kd0nfq
New member
ok guys, ive been lurking for a few years, but i cant quite find the answer i need so i joined and am posting now.
i am replacing my case 220 garden tractor with a larger tractor for dragging the driveways and moving junk around the yard. my experience has always been with 150+hp machines and we always just buy one since it pays the bills. but, here is were it gets complicated...
a year ago a friend and i spent quite a bit of time researching starting a business mowing and grading right of ways, refineries, empty lots, drainage ditches, old farm yards, drive ways, ect... with the plan of doing food plot work to fill in the slow times. anyway, we figured out our equipment needs and were going to buy newer machinery to hopefully avoid some downtime. we were planning on purchasing a 80ish horse tractor with a cab and a 40ish horsepower tractor with or without a cab, both with loaders, valve on loaders, rear remotes, and skid steer style attachment on the loader and we priced them from deere, caseih, and kubota since the dealers are all fairly close and i get to work with them on ag stuff. now, my friend has since dropped out of this project and it really doesn't bother me since we haven't started yet. i am going on solo, with a much tighter budget than planned and of course i cant find all my notes from last year. the equipment needs to fit on a 25ft gooseneck with 10k axles, and i am pulling it with a f350 dually, i can legally load 15,000 pounds.
i would be mowing anything from regularly cut city lots and industrial sites, to ditches and crp grass, with the occasional abandoned farm yard with 20ft tall weeds. we were only considering HD 3pt mowers that can handle 3" brush to help eliminate problems from hitting the unseen as well as the occasional plumb thicket and ceder tree.
equipment we considered purchasing:
40hp tractor open/cab, loader, hydro, 4x4, with a 5ft bush hog
80 hp tractor cab, loader, powershift/shuttle, 4x4, with 8ft bush hog.
my question is: am i sizing the tractors right to the mowers and what would a much more affordable alternative be? i am currently looking at much older equipment built in the 50s and 60s to try and stay with in my budget of 3-5,000 for a tractor and 10,000 max with mower, plow, blade, box blade, land plane, and what ever else i find a need for, or pick up cheap at an auction. the tractor must have fairly good parts availability and be "bullet-proof" with common sense.
oh, im in south central, ks btw and grew up on a wheat and cattle farm and we hired most of the smaller "***** work" out.
sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance guys.
i am replacing my case 220 garden tractor with a larger tractor for dragging the driveways and moving junk around the yard. my experience has always been with 150+hp machines and we always just buy one since it pays the bills. but, here is were it gets complicated...
a year ago a friend and i spent quite a bit of time researching starting a business mowing and grading right of ways, refineries, empty lots, drainage ditches, old farm yards, drive ways, ect... with the plan of doing food plot work to fill in the slow times. anyway, we figured out our equipment needs and were going to buy newer machinery to hopefully avoid some downtime. we were planning on purchasing a 80ish horse tractor with a cab and a 40ish horsepower tractor with or without a cab, both with loaders, valve on loaders, rear remotes, and skid steer style attachment on the loader and we priced them from deere, caseih, and kubota since the dealers are all fairly close and i get to work with them on ag stuff. now, my friend has since dropped out of this project and it really doesn't bother me since we haven't started yet. i am going on solo, with a much tighter budget than planned and of course i cant find all my notes from last year. the equipment needs to fit on a 25ft gooseneck with 10k axles, and i am pulling it with a f350 dually, i can legally load 15,000 pounds.
i would be mowing anything from regularly cut city lots and industrial sites, to ditches and crp grass, with the occasional abandoned farm yard with 20ft tall weeds. we were only considering HD 3pt mowers that can handle 3" brush to help eliminate problems from hitting the unseen as well as the occasional plumb thicket and ceder tree.
equipment we considered purchasing:
40hp tractor open/cab, loader, hydro, 4x4, with a 5ft bush hog
80 hp tractor cab, loader, powershift/shuttle, 4x4, with 8ft bush hog.
my question is: am i sizing the tractors right to the mowers and what would a much more affordable alternative be? i am currently looking at much older equipment built in the 50s and 60s to try and stay with in my budget of 3-5,000 for a tractor and 10,000 max with mower, plow, blade, box blade, land plane, and what ever else i find a need for, or pick up cheap at an auction. the tractor must have fairly good parts availability and be "bullet-proof" with common sense.
oh, im in south central, ks btw and grew up on a wheat and cattle farm and we hired most of the smaller "***** work" out.
sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance guys.
