Help figuring out what I need for my new property

[ParisPeak]

Hi All,

I'm newly registered but have been reading and getting a lot of info for a bit. This is my first post. I need some advice on options to take care of a new 60 acre parcel where I am currently building a home.

My property is in Northwest Virginia on the top of the mountain with a nearly 1/2 mile gravel driveway at 10 percent grade. Some areas of the lot have steeper grades and only the top 2 acres (where I'm building) is level and fairly clear. The rest is heavily wooded with rocks in a lot of areas, especially near the top. From previous clearing and downed trees, there are a lot of logs laying around that I want to move to unobtrusive areas. We could get some really great views if I can thin out a few areas and remove the undergrowth. I've got a ton of spice bush in the 1-3" range that make walking through the woods nearly impossible.

The things I'll need to do on the property are: cutting grass and brush up the driveway and around the top. Dealing with downed trees and moving logs around. Moving dirt and stuff around to make some walls and slight grade changes. The hardest work will be to move logs and extensive undergrowth clearing/management.

I'm considering a mid sized tractor in the 40-50hp range with a loader and rotary cutter for the basic stuff. But I'm stumped on the best option to deal with the logs and clearing. Should I get a root grapple and PTO mounted wood chipper? Would I be able to use the root grapple to 'doze' through the undergrowth to dig it all up or would the rocks on my property just beat the thing up? Would a backhoe be better? Another approach is to rent an excavator but the amount of clearing I have may make this cost prohibitive and my budget ($50-60k) won't allow for a tractor and an excavator.

Appreciate your thoughts or if there are better/other options I should consider.

 

[Mitjam]

Hi All,

I'm newly registered but have been reading and getting a lot of info for a bit. This is my first post. I need some advice on options to take care of a new 60 acre parcel where I am currently building a home.

My property is in Northwest Virginia on the top of the mountain with a nearly 1/2 mile gravel driveway at 10 percent grade. Some areas of the lot have steeper grades and only the top 2 acres (where I'm building) is level and fairly clear. The rest is heavily wooded with rocks in a lot of areas, especially near the top. From previous clearing and downed trees, there are a lot of logs laying around that I want to move to unobtrusive areas. We could get some really great views if I can thin out a few areas and remove the undergrowth. I've got a ton of spice bush in the 1-3" range that make walking through the woods nearly impossible.

The things I'll need to do on the property are: cutting grass and brush up the driveway and around the top. Dealing with downed trees and moving logs around. Moving dirt and stuff around to make some walls and slight grade changes. The hardest work will be to move logs and extensive undergrowth clearing/management.

I'm considering a mid sized tractor in the 40-50hp range with a loader and rotary cutter for the basic stuff. But I'm stumped on the best option to deal with the logs and clearing. Should I get a root grapple and PTO mounted wood chipper? Would I be able to use the root grapple to 'doze' through the undergrowth to dig it all up or would the rocks on my property just beat the thing up? Would a backhoe be better? Another approach is to rent an excavator but the amount of clearing I have may make this cost prohibitive and my budget ($50-60k) won't allow for a tractor and an excavator.

Appreciate your thoughts or if there are better/other options I should consider.

Welcome to the forum. You are gonna get a lot of good suggestions responses to your questions. If it was me I would hire a dozer/ excavator or possibly rent and get the real nasty stuff out of the way. If you’re buying a medium sized tractor it should be able to handle a good 72 inch rotary mower which cut capacity is 3-4 inch. Presuming your not in huge hurry take it slow get a feel for the machine and keep tractor for the smaller stuff do a little bit at a time. And down the road if you need to hire/ rent a machine you can. Good luck

 

[fried1765]

Hi All,

I'm newly registered but have been reading and getting a lot of info for a bit. This is my first post. I need some advice on options to take care of a new 60 acre parcel where I am currently building a home.

My property is in Northwest Virginia on the top of the mountain with a nearly 1/2 mile gravel driveway at 10 percent grade. Some areas of the lot have steeper grades and only the top 2 acres (where I'm building) is level and fairly clear. The rest is heavily wooded with rocks in a lot of areas, especially near the top. From previous clearing and downed trees, there are a lot of logs laying around that I want to move to unobtrusive areas. We could get some really great views if I can thin out a few areas and remove the undergrowth. I've got a ton of spice bush in the 1-3" range that make walking through the woods nearly impossible.

