Tractors and Backhoes...advice

@ghrit Apparently, some folks fill their back tires of the tractor with liquid of some sort...I don't know much about it and haven't looked into it yet.

 

It's usually antifreeze mix or some times metallic calcium.
If your rig it tip over prone only fill half way with antifreeze mix.

 

NO it's Brine of salt and metallic calcium.. We use special tubes for this on real tractors , toys and grass cutters we use -45 Window washer fluid !! ..
My fronts are just air , Im picking up 3800#'s of weight and if I blow a wheel , thats wasted coin.
Been at this since 1996 !
house 6 hectors , ALR around house 40H , farm area's beside me are a few thousand Hectors

S

 

1 Hector =2.4 Acre ,, sorry guys
Dyslexic most days

 

The Skidder tires are foam filled, kinda like that expanding foam spray, only this stuff is rubber like! Because of the rim locks, air filled isn't in the cards, and liquid will always leak, so it's foam @130 per tire, on top of the $4000 each tires which in mine are brand new as part of the deal! Haven't ran it enough to see any wear but I'm sure it will happen, especially once I get into the rocks around here! My Pacific mega heavy off road truck/trailer combo also uses the foam filling, but it's not the same stuff, it is also inside tubes which makes changing tires a lot easier and I don't have to mess about having to air up tires! They are also non weighted, but the trucks front bumper is filled with about 1600 pounds of lead! Lol

 

There are a few options for filling tires with liquid that won't eat the rims if
It leaks. One that is being used is windshield washer antifreeze. You should use a tube in the tire with any fluid.

 

This is just my take on it. Kubota makes some good equipment,, check reviews on different models. Me personally,, after using my little 23 hp Massey ,, I believe another 10 hp would almost double your tractors capabilities ,, lifting , pushing , pulling . I would go bigger if possible. If you get the backhoe,, after getting a little experience with it,, you could sub yourself out with it and make 50-90 bucks an hour with it , to help pay for it . Good luck on your choices.

 

OP--- Is that you Ted Kuzinsky?

 

It is legal for people to make and use their own explosives as long as it's not plastic explosives or a weapon.

 

@SB21 "...after using my little 23 hp Massey ,, I believe another 10 hp would almost double your tractors capabilities..."
Well, both you and @Airtime think a bit more HP would put me in the safe zone so I am going to look into the next model up, same frame, same FEL, everything same-same except motor is 30.8 HP (compared to 24.8 HP) and PTO is 27 HP (compared to 19.5). It's about $4000 more but I REALLY don't want to purchase a tractor find that I need a bit more HP...that would either send me to the shrink or to the drink - probably both! LOL! I sort of shied away from this one because since it's over 25 HP it has emission control crap but I will look into it...but it seems quite costly for 6 more HP...might be better to go the next size, which puts us into the Standard size tractors, as opposed to Compacts. The next model up is a L3901 (37.7 HP, 30.6 PTO) and it jumps up another $1500 doesn't have the mid-PTO and can lift a bit more, and is 800 pounds heavier.

I have decided against getting a Backhoe. We'll simply rent a Trackhoe (excavator) when we need it. I simply don't think I would use a backhoe enough to get my money out of it after I get these stumps out.

I also stopped into the CAT dealer to talk to Sales but they were busy so grabbed brochures. I was wondering...these new tractors are so expensive how much does a small Skid Steer cost, one with wide tracks and can lift 1500 pounds? I am pretty sure we're talking $50,000 which is too much for my blood but I am interested. I will look into Bobcat also...

 

I have the L-3901 mine has the regenerator on the exhaust, Lots of times like when your bush-hogging you don't even notice when it kicks in, All this does is blows out the soot build up.

 

I second the recommendation of Mehandra tractors, my Cat dealer here carries them and all the techs say they are every bit as good as Kubota and John Deere! Of course, they will recommend Caterpillar across the board, cause that's who pays the bills, but still!
Might also check the used and rental fleets for sales, and Gov.Planet for tractors, some times things pop up ya never know!

 

If in your travels you ever run across ether a Clark, Franklin, or Eculid skidder, lemme know, especially the smaller units, kinda want to pick up an older compact skidder for local use!

