55 Acres, Wooded, Hilly, and Snowy!

[FrenchyRaoul]

Hello,

I am looking to purchase a tractor within the next year or two, and am looking for some guidance on a few points. I’ve done some research, but am still unsure about getting the right sized machine. My use cases vary quite a bit, but I think the most restrictive uses are going to be snow clearing operations, and working on hill sides.

Use cases:

• Maintaining my gravel driveway, grading and fixing potholes, using a backhoe to re-dig out ditches when necessary. My driveway is fairly level, so this isn’t really restrictive.
• I live on a 55 acre wooded lot, with a lot of atv trails. I would like to widen these trails for the tractor, remove a lot of rutting and large boulders, and redirect water where necessary.
• A large portion of my property is hilled, and I would like to make sure I select a tractor that is large/heavy enough to be stable on these hills. I am only driving up and down the hills directly, not across. I took a few (rough) measurements today, and found the hills I care about to be about 25%/15 degree grade (~5ft drop over 20ft run). There are a few 10-15ft stretches that are probably closer to 30%/17 degrees, but it doesn’t really get much steeper than that.
• Clearing snow: I would definitely want to be using the tractor to clear snow on my driveway, but it would also be nice to clear snow on some of the sloped paths. I really am not very interested in a rear mounted snow blower. I know there are also pull behind blowers, but I worry it would be a hassle driving the tractor up a slope through deep snow with the blower behind. Of course, I could clear it incrementally, but god forbid I miss a storm.
• Other: Since I would like to use this tractor to help maintain the property, I want to eventually have a third function grapple and brush hog attachments.

My biggest concerns are the steep-ish hills and the snow blowing. It would be nice if I could pull a small dump trailer of gravel up and down this hill, but I want to make sure I’m sizing the tractor appropriately in order to do that. I know a gear driven tractor can pull much more, but I’m not interested in sacrificing the HST for this one use case. However, the larger tractors also don’t typically support a mid-pto front mount blower, so I’m trying to figure out if it’s one or the other.

Right now, I’m considering a Grand L6060, as it kind of checks all of the boxes. However, it’s certainly a pretty pricey machine. Can something the size of an L6060 pull, say, a yard (or half a yard?) of gravel up a 30% slope? Is that infeasible, or way overkill? Would I be better served with a smaller machine, say 45 horse? Any guidance on this front is greatly appreciated.

 

[jeff9366]

My biggest concerns are the steep-ish hills and the snow blowing.

Have you considered slope maintenance specialty tractor brands Ventrac and Steiner?

Ventrac was recently acquired by Toro.

Ventrac Compact Tractors & Attachments

Ventrac all-wheel drive compact tractors connect to over 30 commercial grade attachments in just minutes or less. Choose from mowers, power blowers, blades, rakes, brooms, scoops , and much more.

www.ventrac.com

Become the King of Your Hill

Take control over rough terrain and steep slopes using the Steiner 450.

steinerturf.com

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ventrac+Steiner

 

[jeff9366]

With the Kubota 'Grand L' L6060 you have the options of a cab, front PTO and incrementally adjustable rear wheel spread for stability. L6060 would have ample power to pull 1-1/2 yards of gravel uphill IF (big if) traction is maintained. Tire chains increase tire traction winter and summer.

Discuss with dealer if transporting gravel low in the tractor bucket uphill is a reasonable expectation given your steep slopes.

MUTS TRAILER: MUTS - Multi-Use Trailer System for your ATV, Quad and 4 Wheeler

 

[oosik]

If you are going straight up/down your slopes - most any size tractor will do this. It's the turning while on the slope or running across the slope that can quickly get you in trouble. If you are considering the Kubota 60 series - look at the M6060.
Don't know how long your driveway is. For 27 years I used a 3-point blower on my tractor to clear my mile long gravel driveway. It was a pain in the neck, literally, driving in reverse for that long a time - but it did an excellent job. Clearing driveway, mailbox area & yard - - three and a half hours.

I now have a Kubota M6040 and heavy duty rear blade. Same scenario takes one and a half hours with the rear blade.

This my tractor - outfitted with grapple and rear blade. The rear tires are loaded with RimGuard. In this configuration it weighs - 10,100#.

