Question about ‘49 Farmall Cub Steering

[Eugene]

Cedars. Central Missouri there are lumber companies that purchase cedar. Also private individuals who will harvest the cedar for the cedar (free). And farmers who have cedar chipping machines, used for bedding.

Other trees. If they are large enough and in suficient number, lumber companies will pay for the trees.

Removing rocks. Skid steer with rock bucket. Think about purchasing a skid steer. You can use a skid steer to move trees, level ground, and many other tasks.

Edit: Farmers will take small diameter trees for fece posts.

[Clemsonfor]

Thank you everyone for the wealth of information, thoughts, insights AND the warm welcome! Much appreciated. I think that first question is now settled I had a sense that a tractor as popular as the Cub with so many, for so long, probably wasn’t breaking fingers on a daily basis. LOL. However… many points have been made in the comments on this thread that address other issues that have been at the heart of our discussion (my husband and I) about what we need and why.

It’s been an interesting adventure with this property so far. Some very positive… some, not so much.

Things we thought would happen quickly - having been through clearing a driveway and a building site on raw land once before - haven’t been so quick this time around. Many people who do dirt work in our area are simply slammed with work. We’ve been told we can’t even get on the schedule until next year during some of the conversations we’ve had trying to find local equipment operators. I could be missing something there… but if so, I don’t know what it is.

We’ve tried established companies and Craigslist Ads with limited success to get outside help. Hence, the reason we started talking about purchasing a small tractor.

It’s quite possible I have set my sights in the wrong direction with the Cub as this property is not in decent shape. It’s not in shape at all. Not yet. It’s 30 acres of relatively level ground covered with oaks and cedar is what it is… waiting to be sculpted.

We found one company that had one day to give us. They came and cut a driveway and clearing. No grading - as there was no time. At the end of the day we had a culvert, some rock over that culvert section and the rest very disturbed forest soil.

In the clearing, there are no stumps but there are soft holes where trees were pushed over, the rocks that come up in that process, roots sticking out everywhere and several large piles of trees and brush that are too close to the woods to burn where they stand. No firebreaks behind them. We have no choice but to pull that out into the clearing and get it handled - or get a decent firebreak behind it. It’s job #1 at this point.

Ultimately, we’ll need to grade the clearing, spread gravel, move rocks around for foundations and stand framing.

We didn’t go into this planning to plant in the ground on this property. Raised beds and a greenhouse are the plan. And… we have no grass. Not yet

We do plan to cut some of what’s in the pile into firewood but a lot of it is cedar which isn’t the best for that purpose, so it’s more likely that will be chipped up. We have a wood chipper on the way, a Ford F-350, a wheelbarrow, shovels and hand tools… Oh… and a chain saw. Really, ground zero.

I will post some pictures of the clearing soon. Just need to figure out how to do that, which I will.

My goodness… I think I’ll end here and say again “THANK YOU” to everyone. I appreciate your replies more than you.

I understand your problem. No one one wants to work these days and there are few good operators that can work for companies. The good companies stay busy and pick big jobs that tie them up for long periods cause that maximizes profit. They don't make anything moving stuff around. You can sometimes get squeezed in if there near by and want to finish a week or something similar before a weekend move to the next job. All this said helps you none. How about looking at renting a skid steer or a small bulldozer and having it delivered to your property and use it for what you need. Beat on someone else's equipment. Or buy a decent used pice of equipment use it and then sell it for pretty much what you paid for it once done. If no one is willing to work for you think of other ways to accomplish the same by yourself. I know your doing this by thinking of a Cub to do it. It is a. Wet capable tractor for it's designed capacity but I don't think a 70 year old tractor that is literally one of the smallest tractors ever made is a good choice for heavy dirt work and ground clearing. Some may not agree with me but as a Forester I see lots of clearing, road building and similar tasks that your doing, usually I'm in charge of this work as far as oversight etc. Dirt is heavy and will beat on equipment. Smaller tractors can do jobs of bigger ones but at the same of time, taking way longer to accomplish the same task if it can even be done.

[Clemsonfor]

Cedars. Central Missouri there are lumber companies that purchase cedar. Also private individuals who will harvest the cedar for the cedar (free). And farmers who have cedar chipping machines, used for bedding.

Other trees. If they are large enough and in suficient number, lumber companies will pay for the trees.

Removing rocks. Skid steer with rock bucket. Think about purchasing a skid steer. You can use a skid steer to move trees, level ground, and many other tasks.

Edit: Farmers will take small diameter trees for fece posts.

If there still is a market for cedar in Missouri they are lucky. We lost our cedar market around here we'll over 10 years ago. Not one now. Certain folks will take them for free if you can find one. When I first started Forestry here 15 years ago if you had a trailer full of them you could sell cedar, now a days you can't get rid of it. Just cut it and let it lay to stay out of the way.


Also seems like everyone has similar ideas as me on how to handle clearing etc.

[Eugene]

Another thought. Hold on to the property, undeveloped. Previously, bare land had appreciated at 3 percent per year - Ozarks.

Missouri, people lease out their land for hunting. Perhaps make some clearings for deer. turkey, hog hunting.

Fence the property, pasture rent. In this part of Missouri, pasture rent doesn't really pay the landlord. Another one on fencing the property - Mo. Extension paid part of the fencing expenses to keep cattle out of the forest/trees.

Check out the Univ. of Arkansas Extension resource as well as the Fed agencies. They are online or in person. They may have funds available for projects.