Ranch Tractor Needed: Brand? Model? HP? Please Advise

[MulishOne]

I own a decommissioned orchard in the Okanogan Valley of North Central Washington. The trees, on 30 of the 74 acres, were cut down around 7 years ago and continue to sprout from the root stock. The best course of action is to remove them (with a grapple).

I'm re-establishing the agricultural classification and have committed to growing 15 acres of hay and growing 5-6 cattle on the remaining 15. We have 17 acres of permanent set irrigation left to install. My 71 year old neighbor and I completed 12 acres last summer. We need a tractor that can "pull" the irrigation lines in (as opposed to trenching them in as we did last summer as we're both just a little tired of spending our summers in a trench!)

I own an ASV 4810 Skid Steer, which has little value on my land, save ripping out the apple tree roots (with the bucket or 6-way blade-- which both make a terrible mess of things). I need to sell this machine (which I bought in 2005 for $27,000 -- and cannot seem to get nibbles on when priced at $25,000 with new tracks (cost of $5K).

So, I need to sell the ASV and purchase an appropriate tractor. (Does anyone have a guess as to what this machine is worth? -- 2,500 hours. Images in my web page: The 3-Bell Ranch - Home .

I think that the tractor will have to be strong enough to:
1. move hay (square or round bales)
2. plow snow in the winter (therefore must be a 4wd)
3. pull appropriate implements: plow, disc, harrow, baler. (I'm hoping to do the mowing and raking with horses)
4. miscelaneous farm/ ranch tasks as needed (such as the immediate one to plant a 3 acre field to summer alfalfa (green manure crop) to enrich the soil so that we can grow decent hay next year).

Recommendations with regard to brand, model, year, horsepower, implements, and other critical issues will be greatly appreciated.

How does one go about finding/ assessing such a machine???

Please feel free to "visit" may ranch-- The 3-Bell Ranch - Home ! We are a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms member farm. (see: WWOOF-USA )

 

[RollingsFarms]

I own a decommissioned orchard in the Okanogan Valley of North Central Washington. The trees, on 30 of the 74 acres, were cut down around 7 years ago and continue to sprout from the root stock. The best course of action is to remove them (with a grapple).

I'm re-establishing the agricultural classification and have committed to growing 15 acres of hay and growing 5-6 cattle on the remaining 15. We have 17 acres of permanent set irrigation left to install. My 71 year old neighbor and I completed 12 acres last summer. We need a tractor that can "pull" the irrigation lines in (as opposed to trenching them in as we did last summer as we're both just a little tired of spending our summers in a trench!)

I own an ASV 4810 Skid Steer, which has little value on my land, save ripping out the apple tree roots (with the bucket or 6-way blade-- which both make a terrible mess of things). I need to sell this machine (which I bought in 2005 for $27,000 -- and cannot seem to get nibbles on when priced at $25,000 with new tracks (cost of $5K).

So, I need to sell the ASV and purchase an appropriate tractor. (Does anyone have a guess as to what this machine is worth? -- 2,500 hours. Images in my web page: The 3-Bell Ranch - Home .

I think that the tractor will have to be strong enough to:
1. move hay (square or round bales)
2. plow snow in the winter (therefore must be a 4wd)
3. pull appropriate implements: plow, disc, harrow, baler. (I'm hoping to do the mowing and raking with horses)
4. miscelaneous farm/ ranch tasks as needed (such as the immediate one to plant a 3 acre field to summer alfalfa (green manure crop) to enrich the soil so that we can grow decent hay next year).

Recommendations with regard to brand, model, year, horsepower, implements, and other critical issues will be greatly appreciated.

How does one go about finding/ assessing such a machine???

Please feel free to "visit" may ranch-- The 3-Bell Ranch - Home ! We are a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms member farm. (see: WWOOF-USA )

sounds like jobs for a utility tractor. give a look at John Deere's 5 series. they changed the numbering this year, so I hope I dont get this wrong, but I would suggest Starting out looking at the 5E series all the way up to the 5M. go to Deere.com for better explination. basically I would go with 65hp(minimum)- 85hp since you mentioned bailing. i don't know if you'll want a cab or not but i was assuming you did. if you want to look at used machines, how far back are you willing to go? couple years old? 10 years old? 20, 30, 40 years old? as for the ASV not selling, thats a good price you have on it from the pics and hours on it. it's just people arent buying anything right now. youd probably have to knock off 5-10, grand before you started seeing folks line up to get it. youd have to sell it for alot less then its worth. i would personally hold on to it and have it as a backup to the tractor.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I tried to post once and it evaporated into the ether!
We're in the process of developing a small irrigated cattle ranch in Western Montana, I think I can help answer some of your questions. We spent some time looking for land in the Okannogan, and were unsucessful. (We spent a lot to time backpacking in the Pasayten Wilderness , particularly the Horseshoe Basin, west of you.)

