Buying Advice Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal.

   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #1  

Chickengrower

Bronze Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
95
Location
Arkansas
Tractor
JD 5093e, JD 2240, Bobcat 773G, F800 w/ 16' lo pro Chandler bed
Needing a new open station tractor for the chicken houses and I want to get something that is as close to a do it all type machine as i can find. Must be 4wd, low geared, and under 78 inches at its highest point (the lower the better) and at least 65hp pto (the higher the better). Looking seriously at ordering a 2013 5085m 4wd deluxe isolated station with 24" R4 tires, H260 loader and 3rd function hydraulics with a global carrier plus a SSQA carrier that quick connects to the global carrier. 32/16 hi lo transmission for 53,500. Have concerns about the Tier 4 stuff in the M series but otherwise love it.

in an attempt to get around the tier 4 emissions i'm also considering a 4wd T4040 New Holland with a 16 X 16 transmission and 820 tl loader without 3rd function for 47,000 (over the phone price) Maybe even a Deutz Agroplus but have not even priced those.

ANY real world info ya'll can give me on these would be appreciated, especially if you own one of them and work em in a chicken house.
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #2  
my cousin uses a 4wd jd 5220 in his 16 houses.it might be a 5320.it works good for them. the roll bar folds.his has the standard jd loader hook up.
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
So im getting this search narrrowed down. Still need to drive em both but I like the JD 5085m but i
am concerned about the Tier 4 and it doesnt have any ground speeds lower than 1.18 mph while the T4050 NH is Tier 3 and the 16x16 trans has 3 speeds below 1 mph and has 10 more hp for basically the same price as the JD. Am i too concerned about the tier 4? I am upgrading from a 2240 JD so i will probably be happy with anything i get. lol
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #4  
I wouldn't worry to much about tier4. You might find that not smelling diesel fumes as much enjoyable.
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal.
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Does anyone have any input on which brands' FEL removes and installs the easiest between JD H260, Kubota LA1353 and the NH TL825? Might just be the determining factor since I'll be taking it on and off every time the chickens go out.
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #6  
the NH loader is the easiest to remove. the feet for the loader swing down, set the buck level lower the loader, pull you pins on each side of the loader mounting brackets, back away and unhook hoses. doesnt take a few minutes. THe buckets is either skid steer quick attach or euro, so both of those are easy. I have a bunch of customers who use the T4000 series in chicken houses. They are great. sow groudn speeds, plenty of power, and good heavy tractros. The price you are quoting for a T4040 or 4050 seems high to me.....
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #7  
i have a 7040su with a 1153 it take bout 5 mins to take it off
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #8  
Does anyone have any input on which brands' FEL removes and installs the easiest between JD H260, Kubota LA1353 and the NH TL825? Might just be the determining factor since I'll be taking it on and off every time the chickens go out.


Don't have a clue which loader is the easiest to remove/replace but suggest you try this feature out for yourself to make the determination. Salesmen always say theirs is best.

Curious how slow you feel you need to go at rated engine speed and what you will be doing?
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal.
  • Thread Starter
#9  
jenkinsph,

It was kinda of a vague (lets not say dumb) question i guess. I was just wanting to see if there were any universally known faults in regards to removal and attachment with any of the loaders. I will take your advice and try em out for myself before deciding on a purchase. Any yes, salesman always say theirs is best. (Whether they actually believe it or not is another story, LOL)

I currently have been getting by with my old JD2240 for the last 7 yrs and it gets the job done but its really hard on it, especially in the summer. I guess the thought for the needing the super slow speeds is because of my hours of frustration with the 2240 just not being big enough for the tasks at hand. Im thinking if i get a tractor with significantly more pto hp i wont have to worry about going so slow to complete the job.

Im thinking if I can get a tractor that will run just a hair under 1.0 mph while maintaing 540 pto speed I should be fine. I will be putting 24" tires on so that will get me even a little slower. There are 3 main jobs that require me to go slow and/or have gobs of power. Caking out the chicken houses with a cake out machine, rototilling the litter and finally the one that really requires the power is windrowing the litter.
 
   / Considering a new tractor for chicken house work, brush hogging, and brush removal. #10  
Can't speak about the other brands buy depending on the power you need at the pto you can use the optional economy pto on the 5085 M which will give you 540 at 1645 engine rpm's. That should reduce your ground speed to .924 mph. IIRC that reduces your pto hp to about 70% though. Don't know how hard the litter is to till but I can till thick sod that is root bound at 1.4 mph with 50 pto hp with a 72" tiller. On the second pass I can usually run 1.8 to 2.0 mph. With the 5085 I doubt you would have trouble with any of it in 1st gear, probably faster in most cases.

Curious if you have tested the power output of the 2240 recently? Could be worn enough to be loosing power.
 
 
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