Buying Advice Tractor for converting cleared forest land to row crops

[billwa]

Hi. I know next to nothing about tractors. I've been reading many of the other posts asking for advice, but I could use a little help zeroing in on what sort of equipment I should be looking at. I'm hoping to get a little better handle on this before I start talking to dealers.

I have just started an expansion from 2 acres to 10. I have been able to farm 2 acres intensively with an old BCS walk behind, but it is not going to do the job anymore. It will still be a useful tool, but I have a lot of heavy work to do. My land was forest, has been cleared, stumps removed, and roughly brush raked. What I am left with is a mess. I knew it would be, but I am starting to get a better sense of the work involved now that I am trying to do it! I have two main problems: the ground is too uneven to work with a walk behind and there are too many roots left in the ground. The roots aren't huge - everything big went with the stumps, but I still have a heck of a lot of 1 to 2 inch roots in the top few inches.

So, the questions are:
1. What do I need to level out the soil? We're talking about ruts, holes, and piles about 2 feet deep/high.
2. What do I need to rip through the soil and get the roots out?
3. What sort of tractor do I need to power those tools?

Thanks!

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I think people will also need to know: Soil composition? Rocks? What kind of and size trees were there? Slope?

 

[countrybumpkin]

Higher a dozer with a Root rake to remove the roots and level the ground out enough to begin to work it with a tractor. Also possibly have the dozer pull a off set disc across it once or twice to get it in a workable state.

 

[newbury]

And budget, nearby dealers, how many hours you can afford to do it.
Pics would help.

You could probably do it with a rake, shovel and wheelbarrow. Ten acres and trying to make money puts you into the category of needing more power.

Give us an idea of budget before we start recommending 75HP w/ a backhoe

Probably a 30 to 40 HP 4wd drive tractor w/ QA FEL, box blade, maybe a rake, tiller etc. would do very well.

 

[billwa]

I think people will also need to know: Soil composition? Rocks? What kind of and size trees were there? Slope?

Not much slope, just irregular surface from logging equipment and having stumps pulled. Heavy soil, going clay at about 15 inches. No rocks of any size that will trouble equipment. Plenty of small ones. Trees were spruce, western red cedar, and hemlock mostly.

Let's say my budget is about $20K, but I could be persuaded to delay and put more aside if there is a compelling reason.

I figure it will take a few years for me to get all of this into production, so I'm not in a big hurry, but I also don't want to suffer needlessly with a tool that is too small to do the job well.

 

[billwa]

Higher a dozer with a Root rake to remove the roots and level the ground out enough to begin to work it with a tractor. Also possibly have the dozer pull a off set disc across it once or twice to get it in a workable state.

That might be the right option. I'm a little afraid that if somebody gets too aggressive with a dozer, I won't have much soil left to work with.

 

[Creamer]

if you could get someone with a dozer to give it the first leveling then you can work it with a disc to finish it. the dozer with its tracks does not rock like a tired tractor and therefore they can just literally drive across it with the blade down and get it pretty level. After that a couple of passes with a disc should do it.

Getting all the roots out is not necessary. the disc will cut them or push them in so they will rot and let nature do its job. A field cultivator or chisel will pull them all to the top which would mean then you would have to pick them.

i am not sure what kind of crops you want to grow but i would not plant something like soybeans or flax that you want to cut right on the ground. Wheat or corn or other crops that are a little taller would be good for a couple of years till things rot away.

 

[jeff9366]

The questions are:
1. What do I need to level out the soil? We're talking about ruts, holes, and piles about 2 feet deep/high.
2. What do I need to rip through the soil and get the roots out?
3. What sort of tractor do I need to power those tools?

Not much slope, just irregular surface from logging equipment and having stumps pulled. Heavy soil, going clay at about 15 inches. No rocks of any size that will trouble equipment. Plenty of small ones.

I do this work regularly, concentrating on one acre at a time. I have been at it years during which I have tested many implements.

