Buying Advice Need advice....no fanboys

[Gittyup]

If on the PA/NY line, I suggest checking out Wallace tractor in North-central PA. Excellent dealer, excellent pricing. He sells bobcat, Mahindra, and MF, I think. I live 250 miles a way and bought from him. Saved a bunch and he's been here (at my place, yeah 250 miles away) when I needed him. If it were me on your property, I'd leaning more toward the 40 HP range, but 30 or more will work just fine.

 

[Creamer]

I have to agree with your estimate of 25-35 hp. I have a 28 hp CUT on about that much land and it is wonderful. Small enough to not tear up the lawn but large enough to handle a 5' bush hog. i have a 60" deck for mine too - you want it - it's cheap - i will never put it on again. the tractor is too heavy for the grass to get picked back up again and therefore I was never happy with the cut quality. Plus mowing behind you is a pain and if you have any trees you cannot get real close.
the FEL is a must - I do not know what I would do without it. I also have a ball on it because I pull my 5' x 10' trailer all over doing many things. Seems like the trailer is connected half the time I use the tractor.
For lawn mowing I have a ZTR - much faster and nicer cut. For rough mowing I have a bush hog but I really prefer my 7' sickle bar mower if I want it to look nice. The bush hog just does not leave it very nice.
The blade is really handy as well - driveway, snow, moving and leveling dirt.
I have turf tires in the rear and R4's on front. I get good enough traction to do anything I want but I do not a lot of work where I need heavy traction. I would be lost with out the front wheel assist.
The one thing I wish I had was live PTO. Sometimes it is nice to be able to clutch a little while mowing in tall stuff and trying to find your little trees, etc.

 

[chim]

We tend to recommend whay we have and use. I would offer that it isn't because we are "fanboys" but rather it represents our choices after considering all of our own options. When I searched for a larger replacement for the Kubota B7500 that worked fine for 10 years, I also included Mahindra, Kioti and Bobcat in the comparison. I ended up going Kubota again. Early last summer the winner was a new Kubota L3200HST. It ran $15,696 for the tractor with R4's and FEL. The 6 foot Landpride RFM was pennies away from $1,800. This is my fourth tractor since building here 24 years ago and by far my favorite. It is a very comfortable and user friendly basic tractor. It has plenty of power and I like the 3 range HST. The largest use is mowing and it runs about 1/2 hour per acre. The 6 foot deck is the ticket.

 

[jhoward]

Stopped by the kioti dealer tonight...nice machines I was impressed. One issue would be the lack of a MMM on the CK series. Any thoughts on MMM vs 3pt hitch finish mower?

Always assumed I would do MMM but now I am not sure....almost getting tired of looking for a tractor (almost)....

We tend to recommend whay we have and use. I would offer that it isn't because we are "fanboys" but rather it represents our choices after considering all of our own options. When I searched for a larger replacement for the Kubota B7500 that worked fine for 10 years, I also included Mahindra, Kioti and Bobcat in the comparison. I ended up going Kubota again. Early last summer the winner was a new Kubota L3200HST. It ran $15,696 for the tractor with R4's and FEL. The 6 foot Landpride RFM was pennies away from $1,800. This is my fourth tractor since building here 24 years ago and by far my favorite. It is a very comfortable and user friendly basic tractor. It has plenty of power and I like the 3 range HST. The largest use is mowing and it runs about 1/2 hour per acre. The 6 foot deck is the ticket.

 

[Grandad4]

Stopped by the kioti dealer tonight...nice machines I was impressed. One issue would be the lack of a MMM on the CK series. Any thoughts on MMM vs 3pt hitch finish mower?

Always assumed I would do MMM but now I am not sure....almost getting tired of looking for a tractor (almost)....

It depends on how you expect to use the tractor. If it's going to be a true multi-tasking machine that both mows and does field work, dirt moving, and other rough terrain chores, the rear mower may be more functional. That's because the mower on the back is easier to put on and take off, so you can change from mowing to other tasks more readily. You really don't want to be going over rough ground or in the woods with a mower deck on.

But the rear mowers seem to work best in open ground and are less handy for mowing close to trees, fences, etc., and they don't give quite the same quality of cut. So if most of your work is mowing or you have lots of trimming around stuff when you mow, the MMM will work better.

 

[chim]

Stopped by the kioti dealer tonight...nice machines I was impressed. One issue would be the lack of a MMM on the CK series. Any thoughts on MMM vs 3pt hitch finish mower?

Always assumed I would do MMM but now I am not sure....almost getting tired of looking for a tractor (almost)....

My first tractor had a MMM and the next three had RFM's. I suppose it's a matter of personal preference. I can get by with a 6' RFM just fine and I have trees, sheds, etc to mow around at about a half hour per acre. A trip around with the string trimmer every other mowing or so takes care of what I miss with the mower. I'd bet that many people who advise against the RFM haven't used them.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I have a Bobcat CT230 (30 hp) with an FEL and backblade that I use to clear snow and grade a 1/4 mile long driveway in NH, as well as move rocks, firewood, and dirt around 20 acres of moderately hilly woodland.

I could have gone with a 35 to 40 hp machine that would have made more jobs doable, and the ones I'm doing faster; but there are still some tasks that would require an excavator or dozer to complete (pond construction and boulder removal.) On the other hand, I could have gone with a 20 to 25 hp machine with a blade, snowblower, and tiller and been able to do 90% of the jobs I'm doing now, just a bit slower.