Hey gang, Looking for a little information from the experienced. There is a plethora of bulldozers in my area ranging from $1500 projects to $10k drivers but I don’t know anything about them or what makes one model better than the other. We are in the process of purchasing a 3 ½ acre, mostly level, plot of dirt. It has sandy loam soil and mostly covered with overgrown scrub brush. The financial adviser has given me permission to buy a bulldozer, (10k is the budget) and we will probably resell it after all the work is done. It will be a year or so before we start pushing dirt and I have a mechanical background so projects are not necessarily out of the running. (it would just depend on how much of a project it was) If I had to put requirements on one to narrow down the choices, Diesel powered, max weigh is 12k pounds and max width of 8 feet on the blade. Ease of transportation is important as I want to be able to transport it without permits. There are several John Deere 1010’s to choose from but I have found some threads where people say they are under powered. Is there any truth to that? Any thoughts or recommendations?
In my opinion you would be better off spending the money on an older farm tractor with front loader in 50 to 100 horsepower range . http://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/10530767/1978-international-986
What TD25 said or even better would be a 310 Deere,580Case, or a similar sized loader backhoe. If the land doesn't need major leveling, you will be ahead to get a farmer special TLB and have at it. When you are done (who is), you will have to be forced to sell it because it's handier than a pocket in a shirt.
A skid steer would a good option too.
Guess I should have mentioned I have access to a mini excavator but, I can definitely see where the front loader with the backhoe would be the best of both worlds. I thought about a skid steer to compliment the mini excavator. Would the skid steer work well for leveling out large sections of dirt?
Borrow the mini x and clear your 3.5 acres. Buy yourself a farm tractor with a 3pt hitch and a front bucket with a skid steer quick attach for the bucket and you should be good for just about anything. Unless you really just want to own a piece of construction equipment.
Yes, a skid steer can level out large sections. A used skid steer can have problems but are generally easier to check out than a crawler. Something goes wrong in a crawler and it can be very expensive to fix.
I thought, for a moment there, you were going to suggest a trusty old Ford 4000.
That's a good thought Mate ! Not sure if the job is big enough to justify moving in a 4000 with loader & bush hog .
A skid steer is like a Swiss Army Knife when you consider all the attachments you can rent. Rent a grapple to stack the brush. For leveling, use a land plane attachment. With the tool in front of you and low, you can see exactly what you're doing. Much easier to operate than a dozer, in which it's always a mystery just what is going on at the other side of the blade and the bottom edge of the blade is hard to see.
Buying a bulldozer to clear 3.5 acres as you describe would be a bad idea. A decent sized dozer could clear that area in a couple days. Either rent one or hire it done or buy a skid steer and do it at a slower pace. Bull dozers are awesome at what they do but they are not useful for many other things. A skid steer can be used for tons of things.
Thanks Guys, I didn't even think about the skid steer with all the options available for attachments. I will be putting up a chain link fence and a post hole digger would make quick work out of it for sure.
I may have been too quick in giving advice. Skid steers are not that hard to get stuck and if your sandy loam is very sandy it may not be the ideal machine to push tools across the lot.
Suggest something that will be fit for Sandy please.
ASV RC30,50, 60. Rubber tracked loaders. Work well in almost any conditions, better balanced that the Cat equivalents, Prolly in the $7500-12000 price range, depending on the model and conditions...