Buying Advice tractor

ed8274 · Aug 3, 2012

Looking for advise on a tractor. Want to remove oak stumps 6"-8", some grading, dig for addition foundation apx. 15'X24', possible snow removal of drive apx. 550' long,. Have a 4+ acre lot with some steep area, but mostly not too much grade drop.
thanks for advice in advance

dave1949 · Aug 3, 2012

ed8274 said:
Looking for advise on a tractor. Want to remove oak stumps 6"-8", some grading, dig for addition foundation apx. 15'X24', possible snow removal of drive apx. 550' long,. Have a 4+ acre lot with some steep area, but mostly not too much grade drop.
thanks for advice in advance

Welcome.

How many oak stumps do you plan on digging out?
Will you do any garden roto-tilling with the tractor?
The 550' driveway may turn out to be one of your main uses, so a definite on that would help.
Will you mow with the tractor?

If you want to dig stumps and a frost-wall? foundation yourself, you will need a backhoe attachment. If you can't foresee a use for it after that, it would be expensive to own just for those things. It would be cheaper in the long run to hire-out the foundation and stump work.

If you decide you need a backhoe, the Kubota TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe) units are hard to beat.
If you decide against a backhoe, I would get a small tractor with cab and front-mounted snow blower for the driveway. That and front-end loader for grading and general purpose, and maybe a 5' finish mower if you want a large lawn area.

Soundguy · Aug 3, 2012

my advise? hire out the stump removal.. then size/equip the tractor for the rest of the work that is 80% re-occuring.

don't buy a tractor with 1-time jobs in mind. buy it for the full time jobs...

cowski · Aug 3, 2012

+ 1 soundguy

ed8274 · Aug 8, 2012

Hi
thanks for the input
I have hunderds of future stumps to remove, lots of grade work, installing an above ground pool, and digging foundation apx. 15'X30', clearing and sanding 550' drive , want to have a large garden in the future, hopefully not a lot of grass to mow. Any input on the NorTrac tractors?
Ed