What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider?

   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #1  

63DH8

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Parkland,Washington State, U.S.A.
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Massey Ferguson GC1725M Bolens TX 1504 (G154) 1957 John Deere 420C crawler
I'm looking for one to use a hay spear, scoop cattle manure, and pulling farm implements with on 100+ acres of land. I have a small (15hp) tractor, but I've discovered it's not enough for some dirty deeds.
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #2  
Depends...but I would favor a 50+ HP outfit w/ or w/o 4WD and a loader- that's up to you. I feel you have way too much property for a 15HP tractor- but it depends on how your 100 acres is laid out. 99 acres of timber? 99 acres row crop? pasture? you get the idea....
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #4  
What kind of farm implements? Are you plowing/planting any of the land?

I'm looking for one to use a hay spear, scoop cattle manure, and pulling farm implements with on 100+ acres of land. I have a small (15hp) tractor, but I've discovered it's not enough for some dirty deeds.
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #6  
For years, I farmed over 200 acres with 60 HP as my biggest tractor. It was plenty. I tend to 45 acres now with 47hp. Plenty..... I grew up on a farm of 277 acres with 32hp as the biggest. Plenty of power. All depends on how fast you want to get things done, and to a certain extent, the type of equipment you plan on using with the tractor. I've got a 27hp tractor here now I bought to re-sell. After using it for a few months, I've come to the conclusion I'd never get anything done if it was all I had to work with.
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #7  
I used a 1952 8N to maintain a 50 acre horse farm. I did this for about 3 years. I then bought a JD 5103 but still use the 8N for lite work. The 8N did just fine w/ a 4ft bushhog and occasional discing.
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #8  
I think to carry the hay (if its big bales) you are going to need a tractor that weighs a bit more....and that could be your limiting factor. Like others have said...depends on the other implements...but....I would think a starting point would be to look at 35 to 45 hp tractor with a front end loader, weighing at 4000 lbs or more. JMO
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #9  
i can lift a round bail on the 3pt of my class 2 (33hp) CUT. The bucket is big enough to make quickish work of manure scooping but small enough to still maneuver in tight spots (only 5' bucket)

TO lift a 1000-1200 lb round bail on a front fork your gonna need a Class 3 CUT or some old iron. NH makes a class 3 TC34 (34 hp... dont know what the "new" number is)


as for pulling farm impliments it depends on how big they are and what they are. Class 3 is as about as small as your gonna get for use with "small" haying equiment... rakes, discbines, bailers etc 5hp per foot is a good rule of thumb for ground engaging implements (discs, harrows, feild culitvators) and for brush hogs.

you could do some of the chore work with a small class 3 CUT but most of the guys around my neck of the woods that both farm a few hundred acers and keep cows usually have a "primary" tractor in the 75h-100hp MFWD AG which they use for just about everything. (although they may keep a small bobcat around for stall cleaning and stuff)
 
   / What's the smallest practical HP/Tractor you'd consider? #10  
I'm looking for one to use a hay spear, scoop cattle manure, and pulling farm implements with on 100+ acres of land. I have a small (15hp) tractor, but I've discovered it's not enough for some dirty deeds.

100 acres is quite a hunk of real estate.

I have only 10 acres of flat pasture land and convinced myself that I need a big tractor. So now I have a 2008 Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto 2WD, partial constant mesh tranny) with the ML250 FEL (6-ft wide bucket, about 3000 lb lift capabiltiy at the bucket pins). Cost: $17K give or take.

I'll use the 5525 to pull a 13-ft wide wheel disc cut down to about 10-ft wide to till my hayfield and pull the Massey Ferguson MF-124 two-twine small square baler.

I have a 1964 MF-135 diesel (45 hp engine, 37 hp pto) to handle my JD350 side delivery rake and a 1951 Farmall Super A (19 hp pto) to pull the Minneapolis-Moline P3-6 grain drill (10 ft wide, 20 drops, 6" row spacing).

Something like the 5525 or the Mahindra 6025 (which has a full constant mesh tranny) might satisfy your needs.
 
 
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