What do I need to know about sub compact tractor loader backhoes?

I find myself intersted in moving some dirt around on my property.  Sure, I can rent machines, but it is $250-$300/day, and as I would prefer to do this all a little at a time in the evenings rather than thrash weekends, I've been looking at buying a machine.  I've looked at mini excavators (like Toyman's great thread) and skid steers, and I think a Sub compact 22-25hp tractor loader backhoe seems like the best choice.  

Here's what I want to do, knowing full well that I'll find more things when I have a machine here: 

-Carve into a hillside a little and flatten out/widen and dig down/add gravel/etc to make a parking pad area on the back corner to store my 20' enclosed race trailer and potentially 17' boat for winter storage

-Flatten, dig out, etc a 20'x 15' area for a patio for a hot tub

-Dig proper channels for french drains around the house to get rid of the soggy side yard and backyard river

I know a sub compact TLB won't be the best at any of these things, but one will do all of them, albiet slowly.  I don't have a lot of land, about .3 acres, so a big machine won't really work.  I need to do trenching, earth moving, gravel work, etc, so ideally I would have an excavator and skid steer and trencher, but that's not practical.

From what I can see, there are a lot of Kubotas out there, and people are proud of them.  Some John Deeres and again, proud.  There are some mid level brands like Massey Ferguson, New Holland, and Cub Cadet that I've seen at reasonable prices.  I'm looking for Diesel, 4WD.  I know there are a bunch of chinese tractors out there now, but I think if I stick with a more well known brand then it will be easier to sell when I am done with it, and probably easier to get parts for.  

Any particular advice on what to look for on these, aside from trying to find the least beat up one I can, lower hours, lack of leaks, and typical mechanical stuff? Particular brands or models to seek out or avoid?  

It seems like a reasonable budget is $10k-$15k from what I can tell, where I am in SE PA.  Machines I'm looking hard a are the Kubota BX23-25 and a Massey GC4210 for example.  

I rented a Kubota BX23 a month or so ago and was pleasantly surprised at how capable it was. I dug and filled a 20' trench, cleaned up some pathways and regraded areas in our backyard, ripped out some massive bushes from our front yard garden and moved about 100 yards of materials (sand, crushed stone and mulch) in five days. The only thing it couldn't handle was yanking some stumps out of the ground, they were hanging on waaay harder than I thought they would. I had debated buying but I typically take a beating on flipping things so decided with the work I had to do, I was better off renting. I ran about 10-12 hours on 6 gallons of diesel, that seemed fairly efficient, not too noisy, controls are easy to use and mostly intuitive. The 4WD was a huge help, got me out of a couple of jams where a 2WD would have gotten stuck. That pricing seems to be similar to here in New England. Is it worth a try to see if a rental place is upgrading or just letting some of their equipment go, may be able to find a deal and should be well maintained. I get emails from United Rentals all the time about stuff they are selling.

Kubota used to make a bulletproof tractor. Our latest diesel zero turn has had all kinds of electrical issues. It's on the 3rd alternator and we finally had to cut all the safeties out of the system. 

Their mechanics are pretty awesome though. Our oldest tractor is almost 35 years old and still running strong. 

Everyone is proud of them though. For what used Kubotas sell for, I'd consider buying new. When my brother bought his, the difference between new and used was less than $3k unless you were buying junk and Kubota had a zero percent interest rate. He bought new and used their money. 

I looked at the Massy tractors at the last farm show. They have some good-looking stuff but I don't know much about it. 

That said, for dollars spent, this is the handiest piece of equipment I have. Small enough to go anywhere. Strong enough to do real work. A large assortment of quick change attachments are available. I have a mower deck, a trencher, and a set of forks for mine. 

You can pick one up for about $7500 with the 23 hp and the 2.5 stage pump or about $5000 with the 12 hp and 2 stage pump. 

New TLBs are at least $28k, more than I'm looking to spend.

How does the Dingo do with reshaping earth?  Needing to level out areas and dig down in others, more than just trenching, is what makes me question those for my use 

One thing to consider is service. In my experience a certain brand dominates an area because there is really good dealer support there. In my neck of the woods the dominate brand is New Holland, your area may be different. We have a huge dealer here that does great service and I think that drives it. I think this also becomes a Ford vs. Chevy conversation and people get attached to their tractor color, that being said my tractor color is blue.

