Newbie in Western Carolina

[GrumpyFarmer]

Good day.

It’s hard for me to have much opinion, based on the detail provided, I don’t think really there is a bad option unless you refine / specify your criteria.

From what I understood above it seems like you may have some homestead tasks, but for me to give suggestion sort of hard as I don’t understand the scope of your work. For example, you have compost bin, correct? How large is it? Single bin, multiple station, stations large enough to get a loader in? Could be barely enough for shovel and wheel barrow or could be big enough to need a B or L? Sort of hard for me to imagine. Either anything from a BX to an M may be fine.

I did not understand d a requirement for a PTO, but maybe I missed it. Mowing with exmark, correct? If no need PTO, do you need a tractor? Or a CTL/CWL? Yes that’s way more than 8…or if want to prioritize the digging maybe a mini ex and have ability for end or arm tool for auger holes or something. I don’t know you do or dont need any of the suggestions honestly, they seem extreme unless know thy task/scope.

Ultimately as others suggested think about what you might want to lift or how much weight you like a machine to have IMO.

It’s your money. Get what you want. If you want a BH, get one, they are awesome. I genuinely think for your tasks, if not need a PTO, then there is a lot of overlap between a BX and B and standard L…I think figure out scope of tasks and how much want to lift or how much machine weight you want to have. That will start separating models that have some overlap.

If really not sure rent some different sizes before you buy, or don’t. Again it’s your money. Get what you want. We will do our best to help you spend it.

 

[HappyTopster]

In the interest of potentially

In the interest of potentially adding confusion…

If you’re doing a good bit of firewood work in challenging terrain a skidding winch might be a consideration. There might be part of the Nantahala Forest region that isn’t “challenging” for low impact logging. I haven’t seen nearly all of it. Parts I’ve seen are somewhere between difficult and requiring a heavy lift helicopter. Anyway, a winch will allow retrieving logs from areas impossible for equipment to access; just have to get within range of the cable.

Combination of grapple and winch allow me to efficiently and safely pull down windfallen trees hung up in other trees, manipulate logs and transport back to the wood yard for processing. With a couple snatch blocks, tree saver straps for anchor points, and some creativity you can retrieve logs from some pretty gnarly places while your tractor stays on solid footing.

It’s still physical; still have to split it and stack it. My prior process was buck and sometimes split to man sized pieces to manually load on a trailer, manually unload trailer at wood yard, final split, and stack: manually picked it up and moved it at least 3 times. With the winch and grapple, I’m getting it to the wood yard in log form, buck it to length, split, and stack. I’m now manually moving it once. I’m not getting any younger, I work alone, and I’ve got a few of those glass shards in my left shoulder plus a knee that sometimes causes folks nearby to ask where the heck that nauseating bone breaking sound came from. But I can pull in a lot of wood really quickly without doing anything to myself a couple Gatorade’s and a magnesium supplement won’t cover.

I have a Farmi W50R rated at 11,000lb. Both Farmi and Wallenstein and maybe some others make one size smaller, but you’d probably need a L size frame to hold it.

Just a thought..,
View attachment 153524
View attachment 153523

adding confusion…

If you’re doing a good bit of firewood work in challenging terrain a skidding winch might be a consideration. There might be part of the Nantahala Forest region that isn’t “challenging” for low impact logging. I haven’t seen nearly all of it. Parts I’ve seen are somewhere between difficult and requiring a heavy lift helicopter. Anyway, a winch will allow retrieving logs from areas impossible for equipment to access; just have to get within range of the cable.

Combination of grapple and winch allow me to efficiently and safely pull down windfallen trees hung up in other trees, manipulate logs and transport back to the wood yard for processing. With a couple snatch blocks, tree saver straps for anchor points, and some creativity you can retrieve logs from some pretty gnarly places while your tractor stays on solid footing.

It’s still physical; still have to split it and stack it. My prior process was buck and sometimes split to man sized pieces to manually load on a trailer, manually unload trailer at wood yard, final split, and stack: manually picked it up and moved it at least 3 times. With the winch and grapple, I’m getting it to the wood yard in log form, buck it to length, split, and stack. I’m now manually moving it once. I’m not getting any younger, I work alone, and I’ve got a few of those glass shards in my left shoulder plus a knee that sometimes causes folks nearby to ask where the heck that nauseating bone breaking sound came from. But I can pull in a lot of wood really quickly without doing anything to myself a couple Gatorade’s and a magnesium supplement won’t cover.

I have a Farmi W50R rated at 11,000lb. Both Farmi and Wallenstein and maybe some others make one size smaller, but you’d probably need a L size frame to hold it.

