Tractor or skid steer? Just bought 150 acres.

[Torvy]

If it is newer and at that HP, it will have DPF and possibly DEF as well.

DPF alone isn't really that bad for most people. It wastes fuel, but that's another can of worms.

 

[redman135]

I just suggested hot tape (2") as a interum measure to get stock control. A local horse boarder uses a mix of post and batten(original fence) and hot tape on his farm(it is a conversion from cattle)

I recommend you say what kind of soil you have as advice for clay is very diffrent to loam or ash soil. Also what is the temperature in winter?. Some counties have a minimum depth to prevent freezing of pipes(water /sewerage etc). A factor to consider when laying in stock water too.
Details overlooked can have an expensive bite.
Good luck

 

[yanmars]

1400 hours on a diesel tractor is not much in my opinion. Most are good for 5000 hours or more if maintained properly.

 

[Notforhire]

2.This one I agree with mostly about working by yourself in a skid steer and not being able to get out of the cab unless the arms are all the way down and that's true with a lot of brands but all one needs is a skid steer with a roll up door which Kubota and Takeuchi both have, I work by myself everyday and get out of my Kubota with the arms in any position , so don't let that stop you if you go the skidsteer route, you just have to buy the right brand with the right options.

What I meant in my earlier post was not if you could exit the cab with the loader raised, but if you should.
Every manufacturer of skid steers that I know of says not to.
Volvo and JCB both make a side entry single arm machine that eliminates the danger of being under the load.

It wasn't uncommon for me to remove the door from my Bobcat in the summer. I didn't have AC.
Have I ever exited the cab with the loader raised?
Yes, but it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done.
This falls under the idea that just because you can doesn't mean you should.

https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/shib011209.pdf?trk=public_post_comment-text

 

[Lineman North Florida]

What I meant in my earlier post was not if you could exit the cab with the loader raised, but if you should.
Every manufacturer of skid steers that I know of says not to.
Volvo and JCB both make a side entry single arm machine that eliminates the danger of being under the load.

It wasn't uncommon for me to remove the door from my Bobcat in the summer. I didn't have AC.
Have I ever exited the cab with the loader raised?
Yes, but it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done.
This falls under the idea that just because you can doesn't mean you should.

https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/shib011209.pdf?trk=public_post_comment-text

Unfortunately it's like a lot of other things in you sometimes do what you have to do, the industry I retired from kept me very familiar with OSHA and their ever changing rules.

 

[VaughnB]

I need help figuring out what to buy!

Please tell me what YOU would do! And how YOU would approach this project.

We just bought a 150 acre farm (all crop land). All of it is rolling hills - nothing terribly steep, but not flat either.

In the next year or so, I need to:
1. Cut and grade an entrance from the road (about 50 ft of wooded area next to the road). Need to install culvert, etc. for road access.
2. Grade and install a 1/2 mile long driveway. Everything except the entrance is through the middle of a field - rolling hills - with 1 extra culvert needed
3. Grade a 60'x120' pad for our barn.
4. Clear 2.5 miles of fence line that is currently extremely overgrown honeysuckle (think 50 years of honeysuckle growth)
5. Pound about 1200 5-6'' round posts into the ground (quoted over $70k just to pound the posts, so I'll be doing this myself.)
6. Standard maintenance of pasture - so mow about 150 acres

We plan to hire someone to come in and seed hay - so roundup and a seed drill. We plan to hire that job out to someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Currently all weeds, so will hopefully be pasture and hay fields by this time next year.

But the big question:
Do I buy a tractor or a skid steer (with tracks, so a track loader)? And buying one thing - keeping it for a year to complete all of the above jobs - and then selling it and buying something different - is something I am willing to do.

Budget of about $35-40k, including any needed attachments.

I can buy a track loader for about $30k, a bush hog for $4k, and a post pounder for $4k - and be comfortably under my $40k max. Going this route means I wouldn't be able to harvest my own hay, etc until I sell the track loader and buy a tractor. And bush hogging 150 acres with a track loader is going to be rough.

