recommend best way to move dirt around my valley

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nodigger

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Jun 2, 2013
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I've recently finished building a house on about 160 acres in the mountains of southern Colorado. The site is so remote that hiring someone to do dirt work is very expensive, when I can even find somebody willing to haul all the way out here. I don't know a lot about equipment. I have an old farm tractor with loader that I use for mowing, and maintaining the driveway, but there's very little flat ground, which really limits where I can use it. It's also just two-wheel drive, so even with chains on it often wont make it up the driveway in the winter. So, I'm looking for something that will let me do more work around the place, myself, and I'm looking for advice on how to get the most out of about $20-25,000. There are a lot of projects I could do around the place, although, to be realistic, I'm not going to be putting a huge number of hours on whatever piece of equipment I buy.
Some of the jobs I think I would do if I had the right equipment include: • back fill around the house foundations have settled, so I need to do more backfill around the house. Much of that is steep enough I'm not comfortable doing it with my tractor. • widen the driveway by moving dirt 100 yards or so downhill to fill, then smooth • clean out an existing pond • maintain a steep, gravel driveway • move snow when there's more than my 4-wheeler can push • general landscaping work around the house, again, where it's too steep for my existing tractor • maintain some old logging roads through the woods that provide access to parts of the property I feel like I have four options:
1. old, high-hours "real" 4wd backhoe
2. newer, low-hours 4wd CUT tractor/loader/backhoe combination
3. newer skid steer loader
4. older compact track loader It looks like I should be able to find a backhoe in my price range, but it will have 5-6,000 hours on it. I have no doubt it would do all the dirt work I need, and is probably the only one of my four options that would allow me to clean out the pond. But even with 4 wheel drive, I don't think it would be any better on the hills than my existing tractor.
Plus, being so remote, I can't afford to buy a machine that might need any major work. If I bought a much newer CUT backhoe, like a Kubota L39, I feel like there's less chance it will need any major work. It won't be as capable as a big backhoe, but still can probably do everything I need to do. With 4wd, it should be a little better than my tractor on the hills, but I still think most of my property will be out of reach. Some of the contractors working on the house have shown me that a skid steer can do a very impressive job of digging and moving dirt, and can do it on slopes I won't try driving my tractor on. On the other hand, I don't know if I'd ever actually get comfortable enough to wobble around on two wheels they way they did.
The amount I'm willing to spend would get me a fairly new skid steer, though, so I'd think it should be dependable. Finally, it seems like a compact track loader would be the one thing that might be stable enough to be really useful to me. Main problem, there, is that something in my price range is going to have at least 2000 hours on it, and it sound like the main reason people sell them around that many hours is because the undercarriages are shot. So, what you guys recommend? Am I missing an option? Am I too worried about worn-out track loaders?
 

jerry

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May 3, 2007
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My only input would be that if you get a wheeled skidsteer do not get a short wheelbase one. A few inches of wheelbase makes a big difference on slopes.
 

Tazza

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My only input would be that if you get a wheeled skidsteer do not get a short wheelbase one. A few inches of wheelbase makes a big difference on slopes.
I believe a skid steer would do all that, but it will all take time, there is a limit of how much you can move per load, but i'm sure you know that. Longer wheelbase is a good idea too.
I'm really not a fan of working on hills either, but you will get used to knowing what you can and can't do. A compact tracked machine will be more stable and give more pushing power but it will cost more to run and if a track or wheel motor goes, it will not be cheap. It's one of those trade offs you get.
 

Tigerhaze

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Nov 3, 2011
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123
I think there is another option that you may be missing- a crawler loader (not a skidsteer-based CTL). They are heavy enough to be stable on steeper slopes and get better all around traction as long as undercarriage is not too worn. There are obviously some drawbacks- the biggest being that they will generally be slower than a wheeled loader. They also can be more of a bear to work on than comparable TLBs, and some of the parts can be more pricey, particularly undercarriage. I own a number of crawler loaders and dozers and participate daily on bulletin baords with other crawler owners so am speaking from experience.
$20K to $25K can go a long way towards purchasing a decent older small to mid size crawler loader manufactured in the 70s or 80s. Like planes and boats, you can often find crawlers of that era still used for commercial purposes so using them for farm/ranch use is not out of the question. You do have to be very careful in selecting a model that has good parts availability, and find a crawler that has not been abused or has key components that are worn out. The biggest reason they are usually on the market is worn undercarriage or transmission, but even then you can still get an otherwise decent crawler, have repairs done, and still be on your budget. If you have additional questions, let us know.
 