The things I'll need to do on the property are: cutting grass and brush up the driveway and around the top. Dealing with downed trees and moving logs around. Moving dirt and stuff around to make some walls and slight grade changes. The hardest work will be to move logs and extensive undergrowth clearing/management.

I'm considering a mid sized tractor in the 40-50hp range with a loader and rotary cutter for the basic stuff. But I'm stumped on the best option to deal with the logs and clearing. Should I get a root grapple and PTO mounted wood chipper? Would I be able to use the root grapple to 'doze' through the undergrowth to dig it all up or would the rocks on my property just beat the thing up? Would a backhoe be better? Another approach is to rent an excavator but the amount of clearing I have may make this cost prohibitive and my budget ($50-60k) won't allow for a tractor and an excavator.

Appreciate your thoughts or if there are better/other options I should consider.

Whatever you do, make sure that you..... BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR!

 

[D2Cat]

Sounds like you need a couple pieces of equipment, but a skid steer would work pretty good with a grapple.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I'd go for an MX, ROP, 4wd, hydrostat, third function. Bear in mind I've never operated one, but I've spent hours on MF and Ford 2wd 50 hp tractors and I agree that's a good utility size. 6 foot medium duty cutter. 55 - 60" grapple, I have clam type, but I'm not sure that's best for you. You'll need something for road maintenance.

It doesn't have to be new.

 

[skeets]

Just MHO, for the things you are looking/want to do, a skidsteer would be at the top of the list, however if money is tight, you might really want to think about having someone come in and clean up what you want. I figure you are like most of us and say you can do it no worries. Truth be known, I have done a lot of things around here, that in retrospect should have been done by someone with the right equipment and knowledge. It would have save me becoup bucks, pain, sweat and tears, and anguish over the years. The money outlay to have someone do things sucks, no doubt, but when its done , its done and you haven't torn your or equipment or self up. Now after that there are a lot of options available to you, the MX line is a good place to start. Remember it is easy to spend someone else money, so the advice, most of which it truthful and well meaning take it with a grain of salt,,,, So end this mornings sermon

 

[mcmxi]

Appreciate your thoughts or if there are better/other options I should consider.

I think it's important to realize that tractors are often a compromise. How many tasks is a tractor ideally suited for? For many of us, when we buy a tractor we chose the Swiss Army knife approach which is a jack of all trades but master of none. We make this decision based on cost more than anything else.

My point is that you could absolutely buy a 40-50hp tractor, a grapple, a skidding winch, a rotary cutter, a wood chipper etc., and achieve your objectives. The question is whether or not you'd be ok with the reality that you're not being as efficient as you could be. If you have the time and the energy then this wouldn't be a bad approach. I would say that 50hp should be at the lower end of your tractor model decision matrix given your hilly terrain and tasks mentioned. I have a couple of 60+hp tractors and would never consider less than that. Once you're into DPF you might as well get in the whole way and jump up to an M7060/M6060/M4 which are much heavier utility tractors. An L6060 or MX6000 would be my suggestion as a starting point.

One possible solution is to buy a used track loader/skid steer or even a dozer of some kind and either sell it or keep it once the bulk of the difficult stuff has been taken care of. In a perfect world, a tractor, excavator, dozer, track loader and dump truck would be in order, but unless you're Andrew Camarata it's just a dream for many of us. By the way, he has a hilly property and does many of the things you're wanting to do. It might be worth the time to watch some of his videos on YouTube and see what he uses and why.

 

[Elliott in GA]

The type of work (clearing acres of heavy brush on steep slopes in heavily wooded rocky areas) you are describing is not well suited to any tractor - regardless of size.

I would suggest having a land clearing company or two visit and estimate the cost of what you want done. With those prices, you can start to determine what is possible for what you are willing to spend. Spending a lot of money to buy heavy equipment for essentially a single task use is not a good plan. Similarly, buying used and then selling it afterwards is a risky plan (even if you could buy all of the needed equipment) - the equipment might breakdown, you might damage the equipment or you just could have some real problems selling it without taking a big loss.

If a land clearing company can do the job for a reasonable amount, you can then buy an appropriately sized tractor for your ongoing tasks.