The simplest rig consists of a 4-WD tractor with a minimum bare weight of 3,500 pounds. An FEL, and optional heavy-duty bucket will yield an operating weight of 5,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds. Example would be one of the utilitarian Kubota MX series.

Tractor weight is the key metric for ground contact work, NOT horsepower. Every tractor brand has offerings in this weight.

KUBOTA: http://www.kubota.com/product/MX4800/MX4800.aspx

Add a $400 Ratchet Rake bucket attachment to the front, mount a $900 spring-protected Field Cultivator on the Three Point Hitch. Have at it.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/339095-dirt-dog-all-purpose-plow.html?highlight=

The Ratchet Rake tears out brush. It pulls vines from trees. Later, it piles debris pulled up by the Field Cultivator. Ratchet Rake is functional for penultimate grading after drawing the Field Cultivator over your ground. VIDEO: ratchet rake brush clearing - YouTube

Field Cultivator pulls out subsurface roots and corms. Usual working depth is ten inches. With experience Field Cultivator can be adjusted to rip/collect at fourteen inches. Later, Field Cultivator hooks into debris piled by the Ratchet Rake and pulls debris to your burn pile. Field Cultivator fairly smooths your work area. VIDEO: How to Use a Ripper / Field Cultivator - Gardening Series - YouTube

The Ratchet Rake and Field Cultivator have short learning curves. Both are easy to attach/mount to the tractor. Significant benefits for tyro tractor owners. I remember how I struggled to mount and operate a heavy Box Blade efficiently for road maintenance after I purchased my first new Kubota.

A heavy Landscape Rake WITH GAUGE WHEELS is good for ultimate smoothing. A Chain Harrow WITH FRAME LIFT would be equally good.

Now you are ready to seed, then roll/firm seed to soil with a Three Point Hitch mounted Cultipacker.

With exception of Photo #1, photos taken during past four days.

I shopped land around Sequim two summers ago. I was surprised to find good quality Olympic Peninsula land twice as expensive around Sequim as in northern Florida. I vacation on Whidbey Island most Septembers.

 

[WVH1977]

As Jeff9366 said a heavy utilitarian style tractor will work for what you are talking about doing. $ 20,000 will not get you a new one especially with any attachments that you will need. We had a vegetable farmer buy 35 acres a couple of miles down the road. I would say he cleared out fifteen acres of it for planting (had been cutover with small pines growing back). When he started he was using his tractor for the work. After a couple of months he had a dozer and excavator over there clearing and leveling it out. Then did a controlled burn. After that he started working the ground with plow and disc prepping for planting. I have no idea what that cost him. I do know it took him a couple of years to get it all straight.

I live around a lot of farmers. When I see them clearing 10/15/20 acres of scrub brush land for planting, they are always using dozers and excavators and burning everything (they usually own the equipment already). If you plan on using that entire ten acres for planting, you have a lot of prep work ahead of you. It can be done with a tractor and attachments, just going to take a while (which sounds like you have the time). At least all the big stumps have been removed. Ten acres is a lot of land to prep for planting especially if it needs grading/stumping work. Those little 1 to 2 inch stumps can be a pain. I have never used a spring-protected cultivator for clearing up brush but it looks like a good way to go about it. I always use a heavy grader box with teeth for that type of work.

I think it really boils down to how much money you want/have to spend. I am also not sure what it would cost you to hire a dozer to come out there and rip stumps and level everything out. But if all you are going to be doing is working the soil after the initial clearing, I think you could find a decent used tractor with plow/cultivator/disc or tiller at a good price and have enough left over to hire out bigger equipment to knock out the initial heavy work.

The good thing is you have ten acres that you will be working on for a long time and many years of enjoyment. I love tilling ground and growing vegetables.

 

[billwa]

Thanks, everybody and especially jeff9366. That is just the kind of information I needed. Now I will talk to some more people and try to learn a little more before making a decision.