Mikefromcny

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Nov 13, 2011
Messages
352
I think there is another option that you may be missing- a crawler loader (not a skidsteer-based CTL). They are heavy enough to be stable on steeper slopes and get better all around traction as long as undercarriage is not too worn. There are obviously some drawbacks- the biggest being that they will generally be slower than a wheeled loader. They also can be more of a bear to work on than comparable TLBs, and some of the parts can be more pricey, particularly undercarriage. I own a number of crawler loaders and dozers and participate daily on bulletin baords with other crawler owners so am speaking from experience.
$20K to $25K can go a long way towards purchasing a decent older small to mid size crawler loader manufactured in the 70s or 80s. Like planes and boats, you can often find crawlers of that era still used for commercial purposes so using them for farm/ranch use is not out of the question. You do have to be very careful in selecting a model that has good parts availability, and find a crawler that has not been abused or has key components that are worn out. The biggest reason they are usually on the market is worn undercarriage or transmission, but even then you can still get an otherwise decent crawler, have repairs done, and still be on your budget. If you have additional questions, let us know.
I'll second a track loader, I've had 3. Around here you can get a JD or Case 450 trackloader with clam bucket for well under $10k. I sold a nice Case 350 with all new undercarriage for $5300 this past winter. They are designed to dig and lift. I own a fullsize backhoe, and its kinda scary on steep hills. My old 743 bobcat was downright scary on steep hills.
 

spitzair

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Dec 17, 2009
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168
I'll second a track loader, I've had 3. Around here you can get a JD or Case 450 trackloader with clam bucket for well under $10k. I sold a nice Case 350 with all new undercarriage for $5300 this past winter. They are designed to dig and lift. I own a fullsize backhoe, and its kinda scary on steep hills. My old 743 bobcat was downright scary on steep hills.
I'll also vote for the track loader. I bought 2 Cat 977H loaders a few years ago for $5500 for both! One had a worn out undercarriage but it runs like new and everything works, the other had a brand new undercarriage but there's an issue with the engine. It runs but only on 5 cylinders and it smokes a lot and has lots of blow-by... I took the tracks from this machine and stuck them on the other one and now I have an excellent loader. If I could have just one machine it would definitely be the crawler loader. You can do so many things with them! I've used it for many different projects. It has no problems pushing over 2 foot diameter fir trees, it lifts like crazy, loads a tandem dump truck with about 4 or 5 scoops, pushes amazing amounts of dirt, and it's really stable on slopes too. Plus, this one has a hydraulic winch on the back and I've pulled some substantial trees with it. http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?19410-Doing-a-bit-of-work-with-the-977&highlight= Here's a link to a thread with some pictures over on HEF... If you can get a good deal on something like this I think you can't go wrong.
 

Tazza

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I'll also vote for the track loader. I bought 2 Cat 977H loaders a few years ago for $5500 for both! One had a worn out undercarriage but it runs like new and everything works, the other had a brand new undercarriage but there's an issue with the engine. It runs but only on 5 cylinders and it smokes a lot and has lots of blow-by... I took the tracks from this machine and stuck them on the other one and now I have an excellent loader. If I could have just one machine it would definitely be the crawler loader. You can do so many things with them! I've used it for many different projects. It has no problems pushing over 2 foot diameter fir trees, it lifts like crazy, loads a tandem dump truck with about 4 or 5 scoops, pushes amazing amounts of dirt, and it's really stable on slopes too. Plus, this one has a hydraulic winch on the back and I've pulled some substantial trees with it. http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?19410-Doing-a-bit-of-work-with-the-977&highlight= Here's a link to a thread with some pictures over on HEF... If you can get a good deal on something like this I think you can't go wrong.
That's a beast of a machine. Just how much can it lift? and you got a bargain on them!
 

spitzair

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Joined
Dec 17, 2009
Messages
168
That's a beast of a machine. Just how much can it lift? and you got a bargain on them!
Thanks Tazza, Not sure what it can lift but it lifts a lot! I think it will lift more once I rebuild the hydraulic pump, it moans when it gets hot and I just don't think it's up to it's full potential... As it is, a full bucket of bank gravel is no problem at all! It loads my single axle dumptruck in 2 or 3 scoops, a tandem with 5, and an offroad 6 wheel drive with about 6 or 7...
 

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