New member with questions. Backhoe, track loader or midi ex for a 60acre homestead

[trinculo]

Hello,

I'm getting ready to homestead 60 acre of land in Western North NC. I'm digging the basement for a house and have about 8 feet of cut and fill for a 40 x 60 Pole barn as well as tree clearing, A bit of road grading, septic, well lines and general clean up. After getting some bids for just the house excavation I've decided to purchase a piece of equipment and do most of the work myself. I have about a $15K budget to purchase equipment and have narrowed my choices down to a few pieces (types)of equipment that all fit in my budget. After the major building push (2-4 years) I may keep the machine around for farm chores or sell for a small excavator. I currently have a kubota L3240 with an FEL, box blade, root rake, bush hog, etc. that will also be available to do what it can do but i understand it's a loader and not a digger. Any help would

1. Track loader (seems to be the best fit for my budget) Have been steered toward deere over cat due to part pricing. Here are a couple I'm looking at.
a. 1998 JD 455G with 6000 hrs, GP bucket and a backhoe attachment. This machine is about two hours from me and looks clean from the pictures (i.e. fresh coat of paint and is alleged to be in good shape with no blow by, leaks. UC is reported to be ~65%.

b. 1993 JD 455D with 4 n 1 bucket that is local. This machine looks worn and rusty from the pictures but has supposedly had a new engine and transmission rebuilt by the local deere dealer with accompanying service records. UC is reported to be 80%+ with a list of new part installed, tracks, sprockets, etc. All repairs were done a few years ago with less than 300 hrs since the work was done.

My feeling is that a 4 n 1 bucket would be much more useful than a backhoe on a track loader.

2. Backhoe (4wd)
a. Case 580 Super K turbo backhoe. 4x4, factory forks, 4 in 1 bucket, cab, extendahoe, 2 lever control platinum backhoe. Machine looks in good shape by photos on CL, hours unknown at this point.

b.Caterpillar 416B Backhoe No details yet.

I have a local friend who just retired from the grading business and his recommendation is to get a backhoe over a track loader based on repair cost of UC, speed of movement and resale ability. How much muscle would i loose between a backhoe and a similar hp track loader?

3 Smaller excavator.
I just missed a CAT 307 that had been rolled and the cab destroyed and was replaced by a heavy steel cage. It went for $15K but I haven't seen many 10K lb + machines for less than $20k which is out of my price range. I have a lead on a taka MB50 for <$10k but it has 5000+hrs. that size seems on the cusp of too small. Ultimately i realize a 12-20K lb machine would be the most versatile machine to do what I want, I just think they are out of my price range for something that isn't in need of major repairs. Tha last thing I want to do is spend $15k on a machine only to find out it needs thousands in repair.

thanks in advance for everyones guidance.

derek

 

[Georgia Iron]

From what i can tell an l3240 looks like a gaint lawn mower / small fram tractor. So i am not sure what you mean by loader?

I would rent a small hoe for the lines and septic. A skid steer will do the rest of the work. Eight feet of cut and fill will take a couple of days if you compact it correctly.

They will run circles around a back hoe. A 20,000 lb plus track loader does not have as much fine control. If i could only have one machine a skid steer is it. I would have to have a grapple bucket with a root rake plus a tooth bucket and the machine would need 70 or more hp. Or 7000 lbs plus in size. I would go with wheels for lower maintance costs.

I have dug plenty of foundations with one. It will handle tree removal up to about 20"s if you dig around the bases. Maybe even a little bigger if you have time.

Good luck.

 

[JBGASH]

I would go with the 455g that comes with the Backhoe attachment, these come off the loader easily when you don't want it or need it. The loader will do all the other work you have with ease. This machine packs a lot more punch due to the additional weight than any CTL and you would not need to rent anything for your entire project.

 

[trinculo]

After looking at several track loaders, backhoes, skid steers and excavators I ended up buying a John Deere 310D TLB 4wd. I found a used farm machine that happened to be a quarter of a mile down the road so i drove it home. I took a friend with me that owned an grading company for many years and it was on his recommendation to go with a rubber tired machine after seeing what needed to be done on the property and looking at the condition of the undercarriages on the tracked machines in my budget. It had been owned and barn kept by a family down the road for 15+years and had 5000 hrs.


Here we go. Thanks for all the advise and input.

 

[CM1995]

First of all Welcome to the Forums trinculo!:drinkup

I'm with JB considering what you want to accomplish and your budget.

However be wary of freshly painted machines and take a mechanic with you if possible to look at it. Also verify your local parts pricing. In my area JD parts on average are more expensive than Cat, it all depends on the local dealers.

Be prepared to wrench on the machine.


Georgia Iron, your 953 is very capable of fine grading. I have used mine many times to build pads to spec and finish grade parking lots.

 

[Delmer]

Congratulations, sorry we didn't offer any useful advise, but sometimes it comes down to finding the best one that's available and making it work.

You will lose a lot of muscle with a backhoe vs a trackloader, there's no comparison, the trackloader will be much heavier and built to grunt. The backhoe's drivetrain is a compromise between carrying the backhoe around, and isn't designed to dig as heavily as a wheel loader, etc. Not that you can't dig undisturbed soil, but it's easier to abuse a backhoe trying to use the loader to dig. Of course the backhoe end has more power and versatility than a trackloader so you'll get your job done.