Home building with a tractor

[goodoleboy]

I was wondering if a CUT in 25-30 hp with 4wd, front end loader and backhoe can be useful in building a home. How much tractor work can be done with these size CUTs before the big equipment needs to roll in? I assume all work can be done by a CUT if the building site is fairly level with no large trees or big rocks.

Keep in mind i dont have tractor experience so i dont know if one needs much experience to say prepare for a full concrete slab foundation, dig a septic tank dig lines for water and electric? Thats all i can think of but i dont squat about building a home.
Reason i am asking, since I am shopping for a tractor and real savings can be had when items are purchased together. It may make sense to purchase everything at once. If i can buy a tractor and do alot of the work myself it may pay for part of the tractor.

 

[familyman]

If you're stating your case accurately, I'd say yes, you can certainly do what you describe. If you're going to dig your own septic, and I assume you have all of your septic facts lined up, you may want to consider renting bigger machinery for that operation to save yourself time. You don't state that you are building the house itself. If not, don't spend money on a machine sized for this project -- a competent builder will have what he needs. You may consider a tractor for improving/maintaining your property, which might require less machine than you describe. Give us some more facts and this site will produce plenty of advice.

Charley

 

[goodoleboy]

Well Im unsure what Im going to be doing with the machinery. Since Im unsure of what the machinery on a CUT can accomplish. This is a just an information gathering question rather than "what do I need for my property" Many variables that I cant really answer right now.
thanks

 

[Birdman]

I am sure you could dig lines for water and electric with a CUT, but then you have much wider trenches than you really need (more work to refill) and then you are somewhat limited as to the areas you can dig, say between 2 trees or up close to the foundation. A rental trencher is a great tool. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I sure wish I had my tractor back when I built my home. The roof sheating and shingles would have been much easier with the FEL.

 

[rtimgray]

The uses of a tractor while home building are almost too many to list. I am in the process of building my own home with a partial basement. The initial work of the basement was accomplished with a JD310 Backhoe and a Case 850 Dozer. However, after all the equipment left I still had miscellaneous piles to move, footers to dig, utility lines, etc.

I had a Kioti DK 45 with a loader, so I bit the bullet and bought a backhoe for it...and it has been great ever since. I had to dig out the basement excavation after torential springtime rains filled it in and collapsed the footers that have been dug. I've dug footers for retaining walls, am preparing to dig footers for the first floor and have some utility lines to dig. In agreement with an earlier statement, for long runs of utility lines, you will be better off with a rented trencher (quicker, less mess, etc). I will be renting a trencher to put in about 800' of water line (but will backfill with the tractor and loader.

I plan to add pallet forks to my loader prior to framing so as to make moving the lumber around easier, and most specifically for placing beams and roof sheeting, shingles, etc. up high so I don't have to carry them up.

In short, if you are building your own home and doing the work yourself, a tractor and loader and extremely valuable, and a backhoe is a nice plus. If it is only a slab with a small foundation, you might be better off to rent a backhoe for a day and do that, rent a trencher for the lines, and a large backhoe for the septic. However, if you are like me and have uses beyond house building for a backhoe, then by all means get the backhoe when you buy the tractor.

Good luck.

 

[Soundguy]

while you won't de doing heavy landclearing with a CUT ( unless ya got lotsa time ).. they can be used to dig footers, drag and smooth dirt.. haul materials around on a jobsite.. etc. So yes.. there are some uses.

When my house was being built, I used a 21? hp yanmar 2wd tractor and box blade / rear dirt scoop to tote dirt around and build up a sizeable area around the back of my house.. fill in ruts from the construction trucks, and in general, 'help' out by smoothing hte dirt for the sod layers.. etc. Due to the small tractor, and the fact I had a rear scoop and not a fel.. it was time consuming.. but it got the job done.

Soundguy

 

[GaryK]

You did not say how much land you have. work does not stop after the house is up. I did not get my CUT w/FEL until after the house was built, I use it all the time and really could have used it during the building of the house for all the reasons listed above and more...

 

[OkeeDon]

I didn't know squat about tractors before I got mine, and I didn't know much about building a house. I got good advice from my dealer, who really listened to me and understood what I was about to do. I bought a package deal of tractor w/FEL (NH TC18), brush hog (4' Rhino) and box blade (4' generic).

I debated back and forth for days about a back hoe. I had a chance to buy a slightly used tractor (230 hours) with a back hoe for just a little more money. While everyone here who has a back hoe seems to love it, I wasn't so sure. My dealer said he'd rent me a mini-excavator any time I needed a backhoe, and told me to save the money.

