Thanks for the advice. I have a 40 acre cattle farm as a hobby with lots of scrub oak trees (oregon white oak). I would be digging out stumps, moving down falls, ditch clean out, landscape projects, etc... I rented a Bobcat 331 for a week and had a great time with some landscaping projects, stump digging, clearing down falls, etc... I'd have to work pretty hard with the 331 to cut the roots and dig out the stumps, but could do most of the work I needed, just slow. The hydraulic thumb allowed me to do alot of clearing of down falls. I was even able to roll very large 2+ foot diameter rounds onto the blade and traverse to the burn pile. The 331 was a good size to manuver in the trees but it would be nice to have something bigger to dig stumps out quicker (backhoe with a 4 in 1?). Anyway, I'm looking for something reliable to fit my need (not sure what size or type of machine) that isn't too expensive used ($15K-$25K?).
Thanks for the advice
Mike