Buying Advice Starting to look for a tractor

[hammick]

The wife and I bought 38 acres of remote property in Carbon County, Montana. We put up a 2400 sq ft. barn with a small living quarters and hope to retire up there down the road. Property is at 5100 ft and is small sagebrush. Area is a very dry climate and ground is very rocky. We did 2x6 construction on slab rather than post frame because of the rock concern.

I would like to get a compact tractor with a loader and other attachments. I have a fair amount of landscaping to do and would like to move the rocks that are piled up from our foundation dig. Would like to scrape in a driveway that wold be approx. a mile long and spread gravel. A set of forks for lifting things including my 900lb diesel generator.

I would also like to use an auger for fence posts. Below are photos of some of my neighbor's holes that were hand dug/chipped. Each hole took an average of four hours. I also attach a photo of the foundation before concrete so you can see the soil/rock. I would really like to use a PTO driven auger but not sure any tractor could get through that rock.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll probably still get a tractor even if I have to figure out a different way to dig fence post holes.

Thanks.

 

[SARG]

The only opinion I can share from experience is to be cautious not to buy too small.
I did ....... and now I have two.

 

[hammick]

The only opinion I can share from experience is to be cautious not to buy too small.
I did ....... and now I have two.

Good advice. Forgot mention that there will be no farming activity. We may put a garden in down the road. I may also want to dig some trenches for electrical wiring.

 

[sea2summit]

I think a backhoe would serve you much better than a PHD in that type of soil.

I also went small and am on my 3rd tractor

 

[GrumpyJoe]

Lets start with this. What dealers are close to you?

 

[hammick]

Lets start with this. What dealers are close to you?

Not sure at this point. I have Billings, Montana and Cody, Wyoming as the two biggest cities/towns. I have heard of Yellowstone tractor in Belgrade, MT that does LS and TYM. And Billings Kubota. I have spoken with a guy at Big-Little Tractor - www.biglittletractor.com They do refurbed gray market tractors, mostly Yanimar. He was on vacation so we didn't get into drilling into rock.

 

[dickfoster]

Maybe it would be better to use metal posts and pound them in if digging is all that hard. Someone here made his own post driver that worked off the front end.

Thing to do is to read a lot here and shop for a good dealer, then buy what they sell. No matter what you buy if the support isn't good, you won't be happy with it. If you have a bit of trenching to do you want a backhoe but they aren't cheap. If the ground is uber hard then a ripper tooth for the hoe would be good, those aren't so much.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Seems like for what you mentioned so far a compact tract loader (skidsteer) might be a better choice.

Is all the "rock" compressed aggrigate like in your pictures?

 

[hammick]

Maybe it would be better to use metal posts and pound them in if digging is all that hard. Someone here made his own post driver that worked off the front end.

I will research driving metal posts. All I know is that I cannot get a piece of rebar or small stake in the ground with a hammer. Maybe I need a jackhammer followed by a normal PHD.

 

[hammick]

Seems like for what you mentioned so far a compact tract loader (skidsteer) might be a better choice.

Is all the "rock" compressed aggrigate like in your pictures?

I'm not sure on the rock conditions on the entire 38 acres yet. I know the people at lower elevation (closer to the highway and with power) don't have these issues. I believe they are glacial deposits but not sure. My builders said the labor for going post frame would likely exceed the cost of the foundation and slab.

One of my builders is a farmer/cattle guy with about 300 acres. He has some pretty big machines, including the loader that dug my foundation. I'll ask him what he thinks about digging fence post holes.

I'm guessing a loader on a compact tractor probably wouldn't get through the rock either for digging trenches.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I did not see trenches in your post. But a hoe mounted on a CTL will do everything a hoe mounted on a large CUT or UT will do IMO.

Plus you might find a hydraulic auger with rock bit that is REVERSABLE with DOWN PRESSURE very important with rock.
Just a thought and probably not a popular one given you are on a tractor forum!

 

[hammick]

Seems like for what you mentioned so far a compact tract loader (skidsteer) might be a better choice.

