Purchasing My First Tractor

   / Purchasing My First Tractor #11  
we use an older jd336 kicker baler. it makes great bales and rarely misses a knot. around here you can pick up a decent 336 for 2,000-4,000$. i paid 2,500$ and it works great. that tractor will also handle higher capacity balers. many farmers around here also use new holland balers, both brands are very reliable. for mowing the hay, we use a new holland disc mower conditioner. it is a 9ft. model. you could also use a haybine, but they are not as fast as a disc mower. the 8540 handles the mower with ease. when mowing or bailing i take the loader off and put front weights on. after one or two tries you'll take the loader off or on in five minutes. very easy to do. for snow i use the loader up front with a hd back blade with skid shoes on the rear. can move alot of snow in a hurry with this setup. ps. you wouldn't need front weight's if your property is fairly flat. i use them also with the brushhog doing hilly areas. hope this gives you some idea of what this tractor will do. i'm sure other brands will do the jobs you want also, but i'm very happy with kubota.
 
   / Purchasing My First Tractor #12  
If I were to purchase the Kubota M8540, what would an appropriate hay baler be for the tractor as well as the amount of land I will be utilizing? Does compatibility with the tractor matter? I'd be looking to do square bales.

As for compatability.. just make sur ethe machine and your tractor both have the same pto spec ( 540 or 1000 ), and that you have sufficient pto hp and are a safe weight for the machine.

soundguy
 
   / Purchasing My First Tractor #13  
I'm just starting to learn about farm equipment and I have been given the opportunity to raise my own hay on 100 acres, wheat on 34 acres, and have 30 acres of pasture for a horse training facility of 200 acres total. The tractor (with a loader) must be big enough to load manure, mow, rake, and bale the hay that I will raise. My problem is that I am not sure which tractor would be best for the job.

From the small amount of research that I have done so far, I am looking at the following tractors:
~John Deere 5403
~John Deere 5425
~Kubota M7040
~Kubota M8540
~New Holland T5040
~New Holland TT55

Do these seem like appropriate tractors for the job that I need to do? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help!

One of my neighbors does about 200 acres of oat hay (unirrigated) with a 1970s Steiger (150+ hp engine, 4WD, articulated, cab) and a big old IH tractor (100+ hp, 2WD, cab). His grain drill, tandem discs and field cultivators are 15-20 ft wide. He mows the hay with a self-propelled NH swather with at least 10-ft wide cutting head. He has two NH small square balers that he pulls with smaller 60 hp tractors. He has a nice NH older bale wagon to stack the hay.

It takes a lot of hp and big implements to work that much hayfield. Before dropping big bucks on a new 60-90 hp tractor, I'd check around with neighbors who are farming similar size spreads and find out what they're using and get recommendations.
 
 
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