Funny How the smallest project can turn into a life changing event.

Well I decided one day since my yard is fairly flat to bring a couple dump truck loads of dirt to make some hills in the yard maybe even a putting green. I had it all delivered and went to work with the shovel & wheelbarrow in the Blistering hot August sun, needless to say it got old fairly quick.

So i take a break and decide this would be the perfect time to rent a tractor! You know the kind with front end loader and box blade in the back. Moves 1000 lbs of dirt in seconds kind.. Call a few places $200 a weekend and you pick it up. Im very excited and always liked the idea of a driving tractor. Went to the rental yard and my nissan truck is too small to pull a 7000lb tractor even though the rental guy insisted i could make it up a certain steep mountain road.. A few days Dirt is still in the same spots untouched, & wife was complaining. She said lets go look at used tractors.Im excited and arrive to see well used tractors in the 23-35hp for $8000-$12000. Wife say buy it..Im excited and tell her lets go home and let me cool off cause this is a big purchase. I was thinking I would look like a fool owning a such a large tractor on a small acre or so yard in my neighborhood but damm it sure would be fun when i could use it.

I told her lets move buy some land and I can use the tractor all the time! Cows, goats, chickens for the kids and lots of "Seat time" as it is called in the tractor world. Ive always been into yard work and even considered opening a landscape business I just enjoy cutting grass. She is game, since she grew up on a farm & would like to own a few more acres. A few months later we buy 16 acres. A year or so later she does not like it and wants something different.We sell it and buy 40 acres with family costing us a big chunk of change.

I added up all the cost and we spent almost $175,000 so far (still owe the bank a big chunk). You know the saddest part is...

After all this and having to work at the new places I have not got a tractor.
Negelcting my putting green idea. All those piles of dirt is still sitting at home unmoved.

Dammit!

So what ever happened to the original piles of dirt at your old house?  





Do you have your own range now?

I really want a little tractor but I can't afford one.

Quoted: Well I decided one day since my yard is fairly flat to bring a couple dump truck loads of dirt to make some hills in the yard maybe even a putting green. I had it all delivered and went to work with the shovel & wheelbarrow in the Blistering hot August sun, needless to say it got old fairly quick. So i take a break and decide this would be the perfect time to rent a tractor! You know the kind with front end loader and box blade in the back. Moves 1000 lbs of dirt in seconds kind.. Call a few places $200 a weekend and you pick it up. Im very excited and always liked the idea of a driving tractor. Went to the rental yard and my nissan truck is too small to pull a 7000lb tractor even though the rental guy insisted i could make it up a certain steep mountain road.. A few days Dirt is still in the same spots untouched, & wife was complaining. She said lets go look at used tractors.Im excited and arrive to see well used tractors in the 23-35hp for $8000-$12000. Wife say buy it..Im excited and tell her lets go home and let me cool off cause this is a big purchase. I was thinking I would look like a fool owning a such a large tractor on a small acre or so yard in my neighborhood but damm it sure would be fun when i could use it. I told her lets move buy some land and I can use the tractor all the time! Cows, goats, chickens for the kids and lots of "Seat time" as it is called in the tractor world. Ive always been into yard work and even considered opening a landscape business I just enjoy cutting grass. She is game, since she grew up on a farm & would like to own a few more acres. A few months later we buy 16 acres. A year or so later she does not like it and wants something different.We sell it and buy 40 acres with family costing us a big chunk of change. I added up all the cost and we spent almost $175,000 so far (still owe the bank a big chunk). You know the saddest part is... After all this and having to work at the new places I have not got a tractor. Funny How the smallest project can turn into a life changing event. Negelcting my putting green idea. All those piles of dirt is still sitting at home unmoved. Dammit!

you should of gotten a mule with that. if not you got ripped off..

A coworkers husband has a really old backhoe, and at parties teaches people how to use it, letting us dig a hole in one spot, and fill it in at another spot.

admittedly, when I saw the thread title and read the first couple lines of your post, I was waiting for your story to turn into a barrge of unfortunate events....like this:

So there I was, towing a 7000lbs tractor with my underpowered Nissan going up a steep hill.  I lost enough power and came to a complete stop.  In an attempt to back down the hill, against my better judgement, the trailer veered too far off the shoulder and was pulled off the road entirely.  As I bounced and tumbled down the hill - pissed - I realized that my truck, trailer, and tractor was headed for a .......

.....and it cost me $175,000!!!!!


but your story has a happier ending!  lol...

Oh yes, already there.
I now have a "business" to justify the tractor
not leaving yet, but it's in the plans.

I feel your pain.
now of course, you have 40 acres, and need a bigger tractor.

Hokie, I was expecting the same thing.

Alarmingly, I'm a tad disappointed

Cool story.

I too, was expecting a series of unfortunate events.

 Slug-O

Quoted: Am I the only one that, after reading the thread title, thought he may have got on the wrong side of the Army Corps of Engineers or the Department of the Interior?

Ive got a brother who wants to "build a damm" on the creek, just for fun.
Hell no, I know not to mess with diverting water since the .GOV considers it their property no matter what property it lies on.

BTw, I dont have a shooting range.

Lets see how this should work.

40 acres + tractor = one hell of a shooting range!

or multiple ranges...

Own shooting ranges + shooting friends = one happy landowner!

Buy the dirt moving tractor already!

man thats how it goes

Quoted: Am I the only one that, after reading the thread title, thought he may have got on the wrong side of the Army Corps of Engineers or the Department of the Interior?

Or, "Then I pulled up a big thick black cable with orange labels that said 'AT&T' and 'transcontinental fiber'  all over it."

In project management, we have a term for that phenomenon. It's called 'scope creep'.

I saw a restored Ford 9N on Craigslist the other day for $1500.

Quoted: Lets see how this should work. 40 acres + tractor = one hell of a shooting range! or multiple ranges... Own shooting ranges + shooting friends = one happy landowner! Buy the dirt moving tractor already!

I have faced this tractor issue too.  So far no tractor but I think I have the green light from the wife.  We got rid of two old tractors that didn't run and regret it a bit.  Just want a landscape type with a bucket and grader and maybe a posthole digger for planting and fencing....2.2 acres.

I have a 2006 Kioti hck20 with frontend loader, box scraper, post hole digger and mowing deck for sale. It has less than 60 hrs on it and it is for sale because I need a bigger 35 hp tractor. I got mine because of a situtation much like yours but after doing my own work with it my son found out he could make some very good money with it doing other peoples yard work, hence we need the bigger tractor now.  Look into the Kioti brand when you look at one.