Well, I'm back home but the machine isn't
It turned out not to be in quite the same condition as the seller said it was. When I said I was looking for a 3 to 5 ton reliable excavator for farm use, he must have heard 3 to 5 ton Shite Box of an excavator
I did attempt to drive her home but after three hours of driving (ever so slowly), stopping, walking back for the ute and driving it up, I had managed to travel less than 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile). I did a quick calculation and worked out that at that rate it would be over thirty hours more of driving time, not including rest periods (of perhaps an hour every three hours of driving and walking back). At that point I was still below the first of the steep sections and seriously doubted whether it could manage to climb much further. I camped the night and the next morning turned around and headed back down the hill. I simply didn't have enough food or water with me.