As some of you know I am trying to get my old rover rancher back up and running but it's really not the best option for where we are living now.
Sorry for the long post but I keep thinking of the pros/cons with my options. perhaps someone that has some experience with these machines or has been through this situation could offer some opinions/insight.
We are on 5.6 acres, we are going to end up with 3 horse paddocks and then some more steeper terrain. There are two steep areas, one is too steep for anything but a brush cutter (or goats) and the other cold probably be done with a 4wd machine of some sort with correct tires and grunt. Want ROPS on whatever I get, or be able to have it fitted :-)
As I have my old Toyota skid steer for sale at the moment I am thinking I would be best to get a more appropriate machine for our block with the proceeds of the sale.
Some of the points I have to consider and have been thinking about.
- Mower -vs- slasher, I suspect a mower is going to do a better job with grass that's not too out of control. One of the reasons we mow the paddocks is to break up the horse manure and spread it. Not sure a slasher would do that? At the moment I drag a sheet of reo mesh with a couple of pallets on it behind the car but that doesn't cut down the weeds (horses only eat the grass)
- My uncle has a John Deer out-front mower with 6 foot deck, the 4WD diesel thing. An awesome machine, so fast at mowing. So I have experience with that machine which is quite good.
- Obviously loosing my skid steer I am back to shovel and wheelbarrow, not something I am built for. Whereas if I get a small tractor I could get one with a bucket.
- Tractor can be used for other stuff too, carry all, towing stuff around, concrete mixers, backhoes and all sorts of good stuff that go on the 3PL.
- An out-front type mower is more maneuverable than a tractor I suspect. Having said that though, we don't have a great number of trees so it's all pretty easy in terms of negotiating around non-mowables. But I would want chunky tires on it, my uncles machine came of a golf course so has grass tires and once the grass gets long and you cut it you get moisture and traction issues.
- After a little "incident" on my uncles mower the other day I like the idea of something that is direct drive off the engine and not hydraulic. I don't know how or why it happened but going down a rather steep hill his mower stalled and then the brake didn't seem to work real well. lucky I was able to stay on and guide it down and then up the other side of the hill to slow down (needed new undies after that). If not direct drive off the engine at least something with a real brake.
- I've been looking on the trading post and there are a few little tractors with slashers and buckets
- perhaps a large standard type ride-on with a good size cutting deck? Then I just hire in bobcat/dingo as required.
- Having a tractor would be pretty cool :-)
- Zero turn is out of the question I think. being 2WD and if it's a bit wet I don't think they would be a good option. the forces required to turn it on a slope would be amazing and I want something that isn't going to shake to pieces or break under the strain.
So that's my thought process at the moment, just a tad all over the place!
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Regards
Nathan
