Struck tractor... way off topic

[Craws907]

Anybody have on of these? I'm taming a small amount of land in alaska and I have it pretty well beat it down, but now I need a yard/garden tractor and I just can't stop checking these toy dozers out. Also I think the diy dozer might make good content for my new youtube channel.

[WyoJoe]

23 hours ago, Tyeandjeff1979 said:

Anybody have on of these? I'm taming a small amount of land in alaska and I have it pretty well beat it down, but now I need a yard/garden tractor and I just can't stop checking these toy dozers out. Also I think the diy dozer might make good content for my new youtube channel.

Was there supposed to be a link or a picture or something to give us some idea about what you're asking about? The only "toy" dozers I'm familiar with are from Tonka...

[Craws907]

https://youtu.be/dCsrhcC7c_0 it's like a dozer version of a lawn tractor. Sorry I thought posted it

[BoxCar]

For the price they're asking for it, plus freight to Alaska you may be better off with a Kubota or Deere tractor. The tractor would be more versatile than the single use dozer.

[PACNWComms]

I stayed away from this thread for a bit, as I thought it was for the growing number of YouTube videos showing the large "toy" tractors and construction equipment, smaller version than real use, but much larger than common toys, that are radio controlled and cost several thousand dollars. While this looks useful, like others have said, it may be better to get a Kubota or John Deere, something that can take more options. 

My Dad bought a John Deere about twenty years ago, and he bought it with several buckets, fence post auger, and other accessories. Then the whole right to repair issue came up, where John Deere added electronics to keep people going to Deere repair shops, otherwise they may risk their warranties, or see software issues come up. Well his was the last version of tractor that did not have the software and electronics to force you to go to John Deere. He sold it for a larger sum than he paid, with seven years of use on it. This "right to repair" is an ongoing issue with John Deere. May want to go Kubota on that note. However, either way, a larger tractor with more accessory options may be more useful than this little dozer looking thing. A skid steer Bobcat may even be more useful, as they also have many accessories that can be had with them. 

[Craws907]

Was deere the only manufacturer with that software/ monopoly or repairs? My neighbor has  LS 35hp backhoe and it's nice with all the bells and whistles but with all the cargo back logs getting parts can take forever. But the 300 hours I sat in the seat clearing my lot was fun but it was all plastic.  Fenders cab everything and being a fisherman who's " paid from the neck down" I really had to watch myself so I didn't destroy it. Thanks for the reply guys

[PACNWComms]

I only know of the John Deere incident firsthand, but there are most likely others as section 5 at this link https://www.repair.org/agriculture mentions modification of motorized vehicles. This also includes new air intakes, exhaust and other accessories for cars. The ability to repair something outside of a dealer network has also been an issue in commercial and public safety radio systems for many years. Working on public safety radio systems requires documentation on training for intrinsically safe standards repair, and manufacture specific training, while other requirements are involved with aviation and maritime radio (needing a General Radiotelephone Operators Licence) for example. 

 

[H8SPVMT]

I just can't see much use for that dozer after a four or five foot snow fall but, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[WRKC935]

Couple things with that.  Mind you I don't know what your ground is like, but if you manage to get that stuck, getting it out would be very difficult due to shape and weight.  Another things to consider is what it will do to your lawn if you are running it around.  Steel tracks are NOT good on grass.  You will cut up your yard just crossing it and turning will be worse.  Not sure if that's a consideration, but it's worth mentioning.  Another consideration is the lack of a PTO.  Any attachment that is mechanized will need it's own power plant to work.  So mower decks, tillers, snow blowers and the like will need independently powered.  Personally I see this in the same manner I see a DR brush mower.  It's great for the specific task it's designed for and NOTHING else.  And I saw nothing in the video that an old Ford 8N with a bucket couldn't do just as well and be cheaper to own.  Being in Alaska you are obviously aware that parts for ANYTHING can be a struggle.  But I would really be concerned with what the drive system is on a unit like that and what the parts availability would be other than from the manufacture.  And how many of them are even around to get parts from? 

Specific to the statements of buying a John Deer ANYTHING.  Not if I won the Donald Trump lottery and had more money than the Catholic Church. But that is my personal opinion.  But the reasons are there are equally good units for much less money and the right to repair thing as well. 

The skid steer thing has some merit, but will still tear up your yard.  One of the positives to it is you can rent attachments for a skid steer from a local rental company in certain places and run them on your unit without the expense of owning them outright and spending thousands on some attachment you will use once every 5 years. 

So if it were me looking at it, I would be asking myself exactly WHAT do I want to do work wise, and how often will I reasonably need to be doing that sort of work.   Take something like a tree chipper.  If you have a property that you need to clear they are great.  Cut everything down and chuck it in the chipper.  Instant mulch.  But once the work is done you get to use it again only after you let the land get overgrown again and need to cut down another bunch of small trees and bushes and run them through the unit.  And it sits between uses, sometimes for years.  I fell into this with a walk behind trencher.  I bought it for WAY less than it's actual value ($150) and used it to cut in a trench between my barn and house for electrical line.  I will use it to cut in a gas line from the street, cut in a couple trenches at my tower site to lay 4 inch conduit for HF antenna lines and then I will sell it because it will just sit and rust away after that.  If you need it less than once a month, do you really need it at all?

 

[Coffeemaker]

For what I think you're doing, I'd rather have a 15 to 20 HP mini-excavator. 

[PACNWComms]

In watching videos about the little Magnatrac dozer, I did find this, which may make me buy a Harbor Freight Trencher. I'll still stay away from the little Magnatrack though. Just not a good fit for my needs (always fighting back the forest, blackberry bushes and underbrush in a pine forest). 

 

[mitzvah]

This dozer was featured in Popular Mechanics magazine. One could build it from plans, it's drive system was pullies and belts. Later the company that sold the plans started selling attachments and later dozer kits. Over the years the dozer got bigger. I was a member of a FB group for this mini dozer. Sorry for my English

[SteveShannon]

For small tractors, Kubota or John Deere are very handy to have around.  I have a little John Deere 2305 with hydrostatic transmission which is very easy to operate and my son-in-law has a Kubota just a little bigger. Both have 4 wheel drive.

I’ve heard that Mahindra and Kioti tractors work pretty well and are cheaper, but I have no personal knowledge of them.  Here in the lower 48 it’s always possible to find a used tractor.  A friend of mine has a full sized White with a loader that I think would be pretty good for what you’re trying to do but getting it there would be prohibitive.  If you follow the boom/bust cycle of the oil industry you can find skid-steer tractors and backhoes for pretty good bargains every ten or fifteen years.

[WQWX838]

Wow!!! That is just enough of a dozer to make you wish you actually had one!.......................

[WRUI365]

Actually, check out the Toro Dingo, and yes you can get a dozer blade for it also. TORO® DINGO™ COMPACT UTILITY LOADERS

Now I see it's a old post