it off a old timer with a 15,000 acre farm. He gave us a tour of the place. Boy did he have a lot of $$$$$ JD gear to run that place.

[edit] looks like that JD 5055E is 2WD.

 

[paulsharvey]

Thanks for keeping and eye out for me, but a cab is just something I'm not willing to compromise on. If I had a sealed shop that kept the slit out, then maybe, but my dirt floor barn does not do a good job and everything in there gets coated after the wind blows. If I have to clean it before I use it, I'm probably going to hate using it.

I didn't specifically mean that tractor, I was more pointing out that I was surprised to see one of the big 4, 105 HP, even if open station, at that price. And with that, maybe there are other New Holland Workmasters, closer to you, and spec'd flmore for your use, that would be in a reasonable price range.

 

[airbiscuit]

...I have a 200+ acre ranch (6,800ft above sea level) with a few miles of single lane gravel road that needs to be maintained.
...Budget would be about $30-35K for a lightly used tractor with a loader and land plane etc. Might bump that up another $5-10K to get a cab (everything in my three sided barn gets coated in silt in the spring!).

...At this point I'd rather just spend the money to get something under 500 hours with the hope that it won't need much work other than regular maintenance.

Those two things are incompatible

 

[rScotty]

Backing up a bit now... But my understanding is that there is two miles of road that needs year round attention. This road is wider than a single track, has turnouts, is in the mountains, and other people use and depend on the road as well - I believe you said 8 to 10 cars a day.

I wonder if a tractor is the right tool at all? Maybe a small road grader would be more suited to the job. Small towns & countys are always upgrading the fleets. Small governments are required to publically list equipment for sale & many post online. A friend here bought a road grader to work the roads on his cowboy ranch. It does the job nicely. He turned all his jeep trails into nice crowned roads with ditches and it didn't take long. A Galion 503 used is in the $10/20K range.

If we take away the requirement for a tractor to do road work - a job that tractors only do so-so anyway - it really opens up a wider market for a tractor to do everything else.

rScotty

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Those two things are incompatible

Yeah, I know and that's why I posted earlier in the week that (after visiting some dealers) I was increasing my budget to $60K or 65K. Yes, I know I keep moving the goal posts. I really thought a budget option like a Mahindra/TYM/Branson would be appropriate, but the local dealer said they were having problems with the turbos at elevation and were having to de-rate the tractors HP to work around the problem.

The Kioti / LS / NH dealers are all too far away.

Massey utility tractors are made in Brazil not Japan.
The Deutz 4080 is not made in Europe, but "globally sourced". As far as I can tell the engine is a rebranded Farmall that's globally sourced.

John Deere have a good dealer network but are also globally sourced.

Kubota and Yanmar are the ONLY utility tractors that are made in first world countries. The Yanmar SM475 looks interesting, but it has a Deutz engine (is it a real German made Deutz engine, or just a re-badged Farmall?) Moot point as there are no close dealers anyway.

So that leaves Kubota. The dealer is 1/2 an hour away. They are made in Japan, and they are the most expensive tractors (go figure!).

I'd consider a higher hour tractor if I could see it in person, but there's nothing local, so it's either a brand new Kubota or a low hour unit off Tractorhouse, bought from 1/2 way across the country, sight unseen.

Maybe I'm over thinking this, but I want something to last me the next 20-25 years.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Backing up a bit now... But my understanding is that there is two miles of road that needs year round attention. This road is wider than a single track, has turnouts, is in the mountains, and other people use and depend on the road as well - I believe you said 8 to 10 cars a day.

I wonder if a tractor is the right tool at all? Maybe a small road grader would be more suited to the job. Small towns & countys are always upgrading the fleets. Small governments are required to publically list equipment for sale & many post online. A friend here bought a road grader to work the roads on his cowboy ranch. It does the job nicely. He turned all his jeep trails into nice crowned roads with ditches and it didn't take long. A Galion 503 used is in the $10/20K range.

If we take away the requirement for a tractor to do road work - a job that tractors only do so-so anyway - it really opens up a wider market for a tractor to do everything else.

rScotty

You make a fair point, but I just feel like owning vintage machinery is not for me. I've watched videos and read blogs of people who bought vintage excavators to dig foundations or a pond etc, and they are three years into it, and are still trying to get their equipment running reliably.

 

[rScotty]

You make a fair point, but I just feel like owning vintage machinery is not for me. I've watched videos and read blogs of people who bought vintage excavators to dig foundations or a pond etc, and they are three years into it, and are still trying to get their equipment running reliably.

Fair enough in your case. We bought a new top of the line Kubota ourselves.

But lots of people follow these discussings. Alternatives are fun, and also the mechical heads will never understand why "experienced" machinery is not as appealing as new.

It is worth mentioning that some entities like towns, school districts, fire depts, and county govenments tend to have maintenance departments and fund replacements out of grant money or taxes. They have no reason to mis-represent their used machines. In fact, there are legal reasons not to do so.
rScotty

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[airbiscuit]