Tractor Sizing New guy needs help sizing a tractor please

[RoMad]

Compared to a lot of others here I am quite new to tractors. You have a lot of work to do to get set up, but you are only talking about a 1 acre garden, so not much ground work. A tractor smaller than 50 hp will take you a little longer to do some of your work, but it will also use a lot less fuel and when you have your clearing all finished it will be more maneuverable around the buildings, stall, animal pens, etc.
Maybe you should rent a couple of different size tractors and do a little work with them. This would give you a good feel for what you are comfortable with.

[foreman Etexas]

Thanks Indy for the link to the gray market info, makes a lot of sense. Maybe that's why the guy kept talking about it being 100% safe, seemed to emphasize that...he was probably assuming I knew what a gray market tractor was.

What is a float fee?

Float is trailer...Hauling fee
Were at in C.texas?

[IndyIan]

Thanks Indy for the link to the gray market info, makes a lot of sense. Maybe that's why the guy kept talking about it being 100% safe, seemed to emphasize that...he was probably assuming I knew what a gray market tractor was.

What is a float fee?

A float fee is the cost to transport your tractor to the dealer. The fine print in any warranty says you have to get your tractor to the dealer for warranty work. A DK40/45/50 with a backhoe and loader is getting near 7k lbs so it gets above what the average 1/2 ton can tow.

Probably what you should do, is calculate how much dirt you need to move for your major earth moving projects. If its 1000's of cubic yards you may be best served just to hire that out, and get a tractor just for your regular uses?
Like others have said, it doesn't sound like you need a big tractor other than for moving dirt.

[art]

Buy a trator for your everyday use as your primary set-up. Many times people buy a tractor for different uses and then once those jobs are done they find that they wish they had something else that better fit the finished property. Maybe to rent a unit for the heavy excavation would be best.

[Mark Page]

I've found some times it's better to hire a contractor for the odd job, like backhoe work. For $7000 you have a pro do a lot of work. You'll need a bushog for clearing brush. A box blade and York rake will do a nice job on your driveway.
A hydrostatic transmission would be a must in my view. Make sure your bucket is at least as wide as the machine's track. 40 to 50 horse machine should do the job. 4wd is a must if your going to deal with snow. I'm a Massey fan but New Hollands seem to be a good value in these parts.

[Martian]

Ok, I'm a little late to the party, but have skimmed through most and will try to answer some more questions.

As with you being a newbie to tractors, you'd be a newbie to fixing them, a dealer being close to help diagnose is helpful as well. Nothing worse than either having to pay an arm and a leg for shipping or for all your time hauling to a dealer.

You need 4x4 for a tractor as your talking about. HST is also much better for gear for your intended purposes.

The live PTO is all there is today. I have a 50's Farmall Cub, and it doesn't have a live PTO, so when the tractor stops, so does the PTO. ALL new tractors have a live PTO standard.

As far as brand goes, they all have their ups and downs. Not a ton of price difference but depending on how much dealers are willing to negotiate it could make a $1000 difference into a $5000 difference. All tractors will do nearly the same job though, so you don't have to worry that if I don't get tractor XYZ then it won't be able to to what a comparable ZYX does. Biggest difference between brands is your local dealer in my opinion.

I don't think you need a 50HP machine, but it would make a lot of your chores a lot easier.

If you think you absolutely NEED a backhoe, then a M59 (Kubota 60 HP) or a L45 (Kubota 45 HP) is the best choice. I'd lean toward the L45 as I don't think you need all of the M59. They offer the swivel seat and don't make you get off of the backhoe and back onto the tractor to move it, you can simply "swivel" around as others have mentioned.

If you don't NEED a backhoe and can rent a mini ex for the few times that you will be using a backhoe, then I would say that money would be much better invested in a cab tractor. Your cool when its hot and hot when its cool.

[Ron JD670]

I've found some times it's better to hire a contractor for the odd job, like backhoe work. For $7000 you have a pro do a lot of work. You'll need a bushog for clearing brush. A box blade and York rake will do a nice job on your driveway.
A hydrostatic transmission would be a must in my view. Make sure your bucket is at least as wide as the machine's track. 40 to 50 horse machine should do the job. 4wd is a must if your going to deal with snow. I'm a Massey fan but New Hollands seem to be a good value in these parts.

DeWreckingcrew
I agree with Mark Page it sounds like you know exactly what you want to do on the land so a good earth moving contractor could do the rough work in days and you could clean up with a smaller piece of equipment and lower investment, maintenance, etc One you can move with a lighter truck and trailer. Check out the threads on trailers and loading equipment. A bigger trailer to move the tractor and options will add to your investment. You'll want to be safe moving a large piece of equipment an asset to and from the dealer ? miles away.

Are you a weekend warrior or is this 20acres your job? As a week end warrior i made a list of must have and rent/ barrow equipment. And a list of projects and what I needed to get the job done. Even with my planning I found I have spent another 5% or more on misc items like tow chains, straps, hooks, etc etc. I found my trailer I already owned is undersized.

If you have looked at the accessories and attachments threads even a good one can be modified to improve utility. Given the distance to a dealer I'd see if there are some good tractor truck mechanics closer.

Once the heavy lifting is over, you may have an over sized tractor for maintenance of the property and option/tools you seldom use but need to maintain. This is just some food for thought not a commentary on other opinions or your choices.

[wcampbell47]

So the story is I just moved onto 20 acres, this will just be a homestead. I've cleared about 10 acres of it, the other 10 is mesquite brush. In the immediate foreseeable future my plans for a tractor would include site preperations for a 30X40 shop, a 25X40 garage, a 85X50 sport court, and a 20X40 outdoor kitchen/patio. We would also like to develope and maintain a one acre vegetable garden. Aside from that, there is lots of landscaping to do, so I will be moving dirt around, putting in big flagstone rocks for pathways, possibly putting in concrete sidewalks, ect. I will also need to maintain our dirt/gravel driveway which is about 1000' long. I do have a commercial zero turn mower, so I will most likely not be needing a shredder. One thing we would like to do but is not necessarily immediate is to buy some larger trees and transplant them to the property.

The guys have advised a 40-50 hp tractor which sounds about right to me. For sure a front end loader to move dirt, rocks, flagstone, etc. A box blade to help prepare your construction sites. For the vegetable garden a tiller is a handy thing as well as a tool bar with "bedders" cause here in Texas we garden with raised beds. The long driveway would best be maintained with a land plane. Consider a post hole digger to erect fences or to make a quick hole to plant trees or shrubs. You might reconsider on the shredder if your only tool to mow the 10 acres that is cleared is a zero turn. A 7 or 8 foot twin spindle would save lots of time if you plan on mowing the cleared area.

As far as a backhoe I would assess if a rented unit on the days that you need it would work out economically. Otherwise it might just turn out to be yard art once your projects are done. But then are you really ever done with 20 acres?