Newbie Tractor Advice Needed?

[mc2]

Hi. I bought a lightly used BX25D four years ago, after I had bought a remote 50 acre “hideaway” in south central TN. The place was mostly old growth forest in the mountains on a river, with a long chert driveway. It also has a long back dirt/chert road down to the river and several rough old logging roads that had not been maintained for decades. My main open grassy areas are a 100x100 in front of the cabin and another up along a right-of-way for power lines. I’ve gotten real good use out of the BX25D cutting the grass, moving tree sections and dirt and digging the ridiculously rocky chert……BUT then I bought a 150-acre farm around the bend. With 30 acres of fields and the rest mountainous forest and the BX25D is WAY too small for anything more than mowing the immediate acre or so around the farmhouse. So….I picked up a used BigBee 66” rotary cutter to use temporarily on the BX, pushing its limit, while looking for a larger tractor. In the meantime, the original 50 acres got SLAMMED by a EF2/EF3 1/2 mile wide tornado, that felled 25 acres of trees. My former gorgeous forest now looks like Dwayne Johnson’s head. I was also in the middle of buying the 40 acres next to me, which also got hit by the tornado..so that is another 30+ acres of mess now. So….my QUESTION: I had been looking for a Kubota to cut the 30 acres of farm fields and, eventually, add implements to do hay. I wanted one with a cab with heat/AC and a front loader big enough to handle moving occasional fallen trees, etc. BUT…now I also have the added tornado mess at the other place. I DID have a logging company come in and do HALF the agreed upon job and learned you can’t trust loggers. Basically, they did the easy half and left the steep mountainsides and are now bitching it is “too much work” to clear them. They also left a hell of a mess anywhere they worked. SO…I am now thinking I should get a tractor with enough “balls“ to both keep the farm cut/maintained AND try and clean up the logger and storm mess, the best I can? The ADDITIONAL problems are that the mountainsides are a bit steep, going down around 1,000 ft…and in the hollow/valley in a good size stream that runs 1/4 mile from my cabin to the riverfront. So, there is NO way to clear the logs from the bottom or go around to access them because of the river. FUN! The logging guys said they can pull them up with cables but would need to rent them. I searched online and saw that there is a PTO operated cable winch setup, besides the other cable types. SO…..WITH ALL THAT IN MIND: I found a clean, low hour (under 4,000, owned by school district for snow removal) 1990 Kubota M7950DT…81HP with a 7ft bucket and cab, like I wanted, for $18,500….is this a good choice for the double-duty situation I have of maintaining farm fields and trying to clean up storm debris, little by little? I figured I would try and move all the remaining debris out to a football field-sized open dirt area the logging company cleared when they were working and burn it all during the safest season to burn. The area is right next to the river, so the safest place available. Opinions? Suggestions? Am I on the right track or totally think this wrong? Sort of sucks, since homeowners insurance said they only cover the house (that was not hit,) NOT the forest loss, even though I had legit forest appraisals/maps pre-tornado. So, I’m on my own, trying to get my place somewhat back to normal. Pics of the used M7950DT attached. Link to Specs on this model: https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/001/3/2/1326-kubota-m7950.html

 

[fried1765]

Hi. I bought a lightly used BX25D four years ago, after I had bought a remote 50 acre “hideaway” in south central TN. The place was mostly old growth forest in the mountains on a river, with a long chert driveway. It also has a long back dirt/chert road down to the river and several rough old logging roads that had not been maintained for decades. My main open grassy areas are a 100x100 in front of the cabin and another up along a right-of-way for power lines. I’ve gotten real good use out of the BX25D cutting the grass, moving tree sections and dirt and digging the ridiculously rocky chert……BUT then I bought a 150-acre farm around the bend. With 30 acres of fields and the rest mountainous forest and the BX25D is WAY too small for anything more than mowing the immediate acre or so around the farmhouse. So….I picked up a used BigBee 66” rotary cutter to use temporarily on the BX, pushing its limit, while looking for a larger tractor. In the meantime, the original 50 acres got SLAMMED by a EF2/EF3 1/2 mile wide tornado, that felled 25 acres of trees. My former gorgeous forest now looks like Dwayne Johnson’s head. I was also in the middle of buying the 40 acres next to me, which also got hit by the tornado..so that is another 30+ acres of mess now. So….my QUESTION: I had been looking for a Kubota to cut the 30 acres of farm fields and, eventually, add implements to do hay. I wanted one with a cab with heat/AC and a front loader big enough to handle moving occasional fallen trees, etc. BUT…now I also have the added tornado mess at the other place. I DID have a logging company come in and do HALF the agreed upon job and learned you can’t trust loggers. Basically, they did the easy half and left the steep mountainsides and are now bitching it is “too much work” to clear them. They also left a hell of a mess anywhere they worked. SO…I am now thinking I should get a tractor with enough “balls“ to both keep the farm cut/maintained AND try and clean up the logger and storm mess, the best I can? The ADDITIONAL problems are that the mountainsides are a bit steep, going down around 1,000 ft…and in the hollow/valley in a good size stream that runs 1/4 mile from my cabin to the riverfront. So, there is NO way to clear the logs from the bottom or go around to access them because of the river. FUN! The logging guys said they can pull them up with cables but would need to rent them. I searched online and saw that there is a PTO operated cable winch setup, besides the other cable types. SO…..WITH ALL THAT IN MIND: I found a clean, low hour (under 4,000) 1990 Kubota M7950DT…81HP with a 7ft bucket and cab, like I wanted. is this a good choice for the double-duty situation I have of maintaining farm fields and trying to clean up storm debris, little by little? I figured I would try and move all the remaining debris out to a football field-sized open dirt area the logging company cleared when they were working and burn it all during the safest season to burn. The area is right next to the river, so the safest place available. Opinions? Suggestions? Am I on the right track or totally think this wrong? Sort of sucks, since homeowners insurance said they only cover the house (that was not hit,) NOT the forest loss, even though I had legit forest appraisals/maps pre-tornado. So, I’m on my own, trying to get my place somewhat back to normal.