So far (about 16 months and 350 hours later), I still haven'e started my house. But, so far, the tractor has been used to help with the clearing, grading, fence building, installing a driveway culvert, moving dirt, etc. I have had my well installed, and rented a trencer to do the first 1100' of water line around the property. I have more trenching to do; I'll rent a trencher for that, too -- faster and cleaner than a back hoe, unless you NEED a 12" or wider trench! I did use my tractor, FEL and box blade to backfill the trench.

My septic guy just shrugged when I mentioned digging for the system, myself -- they have all the equipment already, and experienced diggers, and he said I could please myself, but I wouldn't save much -- the digging is the least part of the job. Same with the pool builder.

Originally, I was going to contract the house myself, and do most of the building. Now, health problems have changed my plans. Even with a contractor, if my health was better I'd rent a mini-excavator and have them sub contract the footers to me.

Essentially, what my dealer told me was to by the tractor I'd need for all my landscaping and maintenance needs, and rent the specialized equipment (like a trencher or mini-excavator) that I'd need for one-time tasks. There is plenty of overlap -- my basic, small tractor handled the driveway culvert with no problems, for example.

 

[boustany]

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I wouldn't suggest you plan on using a CUT for what you propose.

First, even removing topsoil off a decent sized plot is a lot of time and work for the machine. If you don't do it correctly (flat, etc.) you will have to pay for fill and compacting to make it right. As for a septic, these to require some level of skill and experience to get right, even if you have the design.

Above all, consider the wear and tear on the machine: I had the foundation for a small barn excavated for less than C $900 (about US $500 at the time) and it was done correctly in a few hours. It would have taken the better part of a week with my L3010, and I couldn't have moved some of the rocks he moved and roots, etc., would have given me fits. It would have cost me more in depreciation than I paid.

Same goes for the septic, which requires a lot more knowledge to set up than you'd think.

So, when I do my workshop, I'll pay for a pro (and I already own 2 CUTs).

Of course, I use the machines for all kinds of maintenance (and, as already noted, they are great for things lift lift up bundles of shingles), so, by all means buy a tractor if you need one but I doubt it is cost effective or time effective to do the big tasks you mention.

 

[Currmudgeon]

Are you planning on doing your own carpentry and concrete work?

A CUT is pretty small to excavate the foundation hole. You can do it, but you'd better be patient. I'd contract that out. That way, you'll get good grades and a hole dug in a reasonable time. The CUT with a FEL would then be useful for minor backfilling, placing drainage gravel, and clean-up. A CUT BH might be useful for trenching in floor drains and foundation drains.

I'd bring the excavator back in to backfill and compact around the finished foundation. He'll do it in a day, while it would take you a week.

As far as the septic tank is concerned, there are two problems. First, you may need a licensed contractor to install the septic system. Second, you may need a medium sized track hoe to place the tank in the hole. There's no way your toy backhoe will lift the 10,000 pound concrete tank and place it. You could probably dig the hole yourself, but once they have the track hoe on site, the hole is essentially free.

Your CUT BH will probably dig to seven or eight feet. That sounds like a lot until you work out the geometrics of getting that drain line at a constant slope to a daylight outlet.

There's no reason you can't trench in the other utilities, but the connections at least, will need to be made by others.

There's a ton of landscaping, clean-up, material spotting, and small grading you can do with the CUT.

 

[keeney]

I have a small JD 4100 with FEL that was used during the construction of our house.

Even though I contracted out all the main digging for the basement and the water line, the 4100 got used a LOT!

Its not clear we saved a heck of a lot of money, but it was very convenient to have the machine there, so it saved a lot of time. I never had to call anybody or run to the rental place for a bobcat just to move a pile of rocks, or load trash, or whatever - I just hopped on the 4100 and got the work done.

Some of the uses:

