Suggestions on renting a tractor?

[hoosierdoc]

The house has been demo'd behind me and now I need to move some dirt and get ready for planting grass and trees in the spring. That means lots of time on a tractor I have a bunch of dirt from a local neighborhood where they're digging basements and I need to fill in some shallow spots from the house and build up landscaping mounds. I want a John Deere or similar tractor, 35hp should be fine, with a bucket on the front and a tiller on the back. I'll be ripping out a few scrub trees too. I need to scrape some gravel from an old driveway and drop as the base of our mounds. I'm not sure what the ground is going to be like next week with the thaw. Monday and Tuesday look absolutely gorgeous!

I have seen around $700/week for a tractor from sunbelt and other places, not including the tiller attachment. Anyone know of a cheaper place to get a similar tool for next week? If you have one in your yard you want to make some $$ on next week I'm happy to help too! I have an SUV to tow but no trailer.

 

[hornadylnl]

I have a tractor but no trailer. Mine is 45 horse. Compact tractors aren't really suited for digging with a loader so you may be disappointed. Have you looked I to renting a bobcat?

 

[Rookie]

Yeah, a bobcat sounds like the better choice.

 

[hornadylnl]

Bobcats and attachments are probably more plentiful when it comes to equipment rentals so they might be a little cheaper.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

If you lived closer, I'd come by and help--if we could get a trailer. With the thaw, I'm afraid you're going to be in a quagmire. The ground around my house is very wet. I'm not sure you could get a rototiller to do anything but get stuck.

I've had my tractor/front end loader for a few years now... I can't speak for anybody else but for me, doing a nice grading job with a tractor/front end loader quickly and cleanly is easier said than done. But when the weather gets nice, the smell of diesel, and being outside, is a nice way to spend your time.

 

[hornadylnl]

If you lived closer, I'd come by and help--if we could get a trailer. With the thaw, I'm afraid you're going to be in a quagmire. The ground around my house is very wet. I'm not sure you could get a rototiller to do anything but get stuck.

I've had my tractor/front end loader for a few years now... I can't speak for anybody else but for me, doing a nice grading job with a tractor/front end loader quickly and cleanly is easier said than done. But when the weather gets nice, the smell of diesel, and being outside, is a nice way to spend your time.

This.

Not trying to talk you out of it Doc but I'm going to try to talk you out of it. I've had my tractor for 4 years now and have moved some dirt around with it. Not sure how much dirt you need to move but I'm positive it will take you a lot longer than you think.

I had a big dirt pile that sat for a couple years after construction so the rain did harden it up pretty good. My tractor and loader is about 5000# and I struggled to dig it up with the loader. Most of it, I put the backhoe attachment on it to break the pile up into lose dirt and then dig it up with the loader. I had to move the pile a pretty good distance to where I wanted it and it takes forever to move a good volume of dirt with a bucket that small. Mine is 7' and it'd still take 4-5 buckets to fill a pick up bed. Now imagine taking that 4-5 trips 100' to move a pickup truck worth of dirt. If you can get your dump truck loads of dirt dumped right where you want it, you can use a loader bucket to bulldoze the dirt to where you want it and move it pretty efficiently.

I've got a box scraper and I can do so so with it but nothing near leveling and smoothing out that I'd be satisfied to go ahead and seed it. Not sure how much time you've got and how much you want to spend on a tractor, but you might try calling a local excavating company and get a quote for the work you want done. My excavator guy did my yard area with a dozer and did a far better job with it than I ever could with my tractor. If you need some serious dirt moved, I'd recommend something at least 10,000#.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I used a similar setup in Edinburgh and I know it's painfully slow. We had erosion along our 300' driveway and I had to put buckets of dirt along the length, both sides. Tedious, but fun! This lot is only 150 x 175' so there's not a lot of distance to cover.

Good idea on getting them to drop close to where I want it. I'm quite a novice on earth moving so the advice and caution is appreciated. The biggest thing first is Probably getting the mounds in. I don't need to finish grade for seeding yet, though grass time is fast approaching. It's unusual for me to have a week off and I need to use it. The dirt was dug 3 weeks ago using a huge excavator so it'll need to be broken up a bit. I'll spread topsoil eventually where the house was before fertilizing and seeding.

 

[hornadylnl]

I used a similar setup in Edinburgh and I know it's painfully slow. We had erosion along our 300' driveway and I had to put buckets of dirt along the length, both sides. Tedious, but fun! This lot is only 150 x 175' so there's not a lot of distance to cover.

Good idea on getting them to drop close to where I want it. I'm quite a novice on earth moving so the advice and caution is appreciated. The biggest thing first is Probably getting the mounds in. I don't need to finish grade for seeding yet, though grass time is fast approaching. It's unusual for me to have a week off and I need to use it. The dirt was dug 3 weeks ago using a huge excavator so it'll need to be broken up a bit. I'll spread topsoil eventually where the house was before fertilizing and seeding.

Ok, you know what you're up against them. Other than the box scraper, I don't have any tillage equipment. I've been wanting to get a cultivator to pull behind it for smoothing out dirt.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Mine is still in the shop, or I would rent mine to you... Probably wont be don't until the end of this month. Its 2 wheel drive though, but weights 9k pounds.

 

[flashpuppy]

I gots a 4430 Deere I use for general tillage/grading stuff. I would love to trade that sucker in on a new compact(ish) unit. With the correct scraper attachment, tractors can do a hell of a job grading.

Older, bigger, farm type tractors depreciate pretty heavily after about 20 years. If you buy yourself a nice big old tractor and use it for your needs, you'll probably be able to resell it for the same amount when you're done. Beats renting...

 

[BRbaseball34]

I've got a ky both b2410 and it's a great tractor for grading out dirt with the box blade on the back, but if you're moving a lot of dirt definately go for a 4th and up tractor.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Wish I could help you out!

Can I bring a camera over and record the "work"?

 

[hoosierdoc]

Found one for $550/wk with grader and bucket. 35hp. Score!

 

[williamsjr22]

There is a guy in Martinsville who rent stuff like this very cheap. I will PM you his info

 

[IndyGunworks]

Found one for $550/wk with grader and bucket. 35hp. Score!

grader blade, or grader box? There is a HUGE difference in application and you need the box.

 

[hoosierdoc]

grader blade, or grader box? There is a HUGE difference in application and you need the box.

Box! Thanks for the tip too, I'm flying blind a bit on experience.