4000 hours is rather high, though certainly can/could/will go much higher.
Unless you like fixin tractors, I would try to find a used machine at under 2000 hours.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Price is a huge factor.

How much for the tractor?

At $500, I'd be a player for sure.

However at $50,000 I'd keep looking.



Admittedly, I don't know Jack Squat about that tractor model, except it is "old school" diesel, so I think that's a plus.

 

[ken erickson]

I agree with Fried1765 on the amount of hours. From your description of the amount of work your have planned and the scope of your land and acres I would be looking for a lower hour machine.

I also think the front tires are a curious choice , the tractor is 4 wheel assist correct? If not 4 wheel assist I would walk away from this one. I would be very careful in knowing that the front tires when installed had the correct rolling circumference to avoid drive line wear or damage?

I normally am not one to recommend larger and larger pieces of machinery but in your case perhaps a tracked skid steer with grapple, bucket and front mounted brush cutter for field maintenance might be a wiser investment.

 

[GBJeffOH]

Hi. I bought a lightly used BX25D four years ago, after I had bought a remote 50 acre “hideaway” in south central TN. The place was mostly old growth forest in the mountains on a river, with a long chert driveway. It also has a long back dirt/chert road down to the river and several rough old logging roads that had not been maintained for decades. My main open grassy areas are a 100x100 in front of the cabin and another up along a right-of-way for power lines. I’ve gotten real good use out of the BX25D cutting the grass, moving tree sections and dirt and digging the ridiculously rocky chert……BUT then I bought a 150-acre farm around the bend. With 30 acres of fields and the rest mountainous forest and the BX25D is WAY too small for anything more than mowing the immediate acre or so around the farmhouse. So….I picked up a used BigBee 66” rotary cutter to use temporarily on the BX, pushing its limit, while looking for a larger tractor. In the meantime, the original 50 acres got SLAMMED by a EF2/EF3 1/2 mile wide tornado, that felled 25 acres of trees. My former gorgeous forest now looks like Dwayne Johnson’s head. I was also in the middle of buying the 40 acres next to me, which also got hit by the tornado..so that is another 30+ acres of mess now. So….my QUESTION: I had been looking for a Kubota to cut the 30 acres of farm fields and, eventually, add implements to do hay. I wanted one with a cab with heat/AC and a front loader big enough to handle moving occasional fallen trees, etc. BUT…now I also have the added tornado mess at the other place. I DID have a logging company come in and do HALF the agreed upon job and learned you can’t trust loggers. Basically, they did the easy half and left the steep mountainsides and are now bitching it is “too much work” to clear them. They also left a hell of a mess anywhere they worked. SO…I am now thinking I should get a tractor with enough “balls“ to both keep the farm cut/maintained AND try and clean up the logger and storm mess, the best I can? The ADDITIONAL problems are that the mountainsides are a bit steep, going down around 1,000 ft…and in the hollow/valley in a good size stream that runs 1/4 mile from my cabin to the riverfront. So, there is NO way to clear the logs from the bottom or go around to access them because of the river. FUN! The logging guys said they can pull them up with cables but would need to rent them. I searched online and saw that there is a PTO operated cable winch setup, besides the other cable types. SO…..WITH ALL THAT IN MIND: I found a clean, low hour (under 4,000, owned by school district for snow removal) 1990 Kubota M7950DT…81HP with a 7ft bucket and cab, like I wanted, for $18,500….is this a good choice for the double-duty situation I have of maintaining farm fields and trying to clean up storm debris, little by little? I figured I would try and move all the remaining debris out to a football field-sized open dirt area the logging company cleared when they were working and burn it all during the safest season to burn. The area is right next to the river, so the safest place available. Opinions? Suggestions? Am I on the right track or totally think this wrong? Sort of sucks, since homeowners insurance said they only cover the house (that was not hit,) NOT the forest loss, even though I had legit forest appraisals/maps pre-tornado. So, I’m on my own, trying to get my place somewhat back to normal. Pic of the used M7950DT attached.

