Hi All,
We have 40 acres of rolling hills with fields/forests that we maintain 10' wide paths on. We are looking to replace our 1950s Massey w/5' bush hog with something more user-friendly. The grass can get 3-4' high at times but only needs a rough cut for our needs. We also pull logs around to cut up and haul to the barn on a utility trailer. We will probably put around 50 hours on the tractor a season.
I've done quite a bit of reading on the forum and others but am looking for specific advice.
Will the 1025R be "enough tractor" to handle our needs?
For 40 acres, not even close.
Is the 2032R (I believe it was redesigned like the 1025R recently) worth the extra $3k?
Is a MMM rugged enough to handle our mowing needs? (A MMM is appealing for the driveability)
Has Kubota redesigned any similar tractors recently to compete with JD?
Thanks,
For some unknown reason, JD has designed the 2032R with the hydraulic hose routing to the front end loader sticking out from beneath the right hand floorboard, in front of the rear wheel. It's in a carefully engineered location to be precisely where your foot lands should it slip getting on or off the tractor, and in a prime location to be ripped off by any kind of snag you might run over.
For this reason alone, the 2032R is solely useful for neatly groomed terrain.
Kubota and others protect these delicate lines inside the chassis or bodywork of the machine.
You'll note that you'll be hard pressed to find a closeup of a JD 2032 from the right side if it has a loader on it- I believe it to be a coverup
I think for that type of acreage and terrain, you'd be happier with a mounted rotary or flail mower, than with the more delicate and expensive mid mount mower. You could even go with a B3200 series Kubota without the mid-PTO option and save some money.
The Mahindra Max28 is also in the physical B3200 size class.