Tractors (Hope: rent, how much, homes)

[oldafretired]

How useful would a compact or subcompact tractor be for use in upkeep of about 10 forested acres? I was thinking it might be helpful in moving fallen trees and such. What kind of attachments would be worthwhile like a front bucket and backhoe? Would a backhoe on a small tractor be able to dig out small to medium stumps? Are there blades that can be attached to a front bucket to move snow?

[mistyriver]

Very useful. We use a compact Kubota on our almost 40 wooded acres. We have a backhoe, mower deck, chipper, round bale spear, bucket and snow blower. We had a hydraulic fence post pounder that ran off the PTO too. THAT was very nice.
I'm probably forgetting some: the tractor isn't my department.

[coginthewheel]

You gotta get a BACKHOE!!
The one BIG mistake most people make is buying a loader with a box scraper. Once you get that thing stuck in the mud your only recourse is a winch, tow truck, bull dozer, or wait till spring.
Get a backhoe and go to utube and find how to walk a backhoe. As you gain knowledge you will find you are never stuck with a backhoe, it is a vehicle with spider legs. The strength of its ability to move without being on wheels is its most amazing feature.
With a hoe you can trench, pick up heavy items and place them where you want them, dig out any stump, if your patient. A huge advantage is if you raise animals you will, at some point, need to bury them. A backhoe is worth its weight in gold if you have to bury a horse, a dog, a sheep, etc.
If you are doing any tree falling you can drag and deck, load into a truck, etc.
If you are doing any construction from fence building to home building there is no better tool than a backhoe, I dont know how many times Ive stood in the raised bucket and done some work on some project.
The list goes on...
The need for a box scraper is an illusion, once you learn to back-blade with your loader you will find a box scraper is a waste of money.
The question is cost and size.
A used backhoe is most agreeable since most machines are overbuilt and can take a lot of abuse, however you dont want a damaged hoe. Ive had a full size Case 580 and now have a Laymore LB-25, huge contrast.
If most of your property is driveable I would go with a bigger hoe, of course you can build roads with a hoe and make your property more driveable.
Cost, I bought my current hoe on ebay for $5800. and it cost $800. to ship. It is 25hp (yeah, the size of a lawn mower engine) but it weight is 3000lbs and the hydraulic power is more than the frame can take at times, (some welding did fix that problem.)
Another concern is size for your property and how much snow removal you will be doing. I have 30 years of snow plowing in and open cab and it is no fun when the wind is blowing and snow is hitting you in the face as you work for 5 hours to open the driveway. I would think about an enclosed cab for icy conditions.
Do not buy a bunch of attachments for your tractor, start with a backhoe, go out on your property and learn how to trench and operate safely on hillsides, a backhoe is a powerful machine and can be dangerous.
Hope this helps.

[mistyriver]

we had a couple of different augers as well. Fencing with a tractor and an auger and fencepost pounder is lovely.

[banjomike]

Nothing agains backhoes, but a good little tractor like the Kubota that was mentioned is ver hard to beat for its versatility.

As long as a tractor has a good PTO, it can be used for more purposes than Misty listed. A 40 year old Ford or International that's been kept well can look like a bucket o' rust, but it can still do just about anything needed on a small homestead.

Our ancient FarmAll still fires up and runs like a clock, and we have a log saw attachment we use on it that can make an unwanted tree a cord of firewood in an afternoon without needing to break a sweat. And then the same old tractor can drag the wood off the mountain and dump it in a truck to haul, if we want to bother switching the implements around on it.

And while it's not fun sitting on it after a 5 foot blizzard, it can still cut the snowdrifts clear from the road. Cold? Sure. But a lot less time cold than when you are using a snow shovel for the same job. And that snow shovel won't plow the garden next spring.

One of these days, I'll go buy a couple of gallons of industrial orange paint and make the FarmAll look good as new. Her guts are still pristine, so her outside just needs to match the inside. Won't bother with the seat, though. The old saddle blanket somebody wired onto it around 1968 still works just fine.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Almost essential with rural acreage-just figure it as part of the mortgage. I have a Kubota L3240, it's been a great tractor. As far as implements and accessories, the FEL (front end loader) is a given. I would like to get a grapple bucket, but still don't have one. For the rear, a box grader is useful for road maintenance. A rear blade, ideally with hydraulic angle and offset is really handy for snow plowing. A mower (flail or rotary) is great for keeping brush and weeds down. I'd also like to add a chipper, haven't forked over the money yet. As far as a backhoe, it takes a decent sized tractor to run one of useful size, and they are expensive. IMO, for the money, go rent one when necessary. Though I'd like to have one, they are flat-out fun.

[oldafretired]

Thanks for all the great info! I think there's a Kubota dealer in CDA. I'll have to go there soon.

Is something like this too small? TractorData.com Kubota BX25D backhoe-loader tractor information

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

The size of that one is great for most things...but if you're looking to use a decent sized backhoe IMO you want 40hp or better on the tractor, and significant weight. I don't think you'd want to say excavate a basement with that one, and I think it would struggle on stumps. Also, a number of the tractors that are sold as "tractor/loader/backhoes" are really designed around the backhoe. It doesn't remove quickly, and at least some of them don't come with a 3-pt hitch. Research it carefully. It all depends though-what specific projects do you have in mind for the hoe? You might look into tractorbynet.com. There is a ton of info, I probably spent 100 hours researching before I bought. It's a big expense, at least for me. How much driveway/road do you have to maintain?

[oldafretired]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

The size of that one is great for most things...but if you're looking to use a decent sized backhoe IMO you want 40hp or better on the tractor, and significant weight. I don't think you'd want to say excavate a basement with that one, and I think it would struggle on stumps. Also, a number of the tractors that are sold as "tractor/loader/backhoes" are really designed around the backhoe. It doesn't remove quickly, and at least some of them don't come with a 3-pt hitch. Research it carefully. It all depends though-what specific projects do you have in mind for the hoe? You might look into tractorbynet.com. There is a ton of info, I probably spent 100 hours researching before I bought. It's a big expense, at least for me. How much driveway/road do you have to maintain?

Thanks for the link to that site. I only have about 250 feet of gravel driveway. A big tractor would be great but I'm sure the price goes up along with the size and I'm not sure I want to spend too much on a tractor. On the other hand a too small tractor would definitely not be good but right now I'm looking for something to mainly help me move heavy logs around. But who know what projects might come up in the future.

[mistyriver]

Bobcats are pretty nice too! We used to have one (on tracks) and it was really useful. Turned better in barn aisles too.