What would you do?

[MasseyWV]

After looking at used tractors for several months, and going back and forth between the idea of buying an older Massey 135 tractor or some other smaller tractor, I am starting to believe that a smaller tractor is what I want to ultimately buy.

However, most smaller used tractors seem to cost nearly as much as new ones, which means, at least to me, that buying a new one makes much more sense. Financing is not an option and I simply don't have the cash to buy a new tractor right now so it's looking like it might be best for me to put my tractor shopping on hold for now.

My primary reason for wanting a tractor is to maintain my gravel driveway which badly needs new gravel to be added to it. I had planned on paying to have the gravel hauled from a nearby local supplier a few miles away as I have always done in the past but it gets very expensive in a hurry, mainly due to the ever increasing cost of diesel fuel. I also occasionally have manure, fill dirt, mulch, and other materials hauled, which only adds to the cost of any given project.

That said, I have been thinking about buying a tandem axle dump trailer so I can haul everything myself. I do have an 18' carhauler trailer, but it's not designed for those sorts of tasks and unloading it takes forever by hand.

Given my situation, would you...

A. Get a tandem axle dump trailer now and a new tractor later.
B. Get a used tractor now and continue to pay to have material hauled.

 

[bigbull338]

After looking at used tractors for several months, and going back and forth between the idea of buying an older Massey 135 tractor or some other smaller tractor, I am starting to believe that a smaller tractor is what I want to ultimately buy.

However, most smaller used tractors seem to cost nearly as much as new ones, which means, at least to me, that buying a new one makes much more sense. Financing is not an option and I simply don't have the cash to buy a new tractor right now so it's looking like it might be best for me to put my tractor shopping on hold for now.

My primary reason for wanting a tractor is to maintain my gravel driveway which badly needs new gravel to be added to it. I had planned on paying to have the gravel hauled from a nearby local supplier a few miles away as I have always done in the past but it gets very expensive in a hurry, mainly due to the ever increasing cost of diesel fuel. I also occasionally have manure, fill dirt, mulch, and other materials hauled, which only adds to the cost of any given project.

That said, I have been thinking about buying a tandem axle dump trailer so I can haul everything myself. I do have an 18' carhauler trailer, but it's not designed for those sorts of tasks and unloading it takes forever by hand.

Given my situation, would you...

A. Get a tandem axle dump trailer now and a new tractor later.
B. Get a used tractor now and continue to pay to have material hauled.

if you haul enough gravel manure an other stuff.then id go ahead an buy the dump trailer if it would pay for its self in 5 to 7yrs.

 

[TripleR]

Is renting a tractor an option?

We have a dump truck, but last year I paid to have stuff hauled as the cost of fuel and my time made the difference in cost fairly small as one of the bigger dump trucks can carry twice what ours will.

Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be a really good option.

 

[MasseyWV]

Is renting a tractor an option?

I neglected to mention it above, but if I went with the option of buying a dump trailer, I would continue to rent equipment as needed until I eventually purchased a new tractor.

 

[Raspy]

I hate the idea of renting a tractor. It means you can't use it for all the small things that constantly come up. I use mine all the time.

Hauling gravel yourself, on your own tandem axle dump trailer is very limited. When I get loads to my place, they come out with a dump truck and trailer rig that would take me many trips to equal.

Third thing is, get the right size tractor without thinking bigger is always better.

Mine is a 29 horse New Holland I bought new and I love it. It has developed my whole place from bare ground with the septic tank, leach field, driveway, main power service ditch, land clearing, foundation, setting steel posts for the new house, general forklift duties, etc. It moves gravel, trailers and building materials around the place constantly.

We recently had a forest fire that came to about 1/4 mile from my house. I wasn't home, but if I was the tractor would have been up there clearing land at full throttle. Now I leave it in the yard and the key in it, just in case I or a neighbor needs it in an emergency.

And I can haul it behind my pickup on a tandem axle trailer that is only 68" inside wide.

I say get your own tractor asap and you will never regret it. Order gravel and have it dumped on your place.

 

[MasseyWV]

I hate the idea of renting a tractor. It means you can't use it for all the small things that constantly come up. I use mine all the time.

I'm not fond of the idea of renting equipment but I've been doing it off and on for many years so I figure a few more won't hurt. In this case, I wouldn't actually be renting a tractor because noone rents them in my local area. Well, that's not true, one place does have a little Terramite but I've learned from experience that unless I need a backhoe, it's usually better to rent the larger stuff, which doesn't cost much more to rent. I'll probably start by renting a dozer to grade my driveway since that's what needs to be done first.

Hauling gravel yourself, on your own tandem axle dump trailer is very limited. When I get loads to my place, they come out with a dump truck and trailer rig that would take me many trips to equal.

My driveway is over 1000 feet long and since I have no way of hauling gravel in any significant quantities without having to unload it by hand, I've been waiting until I need large quantities and buying between 80 and 100 tons at a time. However, ordering that much gravel at a time comes with a hefty pricetag. Having a dump trailer would enable me to get much smaller quantities as needed which would still cost the same per ton, and the immediate financial impact would be lessened because I would only be buying 3 to 10 tons at a time. Sure, I would have to make several trips, but I am only about 5 miles from the gravel company so it wouldn't be that bad because the trips wouldn't have to be made all at once. In fact, I could even time my trips to coincide with other trips to town, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Third thing is, get the right size tractor without thinking bigger is always better.

Getting the right size tractor is exactly what I want to do. No matter how I try to justify it to myself, the larger tractors, newer or older, are just overkill for my modest needs. Buying a dump trailer has always been part of my long-term plans, I would just be rearranging things a bit.

 

[dodger454]

Tri-axle can bring 20-24 tons at a clip and runs about $300 delivered.(West Pa price)If your nice to the driver they will usually "tailgate" the load so you don't have a lot of gravel moving to do.Buy the tractor and get to work

 

[MasseyWV]

Tri-axle can bring 20-24 tons at a clip and runs about $300 delivered.(West Pa price)If your nice to the driver they will usually "tailgate" the load so you don't have a lot of gravel moving to do.Buy the tractor and get to work

The tri-axle trucks my local gravel company uses max out at 23 tons per load which runs about $450 to $500 depending on many factors, including fuel costs.

I'd love to buy a new tractor now but I simply can't afford it, and finding a decent used one, the size I want, and in my current price range, is proving to be a futile effort. Buying a dump trailer would be considerably cheaper than a tractor and it would enable me to get some real work done now.

My current situation (wife's cancer) dictates that I be extremely careful with money, so I'm simply trying to do the best I can with what I have to work with.

 

[TripleR]

Out of curiosity, what does a dump trailer cost and how much total weight will you have loaded?

 

[MasseyWV]

Out of curiosity, what does a dump trailer cost and how much total weight will you have loaded?

The kind of dump trailer I would buy costs $3000 - $5000 and would have a GVWR of 10000# which means I could safely haul approximately 7000# or 3.5 tons. If I were able to locate a good used dump trailer, which is unlikely, it would cost less. My tow vehicle is a 3/4 ton Ford F250 Superduty truck.