Hi everyone, first post, hopefully one of many.
I have a 35 acre farm the I want to develop in Ghana, West Africa. With a view to progressing into large scale export orientated production later. I have some money coming in shortly which will enable me to purchase some equipment to drive expansion. I have gathered a lot of information on the best combination of equipment to purchase and at what stages of my business development. However, too much information often leads to confusion and I wanted to ask experienced people on how best to proceed.
The background is this. One, i live in Ghana but have base in London and people that can arrange parts etc for me. Two, my immediate need is to clear 25 acres of semi-deciduous forest and construct a dam which will require removal of 4000 m3 of sandy loam to sandy clay soil, effectively dam a stream and ploughing the land. Three, I am building for the future and purchasing for the long term; i have used contractors here before for dam building, clearing and ploughing land and i am fed up of their unproffesionalism...I am in a developing country, do it yourself is the best way. Four, we have a long established Cat dealer, recently established Volvo/SDLG dealer as well as Sany and Liugong. There are also a plethora of freelance experienced but only decent Cat operators and technicians, needless to say most equipment is Cat 330, 325, D6, 16H etc and parts are readily available for these. There are no tractor dealers worthy of mention. Finally, my budget! Removing shipping and port clearance leaves approx. 50K Sterling (75k USD).
I am open to ideas but have so far managed to draw up 3 broad options for equipment combinations:
1) TLB (medium sized, middle aged i.e 5-10 yrs eg. 3CX)+ Tractor (100-120 hp, middle aged eg. Belarus 1221.1)+ Dump Trailer (10 ton+)
2) Excavator (20-30 ton, middle aged e.g Cat 320CL) + Tractor (100-120 hp, old i.e 10 years + Belarus 1221.1)
3) Excavator (newish i.e under 5 yrs, 20-30 ton eg. Cat320DL) and rent the rest until can afford it
Alternatively, pay around 10K Sterling (15K USD) and contract it all out again! And keep the rest. But just to give you an idea on what I've had to put up with, I agreed a price with a contractor to build dam and clear 10 acres, they brought an old Hitachi 300 destroyed my top soil despite warning not to, left dam with weak point in other words all work was not fit for purpose, refused to get it right and drove off. Another one inspected the job took my money, turned up for the job (to build a small dam) and decided the soil was too soft and I had to do something else, no refund offered. Another one kept asking me to give him money to eat! However, the latter one was very decent operator. my plough guy is reliable, his ploughing is a bit sub standard but he's the only one in my area.
I have very basic mechanical and electrical knowledge, oil changing etc but am a very quick and willing learner who will pick up a thick book on a subject and get good at it like i have with my farming and drip irrigation equipment. Gentlemen and ladies if present, i need you a lot more than you need me now but I hope I can be of service to you in the future. All advice on the above would be greatly appreciated.
Help choosing equipment