Alternatively, I spend $30k on a newer 60-70 hp tractor with a loader, $5k on a post pounder, $5k on a bush hog - and be right at my max. I would probably need to rent a bulldozer or track loader to do the driveway, etc - which would be about $2000/week. No idea if I can get it done in one week or not, but my guess is closer to 2 weeks.

And it might actually be better if I buy a cheap dozer ($10k?) and sell it when I am done with it. Then buy the tractor after I sell the dozer.

I need help making a decision! Any and all advice appreciated!

I purchased a Kubota M 59 which is a Trctor loader backhoe you get a mid size backhoe & then you can unpin it to hook up to your disc mower and mow hay or anything else that you need a tractor for
I have had 2 other smaller models but in in 2013. I traded in 2 tractors and 2 backhoes to have just one unit that will do 90% of what I could do before
The con side if it breaks down you don’t have a back up
The pro side is maintaining 1 unit , insurance on 1 unit, having a piece of equipment that can do most anything
Don’t buy a backhoe attachment that goes on 3 point hitch you have to get off the attachment and then move the tractor forward a pain when ditching

 

[BarryHull]

I need help figuring out what to buy!

Please tell me what YOU would do! And how YOU would approach this project.

We just bought a 150 acre farm (all crop land). All of it is rolling hills - nothing terribly steep, but not flat either.

In the next year or so, I need to:
1. Cut and grade an entrance from the road (about 50 ft of wooded area next to the road). Need to install culvert, etc. for road access.
2. Grade and install a 1/2 mile long driveway. Everything except the entrance is through the middle of a field - rolling hills - with 1 extra culvert needed
3. Grade a 60'x120' pad for our barn.
4. Clear 2.5 miles of fence line that is currently extremely overgrown honeysuckle (think 50 years of honeysuckle growth)
5. Pound about 1200 5-6'' round posts into the ground (quoted over $70k just to pound the posts, so I'll be doing this myself.)
6. Standard maintenance of pasture - so mow about 150 acres

We plan to hire someone to come in and seed hay - so roundup and a seed drill. We plan to hire that job out to someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Currently all weeds, so will hopefully be pasture and hay fields by this time next year.

But the big question:
Do I buy a tractor or a skid steer (with tracks, so a track loader)? And buying one thing - keeping it for a year to complete all of the above jobs - and then selling it and buying something different - is something I am willing to do.

Budget of about $35-40k, including any needed attachments.

I can buy a track loader for about $30k, a bush hog for $4k, and a post pounder for $4k - and be comfortably under my $40k max. Going this route means I wouldn't be able to harvest my own hay, etc until I sell the track loader and buy a tractor. And bush hogging 150 acres with a track loader is going to be rough.

Alternatively, I spend $30k on a newer 60-70 hp tractor with a loader, $5k on a post pounder, $5k on a bush hog - and be right at my max. I would probably need to rent a bulldozer or track loader to do the driveway, etc - which would be about $2000/week. No idea if I can get it done in one week or not, but my guess is closer to 2 weeks.

And it might actually be better if I buy a cheap dozer ($10k?) and sell it when I am done with it. Then buy the tractor after I sell the dozer.

I need help making a decision! Any and all advice appreciated!

My two cents worth...

I do not make my living in agriculture, but I live on 50 acres, have a track loader, excavator, two tractors, and some experience. Forget about mowing 150 acres with anything but a tractor; don't even consider it, hire that job. The other work is best done with a track loader, not wheels. Shop around and get a ten thousand pound machine. Anything less, and you'll regret it for those jobs. Rent the attachments. At some point, when most of your track loader-type jobs are complete, sell it and get a tractor.

 

[OzarkChris]

I’m confused. Did i miss something here?
This JD 2010?

