New Tractor Advice

   / New Tractor Advice #1  

TomGallopavo

New member
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
6
Location
Hillbillyville, MO
Tractor
Kubota L3800
I have 108 acres of which 11 is mowed field plus I have a 2.5 acre, 1.5 acre, and another 2 acres I will need to brush hog (remaining timber). I need to mow the 11 acres but have been doing it for three years with a riding mower. Not as bad as you might think because it stops raining here soon. I know I need a post hole digger, bucket to do some move dirt/rock, road repairs, and a brush hog immediately. There are some hills but not steep. I have chickens but am not a farmer, just live on Great-Grandpas farm. More animals may be in our future as wells haying. In the future I would like to either buy or rent chipper, log splitter, sprayer, etc.
We deer and turkey hunt so discing and seeding is possible. I do not know anything about tractors yet...

I have been watching for years the local Kubota dealer advertise packages with a L3200HST, trailer (that I will need also), box blade, Kubota bucket, and 5 ft. brush hog for 20k. I want to have the tractor and bucket new for sure. I'm more of a buy new and take care of it then fix things all the time though it seems like that is all I do. I would not mind used implements...I think. I would rather have more tractor than less...like I wish I bought the bigger chain saw than the farm boss, but hey, I love than thing and it has cut many cords and still starts right up.

I have been reading here for a few days and respect the comments I have read. Please advise on any and everything you can tell me, Thank You!
 
   / New Tractor Advice #2  
Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what you need.

If you want the features, convienience and reliability of a new tractor w/ loader, then don't settle for less! Is money an issue?

Used equipment can be found form local dealers and by watching your area craig's list page. But if you can afford to buy a new tractor, and your local dealer offers package pricing... why not just get it over with.

A L3200 is a little on the small side for 108 acres or property maintenance. I would suggest at least the 3800, if not one of the smaller M tractors. And a 5' mower is still a little on the small side for 11 acres! I would want 7 feet for that... actually, I would probably just not mow 8 or 9 of those 11 acres, haha.

Any other dealers nearby other than Kubota? With a new tractor, the dealer experience is an important part of the deal. You are likely going to have to deal with them at least several times to get maintenance done, any warranty claims and repairs, plus buying parts, etc.
 
   / New Tractor Advice #3  
I've seen those packages from that dealer advertise in my area also. They always look like a good deal to me. If you are using a riding mower now, I'd think that tractor would feel like a luxury.
 
   / New Tractor Advice #4  
Get up into a small M series like the 6040. That would handle everything you mentioned.
 
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   / New Tractor Advice #5  
80 acres here, and good amount of hills. i cash crop the 40 acres out to someone else. but beyond that, myself more looking at 40 to 50HP utilty tractor. once i get things done with the bigger 555c TLB (tractor loader backhoe) 40 to 50 would get me right into the utility class tractors. and away from the SCUTS and CUTS (sub compact utilty tracotrs, and compact utitly tractors) getting into the utilty class tractors, generally gives heavier duty frame, belly of tractor sets higher off ground, and wider width. plus extra weight.

if you are half way good at mechanic work / DIY'er. there is a good amount of add-ons you can do... extra hydrualic hookups on rear of tractor, rear and front work lights. setting some sort of way to carry 5 gallon buckets of tools on tractor, etc... heavy duty FEL (front end loader) bucket. and installing some chain hooks onto bucket, adding tooth bar possibly to FEL bucket as well.

box blade, rear blade, disc, plowing. is to me what will be the biggest concern for you. they will require the most HP and weight of a tractor to do a job quicker.

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post hold digging. no big deal there.
bush hogging, as long as you have some front weight, either FEL or suit case weights on front to help keep front tires on ground. no real big deal.

log splitting, wood chipper, it might sound nice to have a 3pt attachments of them. but pull behind ones were you can split wood and toss wood into FEL can make life easier, vs splitting all the wood on rear of tractor and then having to toss split wood some place else and move it again.

sprayer is not that big of a deal any tractor should be ok. as long as you do not over due size of tank of sprayer

===============
check out all the machines and "PHYSICALLY" set down in them and take for test drive. some have some pretty strange setups, for foot pedals, to leveler / joy stick locations. ((left and right stearing brakes, rear differitial lock, engage/disengage PTO, raise/lower 3PT hitch. ))

personally dislike manual tranmission were i have to push foot clutch in every time i change gears or go forward or reverse. a transmission that allows some sort of "button" push or like helps a lot. and saves the toll on your body and makes thing quicker.

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if your going new, look into 3pt backhoe with sub frame option. you can get them via 3rd party companies. and depends on backhoe sub frame for backhoe if it needs modified. backhoe, FEL (front end loader), and tractor tend to be the high dollar items. and perhaps allow you get bigger discount in a package deal.

a trailer, you can always shop around for, many trailer manufacturers. it is not that costly to have someone haul tractor and stuff out to you. 50 to 200 bucks. (depends on distance)
 
   / New Tractor Advice #6  
Those package deals are pretty good around here in Missouri. If you are looking at the L3200, step up the the L3800. I have a lot more ground than you and the 3800 does all I ask of it. Very nice rig!
 
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   / New Tractor Advice #7  
I have 108 acres of which 11 is mowed field plus I have a 2.5 acre, 1.5 acre, and another 2 acres I will need to brush hog (remaining timber). I need to mow the 11 acres but have been doing it for three years with a riding mower. Not as bad as you might think because it stops raining here soon. I know I need a post hole digger, bucket to do some move dirt/rock, road repairs, and a brush hog immediately. There are some hills but not steep. I have chickens but am not a farmer, just live on Great-Grandpas farm. More animals may be in our future as wells haying. In the future I would like to either buy or rent chipper, log splitter, sprayer, etc.
We deer and turkey hunt so discing and seeding is possible. I do not know anything about tractors yet...

Please advise on any and everything you can tell me, Thank You!

I have 51 acres and except for i'm managing 42 acres of it as my "crop" of pine trees for lumber you could say you and I are in similar situations land wise.

I bought a Kioti DK50se with a grapple and some other stuff and it works awesome for everything I've tried.

I would say you should buy the biggest tractor you can afford and justify.

David
 
   / New Tractor Advice #8  
Hi there. Welcome to TBN--join the fun:D

So, is $20K your pain threshold? You get more hp per dollar in larger size tractors. For example, my first tractor was a new 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto) with the LA302 FEL. Cost: $12.6K or $600/hp (engine). I traded that little tractor in for a new 2008 Mahindra 5525 gear tranny tractor (55 hp engine) with the ML250 FEL. Cost: $18K or $327/hp (engine). You have a big place, so I'd think hard about tractors in the 50-60 hp (engine) range. Unless you like to log a lot of seat time on your new tractor, find the max hp tractor that will fit into your budget. After 7 years of posting on TBN, it's pretty clear to me that buying too small is a lot more common than buying too large.

Good luck.
 
 
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