- Place drainage gravel around foundation.
- Backfill around foundation. This was a bigger job than expected - a larger machione would have been better, but we just plugged away on the 4100 and eventually got it all done.
- Placement and rough leveling of sand in foundation for under basement floor slab.
- Removal of left-over rocks from excavation.
- Emtying the silt fences after large rains.
- Moving various materials, appliances, and tools around as required using forks. Not big enough for a full pallet of stone, or a unit of lumber, but restacking stuff in-place to make smaller loads is still a lot less work than a wheel-barrow.
- Snow removal
- Weed control (mowing)
- Spreading rock for temporary driveway.
- Placement of sand under garage floor slabs.
- Sprinkler system install (using sub-soiler and trencher attachment).
- rough grading of some portions of the yard (some grading was contracted out).
- loading of scrap and debris into dumpsters or the utility trailer for removal. We removed at least 5 30-yard dumpsters and another half dozen trips in a 3500lb trailer.
- removal of mud tracked onto public street using sweeper attachment.
- removal of a retaining wall.
- demolition of an old deck off the old house.
- loading of demolition debris from removal of old house.
- removal of portions of an old asphalt driveway that were in the way (bulk of driveway removed by contractor).
- cleanup of sand pile the stucco crew left behind.
- placement of landscape rock
- supplemental backfilling some settled areas where water-line was dug.
- back-filling behind new retaining wall.
- removal of an old basketball pole (and attached concrete).
- pulling other stuck equipment out of the mud or off of the ice, including a 40' high snorkel-lift and a full-size semi truck (empty).
- moving trailers around (two boats and a utility trailer, they were always in the way).
- moving tractor attachments around (they were also always in the way).
- raking of yard prior to sod.
- tilling of yard prior to sod.
- cutting grass.

Now that I am moved in, I plan to sell some of the attachments, but I am torn on the FEL. On one hand, I don't anticipate having a lot of dirt to move around anymore. On the other hand, if I ever do need to dig or move stuff (especially using the forks), it comes in darn handy.

The landscape rake, back-blade, and sub-soiler are all going to be sold.

The trencher and tiller were borrowed and have been returned.

The front blade, sweeper, and mower I plan to keep - the 4100 is small enough to make a very HD lawn tractor.

The front-mount snowblower I wish was a rear-mount, so I plan to trade it for a 3-pt version.

- Rick

 

[_RaT_]

Brian, I'll second your stick in the mud attitude. The tractor will be indispensible for all the small chores but for grading, septic tank, leach field etc., I would just say that you will be way ahead to hire a professional get it done fast, correctly and save the wear and tear. There will be many things a compact with a loader will do for you during the building process from moving gravel, dirt, trash etc. to help justify it's need, just not the big stuff. With a construction loan in the mix, time will be of the essence.

 

[Henro]

Well I guess I am a stick in the mud of a different sort...

If I only had had a real tractor/backhoe when I started building back in 1980!

Now maybe I would still have been smart enough to get the tracked loader in to dig the foundation...but I could have done it with my B2910 today, as it is in a hillside and there were not any major rocks to deal with...

There are so many little things a tractor w/loader could be so helpful with...

The more you do yourself the more helpful it will be.

But you do have to realize the limitations.

Still...I wish I had had a tractor twenty years sooner.

If you can afford it go for it. But don't expect for it to pay for itself in dollars. Your back will thank you but it may be difficult to prove the tractor was worth it dollar wise.

But it will be worth it, and the more you do yourself the more you will see the worth of it.

The more you contract out, the less value the tractor will have I think.

I did 99 percent myself so a tractor would have had a lot of worth...

 

[AndyMA]

I am in the process of building a house and have 3 machines. A large CUT 43hp, a Utility tractor 75hp and a 44,000 lb excavator. Where I live the 75hp TN with an 11 foot backhoe would take a lot of time to dig a foundation. The excavator makes quick work of it and the large stones as well as stripping loam so that a FEL can move it. As far as using a trencher for water lines, yes in sun country, but not around here where you need to go down below frost level.

Andy

 

[RichNJKubota]

All I can say is that I wish I had my Kubota L4310 when we were building the house. We did about 50% of the house building. Had an excavator do the digging, etc. Still - I would have saved many, many hard hours by having a tractor on site.

Rich

 

[_RaT_]

Rich, that is so true. I think how often we used a tractor/loader for cleaining up to bringing heavy material right to the spot it will get used. It will get used considerably.

 

[BrianM]

When I put an addition on my house I rented a slew of different machines to get the work done (small excavators,bobcats, etc...) and kept thinking I would be better off buying a CUT. When I went to dealer to see them (on the side of the big boys) I thought the thing was not much bigger then my lawn tractor and decided against buying at that time, a few more bad experiences renting machines and I am now the proud owner of a BX23. I love the tractor but I recently spent the better part of a weekend excavating for a 12'x20' foundation that I could have done in a few hours with an excavator. I now have to increase my leaching fields and the design that I worked out with my local Health Dept. calls for me to ig a 6'w x 100' long trench that I will definately be renting an excavator to do, I will use my BX23 to backfill. My wife gives me plenty of grief about having to rent another machine to do some of the work but I can't get her to understand that no 1 machine will do it all