Some time ago, a poster asked what size tractor would be needed to clear 20 acres of trees from some bottom land. People started throwing out different size tractors for a task that no tractor is suited to do. I made the same suggestion as I am making now.

 

[mcmxi]

The type of work (clearing acres of heavy brush on steep slopes in heavily wooded rocky areas) you are describing is not well suited to any tractor - regardless of size.

An ex coworker (originally from GA) did pretty much what the OP describes up here on 50 acres with an M7060, grapple and skidding winch. He cleared an area to build a house, put in a driveway, cleared up a numerous downed trees, removed some trees, and moved dirt and rocks. A few years later he sold the house and property for $1.35M and included the tractor in the sale and moved to Bozeman, MT. I will say that he was very rough on that tractor and would break things fairly often. He was well known at the local Kubota dealership for complaining that various implements weren't built or designed properly.

I did some welding repair work on his snow blower since he had a habit of trying to run 4" or bigger rocks through it. I bought a HERD 750 seeder/sander from him that he'd modified but no longer needed.

I agree that there are possibly better options for the OP than buying a tractor, but hiring the work out will be incredibly expensive. For some, doing the work, even if not as efficiently or as quickly as possible brings its own form of satisfaction.

 

[Elliott in GA]

An ex coworker (originally from GA) did pretty much what the OP describes up here on 50 acres with an M7060, grapple and skidding winch. He cleared an area to build a house, put in a driveway, cleared up a numerous downed trees, removed some trees, and moved dirt and rocks. A few years later he sold the house and property for $1.35M and included the tractor in the sale and moved to Bozeman, MT. I will say that he was very rough on that tractor and would break things fairly often. He was well known at the local Kubota dealership for complaining that various implements weren't built or designed properly.

I did some welding repair work on his snow blower since he had a habit of trying to run 4" or bigger rocks through it. I bought a HERD 750 seeder/sander from him that he'd modified but no longer needed.

I agree that there are possibly better options for the OP than buying a tractor, but hiring the work out will be incredibly expensive. For some, doing the work, even if not as efficiently or as quickly as possible brings its own form of satisfaction.

Your friend was fortunate in being able to complete his tasks with a tractor, while only suffering occasional damage. Based on the OP's description of heavily wooded steep rocky slopes, it is probable that he will not be as lucky.

Land clearing companies do not use tractors to any significant extent for a reason.

Even if I am mistaken as to whether it can be done with a tractor, estimates from land clearing companies are the best place to start.

 

[mcmxi]

Land clearing companies do not use tractors to any significant extent for a reason.

I understand that, and as I said, tractors are often a compromise and there are better choices for many tasks, particularly for a business where time (and efficiency) are major considerations.

I don't know what the best solution is for the OP but I bet any estimates for land clearing are going to be cost prohibitive. I'd rather put $20k to $30k towards my own equipment rather than paying some contractor to do the work. I charge $135/hr (plus $100 hauling) to do simple flail and mower work or any tractor work for that matter, and that's just me and some basic equipment, and it's a hobby rather than my real job. I can only imagine what a few weeks of clearing would cost with a crew and nice equipment.

It'll be interesting to hear what the OP decides to do.

 

[ParisPeak]

Thank you all for the quick and insightful replies. Based on the suggestions, I started to look into land clearing companies. There is one that I found in VA that has a special super skid-steer type machine with a massive forestry mulcher attached to it. It could probably clear my property pretty quickly as long as it can get through the larger trees that I want to keep and not get busted up by any rock that might be in the way. It will all depend on how much a company like this might charge. If I can save months (maybe years) of heavy work and wear and tear on my equipment and my body, it would be worth a lot to me. If they come in and say it's going to be $100k, then I'll need to either move more slowly or perhaps have them deal with the difficult areas and I do the rest.

A hypothetical question: Assuming I get someone to clear the underbrush and move a lot of the bigger logs for me. What would I need to maintain it in a cleared fashion and do the other stuff I mentioned? Would I still need a 60 hp tractor, grapple, chipper, etc. Anyone have experience maintaining a 'cleared' forest area like this?

FYI, I currently live in FL but will be heading up north next week. I'll try to take some pics to give a better view of what I'm up against.

Thanks!

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Good day.

Personally I would start with your local extension service and state forester (assuming your area has one). I’d see if they have some suggestions based on your goals.

