Tractor Sizing How much HP do I really need?

[Roger66]

I'm 99% sure I'm buying a Mahendra 1526HST tractor this year. I'm am still open to other options, but I haven't found any others that compare with the price and specs I'm interested in. The particular specs I'm looking at is Bucket lift weight and 3 Point Lift weight. Still trying to fund the initiative so I'm still in the research phase. I posted another thread and no one had anything bad to say about this tractor and I've been researching this to death! For this question forget brand and lets talk Horse Power. Obviously this answer is different for different users. My use is primarily lugging. Towing, lifting, moving. I'll likely get a 60" rear snow thrower, a PTO chipper and a Post hole digger some day, but no mowing or brush hogging. If my research and understanding of it is correct, for lugging I should be totally fine with a 25 HP tractor. It's the PTO use that causes the need for more HP. Wide mowers and brush hogs (which I don't want or need) seem to cause the need for over 25 HP. I'm sure it's obvious why I prefer not to cross the 26HP line in the sand, but I don't want to pay for and maintain the Tier 4 emissions equipment. I only have 1.5 ache's of land so It's hard enough to justify this purchase, I really don't want to cross the 20K threshold. The PTO Chipper pushes the limit for 25 HP, but I burn firewood. Larger branches are good firewood for me, so I won't be chipping massive branches, just the stuff too small to log up. The worst thing would be if I hooked up one of my heavy trailers pressed the HST pedal in low range and didn't move because I did't buy enough HP! I hope I would loose traction before I ran out of power. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[jb1390]

I'm 99% sure I'm buying a Mahendra 1526HST tractor this year. I'm am still open to other options, but I haven't found any others that compare with the price and specs I'm interested in. The particular specs I'm looking at is Bucket lift weight and 3 Point Lift weight. Still trying to fund the initiative so I'm still in the research phase. I posted another thread and no one had anything bad to say about this tractor and I've been researching this to death! For this question forget brand and lets talk Horse Power. Obviously this answer is different for different users. My use is primarily lugging. Towing, lifting, moving. I'll likely get a 60" rear snow thrower, a PTO chipper and a Post hole digger some day, but no mowing or brush hogging. If my research and understanding of it is correct, for lugging I should be totally fine with a 25 HP tractor. It's the PTO use that causes the need for more HP. Wide mowers and brush hogs (which I don't want or need) seem to cause the need for over 25 HP. I'm sure it's obvious why I prefer not to cross the 26HP line in the sand, but I don't want to pay for and maintain the Tier 4 emissions equipment. I only have 1.5 ache's of land so It's hard enough to justify this purchase, I really don't want to cross the 20K threshold. The PTO Chipper pushes the limit for 25 HP, but I burn firewood. Larger branches are good firewood for me, so I won't be chipping massive branches, just the stuff too small to log up. The worst thing would be if I hooked up one of my heavy trailers pressed the HST pedal in low range and didn't move because I did't buy enough HP! I hope I would loose traction before I ran out of power. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

The only time I consistently wish I had more HP is when trying to move up hills in high range. My tractor is pretty heavy - it takes a bit to get it moving. It seems like if you stay on your property, that won't be an issue for you. If you are planning to pull a trailer for any decent distance on the road, it's something to consider.

PTO chipper will be fine with 25 hp. The feed size on mine (Woodmaxx 8H) is small enough that in order to get it to auto feed with no issues, you are trimming down to about 1.5" (hardwood) anyway. I've chipped stuff larger than that with it hooked up to a 20 hp tractor.

1526 is a nice machine. I've driven one around the dealer lot a little bit - my in laws might purchase one someday.

 

[CobyRupert]

Traction is a function of weight.

Horsepower is a measure of how FAST you can do a task.
Think of it like this, as long as you have the traction (and the gearing) a 1 hp tractor will pull as much as a 100 hp tractor, but just 100 times slower.
Or a 1 hp chipper will chip as much as a 100 hp chipper, but at a feed rate 100 times slower.

Now, realistically larger horsepower tractors weigh more. And low gear is only so low. And people have an expectation of how fast they should be traveling or performing a task.

 

[tcartwri]

Mass is more important than HP

 

[moriboy]

You will never complain that you have too much horsepower. You will however be unhappy with a tractor that doesn't have enough. This has cost a lot us on here a lot of money when we realized that we bought underpowered machines and took a bath trading them in on something bigger...

 

[IslandTractor]

The best bang for the buck in tractors is almost always the lowest horsepower for a given frame size. Folks fall prey to marketing hype and very often buy more horsepower than they can reasonably use while ignoring more important specifications like weight and loader lift capacity.

My first tractor was a Kioti CK20 HST which is probably just a bit smaller or the same size as the Mahindra 1526 HST. I LOVED it. It could outlift Kubota B series tractors that had 30hp and cost $10K more. The CK20 didn't mow as quickly and was limited by a 2 range HST but I was mostly interested in loader work so that really wasn't a concern. If you are primarily mowing then HP makes more of a difference but for any ground engaging task or loader task HP is really not what you want to pay attention to.

 

[Roger66]

I'm fine with moving slowly as long as I'm moving. This tractor weighs 2459 lbs, Fill the tires, add wheel weights and a well fed driver should be over 3,000 Lbs. To me hypothetically if I chained the tractor to an unmovable object, on dry pavement in low range, 4WD engaged, rear axle locked when you press the HST pedal, the tires should spin. If they don't than the traction exceeds the power (Torque specifically) and more power could be useful. If the tires do spin more HP would not help at all.

 

[Roger66]

You will never complain that you have too much horsepower. You will however be unhappy with a tractor that doesn't have enough. This has cost a lot us on here a lot of money when we realized that we bought underpowered machines and took a bath trading them in on something bigger...

Pre Tier 4, I would totally agree with this statement, but crossing the 26 HP line post Tier 4 takes some serious consideration. If the extra HP is not really needed than dealing with DPF DOC systems is wasted cost and effort.

 

[ch1ch2]

Weight is important.
I had a friend ask me to help him find a tractor.
We looked at a few, and I recommended two different brands.
I also told him not to get less than 30 hp.
He bought one of the two brands but got 23-ish HP.
He later complained about the things he did took too long and he had to get me to help him with my tractor unload a smoker from his trailer because his tractor was not stable with the weight.

 

[IslandTractor]

Pre Tier 4, I would totally agree with this statement, but crossing the 26 HP line post Tier 4 takes some serious consideration. If the extra HP is not really needed than dealing with DPF DOC systems is wasted cost and effort.

Agree. I own a Kioti DK which is the pre Tier 4 model. The NX is the replacement and nearly identical except for the engine. Have a look at the Kioti subforum and see how many complaints about engine issues there are for the DK compared to the NX. Tier 4 technology is worth avoiding if possible. 25 horsepower can do a LOT of work very efficiently when matched with a good heavy frame, loader and hydraulics.