New dude looking for buying advice

[Trackselk]

Howdy,
I'm looking for a small farm tractor that's going to be used for some dirt moving, and grading for 2 years or so, and then mostly snow removal with a blade. Not interested in expensive snow blowers as I have a walk behind I'll use when I'm not in a hurry.
I think I've decided on a used $7-12k no DEF or EGR kubota, but I want to make sure I get enough tractor.
It'll be used in Donnelly, Idaho where the snow is usually blown down to about 2 feet of dry snow. I'd like to be able to get through a few feet of wet snow on a "snowmageddon" winter, but I'm OK with using a bucket to peck away at it on those rare winters, versus getting a bigger machine that's much harder to fix and more expensive.
I'm a diesel/gas mechanic/electronics tech and can fix most anything, but I'll have to learn how to build soft hydraulic lines.
I have 150-300 yards of pit run to move, and I want to be able to rip up the incredibly tough sod from the local pasture grass, and i want it to be able to slowly take the ground level down about 6 inches, but I can water it first so the ground is not like stone. The ground is extremely soft here in the spring, but the roots of this grass are extremely tough (for grass) .
Later on it'll just be snow removal and gravel driveway grading. I'm not worried about the gravel being swept to the sides and I'll fix that by hand and tractor in the spring. Just don't want to deal with wearing out an expensive pto driven snowblower when I have plenty of room to push snow. Not to mention braking shear pins and getting gravel stuck in the auger...
I found a L2850d 4500lb kubota with loader and box blade for $10k, but it'll cost me 2 days to retrieve and probably $500 in diesel on the old cummins. It's has just over 2k hours and alleged good maintenance. Tough to want to drive that far to look at it, so I'll probably pass. But, I'm wondering if the price is decent if it's a solid machine? And, is it enough machine.
Lastly, I think I want a front push blade, but I'd like to hear what you experienced folks have to say.
Edit: and could I get away with less tractor, like one of the units that are around 2-3000 lbs with a loader?
I greatly appreciate any advice!

 

[GeoHorn]

WELCOME.

Whatever you decide….made certain it’s ORANGE.

Avoid Green, Red, and Blue tractors. (and, with prejudice, cast askance at KIOTI)

 

[Bee-Positive]

Look for a tractor with a quick attach bucket which that older L2850 does not have.
Will make it very easy to change implements - from bucket to blade, or any other SSQA attachment.

 

[Trackselk]

Look for a tractor with a quick attach bucket which that older L2850 does not have.
Will make it very easy to change implements - from bucket to blade, or any other SSQA attachment.

Thanks for the advice! Makes me wonder if they have any good front blades that attach to the bucket. I plan to buy or have made a set of hay spears for the large bales. Maybe I need a bigger tractor? I'll have to look up the weight of the large bales of alfalfa grass mix

 

[Bee-Positive]

You'd be lucky to lift 700 lbs. with an L2850. Lifting bales make sure you get something for rear ballast, weight box, filled tires, heavy 3 pt. attachment, etc. Go low and slow while doing it.

There are many "store bought" blades available that attach to the bucket.
I cobbled one up for my BX using an old Craftsman blade I had laying around. It stuck out quite a ways and adding the plow weight to the bucket weight it bounced like hell. Used it for two seasons until I got a blank SSQA plate and fabbed a blade to it. Is much better all around without the weight of the bucket. It's pretty crud but it works for me. I can quickly switch from plow to bucket when I want to move snow banks.

 

[Bee-Positive]

P.S.

Rear 3 PT. hay spears will lift a lot more weight.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Thanks for the advice! Makes me wonder if they have any good front blades that attach to the bucket. I plan to buy or have made a set of hay spears for the large bales. Maybe I need a bigger tractor? I'll have to look up the weight of the large bales of alfalfa grass mix

Your in a Tough area of Idaho to get anything local.
It's hard enough for me and I've got Spokane hour and half away.
You'll need and Large L or a MX or M to deal with large bales.
Anything else is simply worthless on Large bales.
Your not going to get a good condition L, MX, Or M for the amount of money you want to spend.
Your looking at $15K + minimum for anything worth anything.
You want a loader that can do SSQA attachments as a blade for any older tractor is hard to find.

FYI: Large square bale of mix weight 1200lbs to 2000lbs.

 

[Trackselk]

Great info, thanks to all of you! Especially the 3pt hay spear part, that might just make a little tractor move big bales. I only need to move them a short distance on flat ground, and I could probably use a chain hoist to stack them. I already love this place!

 

[GeoHorn]

Thanks for the advice! Makes me wonder if they have any good front blades that attach to the bucket. I plan to buy or have made a set of hay spears for the large bales. Maybe I need a bigger tractor? I'll have to look up the weight of the large bales of alfalfa grass mix

I ran into this issue when I bought my M4700DT….it had “pin on” FEL…and I was advised to alter it to a SSQA style. THAT would cost Real Money …Plus my tractor already had a pin on bucket that ..if I converted to SSQA would no longer fit… …

So INSTEAD…I did something which has worked out Very Nicely for me: I asked Dan Heibert to make pin-on Quick-Attach Bracket-Mounts for me.

Here’s a couple links where I discussed my experience …and subsequent satisfaction.. Included is a link to YT video that shows how simple this device is. I leave my top pins IN permanently…and simply drive up to the bucket (or forks, or whatever pin on implement desired) … lift the implement with the FEL and stick the lower pins into the bracket… and Drive away with the bucket/forks/whatever.

No loss of weight capacity or expense of SSQA alteration…and can continue to use existing implements. (and if desired, Hayspear dot com will make a pin-on-to-SSQA adaptor …and you can use any SSQA implement also, if in the future you acquire SSQA implements.) Hope this helps.

Here’s the YT video:

Here’s where I told about my experiences with Dan Heiberts’ bracket:

Pin-On bucket vs SSQA on a BX23s what would you do?

Should you get SSQA is a personal question that only you can answer. If you have smooth concrete floors to help with pin alignment and only change implements once in a while then SSQA might be more of a nice to have than a need to have. I typically switch front implements several times a day...

www.orangetractortalks.com

Quick attach options

My Grand L 3130 with a 723 loader has the pin on bucket. Called EA today and they said to look at their, i thought he said WR long open bottom model, as that is for pin on type mount. Anyone seen or used this type as it looks much different than the 55?

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[Bee-Positive]

For a VERY ROUGH estimate of how much a loader will lift multiply the model by 1.6. For example for an LA525 loader: 525 x 1.6 = 840 then subtract the bucket (or anything attached) weight. Again, very rough estimate, but useful when you're standing out in the lot tire kicking or shopping on line without the specs in front of you.

Lots of ways to skin the cat for lifting bales. I wouldn't go with the clamp-on type for the large bales, could be rough on the bucket.

 

[dirtydeed]

Its really gonna depend on what size large bales you are talking about. I move 3x3x6 (#600-800) without any issue with a pretty small tractor. The larger 3x4x7's (closer to #1000) are getting close to max for LA 534 on my B-2650. I can still stack them 2 high with that little machine (using a set of heavy forks).

They "feel" lighter with a bale spear. As I said, my forks are pretty heavy.