100 acres ,,need advice

[ToadHill]

The old gentleman who lived down the road gave me some good advice. "Determine what you will regularly be doing and get a tractor that will be able to do your work at 1/2 throttle. If you have an occasional big job it's a lot less costly to hire it done than it is to maintain and feed a larger piece of equipment than you regularly need."

 

[john_bud]

Tractor size input has been given, but your question on tractor wear at 3-4000 hours is still mostly open.

If the tractor has be abused and neglected, then 3-4000 hours is end of life. On the other hand, if it has been simply used and maintained normally, it's about 1/2 way to a rebuild. The larger tractors typically will go more hours as the engines turn over at less rpms. One 'hour' on the meter is really the number of revolutions at PTO speed one hour of operation would see. So a tractor that has a 1500 rpm pto speed will have 1/2 the hours of one that has a 3000 rpm pto speed. Make sense?


I would not be afraid of a tractor with 3-4000 hours. Last old Ford I rebuilt was a 4000 with 8500 hours on a broken meter. It would have been just a re-ring with standard pistons, but a prior owner used ether and broke ring lands leading to cylinder wall scoring. That's a hint -> ask if they use ether (starting fluid) to start it. If the answer is yes, it is probably best to walk away.

jb

 

[Tororider]

I tend to agree with Eddie, as my first thought was hire it out. If you are interested in doing it yourself, buy a used dozer to clear everything. You can use that to build a pond too, if you are interested in that. Like Eddie said, if you were thinking of digging anything other than a koi pond, even a 50hp tractor wouldn't be worth it, you have a chance with a dozer, although you don't want to be pushing the dirt too far.

With regards to the grass, if you are only planning on cutting grass that, imho, is crazy. Lease it out to a farmer who can plant a crop on it and maintain if for you and you can help pay for your dozer and tractor.

Can't help on the life of the tractor, but like anything else, if you are willing to put some work into it, we have the technology to keep them alive, its all a matter of how much time you want to spend on upkeep.

Good luck with everything, post pics of your projects as we all love to see others successes and failures.

 

[flusher]

.
.
.

OR... If there's a way to budget TWO tractors, go with something 50-ish hp, matched implements, and a used/older 2wd AG tractor, somewhere in the 80-90 hp range for the bigger chores. Used implements for tractors in that size class are relatively easy to find and priced reasonable relative to the cost of new.

Long and short, buy a NEW 50 hp tractor as your only one now, use it to clear the place, and then to maintain the property, and you'll find it grossly undersized for clearing that sort of acreage, and probably have it well on the way to being worn out before you ever get the place ready for routine maintenance.

I agree with FWJ. Get two tractors. I only have 10 acres of flat pasture land, but I found out that two tractors come in handy.

My first tractor was a 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto) with an LA302 FEL (4 ft bucket) that I bought new in May05 for $12,600 (10% down, 0% for 36 months). It's handled all of the mowing and toting chores plus rototilling the new lawn areas and the veg garden (used Yanmar 1200 tiller, 4 ft wide, $300).

I want to put about 7 acres into hay so in July06 I bought a used 1964 Massey Ferguson 135 diesel (45 hp engine, 38 hp pto, 33 hp on the drawbar) for $3600 without FEL. I spent about $600 on new gauges, exhaust system, rewiring, paint, new front grill, steering wheel.

You have a factor of 10 larger place to handle than I have, so your tractor needs are going to require larger machines. My neighbor just bought a nice new Kubota L4630 diesel (45 hp engine, 39 hp pto, gear tranny) with a 6-ft wide FEL and several implements (6-ft box blade, 6-ft rotary mower, PHD). I figure he's got $25K invested.

You can find good used 75-100 hp 2WD gear tractors without FEL for under $10K. Examples of 1960s vintage tractors: Case 930, 940; Farmall 706, 1066; JD 4020 (considered by some the best JD ever), 4010 (not to be confused with another more recent, smaller JD 4010). eBay is a good place to check current prices. If you decide to buy used, it helps to talk to someone who knows used tractors and how to bargain for old iron.

