Tractor Choice Options?

[tower59]

Hello! All of my tractor knowledge comes from this website and looking at the dealers' sites, so for your help, thanks! Now here's my question: what sort of machine and implements would you recommend for 30 acres of mostly flat land currently about 25% wooded and the remainder in hay? I plan on having a home built on the property, and my intended tasks would include mostly mowing, gravel drive maintenance, firewood harvesting, pulling a wagon, preparing ground for garden (maybe 0.5 acres), and maybe some clearing of overgrown wooded areas. I know little about engine repair and want something reliable and easy to maintain. I can buy new, but don't mind buying gently used, either. I'm sort of leaning towards a Mahindra because of the price advantage, and want to avoid a Chinese "off-brand." Thanks again for your help.

 

[DmansPadge]

Hello! All of my tractor knowledge comes from this website and looking at the dealers' sites, so for your help, thanks! Now here's my question: what sort of machine and implements would you recommend for 30 acres of mostly flat land currently about 25% wooded and the remainder in hay? I plan on having a home built on the property, and my intended tasks would include mostly mowing, gravel drive maintenance, firewood harvesting, pulling a wagon, preparing ground for garden (maybe 0.5 acres), and maybe some clearing of overgrown wooded areas. I know little about engine repair and want something reliable and easy to maintain. I can buy new, but don't mind buying gently used, either. I'm sort of leaning towards a Mahindra because of the price advantage, and want to avoid a Chinese "off-brand." Thanks again for your help.

Welcome to TBN! Are you going to be haying yourself? That answer would narrow it down quite a bit. I know you mentioned Mahindra... but what other dealers are in your area? Sometimes Mahindras are as much or more than a similar more known name.

 

[pwl]

tower59, My needs pretty much mirror yours. I studied for 2 months. I ended up buying a new Branson 4220i with FEL. This 42 hp tractor was a couple of thousand cheaper (less expensive ?) than a smaller Mahindra. I am in central NY.

 

[tower59]

I don't plan on making hay (is that what people say? ) really, and I'm located in central Texas with many dealers of various brands available. The "farm" as it were is mostly for my boys to grow up with outdoors, real world exposure and is not planned to be my source of income. I'm not pretending to be or know how to be a real working farmer or rancher here, if you know what I mean, but I sure want to get a taste of the outdoors. Maybe that will help steer us away from the tractor with GPS and satellite guidance, but those are pretty darn cool...So, I'm wide open for suggestions to steer me in the right direction here. Thanks-

 

[barrylndn]

Though you're not really into the Chinese off-brands, Kioti (is it Chinese or Korean?) has very much impressed my grandfather for a small tractor, just for ease of use. He still has a larger Massey-Ferguson, and a smaller old one, but for the price and warranty, they beat Kubota, and of course, didn't come close to a Deere or NH. Personally, I think his is just a little underpowered for a Hystat, but have heard that this year they're coming out with a 55 hp version. It handles 4x5 round bales well, just a little light if you don't have one in front and back. My biggest complaint about the tractor is it doesn't have an self-leveling bucket, but even if you can't get that as an factory option (I don't know), you can get an aftermarket one.

In my area, Mahindra/Branson/brand X have not really taken off - predominantly a Kubota/Deere market - but Kioti seems to have acquired a pretty large niche for smaller tractors in the past couple of years.

Whatever you ultimately choose, if you're going to buy new, you might consider ordering it with an extra front remote for the bucket from the factory. If you're going to be clearing brush or small trees, a grapple is handy, and using it off the bucket controls instead of your rear remotes is even handier.

 

[Rara Avis]

Hello! All of my tractor knowledge comes from this website and looking at the dealers' sites, so for your help, thanks! Now here's my question: what sort of machine and implements would you recommend for 30 acres of mostly flat land currently about 25% wooded and the remainder in hay? I plan on having a home built on the property, and my intended tasks would include mostly mowing, gravel drive maintenance, firewood harvesting, pulling a wagon, preparing ground for garden (maybe 0.5 acres), and maybe some clearing of overgrown wooded areas. I know little about engine repair and want something reliable and easy to maintain. I can buy new, but don't mind buying gently used, either. I'm sort of leaning towards a Mahindra because of the price advantage, and want to avoid a Chinese "off-brand." Thanks again for your help.

