Which tractor should I buy?

[mthiel]

I have purchased alot with 4.8 acres in Jophnstown, OH. 1/2 is pasture leading to a nature preserve. Back of lot is very sloping and needs brush hogged. There is a 14 acre nature park area that is a shared resonsibility of all residents in the development. The park needs to be cleaned up with a brush hog. No one has touched it yet. Overgrown right now.

From our last house, I used a JD GT225 with 48" deck to mow 2.8 acres. I would like to switch over to a small compact tractor that has other features like FEL, Rotary Cutters, and tilling capabilities.

I have been looking at Kubota's BX2200. It seems to have many of the features I want at a good price. I have also looked at JD's 4010. It has less HP than BX2200 but seems to have better ground clearance.

How much horsepower would I need to cut pasture on a slope? Is there much difference between the 4010 (18HP) and the BX2200 (22HP)?

How much HP is enough?

When does ground clearance become important?

Any help would be greatly appreciated?

 

[Steelfan]

Welcome Mthiel,

I don't own either of those tractors, but I have a New Holland TC21D with FEL, and MMM. I think you definitely need to consider ground clearance. The BX model is pretty low to the ground. Its a really nice tractor to mowing lawns, and light loader work, I'm told. The 4010 is more like my TC21. I've done a lot of lawn mowing, and some loader work with mine, but no brush hogging. My feeling is that you should try to get the best tractor that still fits your budget, and suits your needs. If I had the choice, I'd try to go with the compact size, not the subcompact for your uses. I don't think you'll be sorry spending the extra money. This is just my opinion, and I'm sure you'll hear from lots of BX owners. Good Luck,

Kent

 

[MossRoad]

Check out this thread on a Power Trac PT425 with a 48" brush hog. Read the whole thing and towards the bottom there are several pictures of what this unit can do to heavy brush. I was impressed.(it's my tractor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif )

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=powertrac&Number=182915&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=>Check out this thread by clicking here </A>

 

[Hoeman00]

HELLO mthiel:
I think u live in Johnstown ???
If u do a good dealer to check out on the New Holland line is
Farmers NH in Mt.Vernon (like my 35D w/ SS) or
JD equipment in London is selling at invoice price right now.

 

[SethO]

I will suggest you look away from the 4010 or 4100, they seem not to be rated by the manufacturer for much.

Seth

 

[HickoryDean]

Mark - Your description of a steep slope that needs to be brush cut should perhaps be a major consideration. Some tractors weigh considerably more than others. The Kioti 1914 weighs a ton, whereas a comparable Kubota may be 600 or more pounds lighter. Get a dealer to bring one out and test it on that slope.

 

[FamilyFarm]

I chose the BX22 for maintaing similar acreage. It will handle a 4' rotary cutter, but if I were going to be hogging more than other work, I would buy larger - probably a 2710 or larger. In my case, I used the brush hog extensively until the place was cleaned up some, but will not have to use if often now.
Terry

 

[earthmaster1]

I might suggest looking at the mahindra 2310, 25 hp, alot heavier than the bx22 and more groung clearance. excellent ergonomics, high lifting capacties at the 3pt and loader. Should handle brush hogging no problem, it has 12spd forward/reverse, syncro shuttle trans, independent pto.