Honestly a property that size you may end up with more than one machine…it might be hard not to. I think you have some heavier tasks up front before you get to maintaining.

If you have a budget and want new, I’d seriously consider hiring out the rough work and get it done and over with and save the wear and tear on your machine. Then get the machine you want to maintain it. (I’d try to figure how large of logs you will be dealing with and how much you want to be able to lift and then some safe working limit)

….its not my property or money, but Id recommend look into a few larger machines too (costs nothing to price and compare…look at weight and lift capability)…between my 3 properties and for what you describe I would want a CTL with a bucket, mulching head, grapple and forks, plus a mid size utility machine that weighs close to 4k-ish pounds or if buying just one machine i would be looking for a utility tractor that weighs a bit more…YMMV. (I am sure that seems like a lot for a new property…but a wooded property of that size is going to have some tasks that require a larger machine and implements or hire it out…or need to have time on your side and go with smaller machine…or simply use a shovel, pick and axe and a hand saw if you want to…it’s your money / choice)

I think it will be challenge to find something that does it all on 60 acres of property.

If you really want to do everything yourself, think long and hard about what you need to get it done in your time frame/expectation. I think if considering hiring some initial work out, need to think about what you will do with the spoils…dozers are a bit cheaper and quicker, but leave a pile. If that matters a track loader with a mulcher leaves no mess…but there is a price to pay for that. Basically I think it comes down to your goals and timeframe and what you want to do yourself.

If really want to do everything yourself, start with something large and used to get rough work done on the get something new for daily / weekly maintenance after you know what you need.

Sounds like an awesome place. Good luck and congrats on the new place. Share some pictures back.

 

[Elliott in GA]

It really depends on what you are left with and what you want to do. Photos would help everyone.

However, it is quite possible that you could maintain everything with smaller tractor with a rotary cutter, grapple, chipper and box blade. I have a 25HP tractor, and I do all of those things.

I have: leveled 3 sites (30x30, 30x15 and 12x12 - all with a 1.5 foot slope), moved and spread over 100 tons of gravel (the sites and drive), reclaimed three small fields (2, 3 and 6 acres from weeds higher than the tractor) and reclaimed about an acre from a wall of multiflora rose with 2-4 inch trees dispersed within the thicket. The thicket took many days during the winter using the tractor plus grapple, rotary cutter, chipper and a chainsaw.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Thank you all for the quick and insightful replies. Based on the suggestions, I started to look into land clearing companies. There is one that I found in VA that has a special super skid-steer type machine with a massive forestry mulcher attached to it. It could probably clear my property pretty quickly as long as it can get through the larger trees that I want to keep and not get busted up by any rock that might be in the way. It will all depend on how much a company like this might charge. If I can save months (maybe years) of heavy work and wear and tear on my equipment and my body, it would be worth a lot to me. If they come in and say it's going to be $100k, then I'll need to either move more slowly or perhaps have them deal with the difficult areas and I do the rest.

A hypothetical question: Assuming I get someone to clear the underbrush and move a lot of the bigger logs for me. What would I need to maintain it in a cleared fashion and do the other stuff I mentioned? Would I still need a 60 hp tractor, grapple, chipper, etc. Anyone have experience maintaining a 'cleared' forest area like this?

FYI, I currently live in FL but will be heading up north next week. I'll try to take some pics to give a better view of what I'm up against.

Thanks!

Good day, again….Before start cutting or selling the trees for that matter, again I would recommend contact state forester…there could be some lumber value that would offset or pay for much / all you want done. Your state forester can give you some suggestion and maybe help. It’s worth a call / email and a hand shake IMO.

 

[PortTackFarm]

We're in a similar situation except this isn't our primary residence but rather a weekend place so getting it done quickly was less important than saving some money. We have 44 acres with a building site right off the road.

This is what our building site looked like when we bought the land. It's about a half acre before you get into the thick woods in background of the picture. I started clearing this myself by hand with a chainsaw and weed eater with brush cutter blade when a neighbor who had a land management business stopped by and suggested he could help. He cleared this plus a bit more into the woods with a tracked skid steer with mulcher on the front for $500 in a couple hours.

A few months later I hired him to clear into the woods 50 yards in each direction to give me 2+ acres to build on. He charged $5000 and was there for a week or two with his mulching skid steer, bulldozer and another piece of equipment which turned a 40' tall tree into a pile of mulch in less than a minute and when he was done it looked like this. Best $5000 I've spent.

