CK20S HST

[joe48]

Buy a bx and hire an excavator to dig the cellar hole.

actually that was going tobe my next comment, slightly modified.

1.have hole dug, then buy the tractor and equipt. you want. Depending on size of hole and your time frame for work this just might be your best bet as big ex. with a 3/4 to 1 1/2 yd bucket can have your hole dug in a day or 2 for pretty reasonable price., and you'll be time ahead on house.

2.rent lease an excavator or BH, if you want to do it yourself, then buy the tractor and equipt.

3.buy a used excavator or BH, if you want to do it yourself, sell or trade in (when done with heavy digging,) on the tractor and equipt. you want.

good luck, make up time line, get prices, put a value on your time too ,to compare, calculate the amount of dirt to move, get price from excavating co.
double all YOUR time and materials and you will be in a total state of confusion, then go with your gut and do what you feel comfortable with.

 

[crabjoe]

Buy a bx and hire an excavator to dig the cellar hole.

You got my comment wrong about "move enough dirt to dig out a foundation."

I wasn't saying that was what I was doing. I was saying that to give someone a general idea on the amount of dirt I have to move.

Now thinking about it, that example was bad because some homes have deeper foundations then others. for example, my homes foot print is 1200sq/ft. And because I have 9' high basement walls, it's dug down about 8 feet deep. I can tell you that if I was building a home, I wouldn't buy a tractor to try and dig it out myself. I'd do like you said, hire an excavator.

What I have is this... I've got about an 1/2 acre left, of rocks, in my yard that I have to get out. It seems the builder took all the rocks they collected when building homes on my street and dumped them in my yard. They then covered it with a few inches of top soil, but with the dirt settling, I've got rocks coming up everywhere. A farmer down the street and a friend of mine thinks that I might be on a rock ledge too. Port Deposit, where I live, was known for granite at one time. I'm actually north, more like on top, of Port Deposit. The town is carved into a hill of granite, and a working stone quarry is still across the river.

Because I've got all these 20lb+ rocks (Some we've found are hundreds of pounds) in the yard, I can't get grass to grow or plant anything. One time, it took me 2 days (Probably about 6 hours total) to dig a hole big enough to plant a bare root tree. I should have dug down deeper, but I gave up. My neighbor got a good laugh from watching me too.

It's kind of hard to explain why dirt moving is so important at this time, but I need to move dirt, more then cut grass. Plus, I've already got a lawn tractor and I have a thing for new toys.

If you take a look at this picture, from within town, you'll see how this building is made of granite. Look behind the building and you'll see a wall... All that granite is in the hills here and I'm on top of this stinkin granite hill!

Here's a postcard from the old days....

 

[bearhawk]

It's kind of hard to explain why dirt moving is so important at this time, but I need to move dirt, more then cut grass. Plus, I've already got a lawn tractor and I have a thing for new toys.

I guess I misunderstood, but no worries.

I am in NH on 2-1/4 acres. We grow rocks here. see attachment!

I had to carve out some space for a barn and a riding ring for my horse loving wife. My CK20HST has been awesome.

If you sit on a BX, then sit on a CK20 you become immediately aware that they are designed for two separate uses. Nothing against the BX, but I already had a lawn tractor also.

It sounds to me like you will need to get a CK20 with a Box Blade and start scraping off all the topsoil that you can save. Then start digging out the rocks. A BB with the teeth ?? down will loosen the rocks enough to grab them with the loader.

But you might still want to consider renting a smaller excavator with a thumb, that will pop rocks out a lot faster than any tractor could.

So I revise my recommendation, CK20HST.

You can always sell it in a couple years when all the heavy work is done. That was my plan. But I seem to keep finding projects for it to do.

Jim

 

[joe48]

""It sounds to me like you will need to get a CK20 with a Box Blade and start scraping off all the topsoil that you can save. Then start digging out the rocks. A BB with the teeth ?? down will loosen the rocks enough to grab them with the loader.""

