Limitations of a sub compact?

[MtnViewRanch]

A SCUT will lift far more than two or thee bags of mulch, sand or cement. If you can fit it in the bucket, it will lift it. A rough comparison would be a scut bucket will handle about 3 times what a wheel barrow load would be. A bucket expander is also available for the Kubota BX.
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I think that you might want to rethink that. Most wheel barrows hold from 4-6 cubic feet. I have yet to see any SCUT that will hold 12 cubic feet let alone 18 CF. I always thought that a SCUT loader bucket was about the same size or just a little bigger than a wheel barrow, but never 2-3 times the size. :confused3:

 

[sandman2234]

Without doing the calculations for the math to exactly determine the size, it is pretty obvious that a 42", 48" or 60" bucket available from Bush Hog for a 15 to 25 hp tractor with the lowest part of it's capacity at 570 pounds (highest at 2300), it is going to OUTWORK ANY WHEELBARROW that I have ever seen, even with the strongest of young men behind the handles, or even three or four of them.
I often have jobs that my 65hp, 7000 pound tractor CANNOT do, that my little Ford 1100 did on a regular basis. I used to load the Ford in the back of my 1/2 ton pickup with the bush hog sticking out past the tailgate a couple of feet, and move it from location to location. Now my 1/2 ton pickup won't even safely pull the 7000 pound beast, but if I get it to a job, it does it in so much less time. However, for operations around my house, the 7000 pounder does almost everything quicker. However, due to limitations such as size, it won't fit into smaller areas, or turn around in them, so extra work is delegated to my Steiner lawnmower that used to be handled by the subcompact tractor.
Open spaces seem to eat more horsepower easily, whereas smaller combined areas tend to limit what you can use, thereby limiting the size.
Figure out what jobs you can and might need doing and lets go from there...
David from jax

 

[deepNdirt]

I think that you might want to rethink that. Most wheel barrows hold from 4-6 cubic feet. I have yet to see any SCUT that will hold 12 cubic feet let alone 18 CF. I always thought that a SCUT loader bucket was about the same size or just a little bigger than a wheel barrow, but never 2-3 times the size. :confused3:

I can key in on this one..... as i have for many years mixed cement in a wheelbarrow and usually without spilling can only do 2x 80 lb bags is the max, just a few days ago I decide to give my 4 ft. FEL a try with mixing some cement, it would hold 2 x that amount ..4- 80 lb bags than that of a wheelbarrow, plus dumping the FEL was much easier on my back , If ever owning a tractor without a FEL you might not know what you'd be missing as I did with My cut Kubota for many years, then after getting the Yanmar and rigging it with a FEL I could never see myself having any size tractor without one, Yes the smaller SCUTS are limited although still would be much better driving with 3 bags of mulch in the FEL then pushing a wheelbarrow up hill with the same amount, No brainer!:thumbsup: IMO a good size tractor to have for between 2-10 acres would be a tractor 18-25 hp, if you have more land than that buy a few goats, they'll take care of the rest,

 

[Transit]

The problem or i should say the challenge is to size the tractor to the intended uses. The flaw is that one "FINDS" new uses. That's why i need a bigger tractor. A 900 Lb FEL doesn't cut it any more, maybe a 3,100 lb FEL, a cab with AC for the hot days and heat for the cold? Next a Hot Tub and a 54 inch 3-D TV. Get a big enough tractor and live in it.

 

[sandman2234]

Roy, that isn't overkill. Same size lot with a 23hp 5foot diesel mower, backed up with a 65 hp JD, a 90 hp Ford and then buying a 60 hp Duetz is overkill. David from jax

 

[Jaylegger]

