What is the most versitile machine for a property maintenance business to buy? Has anyone any experience with sub compact tractors which have a mower and a front end loader bucket? I want something that can tackle an overgrown lawn but also grade a standard driveway and spread out some roadbase.
>I want something that can tackle an overgrown lawn but also grade a standard driveway and spread out some roadbase.
Well then you probably want a sub compact tractor which has a mower and a front end loader bucket
Yeah I have cone to that conclusion. What brand do you think?
Too expensive
How much of a driveway and how much roadbase? If those are just one time things I would say just get a decent zero turn mower and bite the bullet and use a Chinese backhoe to do your dirty work
>brand
Look at whatever distribution exists within a distance you're willing to haul it to or from.
buy a kubota and stfu
>buy a kubota
you can get your hands on a halfway decent Ford 8N for under $2k most places.
Yeah, it needs work. Yeah, extra shit costs money. So does everything. Sue me.
whoops. i kind of shit the bed on that one.
Massy TO35 is the lowest to go.
The Ford Ns and the TO 30 don't have low range and are good for chasing cows around and little else
the problem with those N series is they've got an independent PTO. And the fact that most of them nowadays are making ~17 HP. Yeah, you can rebuild the engine, but you've still got a 70 year old machine. Not to mention the fact they don't have hydraulic hookups.
tracked skidsteer
I think a high flow tracked skidsteer would be much move versatile than a tractor. I purchased a used tractor/loader/backhoe (deere 4600), and it has been great. I made that choice because the front end loader could lift 2000lb, and because the attachments for tractors are cheaper than skidsteer attachments. I was not going to use it commercially. Watching camarata's and letsdig18's youtube makes their skidsteers look many times more productive than my tractor. They are much more maneuverable and responsive. If I had to buy one for that purpose I think a TL10 would be about right because it can be hauled behind a 3/4 ton truck without a CDL.
Tracked skidsteer will wreck the lawn on any residential property. Skidsteers in general. It's good for the stuff Camarata does with overgrown forests and building roads and shit, but he started with a tractor, he even recommends people to start with a tractor if they want to do property maintenance.
If OP is going to mow lawns, buy a lawn mower - that's another thing - I like my scag walk behind. I don't think a little tractor is going to touch that. Look at what other professionals use and buy that.
I think I remember the camerata video where he recommends what you say, it was his one where he describes how he got started in excavation. Iirc camarata recommends something like an 8n tractor just because it is cheap, not because it is good. OP does not mention price, he is just asking about versatility.
If you try to do 360° turns, you'll tear up the lawn but if you ease into turns (which is what tractors do) it won't tear anything up
>What is the most versitile machine for a property maintenance business to buy?
Watch this
Buy a Mexican, they are cheap
Mexican day laborers hanging around the Home Depot
I have a Kubota b2601 that is perfect for spreading bark and gravel and grading with a land plane or box blade. It’s amazing. I don’t mow with it though. I use a normal rider for that but it can power a finish mower or brush hog.
I have a John Deere 2-series (2025, smallest of the bunch). Its a decent front end loader for its weight class, and a decent _field_ mower. It is NOT a good _lawn_ mower, just too big to maneuver. I think you'll find the same is true of any brand of compact tractor.