Bigger Tractor or Add Excavator

[farmerger]

Here is the scoop. Presently I have a NH TC33D, great tractor, been very happy with it.:thumbsup: We (the wife and I) have 40 acres, little over half in pasture, the rest is treed. Mostly flat but the back of the property goes up the side of a pretty steep mountain ridge. We just have horses (to keep the wife happy, my boys and I use the property for dirt biking and snowmobiling). Been feeding the hay burners:licking: square bales but those are getting more and more expensive, and more and more of the hay farmers around here are doing round bales. So we want to go to round bales. We have a hay barn big enough to hold all the round bales we need for a year, if we could stack them two high. This is where the TC33D pipes up and announces, "Not with me you are not picking up and stacking full size round bales!" I basically have the go ahead from the boss (aka the wife) to get a bigger tractor to do this job. If I get a bigger tractor, how big is big enough for stacking say a 1200 lb round bale? I would really like to keep the HST as all of the other tractor work on the farm is always back and forth, and back and forth, etc and I won't be able to keep the little tractor if we get a big(ger) one.:confused2:

I also had a crazy idea. :stirthepot: The TC33D could pick up a round bale with a spear on the 3PH and move the round bales to where they need to go. So, really, all I need is an implement to stack and take down the top row of round bales. We are also adding lots of fencing, clearing trees for more pasture and building trails up the mountain ridge behind us. To top it of, in a year or two we are going to build a new house on the farm. All of this sounds like excavator work to me but feel free to set me right if I'm wrong. I think I could sell the boss on an excavator if I could convince her that it could handle the round bale stacking duties.

So what say you, am I nuts or full on BSC?:laughing::anyone:

 

[case245]

what brand are you looking at a TLB will digg i will be a little slower then an excavator but then you will have a PTO N A 3 PT HITCH

 

[Grandad4]

The top of the line compacts from Kubota, Deere and some the other good brands (say, 40 hp and above), are big enough to do your bale handling and also have HST drivetrains. You'll lose the HST if you go to a utility style tractor instead of the compact type. Should also do fine for your other chores. A backhoe would give some good digging capability... not as fast or strong as an excavator, but respectable nonetheless.

The problem I see with using an excavator for your bale stacking is how does an excavator pick up a bale without destroying it? You'd need some kind of bale handling attachment and I don't know if there is such a device.

 

[CobyRupert]

Round bale clamp for excavator would be slick if it has the lift capacity

 

[haywire cattle co]

I would go with a tractor in the 45-55 hp range.that should give you enough loader capacity to handle round bales.

 

[RFB]

I have no problem handling 1500lb square bales with a Kubota Grand L5740HSTC-3.

The FEL (LA854) does nto even grunt, and I could go three high if I wanted to. I have the tires loaded, wheel weights, and a sub-frame backhoe as ballast, tires set to full width. Very stable and strong.

 

[farmerger]

Not sounding good for my dreams of owning an excavator. I figured I could weld up some sort of bale spear to bolt to the excavator bucket and hoist the bales with that. Comments? The TLB's look interesting, do any of them come with a cab? If I'm going to get a bigger tractor I would really like one with a cab, 'cause plowing snow gets pretty (c)old pretty fast once you can't feel your fingers and toes anymore. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions, keep them coming

 

[JD 4520]

Both, you can justify both. You need a larger tractor for long term on the property, you have too much to do with the smaller tractor that you have. Probably need a 40 -55 hp and that should take care of your needs for the future on the farm. Then you also need an excavator for property clean up and construction then sell the excavator when done, you will find you will be dollars ahead going this route. If you need a reference, you may use my name!

 

[RFB]

The Kubota Grand L5740 has a very nice cab, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is rated:
Engine (gross): 59 hp [44.0 kW]
Engine (net): 57 hp [42.5 kW]

Here's a pic of mine without the bucket or hoe mounted.

 

[Grandad4]

Not sounding good for my dreams of owning an excavator. I figured I could weld up some sort of bale spear to bolt to the excavator bucket and hoist the bales with that. Comments? The TLB's look interesting, do any of them come with a cab? If I'm going to get a bigger tractor I would really like one with a cab, 'cause plowing snow gets pretty (c)old pretty fast once you can't feel your fingers and toes anymore. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions, keep them coming

Best I can figure, while the "compact" excavators have plenty of digging power, they don't have enough lift capacity on an extended boom to handle a 1,500 lb bale on a spear. And you might need to have the blade set for stability when raising that kind of load, so actually moving around with a bale could be a hassle. For example, a large compact like the Deere 60D, will lift 1,300 lbs, including the bucket, to 10 ft. above ground level.

