Suggestions for first heavy equipment purchase

[B-Rad88!]

Hello all, I just joined this forum in an attempt hopefully learn. I just left the busy concrete jungle that is Phoenix and moved to the Midwest (southern Missouri) to try and find us a place with some land. With that comes the potential for having a small tractor or something that is versatile for a lot of things.

After we buy a house, I will plan what we want to do with it and the land. I would consider myself pretty handy- turn wrenches on cars and I remodeled our house before we sold it in Phoenix. I am not afraid to learn.

But I know next to nothing about heavy equipment. I have rented the small 36" skid steers before to do some digging and grading and they were worth every penny for the rental. But I imagine paying 150-200 bucks a day for a rental when I have acreage will get old quick. We do have a nice chunk of change from selling the last house, but not wanting to drop it all.

What is realistic to expect to spend? I am looking for used most likely, and thinking a skid steer would be best as I have some familiarity with how they operate. I have no idea what is considered a good deal, average, and over priced. I have browsed but it seems to be hit or miss.

If I had to say what my budget was, I'd say under 20K. Preferably if 10K or less was realistic, that would be great. But I do not know if that is even realistic.

Appreciate any and all feedback. My timeline is probably 2-3 months from now when I will be serious. Still need to buy a house and stuck in a rental for now.

I'm located in the Ozarks, Springfield-Branson Missouri area.

 

[Jdbillin]

First thing I would look for is see what dealers are close by and let that be a major factor in deciding what brand to go with after that start searching online that will give you a good idea of what a 10k vs a 20k will get you

 

[IceHole]

Id look at a ~75hp+ high flow machine as it'll be able to handle mulcher, bush hog, snow blower, etc.
Plus regular stuff like fork tines, buckets, plow.

I paid around 25k for my S250 in 2013

 

[reganj]

My .02 After you have purchased the house and land, evaluate what you want/need to do to the land. Support for the machine you buy is a must. Renting to determine what the machine will be able to do for you may determine what you should buy. Hope this is helpful and is my opinion, others have there own and are probably much smarter than me. This is a terrific site and Nige is very knowledgeable.

 

[skyking1]

My .02 After you have purchased the house and land, evaluate what you want/need to do to the land. Support for the machine you buy is a must. Renting to determine what the machine will be able to do for you may determine what you should buy. Hope this is helpful and is my opinion, others have there own and are probably much smarter than me. This is a terrific site and Nige is very knowledgeable.

This is the right move. Don't rush to buy the wrong machine, and as much as you think renting is a waste of money it is not. That is the best money you can spend.
It is a bugger to end up with the wrong piece and then lose money in the sale of it.
Rent something a few times to cement what your real needs are.

 

[Bootheal]

What I remember most about the area you are looking at is rock and trees….lots of rocks and trees.

I’m on your east side, near the Mississippi River. We have rocks and trees but there’s large areas of dirt - good dirt.

Good luck on the pursuit of your new home.

 

[ozarkag]

And welcome to Missouri!
Skid steers is what I do, but with that said, for a small property a compact tractor might fit the bill.

 

[stefuel]

I would get settled in to where ever you end up, assess your needs and rent a couple of times first.
Try out a wheeled unit and then a tracked one to see which one best suits your needs. Most places that rent skids also rent small tractors as well.

 

[Vetech63]

2 HUGE massive excavators on the cheap LOL

 

[gwhammy]

That area is tough on machines. It will tear any machine up. I'd probably shy away from rubber tracks, maybe a tire machine with steel tracks on the tires. I've worked south of the Missouri river a few times and it's a whole different world than the mostly dirt I work in. I know of contractors that have went broke around the Branson area not knowing it. Look at the jobs going on and see what they are using in that rock.

 

[skyking1]

2 HUGE massive excavators on the cheap LOL

ya gotta ground your reference, link the thread. Then we go to machinery trader and find some "good ones"
hilarity ensues.

 

[CM1995]

Welcome to the Forums B-R! Glad to have you.

 

[Coaldust]

IDK? Man. Tough question. Welcome to the HEF. Some folks like to collect Drotts. Like Pokeman. Gotta collect them all.

 

[JL Sargent]

2 HUGE massive excavators on the cheap LOL

The kind with $50K hydraulic pumps?

 

[B-Rad88!]

I appreciate all the feedback thus far. My father recommended a mini backhoe and others have as well. Some recommended a full size skid steer as well.
We are putting an offer in on a house on 11 acres today but whatever we end up with, my plan is to maybe rent something in the area. John Deere and Kubota seem to be everywhere out here.

I have heard about thr locals talking about rock in the ground, but back where we just moved from (Phoenix), the ground is basically compacted clay. It sucks to try and dig in even in the summer. And it's extremely dusty there with valley fever having a big presence from all the dust.

Everything is a tradeoff in life and everywhere we looked across the country was going to have pros and cons. This just was the area we fell in love with the most and so far, we do not regret the decision.

I'm also going to need a lawnmower as we are looking st acreage and there's a ton of grass out here. Would be great if there was a tractor/mower unit out there.

 

[CM1995]

As others have suggested purchase the property/home first, get moved in then determine what you want to accomplish. Your wants/needs for the property may change once you get moved in and that can affect what type of equipment you purchase or rent.

Moving across the country and purchasing a new home is a daunting task so get that out of the way first. In the mean time get the real estate closed and discuss what you might want equipment wise here.

 

[MarcusZ1967]

Welcome to HEF and Missouri!!! I'm just north east of ya.....

 

[Welder Dave]

Find out what the soil is like first. If you have a lot of grass to mow get an Ag tractor with a 3pt. hitch. There is an almost endless list of attachments and things like a mower or tiller will not only cost a lot less but work a lot better than hyd. models on skid steers. You can get rear blades, box blades, land planes or whatever you need for maintaining the driveway and yard. You might find an industrial loader tractor with a 3pt. hitch. Not all of them come with PTO though. You want a PTO and a transmission that allows you to drive at slow speeds at 540 PTO speed. Having an acreage doesn't mean you need to be digging stuff up.