Recommendations for Machinery?

[danielb]

Hello!

New to this site.  I have 8.5 acres in the Catskills NY (Delaware County).   It is all wooded hillside, some of it steep.  I am trying to level out and clear the bottom ~1-2 bottom acres to have a decent-sized orchard and market garden.  (Already has some nice old apple trees that are going to be brought back to production).  Going to log a lot of the upper part for lumber and firewood. All hardwood trees around ~20 inches in diameter.  Nothing too huge.  A lot of scrubby small maple, oak, ash, etc. also going to get thinned out. 

For safety, I really want a tracked vehicle like a dozer/crawler, but am not sure what is out there. For example just missed an opportunity to buy an IH T340 with a Drott 4-in-1 bucket, which seemed perfect except for the lack of rear winch.  

Things I am looking for:
-has to be on the smaller side
-Loader to load up my truck with material/transport materials around the property.
-Can level out terrain/pull stumps
-ability to skid logs (or can be modified for that purpose)
-ability to dig
-ability to lift logs onto a portable sawmill (bonus, not essential)

Do not have a big budget either.  Less than ~5k is my target, but that might be wishful thinking.  Yes, understand that whatever I buy will need work and I do not care if it is just a rough, barebones machine as long as it runs!

If you were me, what models would you be looking for? Any other thoughts?

PM me if you have something you think I should look at also!  

Thanks!

[BargeMonkey]

 There's alot of STEEP in Delaware county, I was just over in the back of Delhi / Andes trucking wood. Honestly your best bet for what your doing, take your 5k bucks, go to Stamford @ Eklunds or Jack Miller tractor in Schoharie and put the money down on a decent machine, alot less headaches and 0%. Old track loaders used to be around but you can throw 5-10k into a 5k machine quick and still be broke down. 

[mike_belben]

If you are a good mechanic with time and tools, a dozer aint bad.  I am a dozer guy for sure, wont be without one.  Drott buckets are great, i have one on a case450 crawler loader backhoe.  

Id stay away from deere 1010 and T340s.  Theyre just too light duty and pretty sure both are dry clutch.. Theyre a notch above the oliver and cletrac parade toys but not much IMO.

First gen deeres id also try to stay away from, always seem to have a frozen clutch or brake. Wet clutches is a real big step forward in reliability.  Deere 350/450 with wet clutch, TD5/6/7.  I have a komatsu D31P-18 that i love.  They did make a smaller homeowner sized machine, D20 i think?  But again be sure its a wet clutch, the early years were dry.  

The case machines are wonky to steer because they have left and right H-N-L transmissions with a reverser .. But they never sieze up a clutch.  Just have to be sure no one stripped out the brake hub spline by driving thru the brake like a normal dozer.  Case is totally different style to operate.  Full power turns is great in rough ground though.

If you arent a patient mechanic though, an old crawler is discouraging.  Theyre stable, tough, powerful and cheap to buy but broken pretty often once you do!  Dont buy a project or a worn out bottom and do weld grousers on if its got loader pads.  Never trust the seller!  It didnt run when parked and it wont steer when it does run!  Its not a "good old dozer" if it wont drive itself up onto the trailer.  Good old dozers usually arent for sale cheap either. 


You can add a hydraulic worm gear winch later and take your time reeling out cable. Theyre slow but reliable

[mike_belben]

And believe it or not NYC is a good place to buy a dozer .. There is no homeowner market at all.  My 450 came from flatbush and lived indoors! 

Trucking is cheap right now. 

[BargeMonkey]

And believe it or not NYC is a good place to buy a dozer .. There is no homeowner market at all.  My 450 came from flatbush and lived indoors!

Trucking is cheap right now.

 I had to go move an older Case dozer for another guy last yr, I was lost 🤣 there's a reason they are dirt cheap. 

[Old Greenhorn]

 I saw this yesterday but didn't have time to respond. I am in Ulster county part of the Catskills, and frequent Delaware, Greene, and Schoharie. There are a handful of members in these parts. I was going to chime in and suggest you check in with BargeMonkey because he is just over the hill from you and has his hands in a lot of pies and knows a lot of people in the equipment market. Don't let his good looks and young years fool you, he is a handy guy. In fact, If I could stay awake late enough to reach him on the phone I would be head his way today or tomorrow. He works longer days than me. I will probably go very close past your place on the way. (Are you anywhere near Roxbury, or further west?)
Mike's suggestion was also very good. It is amazing what you can get out of the city, both NY and across the river in NJ. Much of that stuff is pretty lightly used for park and road work, or landfills. Yeah, getting it can be a small hassle, but very worth it.
Both of those guys know what they are talking about for sure.
Good luck, welcome to the forum. Don't be a stranger. Nice to have somebody else from our area in the mix.
Tom

[mike_belben]

And believe it or not NYC is a good place to buy a dozer .. There is no homeowner market at all.  My 450 came from flatbush and lived indoors!

Trucking is cheap right now.

I had to go move an older Case dozer for another guy last yr, I was lost 🤣 there's a reason they are dirt cheap.

My first test drive was backing off a brand new all aluminum stepdeck.  No pressure!