Buy yourself a used 70 hp tractor, preferably two... ...a reliable tractor, because the last thing you want is to be fiddling with your tractor when you should be haying...

Used...Because you are ALSO going to have to buy a haybine, rake, tedder and baler, and don't skimp on your baler or you will be reminded every time you hay, have helped bale many a friend's field because their baler was down...and if you go small squares...hay wagons...

Check here for equipment...
New & Used farm equipment, tractors, combines, and other used and new machinery by Fastline Publications

 

[wdscot]

I bought my first tractor this year. The final choice came down to Kioti and Massey Ferguson. MF was local and won my heart. The only other general advice I can offer, is to buy pleanty of horsepower. Most of us find that we would buy the same tractor again, only bigger. The other suggestion is too have a quick attach mounted to the Front End Loader. I am now going through that process on advice of my dealer, who suggests future attachements will be less expensive. I have also found that while the tractor is the primary tool, all of the attachements (toy's) you want will keep you occupied and your son's entertained. Good Luck, Wayne

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

Since you're not cutting and baling the hay yourself, you likely don't really "need" a 50 HP unit. I've got 35 acres very similar sounding to yours and my 35 HP Century (Branson) has done everything I need it to so far. Depending on how much you plan on mowing, you'll need to decide how big a "brush hog" you want and base tractor size off of that. figure 5 PTO HP per foot of cut. (so I could put a 6' mower on the back of mine, but went with 5' becauser the price was nice - and I don't do much more than mow fire breaks and a spot to park when I want to go fishing)
TYM, Kioti, Mahindra, Branson, Montana are all good machines.
AGCO, MF, Challenger are all made by AGCO and are also strong - even though they're not in the "big 3"

check your local dealers for demo models and year end leftovers for good prices. I goofed when shopping for mine and missed out on a 40HP Challenger by waiting that extra day before calling back on it.

 

[JiminGa]

for your needs, assuming you mean just mowing around the house, not the whole pasture, I'd say a 25ish hp tractor with mid mount mower would do just fine. Don't forget the FEL! a Deere in this league should be around $15k

 

[flusher]

Hello! All of my tractor knowledge comes from this website and looking at the dealers' sites, so for your help, thanks! Now here's my question: what sort of machine and implements would you recommend for 30 acres of mostly flat land currently about 25% wooded and the remainder in hay? I plan on having a home built on the property, and my intended tasks would include mostly mowing, gravel drive maintenance, firewood harvesting, pulling a wagon, preparing ground for garden (maybe 0.5 acres), and maybe some clearing of overgrown wooded areas. I know little about engine repair and want something reliable and easy to maintain. I can buy new, but don't mind buying gently used, either. I'm sort of leaning towards a Mahindra because of the price advantage, and want to avoid a Chinese "off-brand." Thanks again for your help.

Seems to me that you need to size your tractor to that hayfield. Even if you aren't pulling a crop off it, you still have to do minimum maintenance on it, i.e.mowing.

Twenty-plus acres of mowing is not trivial. I would be thinking of a 10-ft wide rotary mower (aka brush hog) to make mowing a one or two day effort. That would require a tractor in the 40-60 hp range. There are plenty of choices. If you choose to go with a new tractor, buy locally since you don't want to get into tractor maintenance. If you need warrenty work having a nearby dealer will save on transportation costs.

If I had that much mowing I'd be looking for a 15-ft batwing mower and a 70-80 hp tractor to pull it. My neighbor has a 1980's vintage JD 2640 that would do the job. Price would be $7500-9000 for a nice used 2640.

If you shop around you can find decent used tractors that are inexpensive. Last year I bought a 1964 Massey Ferguson 135 diesel (45 hp engine, 38 hp pto) for $3600. The engine, transmission and hydraulics are in good shape. I replaced the gauges and rewired the tractor (not very difficult, old tractors are pretty simple things). Then I thoroughly cleaned the complete tractor and repainted. I figure I put in about $600.

If you decide to buy used, it helps to have someone with tractor experience check out the tractor before buying.