crawler or tractor - mainly loader, dozer blade work

How does a fella decide which is going to be the best, long term choice. I sure enjoy the old row crop tractors, and many of them have nice loaders added to them to make them usable. Wanting a machine for general farm maintenance type loader work, such as clearing out stumps, maintaining gravel roads, fixing eroded waterways, pulling logs, bush hogging, etc. Seems each has their merit. The wheel tractors are too light to push out stumps and stuff. Each has their own advantages, but the more I think about it, a dozer may be a good choice as an initial purchase, and I could follow up with getting a smaller wheel tractor to pull a shredder and do PTO work.

You could select something like a 580ck or 480ck - industrial loader with a 3 pt. hitch and pto. Heavy enough to dig, level and do typical farm chores, plus do field work.

We have a 480ck and it is quite handy for all chores and the IPTO and 3 pt. hitch allow for brush hogging, etc.

Keep in mind, a loader tractor is not a bulldozer... Seen many, even more modern 4x4s torn up from being used as such. Broken front axles, trashed transmissions, transfer cases.



A CK or loader/landscaper might be a good choice. Just keep in mind the limits of the machine.

I love crawlers, just love 'em. But a crawler will break you a lot faster than a wheeled unit, especially if you buy an old, cheap crawler. For most people buying a wheeled unit and either renting a crawler or hoe for a day or week or hiring the work done is going to be better in the long run. I can hire a local guy for $80.00 an hour and he'll do way more in 6 or 7 hours than I ever could simply because he knows his machine and business. He doesn't waste time, he does the job and will finish in a day what it would take me 2 or 3 days to do with the same machine and if it breaks it's on him, not me.

That being said, I have a couple crawlers and can't do without them. But I can't do without them because I simply can't afford a newer skid steer or 4wd loader tractor. So I use my little old, patched together JD40C and JD 1010 crawler/loader/backhoe where other people would use a skid steer or wheeled L/BH. I haven't got $5K in both of them, but I couldn't get $4K out of them both in the shape they are in. Tracks are incredibly expensive/hard to find for these and if you get into the larger, older stuff you get into parts that might be unobtainable or cost more than the whole thing is worth. Renting or hiring avoids that mess.

(quoted from post at 07:50:45 11/24/14) How does a fella decide which is going to be the best, long term choice. I sure enjoy the old row crop tractors, and many of them have nice loaders added to them to make them usable. Wanting a machine for general farm maintenance type loader work, such as clearing out stumps, maintaining gravel roads, fixing eroded waterways, pulling logs, bush hogging, etc. Seems each has their merit. The wheel tractors are too light to push out stumps and stuff. Each has their own advantages, but the more I think about it, a dozer may be a good choice as an initial purchase, and I could follow up with getting a smaller wheel tractor to pull a shredder and do PTO work.

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I agree with your thinking. I have a TD340 dozer and it does most of what I need. Lots of muscle in a little package. I had an AC HD5 and a Case 580 hoe, both did the jobs, but were clumsy to work with.