Whats the best

[warddog]

Just bought 80 acres that is partially reclaimed strip property. About half is now pasture with a pit and the rest is timber that still has some of the spill banks. We are building a home on it next spring. The entire 80 acres is barb wire fenced and from my walking the perimeter it appears the fence on the perimeter of the wooded section can't be accessed very easily with any type of machine to be able to work on the fence. I already have someone that will cut and bail the pasture grass and bought a 55 HP tractor to do what little brush hogging that is left. My question is what would be the best equipment for making the perimeter of the fence accessible to keep up with the fence? I doubt my tractor will serve the purpose even with the front-end loader and I have contemplated a small dozer or a tracked skid steer. This property has nothing on it, yet so we will be putting in everything from a driveway to electric, water and a septic system. We have found a local guy that does all this and has the equipment and I've also thought to just see if he will clear a path along my property perimeter so I can access it with my SxS to do fence work and access it easier to deer hunt. What are you folks thinking on this issue? I have thought that maybe I should have bought a tracked skid steer and do everything with that in lieu of the 55 HP tractor with the front-end loader. I hate to take this tractor into the woods as I got a pretty good deal on it via an auction as it is a 2018 Kioti with 30 ACTUAL hours on it as the guy bought it from the local dealer with a tiller just to do his garden.

 

[504]

For a once a year fence repair I would just rent a skid loader

 

[DanielW]

Is there any strict requirement to having the fence maintained and functioning asap? Unless you're keeping animals in, there's probably no huge rush on it. Lots of fences are still built and maintained in remote areas by a little hand-bombing/dragging posts & wire to them by hand. We finished putting up a new fence around my father's farm a few years ago - 200 acres it a roughly square-ish shape, two sides of which you couldn't get a tractor to. It just takes a little longer, and an extra person if you want to hand-bomb a two man auger in there to drill holes easier.

But it's never a bad idea to have trails around the edge of your property: It lets neighbours know you know where your property lines are if nothing else.

This is completely not what you were thinking, but if it were me, I'd pass on the tracked skidsteer because it's a lot of extra $$ for something that probably won't serve your purpose too well. You SxS will probably do better than anything for getting to and maintaing the fence as it currently is. I'd instead get a Balfor 3.5 ton skidding winch for the back of you tractor and a portable sawmill (Norwood, SMG Champion, or similar). The combined total for both will probably come out to a fair bit less than a tracked skid loader, and you'll be able to clear your property line at your own convenience and mill the logs on your own time, using the milled lumber for trim/flooring/strapping/sheds and other outbuildings. The Balfor 3.5 isn't a very heavy winch, but it's about right for your tractor. The portable bandmills aren't the fastest machines in the world, but would be more than adequate for you to clear your trails, have lots of fun with, and not break the bank. Maybe even recover some costs by using your own lumber, and you'd find other uses for the equipment for years and years. It'd take a lot longer to get all the property lines clear, but does that really matter?

 

[the tractor vet]

Ah stripped ground with hills and high walls . So guessen your in Pa. W. Va. or eastern Ohio . And fencing ground here around me in strip mining country in places it is a nightmare . I farmed one farm that was stripped , before i started to farm it i helped the org. owner fence the whole place up over spoil banks up on top out over the high wall down into the old cut , lots of ROCK to contend with the areas that were some what backfilled / reclaimed where you might be able to put in a wood fence post these posts never seamed to stay as the ground was still settling it takes decades for reclaimed ground to settle so also be wise on where you plan on planting your new home . . Now today fencing can be made easier where you can get a machine in like a skid steer on tracks or at least tire chains . A hyd driven auger with a Beltec rock bit will poke a hole thru anything we have found . With the skid steer down pressure plus the weight of the machine it will poke a hole .

 

[ss55]

If the fence just a property line marker the existing fence might be fine as-is. If you will be grazing livestock then you will need a fence adequate to confine your livestock. To clear land one time hiring someone to do it could be the most economical. Get some quotes.

 

[cjunrau]

Not sure of your physical ability. I find a chainsaw and cut trees and scrub an hour a day gets a lot of fence open
Your tractor will work just fine if you go slow and use common sense.
I cut trees down 2 ft off the ground. Then cut the stump within 2 inches. They rot away in a few years. You can drive over it with any machine then.
If you cut the trees and have bush mower you can back over the brush if you dont want to cut the scrub.

 

[rustred]

Just how big is this timber?
Cjunrau has the idea I was thinking of also. Plus someone might want to just come harvest the trees. I have cleared big trees with a chain saw also the same way. Leave the stumps at ground level and problem solved. U dont need a cat to make a road in the bush.

 

[Janicholson]

I agree. The spoil piles are like massive ant hills. I have been around them in central eastern Indiana. They are at an angle of repose (slope) that is likely to settle as the Fluffed up overburden condenses. The age of the deposits can vary this effect. The looseness of the entire pile will be an advantage for creating access. A modest size dozer of 70 or so HP can do this easily. Renting it would be a first choice. Making that first pass where it is needed might take 2 or 3 days, but this puts the doser's maintenance and repair in the rental agencies pocket not yours. Keeping the slopes to about 10% would make a path for your tractor. Remember the tractor is not a heavy duty device. Jim

 

[504]

For a once a year fence repair I would just rent a skid loader

 

[Johnhof]

i did a combination of suggestions on the old mostly abandoned farm we bought. Hired some clearing, created a fence line path where we would pasture and let the rest stand. Keep it simple unless you really want a dozer. You will find plenty of use for the loader tractor you have.

 

[warddog]

Thanks to all who have opined on this situation. I should add that this property is in southeastern Kansas and pretty much the same as the 106 acres we sold in southeast Indiana to move here closer to my wife's family. I was much younger back then and did all this with chainsaws, a 38HP tractor with a front-end loader and a young back. Today that back is now 70 years old and although I am still able to do it, I am not as fast as I used to be and my time is growing shorter each day. I suspect my best bet is to have the guy doing the other land work, such as putting in the driveway, water, electric from the road as well as the septic system would be my best quickest avenue. With this being native unimproved property, all this has to be done from a grown-up fence row completely surrounding the perimeter. This means the guy will be needing some heavy equipment and getting him to do the fence row may be the best way to spend some more money.

 

[Pete76NYPa]

I finally found that a tracked skid steer with hi flow aux hydraulics is the ticket; with a dozer blade you can do most anything a 450 class dozer will do, a quick tach backhoe will do most things a traditional backhoe will do. a snow blower is awesome on on, and can rent a front mount hog for nasty stuff when needed and same with a rockhound. The bucket keeps alot of stress off the Kubota loader, and even with the subframe the 3 pt backhoe was stressfull. I still do alot of stuff with my antiques, when it's fun, but this saves beating them or the Kbota up, and when it needs done quickly and efficiently...WOW. Quick attach forks and grapple bucket became invaluable too

 

[WAYNE-N-TEXAS]

I needed some work done like you're talking about. I rented a dozer, if some breaks, call for them to fix it. Then I decide I wanted More, so I bought one. Had to work for other people to pay for all the repair. So, I suggest hire it done or rent what you need.

 

[BillinCentralMO]

Neighbor has a forestry mulcher on the front of his skidsteer. I think it chews up to a 5 inch tree. You could rent one.

 

[warddog]

What size skid steer and HP would be adequate for such tasks? I've looked at them and really have no concept of the high vs the standard auxiliary hydraulics. I was thinking I maybe should have purchased such a skid steer rather than the 50 HP tractor to begin with beings I have someone to do the biggest portion of what mowing/baling that needs done on shares.