Tractor Sizing what's too big

[No1umfan]

I have 40 acres of woods with old trails that need maintenance. 1/2 acre garden. 100 fruit tree orchard. 1000 ft. gravel drive. 6 stall horse barn with 5 horses. 2 acres lawn. I'm shopping for "new" tractor and have been shown things around 30 hp by the big 3. Kubota B3300SU and L3200 for example. There is a used Kubota 5040 with 400 hrs going for around the same price, maybe 2-3 K extra. What are the drawbacks to going with the much larger tractor?

[bigbull338]

id buy the 5040 if your trails are wide enough to drive the tractor down.an your getting more hp for a little extra money.

[nybirdman]

The 5040 for sure is a nice tractor but.....too big for mowing a lawn,muck stalls,close in work.Everything else you describe should be perfect.Moving large bales,grader,snow removal act;the larger tractor would shine.I don't have horses but everything else similar and I use a L4240HSTC,which is a cab model.Is it a gear model or HST?

[No1umfan]

The 5040 is an HST. As far as mucking stalls there isn't any size tractor that will actually get into the stalls which have 3 foot wide doors. I'm assuming the 5040 would be able to go down the main aisle of the barn.

[Dr_Zinj]

Ten Reasons You Know Your Tractor is Too Big:

1. The wheels extend past both ends of your property at the same time.
2. It sinks through the concrete barn floor.
3. The turning radius takes you across state lines.
4. You can see it from geosynchronous orbit.
5. Airlines use it as a way point between cities.
6. It uses more fuel in a day than the U.S. imports.
7. Your neighbors complain it blocks their solar collectors.
8. The start up smoke puff reduces global warming by 10%.
9. It's a 10 minute elevator ride to the driver's seat.
10. You accidentally drive over your prize winning bull and never noticed the bump.

[Soundguy]

40 ac is alot of area.. but if it's mostly woods with lil use for a tractor in there.. then the 30hp class machines may do you.

if you ever do something witht he 40ac like make it pasture.. keep the 30hp machine and get an older 50-100 hp machine for mowing or whatnot.. etc.

soundguy

[No1umfan]

It's 40 acres woods and 20 acres combined house barn lawn pasture hayfield pond etc. Would it be too crazy to go through the woods with a brush hog and clean up some old trails or even try to create new trails. Would that just beat up the tractor too bad?

[Reg]

Not clear what you mean by "maintenance".
If it is just mowing, driveway and arena dragging, hauling manure out and turning it over, then the smaller tractors would probably do just fine.

If it is MAJOR reclamation of overgrown areas, re-contouring the landscape, road and trail building, stump digging, etc. the bigger one certainly wouldn't be TOO big.

[75H2]

It's only too big if it belongs to someone else

[SixHoeBob]

Does the 5040 have a loader and/or 4WD? What about the new 30 hp tractors?