I see that you want to bale big rounds or squares and you're going to plan for 6-7 head of cattle. That's a terriblly big investment in haying equipmment for 6-7 head. We're looking at 30 cow pairs and we are having our hay custom cut presently and when we hit our sustainable capacity, we'll buy hay. Have you considered this as a possibility? There are certainly hay ranches around you. This avoids a large expense and/or debt for equipment and maintenance and reduces the power requirements for a tractor. What ever you buy has to pay it's way or you can't afford it. Buying hay will also allow you to increase your carrying capacity and so you need to pencil all this out.


If you want to really round bale then you're looking at 65-70 HP at the pto on a tractor as a minimum. I would recommend you consider a cab tractor. My equipment is open station and I'm a bit long in the tooth to winter feed without a cab. My tractors (an "82 Ford 4610 diesel and '54 TO -30 Ferguson gas) do not have 4WD drive and so I'm in the market for 4WD cab tractor with FEL.
How much maintenaace will you do on your machine. If you can do the routine stuff and some occaisional heavy maintenance, your choice of brand is more open. But if you need to hire that, then having a local dealer will be important to you. In your country, JD and NH are probably the two main choice. JD is spendy for equipment and parts burt they are there. There are probably fewer NH dealer but their prices are more reasonable. Kubota, TYM, and Kioti and some non tradional brand that might be aceptable for utility tractors like you're considering. I'm looking at TYM myself as a possibility. For a used 70 hp 4WD cab tractor with a FEL and low hours(<2000 hrs) I'd budget $25,000-$28,000.
Used Tractors at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Caterpillar. is good place to get a feel for prices. You will notice , however, that most of the machines there are back East. Capitol Press, which covers WA, OR, & ID is another source and you might consider advertising your skid steer there. if you have a suitable pickup and flat bed you can possibly go look at some machines and transport them home yourself.

Never buy a tractor sight unseen. We can get to how to assess machine performance once you get close to buying something.
I hope you finds these thoughts useful and if I can clarify any statements let me know.

 

[flusher]

I own a decommissioned orchard in the Okanogan Valley of North Central Washington. The trees, on 30 of the 74 acres, were cut down around 7 years ago and continue to sprout from the root stock. The best course of action is to remove them (with a grapple).

I'm re-establishing the agricultural classification and have committed to growing 15 acres of hay and growing 5-6 cattle on the remaining 15. We have 17 acres of permanent set irrigation left to install. My 71 year old neighbor and I completed 12 acres last summer. We need a tractor that can "pull" the irrigation lines in (as opposed to trenching them in as we did last summer as we're both just a little tired of spending our summers in a trench!)

I own an ASV 4810 Skid Steer, which has little value on my land, save ripping out the apple tree roots (with the bucket or 6-way blade-- which both make a terrible mess of things). I need to sell this machine (which I bought in 2005 for $27,000 -- and cannot seem to get nibbles on when priced at $25,000 with new tracks (cost of $5K).

So, I need to sell the ASV and purchase an appropriate tractor. (Does anyone have a guess as to what this machine is worth? -- 2,500 hours. Images in my web page: The 3-Bell Ranch - Home .

I think that the tractor will have to be strong enough to:
1. move hay (square or round bales)
2. plow snow in the winter (therefore must be a 4wd)
3. pull appropriate implements: plow, disc, harrow, baler. (I'm hoping to do the mowing and raking with horses)
4. miscelaneous farm/ ranch tasks as needed (such as the immediate one to plant a 3 acre field to summer alfalfa (green manure crop) to enrich the soil so that we can grow decent hay next year).

Recommendations with regard to brand, model, year, horsepower, implements, and other critical issues will be greatly appreciated.

How does one go about finding/ assessing such a machine???

