Buying Advice Starting from scratch (both land and equipment) - 5 acres

[Nic3456]

Just joined TBN and hoping to learn a lot from you all. I'm Starting from scratch and need some help as I'm a bit overwhelmed. Wife & I are about to start building on 5 acres that is currently a flat soybean field with the only trees being on the perimeter of the property. It's located in Central OH and will have a 500-600 ft gravel driveway. I was leaning towards a ZT mower as I've had one in the past, but am thinking I could get a lot more use from a tractor - but I also don't want to spend 5-6 hours a week mowing.

Current needs:
Trench Water, Gas,& Elec lines - will probably hire out

Level overall land to smooth out existing grade, - might hire out

Plant/sow some variation of grass/hay on property - might hire out

Maintain grass/hay once established

Snow removal as needed for gravel drive

BONUS - easy way to transport my trash can to road each week (of all the things I worry about this seems to stress me out most lol)

Potential future needs
We might eventually decide to get a few cows or chickens, but that's 3-5 years down the road at least.
We will probably plant 8-10 trees around the property eventually.

I don't mind doing some of the lot prep myself if my skill set allows (I'm probably advanced novice) and there is a big savings (for example if it costs me $4k to do myself vs hiring it out for $5k I won't do that myself). Basically I'm hoping any money I save by doing DIY pays for the bulk of whatever equipment I buy. If I hire out the lot prep work my budget is $5k, but if I can do some myself it could grow to $10k.

My current ideas -
Buy a Kubota b2320 or something similar to use as a jack of all trades or
Buy ZT mower plus an ATV with a snow blade (or get a new pickup - currently have an older 2WD Ford Escape - and put a blade on it)

Thanks for any tips/suggestions

 

[flusher]

I'd get the B2320 with mid-mount mower.

Good luck

 

[MF283]

There are many routes you could go on this & we'd be glad to spend your money for you. I like your idea of having a lot of it professionally done, gives you time to focus on other things.
Being the tight wad i am, i'd opt for an older tractor, ATV, & buy a new ZTR for what you have in mind.
A FEL for the tractor is worth it's weight in gold & solves your trash problem, the ATV with a small trailer would also, gas or diesel on the tractor is up to you, i'd say gas for no more than you would really use it, other's may recommend diesel, which i use on my 35 acres.
As always, i like to follow these threads to see where they go & are you proficient at turning wrenches?

Ronnie

 

[jeff9366]

I am for the new pickup with a snow blade, assuming your snow is moderate most years.
The truck will be more stable than a tractor and you will be warm and dry within. Headlights are good, plowing pre-dawn. Snow, sleet and rain while moving snow with an open station tractor is not my idea of fun.

When planning your garage, spec one garage door with enough height so the tractor can enter/exit without the ROPS having to be raised or lowered. Also, spec 20-amp or 30-amp circuits in the garage, each outlet with its own GFI, rather than default 15-amp circuits.

Look at a heavier Kubota L2501/HST rather than the B2320. Consider a WIDE, Threee Point Hitch mounted Finish Mower, as you have only open ground to mow. The L2501/HST combined with a wide Three Point Hitch Finish Mower will cost LESS than the B2320 combined with a proprietary mid-mount mower and will be more comfortable to operate and more capable. You certainly will want a Front End Loader (FEL) that most useful of all tractor options. With an FEL, 4-WD becomes necessary too, for traction to load the FEL bucket.

VIDEO: kubota L2501 tractor - YouTube

KUBOTA: Compact Tractors | L2501 | Kubota Tractor Corporation

VIDEO: tractor finish mower - YouTube

Kubota is offering its dealers pretty strong promo allowances this summer on tractor sales combined with three implement/attachment sales in Land Pride or Kubota brands. Look ahead to your needs and try to negotiate a package deal including a Finish Mower and two other implements.

I suggest a Land Plane/Grading Scraper and a PTO powered roto-tiller. Land Plane for your driveway. Both for smoothing. Roto-tiller for a garden.

VIDEO: land plane grading scraper - YouTube

pto tiller - YouTube


T-B-N archive TRACTOR TRASH CAN: Google:TBN

 

[varmint]

The truck plow is nicest to use, comfort-wise, but a tractor with a front plow on a SSQA loader will do the job, and you can lift/tilt the plow up to push snow into high piles if needed. A rear blade will maintain the gravel drive. A post hole auger will make fencing easy. A loader is... very useful, and pallet forks are handy. Very. A 6' rear finish mower will make mowing go quickly if it's mostly open ground. A modest 4WD diesel tractor will be a good investment over the years, and if you get and maintain a Kubota, it will hold its value.
My "avatar" photo is of plowing a 30" snowfall off a gravel lane. A plow truck was tearing up the gravel, but my carefully adjusted plow did the job with little damage.

 

[jenkinsph]

I suspect a new pickup with snow blade would be very useful. I would not want to be without a pickup if building a new house, just too handy not to have.

If you hire out the other work then a good mower is what you will need the most. Mowing it would seem would be 90% of your usage.