I partially agree.
You definitely want the CK20HST: loader AND TOOTHBAR, boxblade, and if you can afford it get the BACKHOE.(with thumb)
Now that we know youre dealing with lots of good size rocks , you are going to get your moneys worth out of the Hoe. ( and you'll be able to make some $ in the neighborhood too)
Take it from someone who grew up digging rocks out of fields every year, we had glacier hills with granite boulders and flats with limestone outcroppings and all we had were shovels crowbars and chains.
We grew more rocks than corn and cows!!!
That also seals the need to have an excavator dig your cellar, just to handle those rocks.

 

[Dmace]

You can't go wrong with a CK20, it sounds like the perfect size for your needs. You will definitely want the backhoe to remove rocks, the boxblade does a pretty good job but the large ones stop you in your tracks. The backhoe is amazing strong for it's size.

 

[crabjoe]

I went to look at the CK20S at Wallace Tractor and Equipment today and after getting on it, I think that's what I need... My biggest issue is that I love the stats on the TYM.

I didn't like the condition of the so called "New" T273, I looked at, but the stats with all mid-pto, QA and a few other things being standard really makes me want to go look at another one at a different dealer.

As for needing the HO, well, I don't feel as though I need one, but my betterhalf says I do. Personally, I'd rather have the Millonzi light grapple.

 

[IslandTractor]

As for needing the HO, well, I don't feel as though I need one, but my betterhalf says I do. Personally, I'd rather have the Millonzi light grapple.

You need both. However, as you describe mostly cleaning up surface rocks dumped after construction rather than big boulders, I might lean towards the combo of boxblade to "discover" them and then the grapple to scoop them up. That would be lots faster than moving the tractor around to position the backhoe. If however you are trying to dig out buried larger rocks then the backhoe has the advantage.

The one problem you may have with the Millonzi grapple for this task is that the tines are about 8 or 9 inches apart. That means lots of smaller rocks will fall through the cracks. There are specialized rock buckets made for exactly the task you are describing which would certainly be ideal The trouble with the rock buckets is that they are truly one function implements and are not much use for anything else. Millonzi makes one as to a number of other companies.

 

[Bigboyskioti]

Wish I had the problem of the better half saying I need the hoe.... Can't convince her that it would be money well spent. Here in Boone County Kentucky they talk about how geat the soil is for growing things. Well I must have the worst 7 acres of the county. I do however grow some purty cool rocks.

 

[Highbeam]

And don't forget that you can buy nearly 10 grapples for the price of one hoe.

 

[malk315]

Earlier on in this post, someone posted a picture of two loaders comparing height side-by-side.

My buddy Jeff has a Kubota B7510 w/ 302 loader

In my delivery pictures found here: Index of /ck20_arrival
if you look at IMG_0800.JPG you have them side by side w/ loaders all the way up FYI.

Jeff has an F-250 w/ snow plow package (no plow though) that sits up there (more then an F-150).

The 7510 gets just barely high enough to load it and great care has to be taken not to hit the truck bed. It almost feels like you need a bit more roll of bucket forward to get everything in there. I loaded a bunch of wood into his truck w/ the 7510 before I had my CK20 -- so this is based on personal experience using both machines.

The CK20 and 7510 both had no problems loading my brother's F-350 w/ equipment body (toolbox) setup. They will both have no problems loading an F350 or F450 w/ Heil dump body also. We have not tried loading a 10 wheeler or tri-axle (20 yard or greater) truck... (hope to someday!)

As far as my MMM -- it was expensive, but it cuts better than my Toro Wheel Horse Classic 315 that had 42" side discharge 3 bladed deck. My lawn is like a golf course -- one of these times I'll post some pictures of a fresh cut with the MMM. The only thing that's been annoying w/ the MMM is the blades will need an impact wrench to get them off (which I don't have, but plan to get as air tools are always handy). Also, since I can go w/ a lot more forward speed and I'm cutting 60", I do my lawn in 30 mins instead of an hour plus before.

I have just over an acre of land and the woods part was very difficult w/ garden tractor lack of ground clearance. Even the CK20 needs more clearance for some of the rougher areas. I steered away from the sub-compacts for the ground clearance and bigger / heavier loader capacity.

My machine primarily mows -- and it's quite heavy for a mowing machine in a more residential neighborhood rather than farm type property, but I was willing to not worry about the weight (sub compacts are lighter). I even have loaded tires for ballast. Since the soil is getting packed, great excuse to get an aerator for the back!