you said that your land is mostly wooded, first thing I would do is walk the land and mark a layout that minimizes the number of tree's that need to be removed, consider the fact that any sizeable trees in your way will need to be either cut down and stumps/roots removed, or if you end up with a heavy enough excavator or dozer you can essentially push them over and push or dig out the stumps. Based on the fact that you just want something simple and cheap, I suggest that you plan the layout that minimizes the tree removal needed. If you decide that you don't have to remove too many trees, then I would plan on renting just a large tracked skid loader, otherwise known as a compact loader. Tracked skids have come a long way, these days the largest ones have over 100hp ( more than a small dozer, such as a D4-5), also with high flow auxiliary hydraulics you can attach every implement you need. Obviously you will have a bucket, but you can rent a stump grinder, brush mower, Harley rake, forks or a grapple for moving trees and brush, even a backhoe attachment and dozed Blade. Obviously all of these attachments don't come free, but they're all available for rental, and can be utilized with one machine.. If you decide to clear all of the land, and you have large enough trees, contact a local logging company or lumber/pulp mill. If the trees on your property are valuable to them, you can possibly work a deal for them to clear cut the trees, and in exchange for the timber or trees that are of value to them, they pay you by removing all of the brush and stumps that would be in your way. Obviously if your land doesn't have any trees of value to them, or enough trees of value, then that's not going to work. It's worth considering, here in MN we have lots of oak trees, oak is excellent firewood, people make a living selling firewood as a heat source for our long shitty winters, those people will come hack down trees on your property all day long... There are a million ways to skin a cat, and as you have no doubt read there are endless ways to build a track and move or shape dirt. My opinion, plan accordingly to your space, budget, and needs, and when you're ready, rent a large Tracked skid along with the attachments that you need, and go to work. The other upside to a skid loader versus a dozer or excavator is that with pilot controls, you will become extremely effective at operating the machine in no time. This is just my opinion, I'm not hating on any others input. Good luck and have fun with it.
