Buying Advice New Farmers with orchards and implements but no tractor

[AppleCider]

We are first time farmers buying 9 acres of stone fruit & apple orchards. We are buying the various tillers, flails, pruners and other attachments and implements from the current farmer but have chosen not to buy his tractors, his loader or his forklift. What he had were 3 New Holland 4wd tractors (1620, 3830, 4430) and one John Deere 2wd w/loader, 5ft bucket and forks (2040), he also had a loader and a forklift, although not employees and claims not to have used laborers. So he used all of these himself.

We want to see if we can replace his collection with a Bobcat or something similar & a utility vehicle w/3 prong hitch and a nice "newer" tractor that my wife and i, again beginners, can use and learn to master safely. Any suggestions on the tractor (or alternative configurations?

Thanks in advance.

 

[texasjohn]

:welcome:

Wondering why you don't want to purchase what is there and done the job sufficiently for awhile?? Are they too old, unreliable, overpriced???

I would recommend an HST transmission because of its ability to creep safely around in tight spaces.

Are you purchasing the 3ph attachments he has...are they cat 1 or cat 2...you will surely want your tractor purchase to match your existing equipment.

Are you thinking of purchasing new or used??

 

[Ed of all trades]

I like the way you are doing it, buy the equipment and then buy a tractor to fit. make sure that the tractor will handle any future equip. too. :welcome:

 

[AppleCider]

They were all over 2500 hours and over 20 years old, also I didn't think i needed all of those power items...I will be bringing the attahment list and specs to my tractor dealer...

 

[texasjohn]

agree that if that old and you wish to focus on the farm, not repairs, good choice.
Sounds like you are planning on new purchase.
a lot of reading on TBN threads...use search function for questions you have to find threads where that is discussed...will give you lots of practical advice/opinions.

Since you apparently intend to be rather intensive in your farming activities suggest you get a tractor you can use for an entire day without getting tired...believe me, if you are fighting a tractor, it gets tiring.

 

[bcp]

suggest you get a tractor you can use for an entire day without getting tired...believe me, if you are fighting a tractor, it gets tiring.

You may want a cab.

Are you from the region, so that you are familiar with the weather you will be working in?

Average Weather for Stayton, OR - Temperature and Precipitation

Bruce

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What type of sprayer are you going to use? Also, what type of price is he offering the tractors. 2500 hours is not much on those tractors. They can easily go 5-6000 hours before you need to worry. The apple market in New York use to be great but as the older generation dwindled so did the road side stands. Selling apples for cider isn't as profitable and the sprays are incredibly expensive and you need to spray often. I wouldn't commit to buying a lot of new power units like your talking till you ran the farm a year or two. If you get a good price on the tractors you can always trade them in if you don't like them after you get a feel for what you really need.

It is hard to make money with apples now and it is extremely hard to buy equipment when you don't even know what your doing yet. Take your time and try to work up to newer equipment once you know it is profitable.

 

[AppleCider]

Glad to be here!

 

[AppleCider]

the weather will be wet..and we also need to spray the orchards, so a cab seems to make sense..the prior farmer had one with and one ithout, no need for air conditioning, but he liked the cab rather than raincoats

 

[AppleCider]

thanks for the advice. They can't sell all of their apples now, they do have a thriving business with the Portland OR chef's community for vinegar and syrup...we will acquire their customers, we hope!