BEST COMPACT/UTILITY FOR 3-5 ACRES OF VEGETABLES

[bp fick]

Hmmm... 30 to 40 hp would be mighty handy for rototilling the fields with a 6' tiller... Especially with 5 acres of crops.

Yup, that's one way. No doubt about it. Are we to assume you till 5 acres and market garden? The OP might benefit greatly from you, and others. A 40 hp tractor? Me? Not for what I do. My way isn't the only right way, but it works well for me.

The reasons are too lengthy to get into here. Tilling is fine, but it also leads to serious compaction issues in some soil types. Larger tractors are also heavier (compaction), larger turning radius, etc . Then, after the fields have been worked initially, how handy is that big ol tractor gonna be then? Again, maybe in your experience and system, quite helpful. To me? Not a lick.

Ok, guys, this has been fun and the conversation could go on and on and on. Anybody want to join the market gardening business, I say the more the merrier. Jump on in. See what you can do. I can promise you one thing and that is that you'll work your butt off. :laughing: Most of the work cannot be done from a tractor seat.

Now, I'm off to the real world. Have a good one everybody.

 

[tmilanese]

I appreciate the recommendations and conversation. I've decided to go with a used 30-40hp tractor first and work on the additional acreage that has never been touched. I'll maintain the rows manually like I did last year. The narrow Kubota will have to wait until next fall! Until we meet again over on my next post - good day!

 

[PapaPerk]

I appreciate the recommendations and conversation. I've decided to go with a used 30-40hp tractor first and work on the additional acreage that has never been touched. I'll maintain the rows manually like I did last year. The narrow Kubota will have to wait until next fall! Until we meet again over on my next post - good day!

Sounds like that will work well for u! Good luck! What model you looking at?

 

[PapaPerk]

Yup, that's one way. No doubt about it. Are we to assume you till 5 acres and market garden? The OP might benefit greatly from you, and others. A 40 hp tractor? Me? Not for what I do. My way isn't the only right way, but it works well for me.

The reasons are too lengthy to get into here. Tilling is fine, but it also leads to serious compaction issues in some soil types. Larger tractors are also heavier (compaction), larger turning radius, etc . Then, after the fields have been worked initially, how handy is that big ol tractor gonna be then? Again, maybe in your experience and system, quite helpful. To me? Not a lick.

Ok, guys, this has been fun and the conversation could go on and on and on. Anybody want to join the market gardening business, I say the more the merrier. Jump on in. See what you can do. I can promise you one thing and that is that you'll work your butt off. :laughing: Most of the work cannot be done from a tractor seat.

Now, I'm off to the real world. Have a good one everybody.

A Ford Jubilee is 30 hp.... And would work well tending crops. It's not big at all. Guess everyone has different concepts of how much and how big 30 - 40 hp is.

Heck my Polaris ranger is 29 hp, weighs only 1000 lbs and is the size of a big golf cart. Lol!

 

[downslope]

tmilanese, No one has asked, and you haven't said, exactly what vegetables are you planning on growing on the 3-5 acres?
There is a big difference between growing sweet corn and tomatoes versus something like onions, parsley or collard greens.
I think your choice of the used 30-40 hp tractor with 3-pt hitch is a good start. I would forget about trying to use a tractor with loader on it for all-around vegetable work in the field.
Even a cab can be annoying for vegetable work, you need a tractor where you can look right down at the plant row(s), both forward, behind and underneath.
MF 35's/135's are nice because I believe they can run a little slower than equivalent Fords, etc. The slow speed can be handy for close cultivating of tiny plants, or running a transplanter.

If you tell us what you're growing I'm sure there are people on here who can give more specific advice about tractors and attachments.

 

[MarkV]

I will only add that if you plan on that much tilling and buy a gear tractor be sure is has a really low/slow gear. I live not far from you so have a good idea of the soil conditions and my 40 hp tractor in lowest gear just runs too fast for tilling. My 21 hp tractor with hydrostatic tranny does the tilling because of its infinite speed control. Good luck with your venture.

MarkV

 

[bp fick]

My only real advice to tmilanese , the OP, is this.

If you ask about tractors on a tractor forum, you'll get a boat load of advice, much of it from guys who've never truck farmed at the scale you're considering. Knowing tractors or even general farming is one thing. Knowing market gardening at 4+ acres scale is a whole 'nother deal. It's called "market" gardening, because marketing needs to be a primary focus, not an after-thought. That key aspect has nothing to do with tractors and implements at all.

If you want to market garden successfully and profitably, the tractor isn't the place to start. Don't buy a tractor, just some tractor, and then go about trying to figure out how to make your gardening match up with what it can do.

Determine your best practices in gardening and then ask yourself, "how could a piece of machinery or this implement, if it can, help me work smarter, not harder?"

Don't ever forget that as gardeners, we are growers and marketers, first and foremost, not tractor operators.

I wish you the very, very best in your endeavors.