Engines and hydraulic pumps (flow/pressure) with more HP can potentially do more work per hour than those with less. The wheelbase, ground clearance, overall weight, height, and length of SCUT's may be a limitation or benefit depending on job and/or site. I would hazard a guess that the greatest limitation of many SCUT's out there is the operator and if equipped with backhoe the digging depth.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I can key in on this one..... as i have for many years mixed cement in a wheelbarrow and usually without spilling can only do 2x 80 lb bags is the max, just a few days ago I decide to give my 4 ft. FEL a try with mixing some cement, it would hold 2 x that amount ..4- 80 lb bags than that of a wheelbarrow, plus dumping the FEL was much easier on my back , If ever owning a tractor without a FEL you might not know what you'd be missing as I did with My cut Kubota for many years, then after getting the Yanmar and rigging it with a FEL I could never see myself having any size tractor without one, Yes the smaller SCUTS are limited although still would be much better driving with 3 bags of mulch in the FEL then pushing a wheelbarrow up hill with the same amount, No brainer!:thumbsup: IMO a good size tractor to have for between 2-10 acres would be a tractor 18-25 hp, if you have more land than that buy a few goats, they'll take care of the rest,

I'm not saying that you might as well have a wheel barrow and of course it is a lot easier than manual labor.:thumbsup: All I was commenting on was that the FEL bucket on a SCUT was not 3 times the size of today's average wheel barrow.

 

[jenkinsph]

Justification?

Isn't that something women consider when looking at your toys?


My thought is that if I can turn it around in the yard it fits.:laughing:

 

[RalphVa]

I've a compact JD of 18.5 hp diesel that is somewhat equivalent to a new JD 2320 or Kubota B class of similar hp. It's been great on my 8.5 very hilly and uneven acres. I was a beast moving our record 56" of snow this winter. Not long after I bought it, I moved about 23 tons of gravel from a delivered pile out front to a trail that runs across the top and down a bit of my 100' high hill in back. The FEL or the 3ph will lift 1,000-1,200 #. The FEL lifts high enough to dump it into a pickup. The 3 ph doesn't lift too high. The 4010 is high enough to not have clearance problems of a 2305 or Kubota BX. The hydraulic cooling fan is the engine fan, and the hydraulic cooler is located in front of the engine radiator. It's equally as compact for using an underdeck mower as a 2305. A friend of mine has a 4010 that he uses for mowing with an underdeck. I have a 4' bush hog.

My neighbor is like Roy. He has a 40ish hp JD that he uses on his 5 acres with similar topography as our 8.5. He has a wicked mountain road like driveway to take care of and is using it for a lot of dirt moving.

Ralph

 

[Chilly807]

The problem or i should say the challenge is to size the tractor to the intended uses. The flaw is that one "FINDS" new uses.

There's a whole lot of truth in that statement..

The only way to decide how much tractor you need is to lay out exactly what you want to do with it regularly. I could use a backhoe a couple times a year, and a dozer maybe once every two years. So, there's no point in me buying either a backhoe or something with enough power to act as a dozer. I'd like to have both, mind you.. I'll hire someone to do those jobs, they can pay for the extra machinery, not me.

A lot of the replies to this thread have been right on the money. The first one I'll comment on is safety. If the tractor is overwhelmed by the trailer it's hauling or the bush hog hanging off the back, it's not safe.

Never mind what they say, size counts.. if it's too big or too heavy to fit into the area you're working in, it's pick and shovel time.

I have to drive around my house to load attachments because my septic tank/line/field is in the way on the short route. Bigger tractors with AG tires are tough on lawns, I've left some nasty tracks when the ground was soft.

Will it fit into your garage? Does the ROPS fold? How much ground clearance do you need?

Can you hold enough fuel for a day's work, or are you stopping to fuel every couple hours? Mind you, I'm usually ready for a break myself after a couple hours, so it's not always a problem.

I have 10 acres, about 7 in pasture. I spent the past two afternoons mowing pasture with a 5 foot bush hog, another afternoon will see it done. A smaller tractor will mean more time, and possibly less comfort over rough ground.

We haul out firewood in the winter and remove snow from a 250 foot driveway.

Long and short of it is, almost everything we do could be done with a smaller tractor, except maybe shift small round bales. It would take longer and the machine would work harder. As it is, I was reflecting on my choice this afternoon, and I'm glad I got the size I did. It's a good match for my abilities and the chores it does.

Being able to haul it around behind a truck is a real plus if you have more than one location to use it. Nothing I have will haul the 3400, so it's limited that way.

Sean