TractorData.com John Deere 2010 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

1,500 hours is not all that low…and that tractor should be WAY within your budget.

I believe he meant a 2010 (year model) JD. Not the JD 2010

 

[Shblack]

You didn’t mention your experience level operating heavy equipment. Watching someone grade and leave a smooth level surface is VERY different from sitting in the seat & trying to do it your self.
Our first purchase was a large backhoe, figured it could do most anything. It’s been great moving material around, trenching, digging stumps and with the telescoping boom, pulling trees out of the creek. However I can’t see the edge of the bucket - as a result grading has been a failure, getting into tight spaces is difficult and I can spend as much time fixing the ruts it makes as I spend on the task in damp conditions. So our second purchase was a Takeuchi compact track loader, it’s great for maintaining the roads and with attachments can do a lot of other tasks. A grapple makes tree work a breeze, a rock bucket has been useful cleaning up after our creek when it goes on a rampage and leaves rock everywhere and an auger has been great for tree planting. However I wouldn’t look forward to mowing a 160 acres with it, it gives a rough ride which makes for long days, that’s a tractor / bushhog project unless it’s grown up with 2” saplings. Clearing a road through woods is a very different project if the trees are greater than 12” or so, small stuff can easily be handled with a tree puller / stump bucket on a compact track loader. Larger stuff is best with a backhoe or excavator. A small detail is fuel, and how to get it. If you have a station around the corner you can drive to it, otherwise a tank / pump on the farm is essential - not hard, but can easily spend a $k or two.
Laying out a road on level land is straight forward, running one over hilly land requires managing water (getting it off the road & preventing washouts), getting help here is invaluable in avoiding a difficult (& costly) maintenance headache.

 

[Hard Knocks IV]

I need help figuring out what to buy!

Please tell me what YOU would do! And how YOU would approach this project.

We just bought a 150 acre farm (all crop land). All of it is rolling hills - nothing terribly steep, but not flat either.

In the next year or so, I need to:
1. Cut and grade an entrance from the road (about 50 ft of wooded area next to the road). Need to install culvert, etc. for road access.
2. Grade and install a 1/2 mile long driveway. Everything except the entrance is through the middle of a field - rolling hills - with 1 extra culvert needed
3. Grade a 60'x120' pad for our barn.
4. Clear 2.5 miles of fence line that is currently extremely overgrown honeysuckle (think 50 years of honeysuckle growth)
5. Pound about 1200 5-6'' round posts into the ground (quoted over $70k just to pound the posts, so I'll be doing this myself.)
6. Standard maintenance of pasture - so mow about 150 acres

We plan to hire someone to come in and seed hay - so roundup and a seed drill. We plan to hire that job out to someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Currently all weeds, so will hopefully be pasture and hay fields by this time next year.

But the big question:
Do I buy a tractor or a skid steer (with tracks, so a track loader)? And buying one thing - keeping it for a year to complete all of the above jobs - and then selling it and buying something different - is something I am willing to do.

Budget of about $35-40k, including any needed attachments.

I can buy a track loader for about $30k, a bush hog for $4k, and a post pounder for $4k - and be comfortably under my $40k max. Going this route means I wouldn't be able to harvest my own hay, etc until I sell the track loader and buy a tractor. And bush hogging 150 acres with a track loader is going to be rough.

Alternatively, I spend $30k on a newer 60-70 hp tractor with a loader, $5k on a post pounder, $5k on a bush hog - and be right at my max. I would probably need to rent a bulldozer or track loader to do the driveway, etc - which would be about $2000/week. No idea if I can get it done in one week or not, but my guess is closer to 2 weeks.

And it might actually be better if I buy a cheap dozer ($10k?) and sell it when I am done with it. Then buy the tractor after I sell the dozer.

I need help making a decision! Any and all advice appreciated!

A tractor for sure with a loader,skid steers are nice for some things but for overall farm use they won't do near what a tractor will do.