Andre Burns

Well, I did decide to get the Kubota L2501 but forego the backhoe.

The input here has been tremendous, and I sincerely appreciate it.  There is A LOT of good advice strewn throughout the responses.  

For me, I can get a significant amount of the work I need to do accelerated by getting the tractor, FEL, bush hog, and box blade active on the land now.  By omitting the backhoe, now means within the next week or so.  Also, by doing it this way and taking advantage of the Kubota 0% financing, I am able to buy the EA Wicked Grapple and Wicked Tooth Bar now.

So I'm going to hit things hard with the above equipment for the next few months.  I'll likely have several projects set up for a mini-excavator rental in the fall. That plan should work for now.  I'll reevaluate as I go along.

Thanks all!

Eliot,

It is interesting to see the contrast.  I’ve read through some, but not all of the thread you reference.  I plan to finish reading the rest soon.

You make an EXCELLENT point about transport.  I may have access to a well used but serviceable old 16’ dual axle trailer.  With that I could transport a tractor at least as far away as the major service locations for tractors in my area (15-25 miles, no major highways).  Hopefully that works out.

That said, it’s not robust enough for hauling an excavator, so in that regard I’m in the same boat as you.  Partially due to this, if renting a piece of equipment and needing it delivered (which costs about what you reference), I plan to make it a full week rental to have the transport cost make more sense.  Clearly the balance would be off if only needing it for a day or two.

Great point - thanks for bringing it up!

Bill,

I definitely plan to regularly scour the auctions and sales for supplemental equipment, like a mini-excavator or a medium sized standard excavator.  For periodic use, I can risk some down time on those that I can not abide by for my general purpose tractor.  So I‘m leaning towards purchasing the tractor and FEL now, quickly followed up by a grapple, then shortly rent a mini-excavator for about a week. Based on that experience, I should have a good idea if renting or searching for a well loved used excavator is the best path forward.

Thanks

Bill Haynes wrote:Well.....
.......
Decide how much money you wouldn't miss and shop the farm / equipment auctions, frequently old implements can be found for a dime on the dollar of new prices, or a neighbor might have an old one he's willing to swap for an unreasonable and presumptuous quantity of your precious time!.......

Walt Chase wrote:I'd personally forgo the backhoe attachment.  Those mid sized tractors weren't really meant for that type use.  Sure they will dig, but a machine made for digging will get more done in day.  The cost/benefit just doesn't pencil out for me personally.  I'd likely buy "more" tractor with the money and attachments and rent an excavator when I needed it.  You can rent a big machine here for around $2000 a week.  

Similar rental rates are available here.  Thanks for the input.

Eliot,

Great to hear from the contrarian court - I really want to hear experiences from both sides.

I’ve researched the TLB line.  They are definitely more robust than the standard ag tractor line.  I really, really like that, but their commercial grade build comes at a commercial grade cost that I just can’t afford.  My local rental place has a B21 that I’ve considered renting.  

I have a reasonable amount of control on my schedule, so renting is not as difficult to arrange as it sounds like it may be for you.

I didn’t note it, but I will definitely be getting the SSQA system for the FEL.  I anticipate a fair bit of bucket / grapple back and forth changes.  I also get you on the front hydraulic post hole digger, as from what I gather three point hitch post hold diggers are:
A. A PITA to put on and take off
B. Often problematic in difficult digging situations due to no down pressure.  If I need to dig a bunch of holes, I may look into rental if not purchase of a front mount unit.

Thanks for speaking up for the Pro Hoe side!

Eliot Mason wrote:Guess I'm a contrarian...I find the backhoe tremendously useful.   CUT.  .

Roy Long wrote:Having a backhoe has saved me a great deal of money over the years.

Hi Roy,

That part I get too, and is part of my original reason for considering a backhoe on the tractor (in addition to a few identified short term needs).  

At some point, when I need to do a good bit of pond building and potentially other larger earthworks, I may consider buying a used excavator (or mini excavator). For a more focused piece of equipment, I don’t mind getting something with some time on it that needs some maintenance.  I just don’t want to be doing a bunch of maintenance on my daily use equipment - hence I’m heavily leaning towards a new tractor with a decent warranty.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Artie Scott wrote:Hi Andre,

Agree that for the things you want to do, the backhoe is probably not a great compromise, and renting the right tool might be better (and possibly cheaper) in the long run.  On the Kubota, I really like the HST option ~ so easy to drive without having to worry about shifting gears.

Howdy Artie,

You are right about the HST.  I failed to indicate that I would definitely be going this route.  A non-trivial amount of my work will be moving mulch, rock, dirt, and wood chips in the FEL bucket.  For this, the HST should be the right way to go.

Thanks for that tidbit.

I’m 99% sure at this point that I’ll be buying the tractor sans backhoe and later renting a mini-excavator. That sounds like the best balance for now.

Thanks all!

AB

Eric,

I appreciate your comments, especially those a bit contrary to my initial bias - that’s one of the reasons I started this thread.  I want to save myself time, money, and frustration by learning from the experiences of others.  The experiences that challenge my initial ideas are the most valuable, as they will either save me from going down the wrong path, or determine more clearly that my ideas are sound.

Yes, my solution will be my own, but it will be guided by those of others.  At least if I’m smart enough and pay attention enough to them!

I will keep adding to this post as I learn more.

Thanks,
AB

I DO have a three point carry-all that I failed to mention. It is versatile and I plan to use it a good bit for moving things and as a ballast platform when I need to move heavy loads with the FEL.

Back to the grapple/pallet fork tradeoff. Given the ability to rake, drag, push, and generally abuse the first few inches of soil that a grapple allows, I’m not sure if a set of forks would get me the capabilities I need? I have several areas where I need to make and/or improve access paths and walking trails. Most such areas are full of vines, rocks, dead limbs, autumn olive, and some downed trees.

In the “if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth 10,000” vein, you can get a pretty good idea of what I have by going to YouTube and watching a couple of videos by Outdoors with The Morgans - videos #291 & #292. In those videos (in particular the middle portions of each), he’s doing a lot what I need to do. If you take his western PA woods, transplant them to central NC, and add in a bunch of rocks, vines, autumn olive, and more pine trees, you pretty much get my woods.

That’s just the trail aspects, though. He’s not doing permaculture. As noted I’ll be doing a good bit of mound building for hugelkultur, which is another area where I see potential utility in a grapple.

Thanks for helping me think through all of this!

AB