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I need something I can push trees over, remove stumps, Pile brush, build a road. Some logging type jobs. Do moderate excavation projects, etc. How big do I need? Thanks.

The answer to this is totally dependent on what size and type of projects you want to do. I have several excavators, the smallest is a CAT 311. In the CAT world it would be midsized. Its way bigger than the Kubota being discussed above. It weights approx. 30K. Trees up to about 12" can just be dealt with. Larger than that and it depends on the soil and ultimately size. But chain saws are cheap. The smaller machines are very good diggers, but for stumps what you want is to be able to pick up the stump and drop it several times to knock of the dirt, and they are limited in the size they can do with that. And of course you want to be able to move it. To give an example, a mini cat 305.5 (that I sometimes use, weighs like 12k) can lift about 2k and my machine about 13K close to the machine. These small machines are incredibly versatile and strong but in the end they don't weight big numbers and that's what really matters for big loads. The best strategy I think for most people is to just rent a machine when they need it. In my area it amazingly cheap (at least to me). Also if I was buying one I would actively shop to get (at least on bigger machines) a used low hour one that is not Tier4 compliant. That is a PIA from every account.

Thanks hrcjon, that is helpful. I spent time on the Machinery Trader site. It looks plausible to get a machine with under 2000hrs +- for $25k or there abouts. That is interesting. I do not have a place to rent one that is relatively inexpensive or easy to get to me.
based on your post an 8 or 10k machine might not be big or heavy enough to do my tasks. I do not need to dig a bunch. It would be handy of course but most of my work would be topside. lifting, rolling, pushing, stacking, grading, etc.

Right now I do almost everything with chainsaws and manual labor. I need to mechanize to be more productive and less wear and tear on me.

I will start a new thread about excavators. Thanks again all.