Just a thought..,
View attachment 153524
View attachment 153523

First off welcome to the forum. Hope the shoulder works out ok. I had two surgery's on the same shoulder and the outcome hasn't been great. Before to much advice is given need to know is the banker {WIFE} going to let you spend 8 grand or 30 grand makes a big difference. Myself I like the HST tractors in the 60HP range and less. I have a MX6000 with loader and really like the tractor. You have the zero turn for mowing so I would buy the biggest HST tractor the boss will let you buy. Happy wife happy life.

I still need a few discussions w/the banker re: realistic $. I’m still over medicated/early recovery so no important decisions to be made yet. I like the L2502. Still prefer gear vs HST. I did ask her if she had any intentions of driving it and she didn’t take me serious, thinking I was just trying to weasle a way to get her support,lol! Why so cynical? So we’ll revisit that. My personal preference is for gear but I’d love her to learn to drive the tractor so I suppose that is an easy concession after all. I imagine re-sale also benefits HST since general public seems to prefer them(makes we want gear even more).

 

[HappyTopster]

In the interest of potentially adding confusion…

If you’re doing a good bit of firewood work in challenging terrain a skidding winch might be a consideration. There might be part of the Nantahala Forest region that isn’t “challenging” for low impact logging. I haven’t seen nearly all of it. Parts I’ve seen are somewhere between difficult and requiring a heavy lift helicopter. Anyway, a winch will allow retrieving logs from areas impossible for equipment to access; just have to get within range of the cable.

Combination of grapple and winch allow me to efficiently and safely pull down windfallen trees hung up in other trees, manipulate logs and transport back to the wood yard for processing. With a couple snatch blocks, tree saver straps for anchor points, and some creativity you can retrieve logs from some pretty gnarly places while your tractor stays on solid footing.

It’s still physical; still have to split it and stack it. My prior process was buck and sometimes split to man sized pieces to manually load on a trailer, manually unload trailer at wood yard, final split, and stack: manually picked it up and moved it at least 3 times. With the winch and grapple, I’m getting it to the wood yard in log form, buck it to length, split, and stack. I’m now manually moving it once. I’m not getting any younger, I work alone, and I’ve got a few of those glass shards in my left shoulder plus a knee that sometimes causes folks nearby to ask where the heck that nauseating bone breaking sound came from. But I can pull in a lot of wood really quickly without doing anything to myself a couple Gatorade’s and a magnesium supplement won’t cover.

I have a Farmi W50R rated at 11,000lb. Both Farmi and Wallenstein and maybe some others make one size smaller, but you’d probably need a L size frame to hold it.

Just a thought..,
View attachment 153524
View attachment 153523

Great info and yes, I’ve done similar w/experience neighbor who has larger tractor. The difference in handling wood 1 vs 3 (or more) times is huge. The L2502 is where I’m leaning. I think it would handle garden/yard and forest duties. I’ve seen pretty new, low hour ones for ~$20k within 4 hours. Just FEL but I can add as needed. Lots to consider.

 

[HappyTopster]

In the interest of potentially adding confusion…

If you’re doing a good bit of firewood work in challenging terrain a skidding winch might be a consideration. There might be part of the Nantahala Forest region that isn’t “challenging” for low impact logging. I haven’t seen nearly all of it. Parts I’ve seen are somewhere between difficult and requiring a heavy lift helicopter. Anyway, a winch will allow retrieving logs from areas impossible for equipment to access; just have to get within range of the cable.

Combination of grapple and winch allow me to efficiently and safely pull down windfallen trees hung up in other trees, manipulate logs and transport back to the wood yard for processing. With a couple snatch blocks, tree saver straps for anchor points, and some creativity you can retrieve logs from some pretty gnarly places while your tractor stays on solid footing.

It’s still physical; still have to split it and stack it. My prior process was buck and sometimes split to man sized pieces to manually load on a trailer, manually unload trailer at wood yard, final split, and stack: manually picked it up and moved it at least 3 times. With the winch and grapple, I’m getting it to the wood yard in log form, buck it to length, split, and stack. I’m now manually moving it once. I’m not getting any younger, I work alone, and I’ve got a few of those glass shards in my left shoulder plus a knee that sometimes causes folks nearby to ask where the heck that nauseating bone breaking sound came from. But I can pull in a lot of wood really quickly without doing anything to myself a couple Gatorade’s and a magnesium supplement won’t cover.

I have a Farmi W50R rated at 11,000lb. Both Farmi and Wallenstein and maybe some others make one size smaller, but you’d probably need a L size frame to hold it.

Just a thought..,
View attachment 153524
View attachment 153523

The skidding winch looks amazing! I’ve never seen nor heard of one.

 

[Orange man]

The L2502 gear drive does not have a live PTO, that can be a real pain with some implements.

