Skyking1: Yes, you are right. I started with a compact tractor/backhoe. The backhoe only has a break force of 2,200 pounds. The compact tractor is great for mowing, scraping/leveling roads, mulching/chipping with a PTO attachment, post hole digging and limited pipe trenching. It struggled taking out big bushes and small trees. The excavator can clear landscape, build roads, take down moderate trees without chainsawing first and my 2.5 ft across tree stumps without much trouble. The excavator is great for moving rock (many 1k to 2k pounds) and leveling pads. So, it's a luxury to have this U55-4 Kubota sitting at my disposal. I've also learned that with an enclosed cab you can fearlessly tackle large hornet nests as you clear brush. Not so on my tractor. BTW Skiddinlogs51, Skyking1 on this thread is one of the experts on this site willing to share knowledge on many topics: road building, maintenance, machine configuration, etc... He is a great guy to follow. I've learned a lot from him.