tractor choice?

   / tractor choice? #1  

chuck172

Platinum Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
843
Location
N.E, Pa.
Tractor
Kioti DK40SEH, Ford 4500TLB, Ford 8n
I need help deciding on a tractor. I now have a diesel 71 ford 4500 tlb. An 8n. A rusting out 89' F-250 4wd. with a western plow.
I need to do quite a bit of firewood cutting in my woods. I need to snowplow an 800 foot driveway. A big development is my knees are totally shot and I need a loader to lift grocery bags and things up to my deck. Right now my wife and I are having a ****-of-a-time climbing the steps.
I use the 8n for york raking the tlb for big jobs. I'm thinking 4wd. for the woods and logging, gas powered for easy starting in the winter, and a nice loader for lifting.
Limited budget here, need to buy used. I won't sell what I have, Sentimental value to me.
What should I look for?
 
   / tractor choice? #2  
Hello! Definitely 4wd; however, you may have a problem finding it in gas. IMHO, If your fuel is good and the glow plugs work you should not have a problem starting a diesel in the cold weather, especially with a block heater. There are some reviews that the members from TBN have posted here. I like what I have, and I'm sure you will receive similar opinions. Good luck.
 
   / tractor choice?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I'll be needing it to start up and run for short periods in the winter. I think gas engines are more suited for that.
I'd like to modify my 8' western plow to work off the loader for snowplowing. My F-250 isn't reliable enough.
 
   / tractor choice? #4  
I need help deciding on a tractor. I now have a diesel 71 ford 4500 tlb. An 8n. A rusting out 89' F-250 4wd. with a western plow.
I need to do quite a bit of firewood cutting in my woods. I need to snowplow an 800 foot driveway. A big development is my knees are totally shot and I need a loader to lift grocery bags and things up to my deck. Right now my wife and I are having a ****-of-a-time climbing the steps.
I use the 8n for york raking the tlb for big jobs. I'm thinking 4wd. for the woods and logging, gas powered for easy starting in the winter, and a nice loader for lifting.
Limited budget here, need to buy used. I won't sell what I have, Sentimental value to me.
What should I look for?

For jobs in the woods, I'd look for a tractor in the 30-40 hp range that has good ground clearance. 5-10 years old. Kubota, Deere, Mahindra are possibilities.
 
   / tractor choice?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
How will they do pushing a heavy snowplow and lifting say 10' with the loader?
 
   / tractor choice? #6  
You got to look up the specs of theses tractors. My TN75 will lift just under 10ft, but it's a 75hp machine. this tractor is a taller machine than a 40hp model. i don't know if they would go that high. When you put my FEL up to max height, the bucket is over the hood a little

I'd look at a dumb waiter of some sorts, no need to start a tractor to lift groceries up onto the deck. And, you're going to hit the deck eventually, and have to repair it. You'll use a dumb waiter more than you'd ever realize.

Where do you live and how much snowfall you get yearly. And whats the depth of an average storm?
 
   / tractor choice?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I'm in N.E. Pa. We can get quite a bit of snow. I did look into a dumb waiter for the deck. I'm leaning towards a loader. I can keep the tractor parked next to the deck when not in use and just load and start it and lift when needed.
My loader on the 4500 goes real high, I'm surprised yours doesn't. Maybe a tractor won't work for me. I'd have to have it lift aprox. 9' high to clear the deck rail.
 
   / tractor choice? #8  
You are going to need a very large tractor to get your 9 foot lift. My 72 HP LS model P 7010 Ag tractor shows 11.3 feet but in the 38 hP compact you only get 7.5 feet max height and 47 Hp gets you 9.5. You are getting into the maximum HP range for the CUT tractors to get to the 9 feet height you need. NOTE this is all data from the LS website, but I would expect similar lift heights from the other brands also. If you have a regular backhoe with FEL then it will get more lift than a tractor
 
   / tractor choice?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I didn't realize that, thanks. I could modify my deck and make the rail into a gate. That way 7 feet or so would do it.
 
   / tractor choice? #10  
my MX5100 HST will lift the loader 10ft.
 
 
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