 

[HappyTopster]

The L2502 gear drive does not have a live PTO, that can be a real pain with some implements.

Yep. I’m pretty much at peace w/the HTS. Probably easier to sell also if it came to that.

 

[Orange man]

It is a shame that Kubota did not add the live PTO when they did the updates, yes a HST is going to be easier to sell if you ever want to.

 

[HappyTopster]

Good day.

It’s hard for me to have much opinion, based on the detail provided, I don’t think really there is a bad option unless you refine / specify your criteria.

From what I understood above it seems like you may have some homestead tasks, but for me to give suggestion sort of hard as I don’t understand the scope of your work. For example, you have compost bin, correct? How large is it? Single bin, multiple station, stations large enough to get a loader in? Could be barely enough for shovel and wheel barrow or could be big enough to need a B or L? Sort of hard for me to imagine. Either anything from a BX to an M may be fine.

I did not understand d a requirement for a PTO, but maybe I missed it. Mowing with exmark, correct? If no need PTO, do you need a tractor? Or a CTL/CWL? Yes that’s way more than 8…or if want to prioritize the digging maybe a mini ex and have ability for end or arm tool for auger holes or something. I don’t know you do or dont need any of the suggestions honestly, they seem extreme unless know thy task/scope. The skid winch attachment by Norwood looks particularly intriguing. I’ve gotten by using my SXS, 5x8 trailer a chainsaw and some tow straps but it’s too difficult anymore. Leaning towards L2502. Price is about same as LX and I always exceed any equipments specified limits as a matter of principle.

Ultimately as others suggested think about what you might want to lift or how much weight you like a machine to have IMO.

It’s your money. Get what you want. If you want a BH, get one, they are awesome. I genuinely think for your tasks, if not need a PTO, then there is a lot of overlap between a BX and B and standard L…I think figure out scope of tasks and how much want to lift or how much machine weight you want to have. That will start separating models that have some overlap.

If really not sure rent some different sizes before you buy, or don’t. Again it’s your money. Get what you want. We will do our best to help you spend it.

Thank you! The compost bins are large since we get trailers of manure from a nearby horse farm. I’m frequently getting large trees from the forest/ neighbors as well as frequently adding garden beds

 

[NCL4701]

Yep. I’m pretty much at peace w/the HTS. Probably easier to sell also if it came to that.

My L4701 is the first HST tractor I’ve ever operated. Had thousands of hours on gear drive prior, both dry clutch/stick and power reverser. If I was primarily putting a plow or disc in the ground and pulling it from one end of a field to the other and back all day, I’d go with gear. I much prefer HST for utility work: loader, mowing, grading, fork work, grapple work. Disconnecting engine speed from ground speed has significant operational advantages for utility work, in my experience.

The argument for gear v HST I usually see is the power loss with the HST. For my L4701, the gear version has 39.3 PTO HP. HST has 37.8; a whopping 1.5 HP difference. If “HST is inefficient” is one of the reasons you’re thinking gear drive, look at the actual numbers for whatever model your considering.

You can move pallets with a power reverser or plow a field with a HST, but they each have things they’re better at than the other.

 

[NCL4701]

The skidding winch looks amazing! I’ve never seen nor heard of one.

I asked the group before buying mine. Got some good info.

Skidding Winch Recommendation

Example of one of the routine problems. Sample of some of the rigging I’ve been using. We have about 70 acres, most of which is forested. I have probably 20 acres that includes Virginia pines, like those pictures, interspersed with other trees. Problem with the Virginia pines is they live about...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[HappyTopster]

My L4701 is the first HST tractor I’ve ever operated. Had thousands of hours on gear drive prior, both dry clutch/stick and power reverser. If I was primarily putting a plow or disc in the ground and pulling it from one end of a field to the other and back all day, I’d go with gear. I much prefer HST for utility work: loader, mowing, grading, fork work, grapple work. Disconnecting engine speed from ground speed has significant operational advantages for utility work, in my experience.

The argument for gear v HST I usually see is the power loss with the HST. For my L4701, the gear version has 39.3 PTO HP. HST has 37.8; a whopping 1.5 HP difference. If “HST is inefficient” is one of the reasons you’re thinking gear drive, look at the actual numbers for whatever model your considering.

You can move pallets with a power reverser or plow a field with a HST, but they each have things they’re better at than the other.

Thank you. That issue is settled and I feel good about it.
I want to add: This forum has been great. I asked 2 different dealer reps about the winch skid attachment and neither had heard of it! I appreciate everyone’s input here. So much to consider. So many potential pitfalls. As I recover from a painful surgery the hunt for a tractor has been a great diversion and form of therapy.