 

[Oleozz]

We have 100 acres, started with a Farmall H, then a Ferguson 30, after that a JD 870 and now a 45 hp Kioti. The 45 hp is to small for some of the things I wanted to do with it so bought a 140 pto hp International. That was probably overkill but I need to do some heavy duty ripping for the next several yrs and wanted a tractor that could handle those types of chores.
One word about older tractors, they are not as cheap as many people think and if they are then there is usually something wrong with them. You will be hard pressed in this area to find a JD 4020 for under 10,500 and many are more than that. It's the same with a lot of the old IH's, the ones that are in good shape are selling for $12,000 to $16,000. You can get lucky with a lot of looking and patience or pick something up at a local farm auction.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I have 80 acres and am doing similar things as you. Being a weekend warrior, it is tuff to get stuff done. I have many tractors and sizes and it is still a slow go. Things come up so that you can't get there every weekend and that really slows things down. If you hire stuff done, it may or may not be more cost effective, but will it get done how you want it done? Myself, a lot of the time I have had to redo the things that I hired out because it didn't get done how I wanted it done. And if you stand there to be sure it gets done how you want it done, then you might as well have done it yourself, still have all the time invested.

Eddie Walker has done monumental jobs at his place, do a search and you can check them out. But what I was going to say is that he has complained about all the money that he has spent on his Case dozer. What I haven't read though is that what was done when he wanted to do it, how he wanted it done most likely actually cost him 25% or less than if he had hired it out. ( No disrespect of any kind meant towards you Eddie ) I only wish that I could do the stuff that you have done in the time frame that you have done it in.

About all that I can really recommend is to buy the biggest machines and implements that you can afford, or you will end up like me, 8 years later and still not moved to our property. If you really want to do this yourself and on the weekends, you need multiple machines and bigger machines at that. Think construction size and 100hp ag type machinery if you want it done in a couple of years.

Good luck and keep us informed on how it is going.

 

[scesnick]

I think you got some sound advice. I woul dalso add that If you are already going to have the tractor when you are doen this project, why not plant some timothy or alfalfa and bail it instead of just having a HUGE yard to mow.

Hay prices today are off the charts and you could most likely make a decent supplemental income by bailing and selling the hay.

 

[AchingBack]

Welcome Pfm1011, congratulations on the property. Remember to be careful, and watch out for Pooh, and crew:Winnie the Pooh - 100 Acre Wood (Character Guide)

 

[chh]

The advice your getting on haying is good if you have a lot of horse owners in you area and that is the type of thing that interests you. You should be able to maintain your property pretty well with something in the 50 to 60 hp range. My sister and husband have 80 acres and use a MF 231 S to keep it mowed and to hay their cattle with. Thats after the initial clearing. They have had a dozer in twice, once mine, once a pro. They need about one more 2 day shot to get everything finished and the way they want it. I will probably take care of that this spring. I run 910 acres with a 80 and a 95 hp tractor, with a 33 hp for yard work, and in the process of clearing the brush off with a dozer I purchased. I would not recommend anyone unfamiliar with heavy equipment buying their own dozer on a small place. You can drop thousands of dollars into repairs on dozer in a hurry. (Yes, I am speaking from experience! ) The 2 larger tractors are enough for the wife(yes, she operates a tractor and a dozer) and to mow 350 acres of hay and brushog ect.ect.ect.

I have had a JD 4020 that was pushing 10,000 hrs when I sold it. I bought it with 5000 on it and never had any motor, hydraulic or tranny work done on it. Spent $1200 on a 12V electrical conversion and a lot of misc. stuff once in that 5000 hrs. On the other end of that I got a JD 2460 that was a pile of junk a 3400 hrs. Well painted junk, but still junk. I made the mistake of thinking just because I knew the dealer personally that he wouldn't screw me. Oh well, lesson learned. Got most of my money back trading it in on a new MF 6 months later.

Good Luck and enjoy your farm.

 

[Soundguy]

I think region will have alot to do with resale. Around here.. MF 1100, case 1xxx, ford 5000/8000 are inthe $6k or less range. I've seen all those tractors listed sell as low as 3000$.. Some people just don't like ag tractors...

Soundguy

We have 100 acres, started with a Farmall H, then a Ferguson 30, after that a JD 870 and now a 45 hp Kioti. The 45 hp is to small for some of the things I wanted to do with it so bought a 140 pto hp International. That was probably overkill but I need to do some heavy duty ripping for the next several yrs and wanted a tractor that could handle those types of chores.
One word about older tractors, they are not as cheap as many people think and if they are then there is usually something wrong with them. You will be hard pressed in this area to find a JD 4020 for under 10,500 and many are more than that. It's the same with a lot of the old IH's, the ones that are in good shape are selling for $12,000 to $16,000. You can get lucky with a lot of looking and patience or pick something up at a local farm auction.