Comparison Let's try this again.....

   / Let's try this again..... #1  

hilltop Haven Farm

Bronze Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2017
Messages
50
Location
Huntingdon, Pa
Tractor
1953 jubilee
Please help with biased/unbiased FACTS. I am back in the market and need a tractor. Looking at 35-40 hp. Or???! Here's the scoop. Property is 45 acres. Half wooded, half fields. ALL hilly with most of the woods with pretty steep slopes. Will need to run a 6 ft brush hog, although alot of the field could be done with a finish mower. Some thick grass. Will need to maintain and grade alot of logging roads and main drive. Will need to clear brush and move as big of logs as possible. Will also skid logs and dig lots of post holes for fencing. Most important is budget. So I am leaning Korean (tym,kioti,ls). But not set on any, I need help. Thanks
 
   / Let's try this again..... #2  
40hp should do the jobs, but with loaded rear tire or wheel weights and wheels as wide as they well go.
 
   / Let's try this again..... #3  
I have no experience nor know anyone with any of those brands. There is a Kioti dealership near me but not one of the others. I have looked at the Kioti a few years back and they seem to have good extras on them.

As to budget, you may do well to consider used. Tractor and equipment. There is always those who are selling due to such as health or even death or moving and no longer needing the equipment. Just have to work to find those machines, even packages. Check out dealer support whether used or new. Would suggest four wheel drive and ag tires for traction. Rear tires will need to be loaded for the logging and grading work for traction.
 
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  • Thread Starter
#4  
Yes definitely will load tires and leaning towards ags, although some say not so good in woods. A used tier 3 would be a dream but cost versus new with warranty isn't far off.
 
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#5  
And I'm not against any brand, just mentioning the koreans due to cost. Can't go too big frame wise but need hydro since others using it and weight.
 
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We have 65 acres and probably 2/3 is woods. Some of the things I do is brush hogging, seeding, fertilizing, discing, blading, and augering post holes. Put out round bales. Our 42 hp Mahindra does a good job but we don’t have much slope.
 
   / Let's try this again..... #9  
40hp should do the jobs, but with loaded rear tire or wheel weights and wheels as wide as they well go.

Forty horsepower will spin a light duty six foot Rotary Cutter in fairly tall grass. If the grass is really tall, or particularly tough, you will need to mow in HST/LOW in order to cut it.
I recommend forty-five horsepower if you want to spin a six foot Rotary Cutter adequately in HST/MED in most conditions.
( If you will mow saplings in the woods, forty-five or fifty horsepower is necessary to power a medium or heavy duty Rotary Cutter with heavier blades and a robust tail wheel mount.)
( If you will PUSH your Rotary Cutter, which all of us do in brush, rigid, pin-adjustable Lower Link stabilizers are essential. Also called telescoping Lower Link stabilizers. Turnbuckle/chain stabilizers break easily when PUSHING loads.)

Rear tires filled 3/4 with liquid lowers the center of gravity of the tractor, making it more stable on slopes.

Heavier tractors are more stable than light tractors. Heavier tractors have wider wheel stance and larger tires on the wheels. Heavier tractors have more inertia, helping stability when heavy loads are lifted in the FEL on sloping ground. I suggest a tractor with a bare tractor weight of 4,000 pounds or more. Such tractors are fairly uniformly 66" wide with R1/ag tires, 70" wide with R4/industrial tires.

Buy a 10' stick of 1-1/4" PVC pipe. Cut it 70" wide. Mark it with tape at 66" wide. Walk around your property checking gate widths with pipe. Walk in the woods, considering space between trees you wish to preserve.

A light tractor can drag logs from the rear/center drawbar but the logs get dirty. Dirty logs dull saw chains in less than one minute. To transport logs cleanly you need to lift logs with FEL with Debris Forks, Pallet Forks, or a Grapple.

Four wheel drive is essential on slopes. Tractors only have brakes on the rear wheels. Without four wheel drive braking is inadequate on hills.

Counterbalance mounted on the Three Point Hitch is essential when lifting or moving loads with the Front End Loader.

There is nothing wrong with Kioti nor LS. It is an open question if TYM will be viable in the USA over the long term.

I am on my third tractor. My first two tractors were basic. At age 67 years I purchased a Kubota 'Grand L' with DeLuxe kit standard. Money well spent. Two years ago at the SE Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia, I closely inspected the LS XR4000 series, 40 and 46-horsepower, 4,300 pounds bare tractor, many of the DeLuxe features of the Kubota Grand Ls. I was impressed. The LS brochure is before me.

I am sure Kioti has an equivalent fully featured model.
(Every winter there seem to be multiple threads on T-B-N titled "Kioti Won't Start" that are not seen for LS tractors.)

DeLuxe tractors usually offer more rear wheel width options.

R4/industrial tires are the most frequent tire choice with Loaders. R4s are wider and usually six ply, sometimes eight ply, so they squat less under heavy bucket loads. R4 six ply tire sidewalls are 50% more puncture proof than four ply tire sidewalls. Tractors with loaders often carry wood some distance over hard surface roads to a burn pile. RELATIVELY smooth R4 tires are much more comfortable and last longer on hard surface roads, relative to softer R1 "bar" tires. When 3/4 loaded, rear R4s take more fluid than R1s.

R1/ag tires are usually four ply, sometimes six ply. If TRACTION is key to your needs, R1s clearly have a traction advantage in moist soil. PA seems to be a state where R1 vs R4 seems to be more a 50/50% split, rather than R4 85%/15% split in most markets, probably a factor of two mud seasons in PA. R1s can be spaced farther apart than R4s.

You can select the time and conditions when you grade your roads, so R1s are not essential for you. Farmers sometimes MUST get into fields to plant or harvest, regardless of soil moisture. If you decide on R1s, see if you can order six ply rather than four ply for woods work.

For tearing out brush, a Ratchet Rake bucket attachment is the optimum tool. Lots of videos on U-tube. (search: tractor ratchet rake.)
 
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   / Let's try this again..... #10  
And how important is hp in my situation?

From what you have posted SO FAR horsepower is only important relative to adequately powering a six foot Rotary Cutter.

Post Hole Augers require less horsepower than Rotary Cutters.
 
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