Thanks. That's excellent. Put an essential saw blade on my Stihl string trimmer.
Viewed by the eye of a forester, that stand needs thinning of lots of trees greater than 1” diameter.
There is cost/share funds available for thinning private forest lands. Talk to your state forestry people.
Thank you. I am in contact with DNR and plan to consult with them as necessary.
I have a forested property that is less mature than yours with much denser stands of saplings than you picture. Mx and an rcf27 will easily handle what you have. You can lower deck down and when you are done you could run a tiller if you so desired however the trees I. The picture might have some roots…you’d have that no matter what. But to clear off the Mx would do that easily. Only thing that will stall that machine is some thing you should not be going over. The deck has stump jumpers, how ever it’s possible if you find something big enough. The brush hog is good for it’s designed purpose without question. That one is 3” per land pride and it easy handles that paired with an MX.
just looked at both models. The exterior dimensions of the MX isn’t much larger than the 4701, but the loader is much beefier with more lift capacity, and the hitch is category 2. The MX is heavier, so that is usually a good thing with tractors in terms of stability and traction. But other than the loader, I think both tractors can perform the same tasks and run the same implements in category 1.
The key point is that this is a mid aged forest, not saplings in an old field. Maneuvering with a tractor in that condition will be difficult to avoid destroying the machine and the forest needs thinning of larger trees than just saplings. The foresters who visit the property will no doubt recommend a thinning of trees up to and greater than 5+ inches in diameter ( maybe larger). This is a forestry project for forestry equipment, not a tractor.
These photos look like younger forest conditions than the previous photo. If most of the area is more like this, you may be able to use a rotary cutter and chainsaw thin larger trees.
I’d recommend you drive what ever you are considering and if you have some idea of implements ask dealer to put on the ones in you wonder about visibility. If they have a barn door you can drive in and out all the better. Playing in the woods visibility can be an issue. I can say that the MX has awesome wheel/tire package…however if you plan to run forks there is a visibility issue, at least there is for me with my set up. Before you purchase forks I’d consider the length f the forks to have visibility. Tractors in general have poor visibility for forks….tires are usually in the way…that being said forks are one of most versatile implements. The MX has really tight turning radius for its size…almost unbelievable due to the bevel gears…that being said when you test drive, you want to understand and feel difference from the other models with implements hanging off…if close quarter operations consideration. Reverse is your worse condition to be aware how front end is swinging with forks and in forward a bush hog that hangs off 10ft. Pretend you are trying to hang a hard right through a 10ft door or whatever your barn door size is. It’s the one place you are limited to raise the forks to maneuver. If you can get through and around a door way you’ll be fine in the woods. As fast as necessary and as slow as possible is helpful in a bigger machine. I am happy to answer any question of concern about b series or Mx that I have experience with. Happy shopping.
I have a toot bar on my current tractor and like it. Where did you get it and how much did it cost for the MX?
A local forester with experience in your forest type can collect data and provide you with options based on your management objectives.
We have very little snow here. While I don’t disagree it seems the weight of the MX would be an advantage with the snow plow I can’t directly speak to the performance of the L4701 plowing any accumulation of snow more than about 6”. It does fine with an angled back blade with 6” of snow, but I’m aware that’s not much snow.
I'd use a heavy duty rotary mower to cut 1" or less saplings. Check out Everything Attachments. They make some of the most heavy duty tractor implements you can buy.
Allowing the engine to cool down to allow the oil lubricating the turbo bearings to cool can greatly extend the life of a turbo. I have thermocouples installed pre and post turbo on my '02 F250 that has 150K miles on the original turbo. I leave the engine running to allow the turbo to cool if pre-turbo temperatures exceed 375F. I let the MX cool down before shutting down if it's been running hard, as the manual suggests. I might add a thermocouple pre turbo to the new tractor so that I'm not idling the engine excessively.
Excellent post. You changed all my plans.