Please feel free to "visit" may ranch-- The 3-Bell Ranch - Home ! We are a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms member farm. (see: WWOOF-USA )

Moving hay bales is the requirement that sizes your tractor. I would go with a heavy tractor in the 50-70 hp range like the Mahindra 6030 (59 hp engine, 50 hp pto, synchro-shuttle tranny, 6193 lb without FEL, weights, and/or hydroinflated tires). I'd get it with 4WD and an FEL with a 6-ft wide bucket on a skid-steer quick attach adapter. That way you could switch from the bucket to a bale spear or bale grapple quickly.

I have a Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto, partial constant mesh tranny, 2WD, 5370 lb without FEL, weights, and/or hydroinflated tires) that I use on my 10 acre place. Cost around $17 with the ML250 FEL (6-ft wide bucket). I'll put 6-7 acres into oat hay this Fall with the 5525 doing most of the heavy work.

JD, MF, NH, Kioti and Kubota have tractors with similar specs.
Have fun tractor shopping.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Im gonna look on craigslist right now. I live in Oregon so I look on Or. and Wa. craigslist for tractors.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Now you should have a few options.

 

[chh]

Defintely go with an Ag utility tractor, cab or open would be your own preference. In the price you are asking for the $25,000 price range of the ASV there are a lot of options out there. Front wheel assist and a FEL would be major assets. I'd look in the 65 to 80 hp range for what you mentioned. I currently have a MF and a Montana in that size. Kubota's have good models in that range, as well as the brands already mentioned.
Buying hay or having your hay custom baled would be a much less expensive option for the amount of cattle you are talking about having and for the amount of land that you own.

 

[Soundguy]

how wide of rows will this tractor need to make it down?

if moving rounds.. i don't see you wanting less than 50hp.. high 40's will do it.. but you will like the weight of a heavier tractor better when moving large rounds.

soundguy

I own a decommissioned orchard in the Okanogan Valley of North Central Washington. The trees, on 30 of the 74 acres, were cut down around 7 years ago and continue to sprout from the root stock. The best course of action is to remove them (with a grapple).

I'm re-establishing the agricultural classification and have committed to growing 15 acres of hay and growing 5-6 cattle on the remaining 15. We have 17 acres of permanent set irrigation left to install. My 71 year old neighbor and I completed 12 acres last summer. We need a tractor that can "pull" the irrigation lines in (as opposed to trenching them in as we did last summer as we're both just a little tired of spending our summers in a trench!)

I own an ASV 4810 Skid Steer, which has little value on my land, save ripping out the apple tree roots (with the bucket or 6-way blade-- which both make a terrible mess of things). I need to sell this machine (which I bought in 2005 for $27,000 -- and cannot seem to get nibbles on when priced at $25,000 with new tracks (cost of $5K).

So, I need to sell the ASV and purchase an appropriate tractor. (Does anyone have a guess as to what this machine is worth? -- 2,500 hours. Images in my web page: The 3-Bell Ranch - Home .

I think that the tractor will have to be strong enough to:
1. move hay (square or round bales)
2. plow snow in the winter (therefore must be a 4wd)
3. pull appropriate implements: plow, disc, harrow, baler. (I'm hoping to do the mowing and raking with horses)
4. miscelaneous farm/ ranch tasks as needed (such as the immediate one to plant a 3 acre field to summer alfalfa (green manure crop) to enrich the soil so that we can grow decent hay next year).

Recommendations with regard to brand, model, year, horsepower, implements, and other critical issues will be greatly appreciated.

How does one go about finding/ assessing such a machine???

Please feel free to "visit" may ranch-- The 3-Bell Ranch - Home ! We are a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms member farm. (see: WWOOF-USA )

 

[Johndeere3720]

Ive noticed a lot of hay equippment in your area and here in Oregon on craigslist.

 

[RWolf]

You mentioned hay equipment and specifically rounds. What size rounds do you plan on baling? 6x5's will require something in the neighborhood of 80HP. I'm looking at doing rounds and am limited to 4x5's and pushing it 5x5's with my tractor. Small squares can be done with considerably less HP. You also might have to up the HP depending on the moco you get. In a lot of ways I think you would be better off getting two tractors. One for haying and in this case an open station 2WD because it will primarily be used during summer and a smaller utility to do the "utility" work. I've moved 1800# rounds with my tractor without any additional weights and it's easy to manuver to say unload/load hay or things like digging post holes etc.