New here.....been researching a lot....so may ask for the impossible. Land: 200 acres in central/ west Texas. Dry rocky limestone and thick with mesquite. San Saba riverfront 1/2 mile. Use: clearing mesquite. Making ranch roads. Leveling riverfront areas for recreational use....tents, trailers, etc. Thoughts and budget: budget is 50,000 max. Would rather not have broken down dozer constantly....but know things happen. Jack of all trades dozer I guess? Thank you so much for your thoughts. (I priced having it done....it gets close to just buying one)
Howdy shughes. I'm jealous of your riverfront! How thick are the trunks of the mesquite? You can doze mesquite "trees" but it's pretty futile to doze mesquite shrub and brush as it will grow back within the year. Need to grub it, or more commonly now is to herbicide it, to kill the roots. As far as a "good" dozer with backhoe, I don't think you'll find a modern one available. Seems like those went the way of the dodo and only older ones are randomly available. And the rule of thumb is a "jack of all trades" machines means it's only half@ss in any of those trades. May want to consider a dedicated 30-50k pound machine if you're really dozing. 20-30k pounds can get you leveling pads and light pushing. Prices all over the map for those machines but easily within your budget.
The largest mesquite I will doze is about 6" at the base. So 6-8". After dozing mesquite I will go back with correct spray on the upshoots periodically. Need leveling capabilities also. I knew my question was too broad. 6 point blade? Rippers? Best for money models? CAT JD KIMATSU (spell)
6" at the base is borderline between mesquite shrub and tree so doesn't sound like you need heavy iron. Without seeing exactly what you're trying to do, I'm not sure if rippers would be a benefit. Maybe even more of a hinderance. You named the typical top brands but it's not really a question of best money for models. It's a question of best maintained machine you can find within your budget. May want to post pics of some typical spots you're trying to clear so folks here who are not familiar with central Texas understand your needs.
Will post pics of landscape. Going to place in February.