I've been comparing the 2305-2320-2520 since last fall and am trying to figure out which would best suite my needs. May I leverage your experience and guidance regarding the equipment, tractor and attachments, that I should buy?
Here are my requirements:
1. Small is good - I live in an urban area with less than an acre, and much of that space is constrained with buildings, driveways, sidewalks, fences, etc. So I need something small and manuverable with good visibility all round.
2. Primary purpose is to augment my physical strength landscaping and hardscaping. Digging holes for planting trees and shrubs, trenches for installing electrical wiring. Moving earth to level areas or make berms, or sloping to prepare for retaining walls. Moving mulch, shrubs, small trees. Digging planting holes. Digging post holes for fencing. Moving 5x5 fence posts and fencing rolls.
3. Digging out and moving rocks. A friend with 400 acres will let me harvest rocks from old rock walls for re-use on my property. The walls are very old, broken, buried and overgrown. His property is mostly trees with some open heath and marsh, and is wet until end of July. Soils are primarily clay. We've cut trails throughout the property over the years that are wide enough to drive on, but as is usual in New England, they do have axle-breaking rocks here and therewith a new crop coming up every spring. Very important - the lichens covering the rocks must be minimally damaged. Rollover protection is VERY important. Most of the rocks I expect can be lifted by hand, others with tractor assistance, probably 500-600 lbs max.
4. Plowing, brushing or snowblowing snow (for me and the neighbors of course). We received about 100 inches this year along with sleet, hail and rain, and, usually, the plows leave a 3-4 foot high frozen ice bank blocking the driveway.
5. Possibly mixing concrete in small batches (a 1/2 yard or less at any one time) for manufacturing custom patio blocks.
6. Attachment easy on/off. I envision a mix of 3-point hitch, drawbar (cat.2 ball hitch), possibly a backhoe, and would expect swapping one attachment for another more often than I'd like.
7. Occasional farm mowing, about 5 acres of orchard, open field and woods trails. The grass grows to about 18 inches before it's cut. Hidden rocks, roots, etc. The heath is wet year-round - the soil/vegetation supports one pass, but if you go back again too soon the tractor will get stuck. I'm guessing about the tractor getting stuck based on experience with the gator.
8. Minimal impact on the farm land, as in leave no trace. Once the rocks are harvested I'll re-build the old walls and leave them as orderly as possible. And ideally the traffic back and forth from the work site to the truck might wear down the grass (which will re-grow) but not leave ruts like a skidder might.
9. A trailer to haul it between my place in the city and the farm 20 miles away. Some attachments I'll store in the barn at the farm, others at my house. The trailer will definitely stay at the farm when not in use.
Maybe I need 2 tractors, home and farm, but can only afford one. Which should it be? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Kamik
Here are my requirements:
1. Small is good - I live in an urban area with less than an acre, and much of that space is constrained with buildings, driveways, sidewalks, fences, etc. So I need something small and manuverable with good visibility all round.
2. Primary purpose is to augment my physical strength landscaping and hardscaping. Digging holes for planting trees and shrubs, trenches for installing electrical wiring. Moving earth to level areas or make berms, or sloping to prepare for retaining walls. Moving mulch, shrubs, small trees. Digging planting holes. Digging post holes for fencing. Moving 5x5 fence posts and fencing rolls.
3. Digging out and moving rocks. A friend with 400 acres will let me harvest rocks from old rock walls for re-use on my property. The walls are very old, broken, buried and overgrown. His property is mostly trees with some open heath and marsh, and is wet until end of July. Soils are primarily clay. We've cut trails throughout the property over the years that are wide enough to drive on, but as is usual in New England, they do have axle-breaking rocks here and therewith a new crop coming up every spring. Very important - the lichens covering the rocks must be minimally damaged. Rollover protection is VERY important. Most of the rocks I expect can be lifted by hand, others with tractor assistance, probably 500-600 lbs max.
4. Plowing, brushing or snowblowing snow (for me and the neighbors of course). We received about 100 inches this year along with sleet, hail and rain, and, usually, the plows leave a 3-4 foot high frozen ice bank blocking the driveway.
5. Possibly mixing concrete in small batches (a 1/2 yard or less at any one time) for manufacturing custom patio blocks.
6. Attachment easy on/off. I envision a mix of 3-point hitch, drawbar (cat.2 ball hitch), possibly a backhoe, and would expect swapping one attachment for another more often than I'd like.
7. Occasional farm mowing, about 5 acres of orchard, open field and woods trails. The grass grows to about 18 inches before it's cut. Hidden rocks, roots, etc. The heath is wet year-round - the soil/vegetation supports one pass, but if you go back again too soon the tractor will get stuck. I'm guessing about the tractor getting stuck based on experience with the gator.
8. Minimal impact on the farm land, as in leave no trace. Once the rocks are harvested I'll re-build the old walls and leave them as orderly as possible. And ideally the traffic back and forth from the work site to the truck might wear down the grass (which will re-grow) but not leave ruts like a skidder might.
9. A trailer to haul it between my place in the city and the farm 20 miles away. Some attachments I'll store in the barn at the farm, others at my house. The trailer will definitely stay at the farm when not in use.
Maybe I need 2 tractors, home and farm, but can only afford one. Which should it be? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Kamik
