weedsportpete
Silver Member
We're buying a small horse farm (yes "we've bought the farm") and have a lot of stuff to do around the place. I'm trying to decide between getting a lawn tractor and an old (30+ years older), larger tractor or getting a compact tractor. As usual, price is the main factor.
Initially, there will be many post holes to be dug as we fence in the remaining 9 acres (already have four pastures totalling 8 acres). Will also have to disc those remaining acres. Also up front is construction of an indoor arena. I'll hire someone to do the site work and a little extra drainage work.
Normal (daily/weekly) activities are the occasional fence repair, mowing about 2 acres, pulling a manure spreader out of the barn and into a fallow pasture, pulling something to move bales of hay and large amounts of sawdust or shavings, pulling a harrow in the arena and doing something about the snow in winter (got about 700 feet of driveway, plus a little more area around the barn). I'll be buying the hay.
What I'm thinking is that the initial post holes can be done with rental equipment, otherwise buying a PHD attachment would only be useful once in a while. Or I should get a one or two man PHD?
The drainage excavating is a little harder to let go, but again price is the issue. The initial site work for the arena I'll leave to experts (although I'm learning a lot from these forums). Also, most of this work will only be done once. The part that is hard to let go is that I will want to add drainage every now and then to some low spots in the pastures, and I'd love to be able to do that whenever I want to. But I'm thinking a backhoe is a pretty expensive option to use only once in a while.
When I'm not moving snow, I'll be mowing..(upstate NY). I'd love to get a compact tractor with mowing and snow blowing attachments, not to mention a loader, but I'm quickly blowing by my 12k - 14k price range.
Then there is the loader. So far, I can only see myself moving manure when I can't use the spreader (in winter..). What else will I need a loader for? Seems like most posts here say that you need 4wd for a loader.. Also, I need to fit the vehicle pulling the spreader and/or cart into the barn, where the isle is 11' wide and 8.5' tall.
I just looked at a 2000 lawn tractor with a loader that can take 300#, and it comes with a MMM. Right there I've got two of my wish list items, but they are asking 10500..
My wish list is 20-30hp tractor, FEL, snow blower, mower, small manure spreader, cart, harrow.
Is it better to get loader with tractor, instead of an aftermarket loader?
Are harrow, cart and manure spreader easy to get separate, and/or used? Same with mower?
So do I settle for a snow plow instead of a snow blower?
Do I need 4wd for a loader?
Should I get two less expensive items (an old tractor w/trip bucket loader and big lawn tractor) or should I get one more expensive item (a compact tractor with all the attachments)?
With the back and forth work, and possibly my wife using it for simple stuff, is hydro better than gears (not that I'm saying that she can't drive, but she won't put up with it..)
Can heavy duty lawn tractors do this type of work, or do I really need at least a compact tractor? (I'm concerned that a 'heavy duty lawn tractor is not suitable for a loader, even though I saw one that had a loader).
Should I use rentals for PHD and drainage work?
Am I missing something else (uses, jobs, attachments I need I haven't thought of)?
Should I get rid of the bats in my barn or are they useful for mosquito eating?? (just checking)
Perplexed in Weedsport
TIA - Pete
Initially, there will be many post holes to be dug as we fence in the remaining 9 acres (already have four pastures totalling 8 acres). Will also have to disc those remaining acres. Also up front is construction of an indoor arena. I'll hire someone to do the site work and a little extra drainage work.
Normal (daily/weekly) activities are the occasional fence repair, mowing about 2 acres, pulling a manure spreader out of the barn and into a fallow pasture, pulling something to move bales of hay and large amounts of sawdust or shavings, pulling a harrow in the arena and doing something about the snow in winter (got about 700 feet of driveway, plus a little more area around the barn). I'll be buying the hay.
What I'm thinking is that the initial post holes can be done with rental equipment, otherwise buying a PHD attachment would only be useful once in a while. Or I should get a one or two man PHD?
The drainage excavating is a little harder to let go, but again price is the issue. The initial site work for the arena I'll leave to experts (although I'm learning a lot from these forums). Also, most of this work will only be done once. The part that is hard to let go is that I will want to add drainage every now and then to some low spots in the pastures, and I'd love to be able to do that whenever I want to. But I'm thinking a backhoe is a pretty expensive option to use only once in a while.
When I'm not moving snow, I'll be mowing..(upstate NY). I'd love to get a compact tractor with mowing and snow blowing attachments, not to mention a loader, but I'm quickly blowing by my 12k - 14k price range.
Then there is the loader. So far, I can only see myself moving manure when I can't use the spreader (in winter..). What else will I need a loader for? Seems like most posts here say that you need 4wd for a loader.. Also, I need to fit the vehicle pulling the spreader and/or cart into the barn, where the isle is 11' wide and 8.5' tall.
I just looked at a 2000 lawn tractor with a loader that can take 300#, and it comes with a MMM. Right there I've got two of my wish list items, but they are asking 10500..
My wish list is 20-30hp tractor, FEL, snow blower, mower, small manure spreader, cart, harrow.
Is it better to get loader with tractor, instead of an aftermarket loader?
Are harrow, cart and manure spreader easy to get separate, and/or used? Same with mower?
So do I settle for a snow plow instead of a snow blower?
Do I need 4wd for a loader?
Should I get two less expensive items (an old tractor w/trip bucket loader and big lawn tractor) or should I get one more expensive item (a compact tractor with all the attachments)?
With the back and forth work, and possibly my wife using it for simple stuff, is hydro better than gears (not that I'm saying that she can't drive, but she won't put up with it..)
Can heavy duty lawn tractors do this type of work, or do I really need at least a compact tractor? (I'm concerned that a 'heavy duty lawn tractor is not suitable for a loader, even though I saw one that had a loader).
Should I use rentals for PHD and drainage work?
Am I missing something else (uses, jobs, attachments I need I haven't thought of)?
Should I get rid of the bats in my barn or are they useful for mosquito eating?? (just checking)
Perplexed in Weedsport
TIA - Pete