 

[ericm979]

One yard of gravel weighs between 2200 ansd 2900 lbs. Judging from how my tractor can get up a steeper slope with 1000lbs of chipper on the back, I think it's doable IF you have traction. Even though we get a lot of rain our soil drains well. There's not a lot of mud. I have driven on 25-30% slopes and have a road that's steeper than that. I feel that on our soil R4 tires work better than R1s, especially on dry hardpack (it's dry half the year). Radials would work better. R14s might too.

But if you have mud, you may not be able to pull that much weight up those hills. Not from lack of power- even a 45hp machine would have enough in low range- but due to lack of traction.

I don't know how safe it will be to haul 3000lbs+ (including trailer) down a steep hill, especially if it's muddy. Seems like trailer brakes would be a must.

 

[Rustyiron]

Remember that a loaded trailer provides little additional weight to the tractor (and traction) and a 4 wheel wagon, none! Comparing a bucket load or a heavy attachment going up hill is not equivalent. A full bucket while going up the hill will help some.

 

[Buppies]

Have similar property always work high to low

 

[FrenchyRaoul]

Have you considered slope maintenance specialty tractor brands Ventrac and Steiner?

That thing looks wild, I've not heard of them, will have to check them out.

With the Kubota 'Grand L' L6060 you have the options of a cab, front PTO and incrementally adjustable rear wheel spread for stability. L6060 would have ample power to pull 1-1/2 yards of gravel uphill IF (big if) traction is maintained. Tire chains increase tire traction winter and summer.

Discuss with dealer if transporting gravel low in the tractor bucket uphill is a reasonable expectation given your steep slopes.

MUTS TRAILER: MUTS - Multi-Use Trailer System for your ATV, Quad and 4 Wheeler

Hmm, so I guess right now I'm trying to decide: if I limit my expectations to 1.5 yards of gravel, can I get away with a smaller tractor in the Grand L line? Does the L4760 also have the adjustable wheel base? It looks like the L4760 and L6060 are approximately the same weight, so I'm not losing out there.

If you are going straight up/down your slopes - most any size tractor will do this. It's the turning while on the slope or running across the slope that can quickly get you in trouble. If you are considering the Kubota 60 series - look at the M6060.
Don't know how long your driveway is. For 27 years I used a 3-point blower on my tractor to clear my mile long gravel driveway. It was a pain in the neck, literally, driving in reverse for that long a time - but it did an excellent job. Clearing driveway, mailbox area & yard - - three and a half hours.

How deep can you clear snow with the rear blade? Have you tried to clear snow uphill with a blade? My biggest 'fear' with a rear blade/blower, is I'll wait a little too long, and have to drive uphill through a foot of snow with the snow clearing implement behind me.

Was the reason your snow blowing taking so long because it was on the 3pt hitch, or just because the blower took that much longer to clear it? I wonder if I wouldn't see such a huge time differential with a front mount blower?

One yard of gravel weighs between 2200 ansd 2900 lbs. Judging from how my tractor can get up a steeper slope with 1000lbs of chipper on the back, I think it's doable IF you have traction. Even though we get a lot of rain our soil drains well. There's not a lot of mud. I have driven on 25-30% slopes and have a road that's steeper than that. I feel that on our soil R4 tires work better than R1s, especially on dry hardpack (it's dry half the year). Radials would work better. R14s might too.

But if you have mud, you may not be able to pull that much weight up those hills. Not from lack of power- even a 45hp machine would have enough in low range- but due to lack of traction.

I don't know how safe it will be to haul 3000lbs+ (including trailer) down a steep hill, especially if it's muddy. Seems like trailer brakes would be a must.

Yeah, any gravel going up the hill stays up there . Right now I'm planning to get R14s, but I hear they are hard to come by. From this message and the others, I'm suddenly leaning towards the Grand L4760; less overkill in the HP dept, and I still get the option for a future front mount blower.

I still feel like I don't have a great grasp on the tow capacities between these machines, but it does seem like traction is a bigger concern all around. Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Rustyiron]

Tractor weight is your friend and I thought your choice (6060) was a good minimum for what little internet advice is worth.

 

[FrenchyRaoul]

Tractor weight is your friend and I thought your choice (6060) was a good minimum for what little internet advice is worth.

It looks like there is only about a ~150lb difference between the 6060 (4365#) and the 4760 (4222#), so I'm hoping that small difference is lost in the wash