In reply to Sonic :

I have used mine to cut a swale behind one of our buildings for drainage. I have used it to cut grass out for a garden. I will also be using it this fall to cut and lever an area for a patio in the backyard. 

The tracked versions have the traction to cut pretty well. It probably won't dig a trench without a backhoe attachment, but those are available as well. I have a mini excavator I use for that. 

It digs as well or better than our 4WD Kubota does with the front loader. Mostly because it has more traction. I also like the tracked skid because it has lower ground pressure. With some careful maneuvering, it's easier on the grass around the yard. 

A Dingo or Bobcat branded machine will be even better than the Stomp. They are a good bit more powerful and usually diesel-powered. They are about twice the price but will have a better resale if you can get a deal on one. 

A small backhoe machine with a front loader will be a good do-all machine in the $10k-$15k range. I have about the same tied up in my excavator and mini skid but they have some capabilities I wanted that the tractor doesn't.

Good point Nick.  I'm not far from Lancaster PA and lots of farming, seems like we have a wide variety here including orange, green, red, and blue.   

Subscribed.

I have an excavator like Toyman's, but it's more of a shovelful-at-a-time type of equipment. But we're interested in doing some terraced planting areas on part of our property which is going to require more actual dirt moving and light grading, so something with these capabilities is on my radar as well.

Kioti makes a good tractor and you don't normally have to pay the green or orange tax.

Whatever you end up with, don't leave the backhoe attached any longer than you have to. I have a neighbour who bought a used Kubota, used it for a year then the diff/trans broke in half because the backhoe had never been removed, and he had driving it all over the county like that, backhoe bouncing all over the place

I will also say if you are moving dirt a long distance or moving a large quantity a tractor with loader is going to be faster. It has a faster ground speed. The Chinese mini skids are not very fast. Figure 3 maybe 4 mph. 

The Bobcat and Dingo skids are supposed to be a good bit faster. 

I love my LS MT125 sub compact. LS is a contract manufacturer for other brands. ALL the subcompacts come out of south Korea, Japan, maybe China too. Personally i'd go out of my way to avoid yellow and green paint. Kubota is great but way overpriced.  My LS has a Yanmar 3 cyl diesel, 25 hp. My 100% new TLB was $16,500 delivered to my door out of arkansas. Free delivery and no sales tax since it was out of state. I saved many thousands by not buying "local"(local being over an hour away). 
 

got it from https://www.brunosfarmandlawn.com/. Super easy to do. Maybe 2 phone calls, an email and a few days later a hotshot trucker showed up with my tractor. 

I've been looking at TYM tractors lately too

It's really going to depend on your soil and the TLB.  Around here (shale territory) there is a lot I can't do even with a Ford 1900 and I have to break out the Boomer 42.

In reply to TJL (Forum Supporter) :

Very interesting, I'll have to give them a call and see where they are on those now.  I had been hesitant for LS brand (along with some other unknowns like "Bad Boy"), but at that price with a Yanmar motor, is a good start. 

I called Bruno's, the LS MT125 is $20k total to my door, the comparable Massey is about $500 more.   While a much better deal than other new ones i think I'm back to shopping used.  Good reference point though.  

I've gone through this debate a few times internally.  We have just over 2 acres, and I would definitely make good use of a machine like you're looking for. I've rented one from HD twice, each time for a week.  The 2nd time I split the time with my FIL, as he had some work to do on his house, as well. I would check a local rental place and see if they could give you a discount on a bunch of daily rentals, or an arrangement that could work well for both of you.  I don't think HD would do that type of arrangement, but there have to be machines that are idle that someone would be happy to lend out for money.  Between the initial expense, space to store one, and the maintenance on them, owning one is something I'd like to avoid, but they're great to use when you need it.

2020 Massy for $15k In SC.

2020 Mahindra 25xl $14.5k In NC.

2019 Kubota bx23s $17k. In SC

This is what is localish to me on Marketplace. What is your search radius?