New tractor

[Anonymous Poster]

I need a tractor. We? are building a new house. The particular building lot has a lot of trees, and brush. I will need to clear the trees and brush from the access road to the building site, elec right of way, septic area, and the lawn area. Only 5 acres so after all is said and done I dont need a huge machine to maintain the place. So I need clearing, grading, dirt removal, mowing, and some digging w/ FEL. Any ideas what size tractor I could reasonably use, or need. One caviot, this is how I can justify the tractor, so be CREATIVE! I will rent an excavator for most of the deep digging and trenching of the electric,tele, gas line, septic tank and field. Moving the dirt from the foundation area, backfilling, grading, and initial clearing I have thought of. But you people are so creative I know I will have quite a few more uses very quickly.
Thanks, DESPERATE!

 

[fishman]

Bryce,

I have 10 acres with much of the same needs you describe. I am looking at a b7500 as the most logical machine. It has increased loader capacity and ground clearance compared to the BX series, but is much more economical than the 27/29 series. I would look at the 7500 as the minimum and work up from there as budget allows.

 

[frank_f15]

bryce: it might help if u registered, so we know if u need to move snow, what kind of land etc. but i think fishman said it all, i have 9 acres and move a lot of snow, and found the b2400 great. i would only consider the bx 2200 or b7500 as min.

 

[PaulT]

We just had our house completely rebuilt. We changed a 1600 sq ft raised ranch into a 3000 sq ft contemp. We spent NOTHING on the landscaping. We have 10 acres, including a pond, christmas trees, forest, and of course lawn. We also have an 800 ft gravel drive. I already have a 3/4 ton chevy plow truck (no other way to clear snow in upstate NY, IMHO/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). My reasons for purchase were as follows:
Gravel Drive Maintenance
Drainage correction and maintenance
Landscaping (typically $40K of a $250K New house - mostly labor)
Christmas tree removal (I bought a backhoe too/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif!)
Mowing
Therapy (aka Spousal Avoidance)

I bought the backhoe because I found such a great package price. (I just dug a hole and installed a cistern to offset my slow recovery well - saving $3000 over a labor included qoute - halfway paid for the backhoe, woohoo). If not for the backhoe, I would think I could get away with the 2410. I originally looked at the 7500, then moved onto the 2410. I was set on that, when I found a price of only $650 more for the 2710. If price is really an issue, then I think you could go for the 7500. If you want to dig ditches for your drainage, then you really need a backhoe. If you shop carefully, you can get one, use it for a season, and sell it for the same you paid, less the rental you would have had to pay. this way, you have the option to keep it.

I fyou are in the northeast, where there is hardpan clay everywhere, then the boxblade will really need some horsepower to regrade the gravel driveway each year (maybe you'll pave instead - get a bx). I would invest the money for the pavement toward a tractor and box blade. That way you'll always have an excuse for a "therapy" session /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. I thought I might eventually get a PTO driven chipper, which probably has the highest HP requirement of any implement. That is why I moved up from the 7500.

PaulT