Any heavy equipment owner/operators around these parts?

[OHMisback]

60 acres? Wow, that is a bit. Do you have to cut fire breaks around your property? That is bigger than I thought.
If you need to cut fire breaks that takes a few HP and weight. A Massy is a little on the light side. If you rent a larger
tractor for the fire breaks that is an option, too. I'm telling you because I went through this with a Massy and a JD.
They both had radiator problems, They both needed reversible fans to blow out the chaff. It's used around dairy
farms it is a HUGH problem, in fields filled with golden amber (so to speak). They are a nightmare to fix when they
plugged to.. Everything get hot.. All the coolers get plugged.

JD, Cat. With that large of piece of land and raw. You might look at tracks vs tires too. No flats, that's for sure.. Make
sure you have wet mounts tires too. You can fill the tires with water. This tractor just got bigger you know... LOL
Tracking equipment is no fun but 60 acres and a D3-4 isn't a bad idea. It has everything for attachments too.
I prefer track. I can put a track on faster than most can change or fix a tire.. I HATE when they inflate tires with Ether.
Some tire guys are NUTS, they are not cheap either.. Track is less costly in the long run.. You can add grousers too.
Flotation or soft track..

 

[TLS Guy]

As I said 60 acres is a lot, but we don't know the terrain. If this is rough land he intends to turn into a living 'estate' then I agree those smaller tractors will not cut it. However if it is just to tidy up hunting land, then it probably will.

I would personally not recommend he start out with a tracked implement. That has a greater learning curve, and they are more difficult to maintain in my view, as the running gear is harder to service and they are low to the ground, so any underbody work is much harder.

However, you can't ignore the fact then when it comes to doing serious work with a tractor, then weight is a huge advantage.

The fact he needs a back hoe, pretty much rules a a vintage unit out of the question. I did not need a back hoe, and did very well with two nice vintage tractors. Overall, the cost of running those tractors over 20 years was negligible. At resale I got significantly more for one, and broke even on the other.

That brings me to the last point. Machinery of this nature, is very much application driven. So more than one unit is frequently essential. My two tractors had totally different roles, and each had a use the other was unsuitable for.

I am thinking that a bigger unit might be better here, having slept on it overnight.

 

[TLS Guy]

For your purposes a unit like this used is just in your budget. This is 2016 and 1600 hours only.

What is your area? I will have a look around. You want to avoid long distance shipping costs if possible.

 

[jinjuku]

60 acres? Wow, that is a bit. Do you have to cut fire breaks around your property? That is bigger than I thought.
If you need to cut fire breaks that takes a few HP and weight. A Massy is a little on the light side. If you rent a larger
tractor for the fire breaks that is an option, too. I'm telling you because I went through this with a Massy and a JD.
They both had radiator problems, They both needed reversible fans to blow out the chaff. It's used around dairy
farms it is a HUGH problem, in fields filled with golden amber (so to speak). They are a nightmare to fix when they
plugged to.. Everything get hot.. All the coolers get plugged.

JD, Cat. With that large of piece of land and raw. You might look at tracks vs tires too. No flats, that's for sure.. Make
sure you have wet mounts tires too. You can fill the tires with water. This tractor just got bigger you know... LOL
Tracking equipment is no fun but 60 acres and a D3-4 isn't a bad idea. It has everything for attachments too.
I prefer track. I can put a track on faster than most can change or fix a tire.. I HATE when they inflate tires with Ether.
Some tire guys are NUTS, they are not cheap either.. Track is less costly in the long run.. You can add grousers too.
Flotation or soft track..

I won't have to manage the entire 60 acres. Sorry should have been more clear on that. Actively managed will be 10.

 

[jinjuku]

For your purposes a unit like this used is just in your budget. This is 2016 and 1600 hours only.

What is your area? I will have a look around. You want to avoid long distance shipping costs if possible.

If you linked something it didn't take. Looking in the Kentucky-India region. I can tow 7400Lbs.

 

[TLS Guy]

If you linked something it didn't take. Looking in the Kentucky-India region. I can tow 7400Lbs.

There is not much on offer in Kentucky. However there is this very nice rig at a good price for sale in Tennessee. So that should not be too far from you.

This is commercial grade and fully pro. It should give you very good service, it has low hours.

When the time comes, when you want to mow, I would buy a good vintage tractor, with either a belly mower, or three point.

That will be very good value for money and be great fun to own. There are lot of Allis Chalmers C tractors with belly mowers around, and IH as well. There will be a lot to choose from in the $2000 to $3000 range, that still have years of service left in them. That way you won't have the pain of taking off the back hoe. In addition tractors with front end loaders on, are lousy as mowing tractors.

 

[OHMisback]

That is a lot better. 10 acres vs 60 raw acres I would have been looking at a tracked unit. The cost is a lot lower
in the long run IF your looking at tire repair and tire cost..
The issue is knowing how to fix either low, standard or high-track tramming (tracking) equipment vs wheeled.
I usually have a pallet of cut RR ties, 1, 2 foot long. I have used cribbing blocks sense birth.

Usually wheeled tractors have a 3 point suspension, and have 2 or more traction tires. They are all
differential/axel driven. A tracked unit I think is a 2 point, I never thought about it. There is 2 points one on the
left and one on the right that, tip forward or back. The undercarriage height is determined by the trunnion height
location on the carriage vs the actual track assembly. ALL tracked units are hydraulically driven. No axels I know of.
There is a transportation coupling axel you can remove or disengage.

Tracked units are actually less complicated than a axel driven unit.. A lot fewer moving parts. Final drive to hydraulic motor,
hoses, control valves and hydraulic pump. vs Final drive, axels, differential, transmission, drive shaft, clutch, for ONE
driven axel. One hydraulic motor or drive shaft for every added pair of drivers. Why do you think TANKS are tracked?
Quicker to fix.. THEN there is steering vs tracking. Again a lot of added cost because tracking and steering are the
same circuit and function. Steering crap gets bent all the time.. 4WD is an added PITA. Tracks not so much..

The hydraulic pumps and motors are the KEY to a great tractor. Track or wheeled. I prefer tracks.
The grandkids aren't popping wheelies either.. Wheels and kids.. Have to be careful.. The stuff I've seen with grown men
was bad enough. Kids. Be safe no matter what. They roll away just like anything else.. So do tracks when the
transportation axels are pulled. Roll away. LOL I pulled one out of Lake Tahoe. That was fun. The clean up and fines
the repair cost on the tractor, cost the guy a 1/4 million dollars. Water, booms, fuel and hydraulic oil in TAHEO!
You would have thought it was a nuclear device. Colder than heck when it happened too. I miss that.. LOL

 

[jinjuku]

Thanks for all the inputs and the gut check.

I really like the idea of the JD 110...

 

[OHMisback]

JD 110, or 210? I was just thinking..