I can't justify the cost of a skidsteer unless I got lucky and stole one at the military auctions. Thinking that would require a fifth wheel trailer also.

 

[GManBart]

Oh Lord those pictures make me miss Montana!

Generally speaking, I don't think you'll be able to do any significant digging with a compact tractor/loader combo in those conditions. The lack of down pressure for a normal 3pt PHD is also going to be a major challenge.

Before we go too far off the path off what might work, do you have a ballpark budget in mind?

Other than digging some holes none of the tasks you mention really requires a tractor, and holes can be dug in other ways as well. If you were talking about plowing, tilling, brush hogging, etc, it would be different. Do you have any other tasks that keep a tractor in consideration?

 

[Snobdds]

Around here, backhoe is key. Most wood fence on hard pan is done with a hydraulic PHD on a skid steer. One of your neighbors will have one...make friends with him or hire it out. Metal post can be driven with a heavy pounder or attachment for the tractor.

Again, get the backhoe. Make your life easier.

 

[oosik]

If I had "soil" conditions as you pictured I would consider this. Look for a type of fencing that does not require frequent(i.e. every 15 feet) post holes. Or consider using Cordite. I've seen Cordite used and its very efficient.

Tractors - having a dealer that can service your unit and is responsive to your needs is just as important as the color of a new tractor. I have a mile long driveway, use a large chipper, have a land plane grading scraper, have a grapple and many other associated implements. For years I had a Ford 1700 4WD and finally upgraded to the Kubota M6040. The bigger & heavier tractor gets jobs done much easier and allows me to do jobs not possible with the smaller Ford.

As you can see by many of the posts here - many have upgraded to larger tractors also.

 

[hammick]

Oh Lord those pictures make me miss Montana!

Generally speaking, I don't think you'll be able to do any significant digging with a compact tractor/loader combo in those conditions. The lack of down pressure for a normal 3pt PHD is also going to be a major challenge.

Before we go too far off the path off what might work, do you have a ballpark budget in mind?

Other than digging some holes none of the tasks you mention really requires a tractor, and holes can be dug in other ways as well. If you were talking about plowing, tilling, brush hogging, etc, it would be different. Do you have any other tasks that keep a tractor in consideration?

GmanBart you hit the nail on the head. I don't really need a tractor. I could hire everything out. However, finding people to do work is a chore especially since I am 1,100 miles away most of the time. Since this tractor will be more of a toy than a necessity I think my budget is probably a graymarket Yanmar. I like to wrench on stuff myself and the two cyclinder models sound bulletproof and about as cheap as a good tractor comes.

I miss Montana also as I haven't been up there in close to two months. I can't see the grizzlies and moose if I'm not up there.

I see you are from Michigan. One of my builders relocated to Belfry, MT from Michigan to get out of the cold. Funny.

Thanks for all the good info. If I settle on Yanmar or YNM as the graymarket is called I'll head over to Yanmar GM forum.

Here is a look at my land facing East and West. My driveway will be long but I have no trees.

 

[ovrszd]

Thanks for the pics. Great views. What a jump, KC to Montana.

 

[hammick]

At this point I have found a 2005 mode Farm Pro 2425 with 494 hours. Looks to be in good shape with no implements for $3,500

Or a 2000 model Kioti LB1914 with 325 hours with no implements for $4,000

The Kioti has turf tires and the Farm Pro has AG tires. Both are 4wd. I won't be doing any mowing so the turf tires aren't much good to me.

 

[dickfoster]

At this point I have found a 2005 mode Farm Pro 2425 with 494 hours. Looks to be in good shape with no implements for $3,500

Or a 2000 model Kioti LB1914 with 325 hours with no implements for $4,000

The Kioti has turf tires and the Farm Pro has AG tires. Both are 4wd. I won't be doing any mowing so the turf tires aren't much good to me.

Both seems kinda small and light on power for what it sounds like you need or intend to do with it. For loader and hoe work you'd likely want R4s or industrial tires.

 

[Tinstafl]

will you live there in the winter, if so you might consider snow removal as a issue to be addressed.