 

Whoa! It appears that the first Track Loaders specifically designed for property management (instead of construction) are hitting the market, specifically ASH (RT-25/40/50) and GEHL (RT105). The one that interest me (at least its specs) is the ASH T-50 with a 50 HP motor, 5300 pounds, 14 inches of ground clearance (good or better than tractor), lift capacity of ~1400 lbs (also good or better than tractor), and with 15 inch tracks it has only 3.1 psi ground pressure - less than a person. This fits me to a 'T', exactly what is needed!

I mean, it would do everything a tractor would do plus you have great visibility, much less chance of roll over, and its made for attachments in front. I get it that it's not as heavy-duty and can't lift as much as a standard compact track loader or skid steer but neither can a tractor. And, the damn Skid Steer, while I loved mine, simply tears up the ground too much even with gentle turns and leaves huge tire tracks/ruts everywhere...which I bitch and moan about while filling them in.

One's maintenance would still be a bit of a bugger but transporting weight wise isn't much more or its the same as a tractor witht all the its extras on it. Wouldn't have to screw around with chains either or ballast weights or etc. and much safer.

The majors (Bobcat, Cat, Kubota) really haven't embrace these yet but we'll see. I believe there is a huge market for these as most in my area are not farmers - but - we need something to manage our property, carry firewood, spread gravel, snow removal, etc...the normal everyday stuff of country living.

I don't know much about ASH, guess its been around a while as it was the inventor of first posi-track and ASH was 100% bought by Yanmar in 2019. No vendors around here though... I'm going to look at this GEHL RT105 and see how it stacks up and where their vendors are located.

 

ASV are Yanmar powered ( and I would reach out to the Yanmar dealers) and seem to be pretty good, though the imports are pretty slim, and there are some known issues with them, though most dealers/shops should be able to handle them! Gehl are a very well known maker in Europe, hugely popular and well supported, though your going to have to search out vendors here in the states to source things!
As far as track loaders go, they are a lot better on the ground, but can still tear it up if you are not careful, a good set of tracks will help here, though they may not be all that good in the snow, but that's a trade off! New tracks can be found pretty reasonable, so that's not going to be an issue!

 

Cou-zan Leroy has about a 30 pony Mehandra, He doesn't hate it or anything But...it's been in the shop a couple of times for wiring issues, Last time I had to jump the starter solenoid with a with a wire to get it cranked and running out in the woods.
Then I let him try the Kubota out, He's like damn this has more torque idling than mine has wide open.
If he was to buy again hes going with the 'Bota

 

@Ura-Ki The Gehl doesn't have enough ground clearance (think it was 7 inch) so screw it, that's a none starter.

I thought tracks were good in snow, no? (I'm thinking military tracked vehicles). These tracks are 15 inches wide which is a good part of the reason the ground pressure is so low (3.1 psi) as compared to most the others which are 10-12 inches and about 4.9-5.0 psi. Hmm...I bet with less ground pressure it's worse in snow even though it's 5300 pounds, make sense, still given its shape and center of gravity it would be better than a tractor without chains. My old New Holland (5500 lbs) skid steer did okay in snow with new tires.

Anyway...doubtful I will even get to try one of these even though I know this is what I and others around here really need, not tractors, these special track loaders. The closest vendor is Spokane, Washington about 1.5 hours away but its not even the time/distance, its I don't even like to go inside their state line...and this is from a guy who spent 20 years there!

Are tracks really bad in snow? Is it because they are rubberized?

 

It has to to with the tread, or in the case of what your looking at, lack of! Most of those rubber tracked rigs have tracks ment for dirt/grass and the weight is what gets them by. But in snow, you need deep well spaced lugs. There is also the low temps you are trying to operate in, I'm betting most tracks get really hard during low temps which will make traction even more difficult to find. The weight will help get you traction, but can also cause you to get stuck once the snow gets packed down. Look at the tracks on Sno-cats very wide, and lots of space between the cleats ( growsers) which is how they get around so well! Plus, instead of weight to help dig down to ground, they float ( ideally) over the snow!
Bottom line for the tracked skid steer, you will ether need to swap to a more aggressive track as part of the purchase, or buy a pair of winter tracks and swap them over when the season starts, and save the turf tracks for when it's nice out! Or, say screw it and run what ya got till you get stuck! Lol