Looking to upgrade 4410

Dbn107 · Feb 9, 2010

I'm the property manager for a +-1000 acre (mostly wooded) private estate and trying to figure out the best tractor for my needs. Currently we have a 4410 with a 430 FEL, 60" front blower, 60" rotary boom, 72" MMM, and 72" flail mower. There are 2 main issues where the tractor falls short.
I use the tractor for snow removal on appox. 3 miles of single lane asphalt driveway. The drives are very very steep (I've never actually measured the slope but its scary steep), tight and twisty mostly through wooded areas. The 4410 has turf tires which stink and I put chains on the back but still have serious traction issues even with only a few inches of snow. Anything less then 4 inches and I use the broom which works great and takes it down to bare. The blower should work great but I'm constantly having maintenance issues with it and this past weekend storm (24") was about all it could handle. It was very slow and on any of the steep hills I was backing up and going forward constantly, again mostly because of traction issues. I put the FEL back on today and will use it to slowly clean up after the storm tomorrow.
Primarily because of the length and slope of the drives I feel like the 4410 is vastly underpowered for what I need. Another snow related concern is that the next peice of equipment have a heated cab, the property is on top of a mountain and always windy.
The second priority is acreage mowing. We contract all of the critical mowing areas, but there is a 50 acre field that the boss likes to keep well groomed. Not quite like your front lawn but pretty close. Right now were either using the flail mower or radius mower on the 4410 and a 1445 on the area closest the roadway. Its terribly impractical and takes forever. I'd like to get a machine that can pull a wing type mower and again an air conditioned cab would be great.
Other issues are lots of leaf cleanup of the drives in the fall which we use the rotary broom and other general cleanup maintenance.
I'd also like to switch to attachments that can be mounted to the loader arms as switching out attachments mounted to the subframe is becoming very annoying. I know they make a loader mount blower but what about an angle broom?
Basically I'm interested on your opinions of the best machine for my needs. Besides this tractor my other equipment experience is limited to skid steers, mini ex's and some larger backhoes, so I'm not sure what size machine would be best. Was thinking maybe the cabbed 4720 would be good but not sure. We have a good relationship with a local JD dealer but I haven't gone over an ideas with them yet. I've also looked into the Bobcat Toolcat machinces but not sure that would be best especially with the mowing aspect.
Sorry for the textbook but any insite would be appreciated. Thanks.
Dan

RoyJackson · Feb 10, 2010

You need a lot more tractor then a CUT, even a 4410!
When you get into plowing 3 miles of road and mowing 50 acres, you need to look into a full sized utility tractor in the 60-100 HP category.
This is going to be a major expenditure if you buy new, BTW.
This is also the kind of work that could be outsourced, rather then buying the equipment...so you might want to talk to the property owner's accountants on your options. For one thing, I sure wouldn't want to be driving a tractor on 3 miles of drive and steep areas....a plow on a dump truck would be a lot better (IMHO).

So, where in York is this property? I live in the York area...just being curious.

Dbn107 · Feb 10, 2010

The property is located in the wrightsville area. As far as hiring the work out goes the boss is a fairly particular guy and likes to keep it in house as much as possible. There's to many situations I would need direct control over projects and timing to hire most of the stuff out. We have an old dodge with a 7ft plow on the front but most of the drives are even to steep and twisty to get the job done with more then a few inches. Also there's plenty of opportunity for me to use a tractor in other situations. A dump with a plow would probably work but it would never have the maneuverability I need.

beenthere · Feb 10, 2010

Wish you luck getting all the "wants" in one unit.

For the long drive, I'd suggest the cabbed 4720 with an 8' Western (or similar) plow attached to the frame (not the FEL) and a wing plow that will attach easily/quickly.

RoyJackson · Feb 11, 2010

Dbn107 said:
The property is located in the wrightsville area.

Is this that fenced in area on Rt 624 across from Lauxmont Farms? I'd heard that guy went belly up (financially).
But, if he, or his corporation, can swing 1000 (+/-) acres, they can afford the equipment to maintain it. If not outright buying, leasing may be an option.

jenkinsph · Feb 11, 2010

I think the short dump truck or service body arrangement on a Ford 450-550 or Chevy 4500-5500 would work well equipped with a front plow. The newer ones from about 2005 on will turn sharper than most pickup trucks, and can weigh twice what the tractors do. I have two of the F550 4x4 auto diesels and find them to be very manueverable, should handle the plowing for you. I wouldn't rule out something like an older International 4800 4x4 either.

The 4720 cab tractor looks to be a good choice and would consider something larger too. I have been very satisfied with my 4520 but the things I do the least are mowing and snow clearing. Some others can help more with this.

Dbn107 · Feb 11, 2010

No it's not the place up by Lauxmont, not sure whats going on with that guy. We are on the other side of 30.

I drive a 08 2500 Duramax ex cab short bed and considered putting a plow on it but because of the tight turns and steepness decided against it. Yesterday we got about 20" and I had a buddy in a Ford 5500 with a vplow stop by to give it a shot and he only made it about 50 ft up the hill. So I spent all day with the FEL slowly working around. It sucked.

After talking with some farmer buddies and the boss, I'm gonna look into some bigger tractors in the 65-100hp pto range.

chuck diesel · Feb 18, 2010

Look into a 5520 w/ 541 loader with a 96" light material bucket, that will move some snow, and will run your bat wing mower. My uncle has a 5510 on his dairy farm and he moves two round bales at once.