Tractor Sizing What Horse Power is adequate-76 acres

[clan scott]

I'm looking for feed back regarding the appropriate HP tractor I should have.

I will be purchasing a 76acre old farm parcel and will be in the market

for a tractor very soon. The land is grown over now for at least 9 years, the

original owners used to maintain it with 2WD ZETOR 5011. I'm seriously

considering a used ford tractor, something with 4WD and HP somewhere

around 50. I was told I wouldn't have to go that big to Bush hog this piece.

I am looking for some thoughts from seasoned veterans.

Thank Guys

[mjw357]

I would say that's a good start, 50HP. What's the terrain like, and will you be doing anything other than mowing (plowing/planting)?

[clan scott]

The terrain is fairly flat old pasture with over grown brush and some wet

lands.

[MrWhippy]

Horsepower and time are inversely related.

50 HP tractor will still take you the better part of a day to mow the whole thing. With a 56 PTO HP (Ford 5600), we can mow our 35 acres of maintained horse pastures in about 5 hours. That's using a 10ft batwing mower.

[jlsmith]

A rule of thumb I like to use is "If you need a 50 hp tractor buy a 60hp tractor" Predict for future use.
Jeremy

[clan scott]

Actually my horse power concerns are not based on time, but ability to mow

through the 9 year brush growth.

[MrWhippy]

Well, that's really more what the mower can handle. Once you know it will cut up to the size of brush in the pasture (2" trunk, 4" trunk), you can see how big of a tractor you need to run the mower.

Edit to add:

You could even rent a big tractor and mower and get it cut down as a one time cost, then figure what you need to maintain it.

[TripleR]

Actually my horse power concerns are not based on time, but ability to mow

through the 9 year brush growth.

I guess it depends on the brush. I mow the same stuff with my Kubota L5030 and Land Pride RCR2672 that I do with our Kubota M8540 and Woods DS1260 pull type. The L5030 just takes longer.

After nine years lying fallow, however, you may have some brush that is going to take more than a tractor and bush hog.

[Soundguy]

50hp puts you into an 8' mower.. probably creep along with a 10. for 4wd.. you'll have to likely get into the 10/II/S series.. thus inthat hp range i suspect a 56/66XX series modle. for near the same money you could likely find a 76xx series and get more hp if needed in about the same footprint...

[Mark Page]

With that much acreage I would want a 12 foot bat wing mower and at least 70 horse power. I used to bush hog about 15 acres with a 6 ft bush hog and a 35 horse Massey and it used to take about 3 hours., which was all the seat time I cared to spend at one time.
If you want to make it your life's work you could go this route but it's gonna take a while. A fourty five horse machine will do it with a 6ft hog. On your first mowing don't try to mow it real low.
How far do you have to move the tractor to get to the parcel? Can you drive on road or will you need a trailer and the vehicle to pull it. Big difference in weight between 45 and 70 horse power machines.