New kubota tractor advice

[ning]

Part of my land is very rocky and it's a rare rock that my bucket (with piranha tooth bar) can get out of the ground unless it's got substantial reveal to begin with.

As far as using the backhoe, sometimes that's trivial, and sometimes the rock is a small boulder and you have to treat it like a bad stump - dig all around it and then roll it up out of the hole.

Recently I've been putting my pallet forks at risk by very effectively spearing the ground in front of a mostly-buried rock and then levering it out. Works great with minimal disruption to the rest of the ground (there's the hole from the rock, and a small hole & mound from the other fork - I should probably put the two forks together for this but it's usually done as I'm traveling back and forth getting brush piles). I'm worried about tweaking something doing this though so I'll only do this occasionally from here out... maybe ... but it's so effective lol

 

[the old grind]

I agree with Jeff and others that if you don't have weight ya got nothin'. In 4WD-low and with the rear axle locked I can always spin four w/o stalling. Loaded tires and my heaviest implement aren't enough by themselves not to dig ruts/pockets in groups of four.

Remember to subtract the weight of any grapple from the FEL's capacity. I have one that digs ok with the jaw closed and doesn't weigh much. It's for pulling trees/shrubs, and will move to my bigger (cap) FEL soon. (12 LA) btw, I got a smokin' deal on another 12v diverter valve today from SC. #9-6802 It's ~12 gpm but that's not a prob on my other FEL (110 TL)

 

[fried1765]

Part of my land is very rocky and it's a rare rock that my bucket (with piranha tooth bar) can get out of the ground unless it's got substantial reveal to begin with.

As far as using the backhoe, sometimes that's trivial, and sometimes the rock is a small boulder and you have to treat it like a bad stump - dig all around it and then roll it up out of the hole.

Recently I've been putting my pallet forks at risk by very effectively spearing the ground in front of a mostly-buried rock and then levering it out. Works great with minimal disruption to the rest of the ground (there's the hole from the rock, and a small hole & mound from the other fork - I should probably put the two forks together for this but it's usually done as I'm traveling back and forth getting brush piles). I'm worried about tweaking something doing this though so I'll only do this occasionally from here out... maybe ... but it's so effective lol

What you are doing with those forks is a REALLY BAD IDEA, and will eventually catch up to you!

 

[the old grind]

I've 'lunged' into my share of rocks & stumps worried about bending loader arms. I've move bigger amounts of dirt with the BB and bent draft arms. We have the hp, we just have to use it wisely w/o breaking stuff, and that's getting easier all the time.

 

[jjeff]

Keep in mind a three point back hoe adds at least 1000 lbs of weight to lighter tractors. Which is a good thing.

 

[Grandad4]

A box blade is capable of anchoring practically any sized tractor if it catches large roots of boulders. A larger machine will have greater fel capacity, but I have yet to see a loader that couldn't be over loaded.
R4's do not excel in mud. Sounds like R1's would keep you from sliding around.
I guess my point is that a larger L series tractor has limitations also, and you should either take smaller bites at your tasks or buy larger and work within the machine's capability.

 

[Grandad4]

Pretty sound advice here for the most part, I think. You have some "severe duty" tasks and a light duty tractor... a complete mismatch. You need to get the right equipment on the scene and carefully learn how to use it.

What would that be? Top choices on a tractor platform are the Kubota construction grade TLB's. I'd also put in a good word for a 45- 60 hp compact (Example: Kubota MX series), with a subframe backhoe.

I used one of those for almost 15 years to remove trees, stumps and rocks. It was a beast and stood up to some rough work.

Getting back to the "severe duty" thing, stumps and buried rocks are not something for digging with your FEL. The forces needed are enough to damage the loader bucket or the loader arms. A decent backhoe is designed to apply much more digging/prying force than the loader.

My 2 cents anyways. Good luck with your plans!

 

[thunder86]

Pretty sound advice here for the most part, I think. You have some "severe duty" tasks and a light duty tractor... a complete mismatch. You need to get the right equipment on the scene and carefully learn how to use it.

What would that be? Top choices on a tractor platform are the Kubota construction grade TLB's. I'd also put in a good word for a 45- 60 hp compact (Example: Kubota MX series), with a subframe backhoe.

I used one of those for almost 15 years to remove trees, stumps and rocks. It was a beast and stood up to some rough work.

Getting back to the "severe duty" thing, stumps and buried rocks are not something for digging with your FEL. The forces needed are enough to damage the loader bucket or the loader arms. A decent backhoe is designed to apply much more digging/prying force than the loader.

My 2 cents anyways. Good luck with your plans!

Thanks. My final decision is to go big and if not I'm gonna sit on what I have until I can. Anything under 3k pounds isn't gonna touch it. I've also looked at John deere 5045 model that's 5k pounds with grapple. YouTube video of a guy using the grapple to pinch it simple pulled it without even driving hardly. The Kubota's TLB series with backhoe setup I think would be nice but a bit much pricey. I agree not getting $30k+ and abusing the loader, I'd hate to go bigger and bend a grapple. I think it was Jeff though saying an MX could simply pull smaller saplings I've described straight out of the ground roots and all with a chain. I'd be satisfied with that. Without a backhoe I'm not sure about the rocks however. I think the B series with backhoe starts at $42,000 which is a lot. Maybe I wouldn't need a grapple if I had this tractor with a thumb on backhoe. I'm looking at bobcat tractors now too in the 3,700 pound range 40hp roughly.

 

[K5lwq]

I have not had to deal with large rocks like many here have. But what about renting a skid steer with a jack hammer attachment to break the rocks down to a size you can move with your loader? And or renting a backhoe large enough to remove the stumps?

 

[jeff9366]

Thanks. My final decision is to go big and if not I'm gonna sit on what I have until I can. Anything under 3k pounds isn't gonna touch it. When I buy an additional 23 acres this summer I'll have another clearing project right off.

Think WEIGHT primarily, not dimensions. You will make better tractor decisions.

You need a 4,000 pound or heavier bare weight tractor, not a 3,000 pound tractor.

3,000 pound bare weight tractors are for ten acres or less of FLAT ground.

You need the greater stability and pulling power of a 4,000 pound or heavier tractor.