 

[Nic3456]

Thanks for the replies so far - are any of the snow blade attachments on ZT mowers good for gravel drives?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just joined TBN and hoping to learn a lot from you all. I'm Starting from scratch and need some help as I'm a bit overwhelmed. Wife & I are about to start building on 5 acres that is currently a flat soybean field with the only trees being on the perimeter of the property. It's located in Central OH and will have a 500-600 ft gravel driveway. I was leaning towards a ZT mower as I've had one in the past, but am thinking I could get a lot more use from a tractor - but I also don't want to spend 5-6 hours a week mowing.

Current needs:
Trench Water, Gas,& Elec lines - will probably hire out
Likely best here to get your house plumber to trench in all this when he is doing the house septic, etc.

Level overall land to smooth out existing grade, - might hire out
This is where your tractor purchase will earn its cost. You will be looking at $60-100 per hour to hire this out and it will be easy to do with a land plane or even a box blade. One or the other of these will also take care of your long driveway. A tiller also pretty much self levels area that are in row crop.

Plant/sow some variation of grass/hay on property - might hire out.
Grass sowing can be done with a hand held seed distributor for 5 acres. A little bit of work to do but then you need to roll or lightly drag the loose soil (like after tilling) to cover the seeds. Another good self performed job for you and your tractor

Maintain grass/hay once established
Another use for your tractor with a belly mower or rear finish mower. I think if you are wide open, a rear finish mower would work well at about half the cost of a belly mower.


Snow removal as needed for gravel drive.
Although it may be nicer to remove snow from the comfort of your new $50K truck, a tractor with blade or even a snow blower will do a much better job. 500-600 feet of drive way wont take too long to do. I do always wonder how folks with only 3-5 acres of land have such long driveways, must be some long and narrow lots.

BONUS - easy way to transport my trash can to road each week (of all the things I worry about this seems to stress me out most lol)
Tractor with FEL will work well for this or you can make a carry-all for the rear 3 PH custom made to fit your garbage containers.

Potential future needs
We might eventually decide to get a few cows or chickens, but that's 3-5 years down the road at least.
We will probably plant 8-10 trees around the property eventually.
Plant your trees as soon as possible after your house is built so that they will start to grown NOW rather than later. Planting foliage is the cheapest and best way to spruce up your property and make it look like more than just an open field. Just plan the locations so they aren't cramped up or difficult to mow thru. Remember, shade trees need at least 25 foot radius so they wont overlap when mature. That may seem like a lot when planting a 6 foot tree but anything less is not enough room for the tree to grow. It is best if you can sketch out your property with house, barn/work shop, electric lines, sewer, water, sprinker (if you elect to install one) so you wont be planting trees close to any of these area. Take some as built photos of underground utilities for later reference when planting additional plants.

I don't mind doing some of the lot prep myself if my skill set allows (I'm probably advanced novice) and there is a big savings (for example if it costs me $4k to do myself vs hiring it out for $5k I won't do that myself). Basically I'm hoping any money I save by doing DIY pays for the bulk of whatever equipment I buy. If I hire out the lot prep work my budget is $5k, but if I can do some myself it could grow to $10k.

My current ideas -
Buy a Kubota b2320 or something similar to use as a jack of all trades or
Buy ZT mower plus an ATV with a snow blade (or get a new pickup - currently have an older 2WD Ford Escape - and put a blade on it)
A B2320 is a nice sized tractor for 2-10 acres and will do anything that you need done. My daughter and husband bought one with a belly mower, tiller, middle buster and tool bar when they bought their house with 2 acre lot. My daughter mows the yard with it all the time. That was over 5 years ago and around $20K at the time. You might find a good used one for half that now. Used implements are usually a good buy also if you take some time to shop for them and a used tractor.

Thanks for any tips/suggestions

See comments above

 

[AJ197816134]

I guess this all depends on your budget, start doing some looking, sounds like a 30-40 HP machine in your future. I tried the ATV, the small garden tractor with blades, and a plow.
A tractor is a GREAT investment if you can afford it, find the size that suits you and if budget allows go 1 step bigger you will grow into it.
For the money and Value, WE chose LS TRACTOR, They offer great value very stout units, and a pretty strong company. No I do not work for them, just after doing research fell in love with them.
WE were able to get a bigger machine, the attachments we wanted, and buy new. YES this cost ALOT of money up front, but you may not need as big of a machine as me
Look at the LS XR3135 or the XR 4140 XR 4145

The Front End Loader on a tractor is one of the best investments, you don't need a back hoe, or you do. Get one or don't, but there are TONS of attachments you can pick up new or used as needed. The Compact Tractor will outlast anything used, or second hand, hate buying someone else's problem.

 

[Nic3456]

Im starting to lean towards a tractor (unless I can find a ZTM that I can use for snow and leveling the driveway) so I only to worry about one fuel type, one engine,etc. I'll need to get something relatively newer as I'm not very mechanically inclined. Roughly how long does a tractor go before it starts needing quite a bit of ongoing maintenance? (Just trying to decide how old I can go).

Gary - my lot is a flag lot. It's basically a 60' wide strip from the road for about 400 feet, then opens up into a square.