Dirt Movers - Compact Tractor? Mini Front Loader Accessory? Options?

Hi Guys,

Just picked up 8 cubic yards of dirt and have quickly realized that moving all of this by hand and wheel barrow won't be a lot of fun. I live on a hilly 1 acre lot and have various other leveling, dirt moving, stump digging tasks, log hauling, and other yard tasks that I'd need to accomplish. The 'garden tractor' accessories you can throw on the front seem like they'd be inadequate or be too rough on the transmission/engine of a garden tractor. I look at something like a kubota or new holland compact tractor and get light headed after seeing the price. Garden Carts that you haul behind yard tractors are little better than a wheel barrow, and some of the tasks I've considered would be a bit much to move that kind of dirt by dump cart/hand.

I'm looking at new garden tractors and accessories for about $3k, but could spend a bit over that for maybe something used that would allow me to both maintain 1 acre and handle the dirt moving tasks I'm talking about.

What would you guys suggest...maybe a name brand used that could be in my price range (say under $5k) or an off brand mini compact I haven't come across?

Thanks!

http://reidtrailer.com

How about something like this?

Under $ 5K you are looking at a used Garden tractor, you won't get much of a Compact or Sub-Compact for that price.

The Bolens - Troybilt GT 18 , 20 or 22 would fit your bill.
Downside is they have great Eaton trannies which are NLA .
Look for one with a manual gearbox because they age much better than Hydros and carry a better load than Vari-drive.

When you search, TractorData.com will be your new best friend.

If this 8 cubic yard load of dirt is a one-time project, all you need is a shovel and a dump cart. It'll be good exercise.

If this is going to be a regular occurrence, you need something more, but 'something more' is going to cost a lot.

And having a second read, perhaps an OLD an WELL USED skid Steer might serve you better.
Lots of them around with old Wisconsin or Onan 2 cylinder engines.
If you are just doing specific jobs, hiring a small skid steer might be a lot cheaper in the long run.
The small ones will travel quite happily on a std car trailer.

Also consider a Kanga type stand on.
Again they should be hireable for a couple of hundred for a weekend and they can fit on a Std 6 x 4 box trailer.
For $ 5000 you should be looking 10 years worth of week end work and no maintenance down time.

I have serviced a few of these units and once you get used to the jerky nature of the controls they are great.
These were all local Kanga & Dingo units which we export to the USA ( and no doubt several USA manufactures copied ).
All powered by GX 620 Hondas . so they had 20 Hp to use on a 400 kg machine, plenty of power to run augers, fork lift , trenchers. mowers , concrete mixer & mower.
The landlord has an IH skid steer with a 24 Hp Wisconsin on a 800 kg machine which has troubles pulling itself out of a hole.

Darryl G said:

How about something like this?

Click to expand...

Something like that might work if I could find a cheap/mini backhoe that would allow me to load the dirt/dig out some stumps.

cpurvis said:

If this 8 cubic yard load of dirt is a one-time project, all you need is a shovel and a dump cart. It'll be good exercise.

If this is going to be a regular occurrence, you need something more, but 'something more' is going to cost a lot.

Click to expand...

Plan on doing some retaining walls because our lot has a lot of hills. Last year, a bunch of top soil washed away (thanks to a company called 'top turf' screwing up our lawn). The picture doesn't really do it justice, but our lot slopes from right to left, and there's about a 7-8' drop off from the tree line to the road. The erosion was so bad last year, even parts of the drainage ditch that run the length of the front yard got washed away and formed a nice little trench. I'd like to a couple things but not sure it would justify going full compact tractor...maybe a garden tractor would do. I have a friend that works for husqvarna, so I'm able to get decent pricing through their friends and family prices. Maybe that's the best route to go?



What I'd like to do is level the long, sloping section to the left of the house and flatten that out a bit so we have a more usable area for our kids to play in. Along the front walk and maybe left side of the house, I'd like a retaining wall. The area on the right of the yard and to the right of our second garage could use 2 more retaining walls. All in all, we have a full acre with a ton of mature hardwoods, some of which will have to come out, so I'll probably do some hauling to wood pile in the back. The main thing it will be used for is to maintain the lawn...and I want a perfect, lush, spectacular looking lawn that you could lay down and take a nap in if you wanted to. I'm sick of having patchy, weed-ridden, discolored lawns. If I can't make it happen in the next few years, I'll probably just break down and get sod. But the tractor will have to provide an excellent cut, easily climb/descend multiple grades of terrain without destroying the grass, haul brush/wood, and maybe do something like core aeration, etc to keep the lawn looking great.

My last tractor was the YTH46K20 with the 20hp Kohler engine. It was 'ok', but took its fair share of lumps. Ended up giving it away after about 10 years of usage (want to say ~300 hours). Deck was wrecked (broken blade mounts), and always had issues off and on w/ the Kohler valve cover leaking along w/ the carb (the little cylinder under the float bowl that would prevent backfires). It could handle the steep inclines, but loved to slip all over the hills if you did anything but go straight up and down them.

The new husky I'm considering is the 54" Kawi powered Garden tractor. Heard good things about the Kawi engines, but the kohler's seem to have their issues.

I think for what you are wanting to do, I think you will work a garden tractor pretty hard moving things around. In the long term I think you will be better off, and more satisfied if you bite the bullet on go with a compact or even subcompact like the Kubota BX series, JD 1025R, Kioti CS series, etc. is that Husky a true garden tractor designed to handle ground engagement equipment, because some of the stuff you are wanting to do would be the equivalent of pulling a plow through a garden.

Well yo are not going to do much of that with a Garden Tractor, they just don't have the balls to do the job.
Mow, airate and push some dirt around, prehaps haul some timber and that is the extent of it. None of them will did for that you will have to go to a compact tractor or sub contact tractor.
Garden Tractors thing Market garden tractor, not earth moving tractor.
If there is a lumber mill around, call them in.
Some will pay good money for hardwood while others will drop the tree & remove the roots for free.
If it were me, I would be looking for a good 4 WD garden tractor to mow , tow and aerate and spend the money there cause that is the tool you will be using 30 times a year, more if you get snow.
Then hire gear to do the rest.
The stand ups are great for working in tight areas but being light can only dig in damp or loose soil
Get a load of large river stones 1' to 3' and line the bottom & side of you drainage ditch with them.
Plant rockery plants between the stones to bind them in.
If the water is regular then make some ponds in the ditch to slow the water down.
Kids don't worry about th level of the ground, just keep the grass long enough to cushion their falls.

A couple of years ago I had about 12 yards of dirt to move from my driveway to the back yard and I rented a Toro Dingo from the local equipment rental place. It was light enough to transport with my half ton truck. The bucket on it was not that big, but it was nice being able to move all that dirt without having to bend over once. The only downside is that it is tracked so you may tear up the lawn driving back and forth, but grass grows back. Best couple hundred dollars I ever spent.