Buying advice - tractor for horse stable

   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #1  

Neandertaler

Bronze Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Messages
51
Location
Erkrath, Germany
Tractor
john deere x495
Hi everyone,

i am posting this time in order to help my sister who has a horse stable with about 40 horses, an indoor riding Arena, a quite large outdor riding/jumping Arena and some pasture. She currently has a 50 year old 2wd John Deere with a front end loader which is totally run down and limps to work. She only uses the tractor for moving round bales with a max weight of appr. 1100 Pounds, to drag the arenas and to pile up horse dung on one spot. The area is mostly flat. I am now looking for the cheapest way to teplace that tractor and have several questions:

what general weight class is advised. I guess at least 3000 lbs of tractor will work. Can i go lower (like 2000 lbs) or must i go higher?
how much lift does the FEL must have? Am i right to plan some reserve with going double...which means appr. 2200 lbs lift? Or will a lift capacity of 1500 lbs will be enough?

She does not use the rear PTO at all as the neighbor farmers take care of the pasture when nessessary. So i guess horsepower and speed are not important. She just Needs FEL capacity and a cheap Price. If not buying another worn out Oldtimer, what would be your advise for a cheap and new alternative?

-creature comforts do not matter
-no HST, shuttle shift would be nice
-high FEL capacity
-4WD
-no cab

I am open to "alternative" manufactureres like Kioti, TYM, or Mahindra, but would like to skip lower end chinese stuff like jinma and the like. My sister has no Clou whatsoever with mechanics and just Needs a no thrills workhorse.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #2  
First suggest selling the horses. That eliminates the work! (I have 28 at the moment, but did have 40 at one point)


Well, I was going to suggest the HST for the simple fact that it makes loader work so easy. I have an L3400 Kubota with it and wouldn't ever buy a smaller tractor without it. My suggestion would be check whats available for your price point. Your not going to be able to to move 1100lb round bales with a scut. Even with a cut, your going to be working on the edge. Your most likely going to have to look at a 10+ year old tractor to get something in a decent size if your wanting to stay cheaper. An older 2wd tractor is alot more tractor than the newer 4wd cuts. If you dont believe me, find a scale or go to tractordata.com and compare base weights. To complicate things even more, for our setup we found that having two tractors works better. Asmaller machine for cleaning stalls and moving feed, and some dragging. The bigger machine does all the major hay moving (Square and round bales) , brush hogging, and pulling vehicles out of the snow.

I would definitely suggest something in the 40-60hp range for an all purpose tractor that is capable, and has some reserve capacity incase a good deal comes along for a better drag, bigger hay bales, or who knows what else.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #3  
My L3200 is 3200lbs with the loader. The loader tops out at just over 1,000lbs. That requires a lot of ballast in the back & with the funky steering I'm sure isn't good for the front axle. I wouldn't want to kill my tractor running it at the limit frequently.

You need smaller bales or a bigger tractor.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #4  
New tractors sold today with a FEL usually come equipped with an HST transmission, 4-WD and (R4) Industrial Tires as a package. Don't fight it.

My experience is with Yanmar and Kubota tractors but from what I read here, Kioti has the highest capacity loaders per dollar of price.

Here are some relevant LINKS from the T-B-N archive:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...bales+site:tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #5  
what general weight class is advised. I guess at least 3000 lbs of tractor will work. Can i go lower (like 2000 lbs) or must i go higher?
how much lift does the FEL must have? Am i right to plan some reserve with going double...which means appr. 2200 lbs lift? Or will a lift capacity of 1500 lbs will be enough?

You don't want to try a 2,000lb tractor, as it won't be nearly enough to safely handle 1,100lb bales, if you could even find a machine that size capable of lifting that much. I'd look for around 3,500lbs+, and an FEL that can lift at least the 2,200lbs you mentioned (double the bale weight). Remember, you also have to subtract the weight of the bucket/forks/spear from the FEL capacity. So, a machine that can lift 2,200lbs might only be able to lift 1,900lbs after you subtract the attachment weight. Then, there's the fact that frequently when you see a figure of 2,200lbs max lift, it's listed at the pivot pins. In reality, the weight is farther out than the pivot pins, so the actual lift capacity is significantly lower (like 20-25% less).

In short, a machine that can lift 2,200lbs at the pivot pins will probably only lift something like 1,400lbs after you subtract the attachment weight, and the distance from the pivot pin.

My LS is listed as lifting 2,638lbs (or close to that) at the pivot pins, and I know it will easily handle an 1,100 pound bale. I don't know if pricing in Germany is similar to what we see in the U.S., but if you want a solid machine, with a really strong loader, you would be hard pressed to beat an LS, or Kioti. I'd look at an R4041 in the LS line, and a DK40SE in the Kioti line. For your sister, there would be no need going up to the R4047, DK45SE, or DK50SE, because they have the same loaders, and she isn't going to miss the lower engine/PTO power doing the tasks you listed.
 
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   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #6  
Your not going to be able to to move 1100lb round bales with a scut. Even with a cut, your going to be working on the edge.

Not necessarily...depends on the CUT.

My LS is listed as lifting 2,638lbs (going off memory), and it can lift 1,100lbs easily....not even remotely near the edge. Yes, it's on the high side of CUT FEL capacity, but there are others with more.

When I made the counterweight for the LS, I bought a block of steel at the local scrap yard, and they weighed it at 1,300lbs exactly (we hauled it in his dump truck). I had nothing on the 3pt, and the forks on the FEL when I went over to my neighbor's house to get it all welded together. We dumped the block out of his truck, and I picked it up with the forks, and moved it into his shop. The pallet forks I have are 400lbs+, so, I was lifting at the very minimum 1,700lbs with no real problems at all. Yes, the rear tires were light, and yes, it would have been better with some weight on the 3pt, but I didn't want to make two trips (planning to drive over, weld it up, and drive back with it on the 3pt). Now, with the counterweight, I can lift things that are quite a bit heavier, and not even lift the rear tires....an 1,100lb round bale wouldn't be much of a challenge.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #7  
I would look at a skid steer loader instead of a tractor. The maneuverability while cleaning the barn would be worth the cost.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #8  
I would look at a skid steer loader instead of a tractor. The maneuverability while cleaning the barn would be worth the cost.

Skidsteers are optimized for lifting, tractors are optimized for pulling. So, definitely a valid thought.

If you are moving hay but not really lifting it, a 3pt hitch can lift a fair bit more than a loader on a given tractor. Poor lift height though & you couldn't stack really.
 
   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #9  
I considered a skid steer too. But…….

When Sis gets a new, modern tractor she may decide she wants to do a greater variety of tasks. Clapped out, fifty year old tractors do not inspire confidence in the operator.

A skid steer would be rough on the operator crossing average fields to get round hay bales.

[edit] Its a STABLE, with a new tractor maybe ready to morph into a FARM. I recommend staying with a TRACTOR.
 
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   / Buying advice - tractor for horse stable #10  
 
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