Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions?

   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #1  

Sideoutds

New member
Joined
Feb 9, 2013
Messages
12
Location
McComb, Ms
Tractor
Farmall 140
First a little about my operation. We have a CSA ( consumer supported agriculture) where we take ppls money before the season in exchange for approximately 10lbs of veggies per week for an certain no. of weeks. We plant tomatoes, bell pepper, squash, cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, field corn, wheat, okra, and pretty much anything that will grow in south Mississippi, including cut flowers. In all we plant around 10 acres. We bail hay, square and round bails. I will also be using this tractor with a woodmizer sawmill. Normally, everything is done with a John Deere 2510, it has a tricycle front end. I want to get a new or newish tractor that will do everything.

I combine my wheat with an old Allis Chalmers All-Crop combine.

I have looked at the Massey Ferguson 2615 and 2635, mahindra 7560 and 6530, Kioti Dk55, case ih Farmall 55a, a couple Kubota's, and New Holland. I haven't eliminated anything yet. I also have not test operated anything yet. I have no knowledge of new tractors as all my equipment except a plastic mulch layer is at least 30 years old.

I need a tractor that'll pull a disc, skid logs, bush hog, and everything in between. I'm planning on spending around 30,000 with a front end loader.

Thanks for any info you give,
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #2  
I am sure you already know the HP you need and the wheel spacing you need, so it is just a matter of brand. We all have our favorite brand and I would bet that in many cases it has to do with how well the dealer treats us. Go with the dealer you trust the most and know that no tractor is perfect, we might think ours is at times but that's just us.
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #3  
I would not be too concerned about the driving distance to your chosen brand dealer. I often have small parts shipped by UPS or FedEx and save the gas to travel there. As much as we complain about shipping charges, they are cheaper than driving after them usually.
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #4  
Take a look at this: http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=7339199
That's a 70 hp MFWD with a new loader. The tractor only has 567 hours. Mine has almost that many. Great tractors. It will handle up to 5'x6' round bales. Very fuel efficient. Mine averages about 1.5 gallons per hour cutting hay. (with a Kuhn GMD 600 mower)
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #5  
Since you are going to be relying on this tractor for income I would try and buy from the dealer that has the best parts and service departments. This will make inevitable repairs as painless as possible. Small farmers in my area seem to really like the 5000 series Deeres and similarly sized New Hollands. Since you're actually farming I would pay close attention to the weight of the tractor along with horsepower. I wouldn't think you would want anything that weighed less than your 2510. Just test drive as many as possible and enjoy shopping. Good luck!
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #6  
That 2510 has 55 hp (pto). I assume you want to stick with this size.
All the major dealers have offerings in this range.

My big tractor is a 2008 55 hp (engine), 45 hp (pto) Mahindra 5525. A simple, heavy gear shift tractor that cost $19K with 6-ft wide FEL, skid steer quick attach on the FEL, triple rear hydraulic remotes.

Check the Mahindra website for specs and MSRP.

Mahindra Tractors - World's #1 Selling Tractor including Compact tractors, Sub-Compact Tractors, Utility Tractors and Farm Tractors with Loaders, Backhoes, Implements, Mowers and more.

Good luck.
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #7  
Sideoutsds,
Welcome to the forum.

Have you tried Southern Tractor to look for a Deere?


I would think you will find it is hard to find the perfect tractor to do everything but would really recommend you get a 4x4 tractor for your locale. I used to live out of Summit and had 3020's and 4020's back in the day. The newer 4x4 tractors would have helped me alot. You might want to consider something like a 5083E or similar used tractor.

Are you keeping the tractors you have or trading/selling these, I ask because it would seem wiser to use the older tractors in the woods and save the damage on your new tractor. You will probably find the small tractors to be much more handy for gardening too.
 
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   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions?
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Thanks for all the replies!
I have looked at southern tractor in Summit and the New Holland place. I was looking at the 5065e, the workmaster 65, Farmall 65a and the mahindra 6530, 7060. I don't plan on selling anything, I love the old tractors. I'm a bit leery of anything that has economy and tractor side by side. I know nothing about the new tractors so are they made cheaper and with less features or are they made with just less features. It seems to me that some of these economy models are more geared towards ppl who only use them part time. I just wonder if these tractors would hold up to pulling a disc skidding logs and such. I'm beginning to think that maybe the best thing to do is to buy something like a 5065m that has a few years on it. Maybe I'm over thinking this but if I'm going to spend a lot of money I want to make sure I get the best for the money spent.
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #9  
Hey from a neighbor in central MS. I hope your CSA does well. I would like to talk with you about that some other time. My thought is too much is almost as bad as too little. I have 5010 Mahindra and it is our primary tractor. I had a budget and shopped for new or used to fit our needs. From what I read, there are lots of options to fit your pulling needs. I see the same problems I had to contend with. Transmission and planting spacing. Transmission is of the utmost importance if you ever plan to use waterwheel transplanter. I bought gear to have more pto HP. Hst will be much easier to use with waterwheel. Spacing may not be as big for you with tricycle on the farm.
I like all flavors of tractor. I'm now trying to set Mahindra up to cultivate crops we don't plant on plastic. What kind of bedder layer are you pulling? I personally like the smallest tractor that will do the job. It's just easier to deal with. I looked long and hard at Deere, but I really wanted a cab for spraying and bush hogging and it did not fit my budget. I have a great dealer in town that has really worked hard to get stuff I needed. They carry Mahindra and kioti. Our farm started as cattle, vegetables were for us. Now cows are gone and strawberries take their place. We have been very blessed that tractor worked out for this.
 
   / Tractor for 55 acre farm any suggestions? #10  
Today I was working over a small field for a local property owner who has a 2510 gas tractor. Sure dwarfed my 4520 compact when parked next to it.:eek::D For what you are looking for I would skip over the 5065M and go with a 5075M or 5085M as the higher pto hp will come in handy while baling and disking. Good tractors aren't cheap though but would add that the financing offers available may make it more reasonable for you. The finance offers available today are very good for most brands across the board, and putting off buying a new tractor until later may not be a good idea. The prices seem to keep going up at an alarming rate so I tend to buy new equipment and get the full featured models then plan on keeping them till the wheels fall off. When the equipment is fully depreciated and paid for there is usually something else needed to buy so I guess I stay on a treadmill. I try to keep my equipment that I depend on for a living in good shape and find that newer trucks, tractors and tools are simply more dependable in my experience.

Ten acres is alot of garden and beyond the scope of most of us here, I would take care in selecting the right equipment that is need for this and try to up grade this equipment first. I say this because assuming this equipment is used on a 55 acre parcel and 10 acres is devoted to the garden then you are left with a mix of hay fields and woods. If the balance is mostly open fields then it would appear there isn't much need for a logging tractor. If it is mostly woods then not much need for haying tractors and equipment. So I would tend to think most of the money to be made long term will be in the labor intensive gardening. I would wan't whatever equipment made that gardening job easier.
 
 
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