Buying Advice Need a general purpose tractor

[Cupcake]

I have 26 acres of land, 5 acres cleared, pretty level, house, long driveway, lawn and the rest heavily wooded, in upstate New York near Saratoga Springs.

I'd like to get a tractor to help with taming this property

1) The woods are on a slight grade, but accumulate large water puddles all summer long that foster mosquito growth and stunt tree growth. I'd like to dig drainage channels connecting the puddles and out to the street where the county has drainage. I probably need a back hoe and the ability to drive the tractor in the woods.

2) I have 2 acres that could be used for a huge garden, or just a large cornfield, so I need a tractor and attachments to do whatever it takes to prepare the soil for that.

3) I need to bust up an old concrete patio and remove it.

4) I'd like to sell my lawn tractor and use a real tractor to mow 3 acres of lawn

5) Some winters I have massive snowfall and need a snowplow attachment unless the loader bucket will suffice.

6) I need to dig up remains of an old building on my property and dispose of them. Can a tractor bucket be used for small scale excavation?

Someone nearby is selling a Farmtrac 32HP tractor with all sorts of attachments (back hoe, snowplow, mower) for $12,500. It looks like a really good deal but the Farmtrac company went belly up a few years ago and I don't know if maintenance and/or parts will be a problem.

Any recommendations on brands, horsepower etc. would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cupcake]

New or used? I know so little about tractors it would be hard for me to evaluate a used one properly but I'm open to suggestions either way.

 

[RoMad]

If I am reading your description correctly you have 21 acres of woods that you only plan to improve the drainage and for the rest of your tractor needs you have 5 acres. If I have it correct you may want to consider hiring someone to improve your drainage or renting a large backhoe for a few days for that purpose and then skipping the backhoe on your new tractor. On the other hand if you are going to really be doing a lot of digging in the woods for a long time maybe you do want a backhoe.
You don't mention your budget but if you have $12,500 you can get a pretty good used tractor w/o the backhoe.
As far as the farm trac, I am no expert but the ones I looked at didn't impress me much. I would go with a brand with a better reputation.

 

[Cupcake]

I also want to run underground electrical cables to the chicken coops, like 150 feet of trenching that I don't want to do by hand! I'm assuming the backhoe is perfect for that.

 

[familyman]

I also want to run underground electrical cables to the chicken coops, like 150 feet of trenching that I don't want to do by hand! I'm assuming the backhoe is perfect for that.

It's probably the best way for electric. You want to go 2' down and lay 6" of gravel OVER the cable, then metallic warning ribbon over that. This way if you or anyone else should ever dig close to it in the future, the gravel and tape will be discovered before the power line is hit.

If you're going to be doing any grading for water flow with a compact tractor, you will need a box blade. Be sure to size it to the tractor; generally keeping it no wider than the width of the rear tires is good enough. I would strongly recommend 4wd, especially if you're working in wet conditions.

Generally, the larger the tractor, the more work gets done in a single pass of whatever you're doing. Bigger tractors have more size, weight and hp to better perform tasks involving weight, like moving earth around or running a heavy implement.

That said, a smaller tractor can often to the same work... only it will take more passes and more time to complete.

Something like a Kubota B or BX will do what you want, but it's on the small side, relatively speaking. If I had to manage what you've described I'd look at a tractor of at least 2,000lbs and 25hp.

If the 150 of trenching is pretty much all the digging you have to do, renting something big (Deere 310, etc.) and paying an experienced pal to operate it, can get it done in a day. That saves you quite a bit on the purchase of a backhoe.

As far as the concrete patio goes, you can drill it in a pattern and use expanding cement to fracture it. Then the pieces can be hauled out BUT... if there's rebar involved, it could get more complicated. This is another place the rental of a big machine for a day or two would really come in handy.

As for doing demo on a house, it can be done, but I doubt that anyone here would give you specifics, for liability reasons.

Heavy snow + long driveway = 3-pt. snow blower, sized to the machine, of course.

 

[Bluegill2]

Ya need to go tractor shopping and check out your local dealers and the models they have...

 

[Combustix]

I have 20 acres and our property sounds similar. I have a B 2710 and it is the perfect size for getting around in the woods. I also have the back hoe and used it quite a bit to get drainage dug and remove a small hill. I don't use it much any more, maybe once a year now, but I am glad I do have it, for those times you need to get something done but your budget says you can't get the bigger machine. I would look for something in the 25 to 35 range but if your looking for easy maneuvering through the woods I would look towards the 25 to 30 range.