help a damsel in distress

   / help a damsel in distress #1  

bunny

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Oct 2, 2001
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I have about 8 acres to mow each week, and about 15 acres to brush hog 4-5 times a year. I want a compact tractor to mow with while someone else drives my craftsman sit down mower. What brand tractor do I buy? It seems like my options are JD, Kubota or NH. I have a slight slope to my beautiful Vermont 2nd home property. I have been reading all the posts--My head is spinning! What is the minimum horsepower I should consider? I want to get the mowing done as quickly as possible. Is there really that much difference between a 4' deck and a 6' deck (I know, I know it's 2 feet) ? But time-wise, would I really notice the difference?I could pay about $9K for a small used Kubota with a belly mower and a 4' brushhog, or, I could get a slightly used JD with a rear 6' mower and brush hog rear attachment for approx $15K. Is it worth the extra $ to me? Do you think--"gee, with that much to do, she shouldn't go with less than ________ horsepower" Please! fill in the blank for me. Any advice would be appreciated. is one brand known for better reliability over the others? Thanks so very much-Bunny
 
   / help a damsel in distress #2  
If all you want to do is mow and keep your time to a minimum then I would opt for a zero turn front mower for the grass and hire out the brushhogging. 15 acres and eight acres is a lot to brush hog and mow. I don't think you will find a single machine as efficient as you would like to do both given your time constraint. To answer your HP question for a single machine - 30 minimum, low end. And yes big difference in deck size. However a zero turn mower with the typical 61 inch deck will out mow a compact tractor with a 6 ft deck and look better doing it.
 
   / help a damsel in distress #3  
Bunny, I'd almost bet that no one who's ever bought a tractor has later thought, "Gee, I wish I had a smaller tractor with less horsepower to accomodate smaller implements and take longer to complete my tasks."

The brands you are considering are all good-essentially the Big Three of compact tractors. I looked at all three when I was shopping and bought what I have (a green one) based solely on 'the deal.' Enroute to buying though, I was all over the board from new to used and from $3,000 to $20,000. I looked at 'grey market' as well as US marketed. I narrowed it down to those three brands, too.

If you can afford the larger unit, I doubt you'll ever regret it. The only thing I've thought in the months I've had my tractor is that I wish I'd gone bigger. More horsepower will allow you not only to use larger attachments, but also to move faster while you're using them, thus cutting your mowing time.

For what it's worth, I believe conventional wisdon is that you may get a slightly better cut on uneven terrain with a belly mower (often referred to as a mid-mount mower or MMM here).

As to reliability, the tractors that last longest and have the fewest problems are the ones the are maintained the best, regardless of color. The odds are that whatever you buy will outlast you if it's maintained properly. The fellow across the road from my office mows with a fifty year old tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I'm sure others with more experience and knowledge than I possess will respond to this post. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
   / help a damsel in distress #4  
All you need is a small Kubota or JD such as the Kubota B7500 or JD4110. Your main use is mowing and they will do that very well for you. I imagine you have trees and such that will need to be circled and maybe other obstructions, the smaller tractors will zip around much better with minimal impact on your property and cost. Get either tractor with a 60 inch mid mount mower and a 4 foot rotary cutter and go ot it. Get a front end loader to help with other chores and maybe a rake.
Horsepower is important but buying a compact is not like going to Sears with good-better-best with each increase in power, a 20-24 horsepower compact is much, much more powerful than a Sears 25 horse lawnmower--much more so. You do not need a 30 horsepower tractor to mow a few acres. J
 
   / help a damsel in distress #5  
Consider this. 8 acres = 348,480 square feet.
If you use a 6' mower, you will probably overlap about 1' each pass to ensure good coverage. That gives a nominal 5' cut each pass. Traveling at 4 miles per hour cutting a 5' path would cut 105,600 sq ft per hour. That would take 3.3 hours to cut 8 acres.
If you use a 4' mower with a 1' overlap at 4 miles per hour, you would cut 63,360 sq ft per hour. That would take 5.5 hours to cut 8 acres.
You may overlap a little less, but you can see the difference.
Just depends on whether you want faster finish, or more seat time. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif But 5.5 hours per week mowing is a lot of seat time./w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif
 
   / help a damsel in distress #6  
Bunny, you also need to ask yourself if brush hogging and mowing is all you will ever do with your tractor. I think when most people get a tractor, they discover many other jobs the tractor can do. You need to consider that. Do you have driveways or dirt roads to maintain? Will you need it for snow removal? Do you have horses or other livestock? Then a loader may be good to have for manure moving.
Also, consider how much you are willing to spend. That will help you determine if you want to go new, used or vintage.
 
   / help a damsel in distress #7  
Rich makes an excellent point (<font color=blue>"I think when most people get a tractor, they discover many other jobs the tractor can do."</font color=blue>).

One suggestion I would make in that regard is to get a front end loader. It is one of the most versatile tools you can have on a tractor. You can use it for the obvious things like moving dirt, mulch, gravel or snow and for some less obvious like carrying tools to the far corner of your property for some project or as a non-OSHA approved man lift. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / help a damsel in distress
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Thanks to all for your response. But there is no general consensus. I'm concerned about not enough "oomph". If I needed to pull a boat on a trailer, I would know not to buy a VW bug. What HP would you all recommend? Is it fair to say 30 HP or less? What about a small B7100 Kubota with a belly mower and 4' brush hog? I think that was around 18-ish HP. Am I crazy to consider that over a 30 HP JD for $5K more? Thanks so much. I don't want to hire out the brush hogging, because I was charged $350 to do it once, and it wouldn't make much sense dollar-wise. Thanks so much-Bunny
 
   / help a damsel in distress #9  
<font color=blue>"...or as a non-OSHA approved man lift."</font color=blue>

Tsk, Tsk, Gary! You should know better. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif PERSON lift, not <font color=red>MAN</font color=red> lift! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif


Bunny, now that I've added a few chuckles (I hope /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif), I'll throw my $0.02 in. Based on what you've said you want to do, I'd say anything between 30 hp and 45 hp would work for you. You've got a lot of area to cover, so I'd imagine you'd want to do it fairly quickly.

I think the bottom line is this - You can ask this question any number of times, and you will never get a concensus! That just shows you that virtually all of the machines are pretty much comparable in quality. So, the bottom line is YOU. What fits YOUR financial situation best? Which machine feels the most comfortable to YOU when you're on it? How much does the dealer support mean to YOU?

As you can see, you are the key element. I can tell you this. Regardless of what you end up buying, just about everyone on TBN will applaud and support your decision!

Good luck, and keep us posted! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / help a damsel in distress #10  
You'll never get a concensus./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I like the answer by BB TX; depends on how much time you want to spend doing it. Having owned a B7100 with a 4' brush hog and a B2710 with a 5' brush hog, it's highly unlikely that you'll brush hog that 15 acres in one day with anything smaller than a B2710 (27 engine and 20 PTO hp). And to finish mow 8 acres once a week will just about be a full day's work with anything less than a 5' mower. I certainly would not want to go with anything as small as TresCrows mentioned . . . unless . . . if money is a major consideration (as it's been for me many times), then you can certainly do the job with tractors that small if you don't mind the time it takes. In addition to the time it takes to do the job, you might also want to consider the comfort factor; bigger tractors are just going to ride smoother and be more comfortable as a general rule.
 
 
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