60D Excavator from John Deere

You'd need to get into larger equipment - probably 75 hp and up - to do better than that. If your hay barn is big enough to operate a full size excavator inside, I want to see it!

 

[farmerger]

Great, now not only do I want a big orange tractor but I also am now suffering from shop envy thanks to your picture

The Kubota Grand L5740 has a very nice cab, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is rated:
Engine (gross): 59 hp [44.0 kW]
Engine (net): 57 hp [42.5 kW]

Here's a pic of mine without the bucket or hoe mounted.

View attachment 301758

 

[farmerger]

You got your kgs and lbs swapped, that 60D will lift 1300 kgs/3000 lbs to 10', but I see your point about height in the barn being an issue with an excavator. Oh well, I guess I'm going shopping for a bigger tractor with a cab. Looks like none of the TLBs have a cab?

Best I can figure, while the "compact" excavators have plenty of digging power, they don't have enough lift capacity on an extended boom to handle a 1,500 lb bale on a spear. And you might need to have the blade set for stability when raising that kind of load, so actually moving around with a bale could be a hassle. For example, a large compact like the Deere 60D, will lift 1,300 lbs, including the bucket, to 10 ft. above ground level.

60D Excavator from John*Deere

You'd need to get into larger equipment - probably 75 hp and up - to do better than that. If your hay barn is big enough to operate a full size excavator inside, I want to see it!

 

[Ed of all trades]

Just an idea buy a used backhoe and keep your tractor. The FIL will pick up the hay and the hoe will dig the footers.:2cents:

 

[mowin]

Dont think a EX is going to cut it for the bale work. What about a skid steer?

 

[Grandad4]

You got your kgs and lbs swapped, that 60D will lift 1300 kgs/3000 lbs to 10', but I see your point about height in the barn being an issue with an excavator. Oh well, I guess I'm going shopping for a bigger tractor with a cab. Looks like none of the TLBs have a cab?

Sorry about the lbs/kg mixup... my bad. But I think you're going to be better off with a tractor for that work. No current small TLB's with factory cabs, but there are some nice add-on cabs (Laurin). Plus, I think someone mentioned there are pending updates to the Kubota TLB models that will have factory cab options if you don't mind waiting. Bales would be child's play for an M59. As already noted, the big Grand L Kubota models do bale handling work for many people, along with similar equipment from the other brands. That size equipment could actually have some advantage in your application since it has a shorter wheelbase that a standard utility tractor. Plenty of ballast needed of course.

 

[joshuabardwell]

You can double-stack with a scissor on the three-point. Most CUTs will have enough lift capacity on the three-point to handle a full sized round bale, even if they won't do it on the loader.

 

[RFB]

Great, now not only do I want a big orange tractor

You mentioned a cab, so here are some photos of the 5740 cab interior. The 3 point is Cat 1&2 and is rated at 2976lbs. I have lifted in excess of 2500 (weighed) with the FEL; it handles 1500 without breaking a sweat.

 

[farmerger]

You mentioned a cab, so here are some photos of the 5740 cab interior. The 3 point is Cat 1&2 and is rated at 2976lbs. I have lifted in excess of 2500 (weighed) with the FEL; it handles 1500 without breaking a sweat.

Nice, thanks for the pics.:thumbsup:

 

[charleyfarmall]

Having used both for digging holes and trenches ( and currently owning a bulldozer backhoe) the excavator digs circles around a backhoe. With a backhoe you spend a lot of time repositioning and it gets old. With an excavator and the longer boom there is less repositioning and you just drive it from where you sit which is much easier and faster. Plus, when you hit that tree root or rock or stump the backhoe will stall out and the excavator will rip it out. Once I fix the final drive on the 2010 it gets sold and I am buying an excavator.

 

[EdK]

Just an idea buy a used backhoe and keep your tractor. The FIL will pick up the hay and the hoe will dig the footers.:2cents:

I'll second this idea. True, an excavator will out-dig a construction hoe if that is really the focus of the equipment. However the monster loader of the TLB is a big plus.