Are the loader arms bent? It looks like the bucket is not level.

4,000 hours is a lot if it has not been well cared for.

 

[PaulL]

I agree with the others. You're in the right size class, but that machine looks rough. I'd spend a bit more and get a newer machine.

If you're serious about the forestry cleanup you can buy end of life logging equipment relatively cheaply. An old bulldozer or a log skidder with winch could do a lot for you. Depends if you like fixing machinery.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Sounds like an awesome an accumulation of land. To me i think a lot is going to come down to expectations and time and $$$.

with as much acreage that has been accumulated as described I think multiple machines (different machines for different purposes…more than just tractor maybe) is not out of the question. It seems like you have short and long term needs that may be different also.

I think what plan to do with the downed trees maybe also a factor…are they of value / sellable? Do you want the money from the timber or just want it cleaned up? Do you want to do all the clean up and maintenance yourself or want to hire or find some sort of work share with someone to do the work and split the spoils.

I am not familiar with your area, but if not tried already, I’d contact your local extensions service and get in touch with your state forester. Mine are worth their weight in gold and they may be able to help in advice and instructions / directions with dealing with loggers and contracts. Anyway it might be worth a call or a visit.

 

[mc2]

So…the opinion on the just under 4,000 hours is “too many?” It looked pretty clean to me and, generally, publicly owned vehicles…like those owned by school districts, fire departments, police departments…get used but seem to be well-maintained and garaged, IMO. They only sell them off when forced to because they “age out” under county/state rules. That was the only reason I didn’t think the 4,000 hours on a diesel mattered much. QUESTION: As solely a “farm tractor” to cut 30 acres of fields and move some occasional trees, rocks and eventually do hay…is 81 HP TOO BIG and a ”gas hog?” Just wondering if it would be good for just that and maybe get or rent the recommended skidder/bulldozer and other stuff for the tornado/logger mess clean-up? DO appreciate all the opinions and help. Thx.

 

[TheOldHokie]

So…the opinion on the just under 4,000 hours is “too many?” It looked pretty clean to me and, generally, publicly owned vehicles…like those owned by school districts, fire departments, police departments…get used but seem to be well-maintained and garaged, IMO. They only sell them off when forced to because they “age out” under county/state rules. That was the only reason I didn’t think the 4,000 hours on a diesel mattered much. QUESTION: As solely a “farm tractor” to cut 30 acres of fields and move some occasional trees, rocks and eventually do hay…is 81 HP TOO BIG and a ”gas hog?” Just wondering if it would be good for just that and maybe get or rent the recommended skidder/bulldozer and other stuff for the tornado/logger mess clean-up? DO appreciate all the opinions and help. Thx.

It is definiyely not too big. It would be too old for me but at a younger age I would have been interested if the price was right. Engine overhauls didnt bother me as much back then. See Runs With Scissors comments in #3 for an empirical context.

Dan

 

[mc2]

OK….Thanks for the wisdom from experience, guys and pointing me if the right direction. I’m passing and seller offered my deposit back.

QUESTION: On a diesel tractor up in the 60-80HP range, HOW MANY HOURS would be considered “too many” when looking to buy a used one? What used hours range should I be looking for?

 

[PaulL]

OK….Thanks for the wisdom from experience, guys and pointing me if the right direction. I’m passing and seller offered my deposit back.

QUESTION: On a diesel tractor up in the 60-80HP range, HOW MANY HOURS would be considered “too many” when looking to buy a used one? What used hours range should I be looking for?

I think it's both hours and age. That was a pretty old machine. I'd be looking a mid-90s or newer machine, probably 2,000-3,000 hours. Also think about what functions you want and try to get them with it. Perhaps you can find one with a winch, or one with a grapple, which would make a lot of things easier.

 

[mc2]

Guess what….seller told me the clutch went, about an hour after we cancelled the deal. Guess I dodged a bullet.

 

[skeets]

Somedays ya win

 

[leveraddict]

Guess what….seller told me the clutch went, about an hour after we cancelled the deal. Guess I dodged a bullet.

Yeah He had no idea the clutch was on its way out!!!!

 

[MOOTS]

So…the opinion on the just under 4,000 hours is “too many?” It looked pretty clean to me and, generally, publicly owned vehicles…like those owned by school districts, fire departments, police departments…get used but seem to be well-maintained and garaged, IMO. They only sell them off when forced to because they “age out” under county/state rules. That was the only reason I didn’t think the 4,000 hours on a diesel mattered much. .

County employee here. Correct most municipalities have “rules” that equipment ages out due to hours or miles. But also it comes down to cost to maintain. No one is going to drop $10-15k into a machine, when that could be put towards a new unit.
After working on our mower fleet, I wouldn’t buy any of our stuff from auction.

I see you have passed on that tractor, good call.