Buying Advice to buy a garden tractor or a compact tractor

[jenkinsph]

Still confused .. LOL, only took me six years to find the right machine
And I was in a similar position, anyhow here is a JD X595 with HDAP tires mowing what I would call a fairly steep slope.
This machine has the optional rear PTO and 3PL and ran up the same hill with a 3 foot bush hog to clear the rough stuff.

Personally I would be hesitant to take a B6100 or similar down a hill like that (but I have done it!)

good luck and stay safeView attachment 317002

Not a problem for a 4x4 595 or 700 series mower but a little over budget from what I understand. I looked for a year or better for a deal on a 595 and finally gave up and bought a new x749. Great for slopes and tight quarters work.

 

[Gittyup]

Budget is why I suggest the 400 series.

 

[dave1949]

It sounds like you are back to a mower for the rolling and "flattish" (your word I think) areas and hiring the steeper areas that need bush hogging a couple of times a year. Nothing wrong with maintaining a smaller areas as lawn and letting the other areas grow. Goats might be a solution with moveable fencing for the steep areas. They will cost less than a tractor and won't need oil changes.

I'm with Ted, take care of what you can afford to take care of, and get creative on the other parts. There's no requirement for you to mow all that acreage is there?

You can let it grow. You can get a heavy duty string trimmer with a brush blade and walk it once a year whipping off the tree starts if you don't want trees.

Putting yourself in a money bind for the sake of cutting grass is probably not the best thing.

 

[jim_wilson]

I think if you look at any sort of garden or lawn tractor - you'll find later that you have a piece of equipment that isn't up to the demands you are going to put on it.

Sounds (to me anyway) - that sub-compact tractor is the way to go. You seem to be leaning towards something smaller and less expensive - so here's the thing with a sub-compact tractor: They are extendable - much more so than a yard or garden tractor.

You could buy a sub-compact - with no FEL , no mower - and no backhoe - just the bare tractor. It will come with a 3pt hitch and a rear and mid PTO. Now you have the base to build upon. If mowing is your first concern - get a mower first. You will have a choice between a mid mount mowing deck , a rear mount finish mowing deck - or brush hog, or flail mower, or sickle bar - etc. . If you look around - you'll likely be able to pick up a rear mount mower for a lot less money than new - and probably a lot less money than a mid-mount. A good quality rear mount mower deck is a 20 year piece of equipment if it's taken care of. And so is the tractor. Dealing with a sub-compact with a diesel engine - will be less of a PITA than anything gas powered - in my opinion. You will be able to leave it sit for a month - and not have to worry about it starting (like you might with a gasoline powered tractor that gets some of the ethanol laced crappy gas that's out there now).

If you find later that you want to add more capability to the sub-compact - you could add a FEL to it. They show up used - but they're rare. But you should be able to get a quality unit like a Woods - even if you can't find an OE one for your particular tractor.

The sub-compact will have a "real" 3pt on it - that will be able to accept Cat1 implements - a "garden" tractor will likely only accept Cat 0 - which are rare out there in used equipment land.

You were looking at the Simplicity - for like $5000. A little bit more would likely get you a pretty decent used BX or Deere or some other quality sub-compact.

 

[jim_wilson]

I'm with Ted, take care of what you can afford to take care of, and get creative on the other parts. There's no requirement for you to mow all that acreage is there?

You can let it grow. You can get a heavy duty string trimmer with a brush blade and walk it once a year whipping off the tree starts if you don't want trees.

Putting yourself in a money bind for the sake of cutting grass is probably not the best thing.

Good point - if money is really that tight - maybe keeping the grass mowed isn't a top priority.

One other way to look at this problem - is to realize that (at least it sounds like) - you've only been in the property for a short while. Paying somebody a few times to mow the grass down will be one way to make your money last a while longer - and give you the time to figure out exactly what kind of equipment you will want to have long term to maintain the property and do what you want to do.

As you spend more time there - it will become clearer what you want to do with the property long term. Mow grass? Rototill a garden? Brush hog out overgrown areas? Haul trees out of the woods? etc. If money is going to be tight - it helps long term to buy the *right* piece of equipment for your long term needs - and not buy one piece of equipment - find out it's not optimal for what you want to do - and then have to go out and buy an additional piece of equipment - or sell the first one (you'll likely lose money) - and buy something else.

One reason to get into a "real" sub-compact or compact tractor - is that used implements are relatively readily available. What that means is that if you say find out you have a bunch of area you want to brush hog to get under control - you could buy a brush hog - do all the work - get it good enough to mow - and then sell the implement when you're finally done. If it's maintained properly - you'll likely get most of the money back out of it.

I think you'll find it much harder to find implements to go on any sort of garden tractor - than you will a sub-compact or compact tractor. In fact I think once you get up into the compact tractor size - finding used implements gets a lot easier than it is for sub-compact tractors.

 

[ketchn]

CLICK ON PICTURE. It's my 15 year old daughter using it.
I mow about 25 acres on my Dads old farm, lots of hills, bushes and long grass. If the photo of my tractor worked, it's a Massy Ferguson GC2400 sub compact. 22.5 hp with a 5 foot belly lawn mower and a 4 foot Rhino bush cutter. This will be my 4th year cutting his farm, I used to have a 35 hp Massy Ferguson compact tractor because I used to own a place with 30 acres I kept clear besides my Dads farm. After trading down to the subcompact I wished I had never bought the bigger one. The scut is much easier to use and get around the the trees. I live in Northern Maine and have a front snowblower also.
I picked the Massy because the engine was smooth and quiet, and the dealer was closer to home. I would say pick a sub compact from a dealer close by. It's very stable on the hills, I have turf tires and 6 40 pound weights on the front, in the winter the turf tires still work great and I move the weights to the back. I like turf tires, they don't tear up your lawn.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I have a BX 25 Kubota. Great little sub-compact. All the name brand subs are sold new 0 down and 0% 5 years. Once you get the FEL and BH (BX 25 is standard with them) you will wonder how you can do w/o. I've put 800 hours on in 2 years with mine. In your case I would add the belly mower and brush hog up front. Add other items used later as demand builds like Oh we want a garden plot, then get the Rototiller used. I now have a lot of attachments, added slowly as need arose. Am changing them out often even the BH. I have found lots of use for the BH.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I have a BX 25 Kubota. Great little sub-compact. All the name brand subs are sold new 0 down and 0% 5 years. Once you get the FEL and BH (BX 25 is standard with them) you will wonder how you can do w/o. I've put 800 hours on in 2 years with mine. In your case I would add the belly mower and brush hog up front. Add other items used later as demand builds like Oh we want a garden plot, then get the Rototiller used. I now have a lot of attachments, added slowly as need arose. Am changing them out often even the BH. I have found lots of use for the BH.

Ron

 

[jives]

Let me add another option. Buy the cheapest used garden tractor you can
with a 60" deck (which will NOT be a JD 400 series!). Find an old Simplicity
Sunstar, Wheel Horse 520, Bolens, or Ariens. Pay no more than $1500
(perhaps more for a Sunstar or its Deutz-Allis 1920 clone). Consider a
commercial zero turn (but DO NOT take it on the hill), like a Ferris or
Scag. BTW, I picked up a Sunstar with a 60" deck for $380, beat to
heck, but it worked.

Use this for a while until you really figure out your needs, and decide how
much time you really want to spend mowing all that acreage just for fun.

Jeff

 

[dhvd79a]

I mowed 5 acres with a John Deere garden tractor for 20 years. Unless you want to spend most of your weekend mowing and after a few years the rest of it making repairs I can't recommend a garden tractor. I always regretted not getting a CUT or small utility tractor