This was all a few years ago. Now we have our building up and I have worked my way into the woods, with my chainsaw mostly, but also with the tractor and rotary cutter so things look like this now. The section off to the right in the second picture is what I did with the chainsaw and tractor and it goes in about 50 yards deep and about 20 yards wide.

As you can see our building is up on a hill and overlooks a part of our woods. We want to selectively clear part of woods to have views down into the valley to a stream. I'll venture further into the woods this winter now that our building is almost done. It'll be a lot of manual labor with the chain saw, and weed eater with the brush cutter blade clearing brush and trees up to 4-5" in diameter to get some of the views we want. I have a Woodmaxx chipper on my tractor which works great, but we'll also do several burn piles to get rid of everything. I've got lots of time to work on this over the next several years.

My lessons learned are: 1) While my tractor and implements, UTV, chainsaw and weed eater with brush cutter blade are extremely useful tools, the work is hard and time consuming. 2) Money spent on professional land management services is money well spent. It would have taken me a year or more to get done what the land management company got done in less than 2 weeks with their equipment. Given enough time a lot can be accomplished with a smaller tractor (I have an L3560 ROPs) with front end loader and implements, a chainsaw and other tools.

Only you can decide how much time you have, how much help you have, and how you want to spend your time and money. No matter what you decide, I'm sure it will be worth it.

 

[mikester]

Rent one of these to get the scrub under control

I'd also rent heavy equipment to get beat on, that saves your tractor costly abuse.

I bought a full sized TLB when I built, used it for 5 years, then sold it for more than I paid for it.

You would be wise to err on the side of more HP i.e. 60+ for your tractor

 

[fried1765]

We're in a similar situation except this isn't our primary residence but rather a weekend place so getting it done quickly was less important than saving some money. We have 44 acres with a building site right off the road.

View attachment 135576
This is what our building site looked like when we bought the land. It's about a half acre before you get into the thick woods in background of the picture. I started clearing this myself by hand with a chainsaw and weed eater with brush cutter blade when a neighbor who had a land management business stopped by and suggested he could help. He cleared this plus a bit more into the woods with a tracked skid steer with mulcher on the front for $500 in a couple hours.
View attachment 135578

A few months later I hired him to clear into the woods 50 yards in each direction to give me 2+ acres to build on. He charged $5000 and was there for a week or two with his mulching skid steer, bulldozer and another piece of equipment which turned a 40' tall tree into a pile of mulch in less than a minute and when he was done it looked like this. Best $5000 I've spent.
View attachment 135579

This was all a few years ago. Now we have our building up and I have worked my way into the woods, with my chainsaw mostly, but also with the tractor and rotary cutter so things look like this now. The section off to the right in the second picture is what I did with the chainsaw and tractor and it goes in about 50 yards deep and about 20 yards wide.
View attachment 135580
View attachment 135581

As you can see our building is up on a hill and overlooks a part of our woods. We want to selectively clear part of woods to have views down into the valley to a stream. I'll venture further into the woods this winter now that our building is almost done. It'll be a lot of manual labor with the chain saw, and weed eater with the brush cutter blade clearing brush and trees up to 4-5" in diameter to get some of the views we want. I have a Woodmaxx chipper on my tractor which works great, but we'll also do several burn piles to get rid of everything. I've got lots of time to work on this over the next several years.

My lessons learned are: 1) While my tractor and implements, UTV, chainsaw and weed eater with brush cutter blade are extremely useful tools, the work is hard and time consuming. 2) Money spent on professional land management services is money well spent. It would have taken me a year or more to get done what the land management company got done in less than 2 weeks with their equipment. Given enough time a lot can be accomplished with a smaller tractor (I have an L3560 ROPs) with front end loader and implements, a chainsaw and other tools.

Only you can decide how much time you have, how much help you have, and how you want to spend your time and money. No matter what you decide, I'm sure it will be worth it.

It appears that you completely wore out your little helper!

 

[PortTackFarm]

It appears that you completely wore out your little helper!

She's 12. She wears herself out trying to follow my wife around.

 

[fried1765]

She's 12. She wears herself out trying to follow my wife around.

When the awful time comes,..... be sure to get another.
Dogs are our best friends on earth!