Howdy,
I did not think I would ever be a farm and tractor owner, but we happened into a beautiful piece of property that has rearranged my future and priorities. It is only 8 acres, but it has mostly level, very fertile, and has a year round creek flowing through with white water, not to mention wonderful views of rock bluffs.
I had a local excavator come through with a forestry cutter and remove 80% of the Privet. About 4 of the 8 acres were swamped in Privet, some up to 30 feet high. Now I am quickly trying to decide on a tractor and implements to improve and maintain the land. I know in a couple of weeks the Privet is coming back with a vengeance. I was given advice to use Crossbow herbicide to tamp it down. However the Privet roots are everywhere, so I am looking for a tractor than handle a sturdy root grapple to rip many of them out. I also need the root grapple to be sturdy enough to handle rocks, of which I have many. Some of them probably weigh 1000 lbs. I do not have much large timber that needs to be removed because most of the land was clearcut 25 years ago. Those trees that are larger than that are mostly going to be left in place.
Initially I am going to put a couple head of cows on the property, but I am really wanting to find something that I can cultivate on my hobby farm that will not monopolize my time (unfortunately I can't quit my day job) that will make a few bucks (and so that I can qualify for farmer programs and tax advantages).
At this point I am hoping to find a new/newish 35 - 50 HP tractor with a FEL, toothed bucket, root grapple (requiring an additional hydraulic line or electric diverter), rake, radial mower, box blade. I will probably also get a chipper and log splitter to run off the PTO. I have been scouring the threads for advice. It is good to know there are so many people who are willing to share their experiences with a newbie.
I have considered having an excavator come in and do much of the work that needs to be done with a trac steer, but I am guessing that the amount that I will spend to have that done will make up the difference between a smaller tractor (< 30HP) and a tractor that is large enough to handle most of what I need to have done--so why not have the fun of doing it myself if isn't going to cost me more in the long run. Besides that way I can run a big enough radial mower to cut down the time it is going to take to keep the land looking good.
I guess the only specific advice that I am looking for is where I can find the tractor that I am looking for with all of the implements I want for less than $20k? (LOL). I suspect that I will be lucky to find all of that for 2x that much.
Cheers
Hairyhyde
I did not think I would ever be a farm and tractor owner, but we happened into a beautiful piece of property that has rearranged my future and priorities. It is only 8 acres, but it has mostly level, very fertile, and has a year round creek flowing through with white water, not to mention wonderful views of rock bluffs.
I had a local excavator come through with a forestry cutter and remove 80% of the Privet. About 4 of the 8 acres were swamped in Privet, some up to 30 feet high. Now I am quickly trying to decide on a tractor and implements to improve and maintain the land. I know in a couple of weeks the Privet is coming back with a vengeance. I was given advice to use Crossbow herbicide to tamp it down. However the Privet roots are everywhere, so I am looking for a tractor than handle a sturdy root grapple to rip many of them out. I also need the root grapple to be sturdy enough to handle rocks, of which I have many. Some of them probably weigh 1000 lbs. I do not have much large timber that needs to be removed because most of the land was clearcut 25 years ago. Those trees that are larger than that are mostly going to be left in place.
Initially I am going to put a couple head of cows on the property, but I am really wanting to find something that I can cultivate on my hobby farm that will not monopolize my time (unfortunately I can't quit my day job) that will make a few bucks (and so that I can qualify for farmer programs and tax advantages).
At this point I am hoping to find a new/newish 35 - 50 HP tractor with a FEL, toothed bucket, root grapple (requiring an additional hydraulic line or electric diverter), rake, radial mower, box blade. I will probably also get a chipper and log splitter to run off the PTO. I have been scouring the threads for advice. It is good to know there are so many people who are willing to share their experiences with a newbie.
I have considered having an excavator come in and do much of the work that needs to be done with a trac steer, but I am guessing that the amount that I will spend to have that done will make up the difference between a smaller tractor (< 30HP) and a tractor that is large enough to handle most of what I need to have done--so why not have the fun of doing it myself if isn't going to cost me more in the long run. Besides that way I can run a big enough radial mower to cut down the time it is going to take to keep the land looking good.
I guess the only specific advice that I am looking for is where I can find the tractor that I am looking for with all of the implements I want for less than $20k? (LOL). I suspect that I will be lucky to find all of that for 2x that much.
Cheers
Hairyhyde
