First Tractor For First Home

[Kendrick]

I need some suggestions, We are getting our first property which is a 22 acre farm 8.4 acres of pasture land and 11.6 of sloping hill seperated by a stream.

The slope starts at a 20 deg angel and goes up to about 45 50 near the border. For right now I will be haying the pasture and mowing around the house on the upper land. The lawn near the house starts to get a bit steep but still below 45 i believe. I will be building a garage possibly terracing the higher parts for a grove. The area around and above the house are from brambles to 5" saplings. the high ground was quite swampy to but the lower seemd well drained. I plan to split the pasture between a garden and horses in the near future. There are plenty of rocks to be found to.

We planned on getting a front loader, backhoe, mower(not sure what type yet), bailer, rake, and probably a tiller. May upgrade the front loader with a claw eventually. We were planning to go with filled a1 and 4wd. In the winter I will need to be able to clear the snow 4' at a time. The drive is quite a distance 800 ish feet to clear to the road. The wife would be tickled if i came home with a als but agrees with me abut the kubota's being a nice tractor. We will probably have to buy used to start with and may soon/eventually afford a new just depends on what we can find in the newengland area.

 

[jbrumberg]

Kendrick:

Welcome to TBN ! If you want to run a baler you will need one of the largest sized CUTS or more probably a UT. You will get a lot of good information here on TBN . Your stated slope scares me ; most tractors do not like any angle greater than 15 degrees (cross slope and I do not like any angle >10-12 ). If you get a FEL you will need a ROPS. I am assuming that you want weighted R-1 tires (good choice for traction). Please fill in your profile. Keep the entries coming. Jay

 

[Kendrick]

Fortunatly the slope is not to bad until you get past the house. It starts angleing pretty good after that though. I may have to use a skid to do that work. fortunatly that will be a fiew years down the road. we would be running a square baler duno how much hp is needed for that. probably wont be using the baler that much once we get the horses.

 

[DmansPadge]

Welcome to TBN! Some of the other guys who are more familiar with haying could give you better info on what type tractor you need so I'll let them chime in. I do know some of the guys around here will buy a CUT (compact utility tractor) for the daily chores and then get an older large ag tractor for the high horsepower jobs... they can normally be had fairly cheap.

I'm sure some of the others will reply soon... have fun and don't be a stranger!

 

[tuolumne]

Have you put a slope meter on those hills to verify your stated numbers? 45 degrees is mighty steep; hard to walk up such a slope. Certainly these aren't accessible by tractor. My worst slopes are about 10-12 degrees, and that's plenty. If the uphill tire goes over a stump or if the downhill tire goes into a rut, my hair falls out pretty fast.

 

[R_Walter]

I agree with Tuolumne's observation; it's difficult to stand and walk up a 45 degree slope. You cannot operate a tractor on that!

 

[Kendrick]

in about 500 feet worth of distance the hight raises 100 feet. because a road is just on the other side of the border it gets steep quick. most is under 25 starts at about 15 for a fair ammount. just had the inspection on the place and got a better look at the hill. there is a fair ammount that would probably be near the steeper end of tractor use. I might want to try and run it through to mow but not often and a section is not tractor friendly unfortunatly. probably the last 100-200 feet from the property line will be hard to deal with due to slope. the rest is fiarly uneaven ground with plenty of bolders buried or partial. That half though I wont need to do much more then keep the grass below waist height. though stability will be a serous point of intrest. There is a brook that devides the flat pasture from the slope. I was thinking I would probably need a 30 hp cut with fel and probably a backhoe. box for working the road. looks like the barn is a complete loss and will have to come down another chore for the bucket heheh.

 

[tuolumne]

100 feet of rise in 500 feet of run is an average slope of 11 degrees...whew....this sounds more manageable. I have found my JD 3520 to be very maneuverable on such slopes.

 

[Kendrick]

Its one of those things that is not easily explained.. but plenty of bolders to make life interesting.

 

[aesanders]

I have a hard time visualizing your layout. Maybe post some pics and we will get a better handle on what yo have in mind.


As far as the hay bailing goes, you maybe better off just hiring that job out. The tractor requirments and baler cost will far outweigh the return on your small amount of pasture. You probably have neighbors that would do it for cash or half the hay.