A little help from the more informed

[OzarkJoe]

Hello,
I've read so many posts on here and learned quite a bit. I feel like I have formed an opinion of what I want, but I kinda want to see what comes up in the advice.
I am on 22 acres, 4 I mow with my zero turn, the rest is mildly wooded pasture. I am currently in a conservation program to get rid of cerresa lespodeza (bad weeds for quail). the side affect of spraying for that lespodeza crap, is I have made truck paths all over the property with my mower so i wouldn't hit stumps... Now i have deer paths everywhere and they come up to snack around the barn. (big fan - just wish a big buck would make that choice)

My needs -
shred roughly 15 acres 1-2 times a year
move stones, sand, dirt, etc (nothing beyond skid steer levels)
till/plow approx 2-3 acres of garden
drill a ton of post holes to replace all these rotting ones

the property is hilly in places, but I am not new to negotiating slopes. I would still like to be safe-ish though, so want to go heavier.

so bottom line, i think I want..
Heavier tractor
plow - 1-2 bottom is fine
disc setup
rotary cutter 6-8 foot
loader

I have a Branson, JD, and Kubota within 45 min. the others are not so close. I could be wrong though, it happens... I am in the Rolla MO area, so if someone knows better, please let me know.

Thanks for any and all advice,
-Joe

 

[LD1]

Heavy doesnt mean stable on slopes. Its has more to do with COG height and weight distribution than anything.

Have wheels set to their widest, and with the tasks you list, there is no other choice but to go R1's. Have them loaded.

You have to break down the tasks, how much time you will spend doing either, and decide if you want a HST first and foremost. Because the size tractor I'd suggest....is right on the upper end of the current largest HST....then they start transitioning into GST's.

HST is better for mowing, loader work, and doing post holes.
But a GST would be better suited for the plowing and discing.

But either will do all you ask.

That said, I'd look at either a kubota MX5800 or GL6060 if you want a HST.
Or a M5660su or M6060 if you want a little heavier machine, larger front tires, better lift capacities, but at the expense of no HST trans.

Dont know the current offerings from branson or deere or how they compare. But any one of the 4 kubotas I listed will do everything you ask very well.

Visit a dealer and get some seat time.

 

[mljenkins]

We have 20 hilly acres, used to have 13.5 up until last year when we moved. Have a New Holland Workmaster 55 which does great for mowing and minor loader work. Now need to clear lots of debris and fix some drainage so I have an L6060HSTC with backhoe on order. Good to see the recommendation in the previous post on the 6060.

I liked the idea of GST but I have so much loader work with a grapple ahead of me and with the backhoe I decided to go back to HST.

I also looked at a MX5200 and the JD 5055e and 4M/R series. Decided to spend extra on the tractor so I didn’t want to trade it anytime soon. In the end I liked the Kubota over the JD. Just thought it would be better suited to my needs.

I visited 3 Kubota dealers within an hours drive and 2 JD dealers. Liked the Kubota dealer I ordered from the best, they were very responsive via phone and email and continued to provide me emailed quotes through the process as I debated options.

I’m worried what I got may be overkill as I was initially looking at a 4760 but when it came down to it the cost to go up HP wasn’t that much and long term I figured I couldn’t just add HP.

Also with regards to posts, I did a lot of them this last year with my WM shuttle, but it’s difficult with the clutch on the hillside. If you have LOTS of posts on the hillside, I’d get an HST. I love the shuttle for long runs of mowing cleared property with no obstacles and that’s why I bought it. But now we don’t have but 5 acres clear.

Matt

 

[OzarkJoe]

Thank you for the responses. I grew up with an old Farmall 4 speed, left hand shift, and wouldn't mind doing that again, it is more finicky in the tight spots though. I think the HST is the smart choice as the wife will likely out live me and id like her to still be able to use the equipment without having to buy new.
Need to get the wife to nail down a budget, she laughs when I tell her the costs. likely gonna be looking at conservation dept auction and used classifieds.

Again, Thanks for the better starting point and the info.

-Joe

 

[gersus]

There are other dealers as well. New holland/kioti dealer in Rosebud. LS/Mahindra dealer just north of freeburg. Also a LS dealer near Marshfield. Lebanon orange dealer seems cheaper than Waydes.

 

[jeff9366]

OzarkJoe

I am on 22 acres, four acres I mow with my zero turn, the remaining eighteen acres is mildly wooded pasture.

My needs -
shred roughly 15 acres 1-2 times a year with a 6-8 foot rotary cutter

This is your power-hungry task. To cut LONG grass with a six foot wide Rotary Cutter without slowing down you need 45-horsepower. Tractors with this power typically weigh around 4,000 pounds, bare tractor. You need the tractor weight to keep the mower from controlling the tractor on slopes. A wider/heavier Rotary Cutter will require more than 45-horsepower.

Mowing around stumps and other obstacles is much easier with HST transmission.

Every tractor producer has 4,000 pound bare tractor models with 45-horsepower to 60-horsepower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

till/plow approx 2-3 acres of garden

This is a commercial size garden. Is that what you intend? Maintaining a garden of 2-3 acres requires a commitment of at least thirty hours per week, irrigation, fertilizer and sprays, plus time to find a outlet for the surplus.

Most family gardens are around 1/4 acre, which provide enough vegetables and small fruits to feed a family of six throughout the year.

I recommend a PTO-powered roto-tiller over a plow/disc two implements for kitchen garden tillage. In most conditions, you would plow only once, to turn sod, then the plow will just sit. Roto-tillers leave the ground seed ready in one pass, beginning in year two.

drill a ton of post holes

You could roto-till and drill post holes with a 2,700 pound bare tractor with 4-WD, such as a 25-horsepower Kubota L2501/HST.
Here is an excellent thread on Post Hole Augers: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/388967-hydraulic-ssqa-augers.html

A 2,700 pound tractor is too light to pull an effective weight Disc Harrow. A 2,700 pound tractor will easily operate a 60" wide, forward rotation, roto-tiller.

Any issues with INSIDE STORAGE for your potential new tractor? Are doors tall enough for tractor entry?


Consider having someone contract mow your pasture twice per year, in which case a lighter, cheaper tractor will meet your needs.

 

[jeff9366]

Here are new + used tractors for sale near Zip Code 65401:

Tractors | eBay

Interesting (2-WD? or 4-WD?): NewHolland 463 Farm Tractor. W/ Front End Loader. Fancy As They Come!!!! | eBay

NH 4630 SPECS: TractorData.com Ford-New Holland 463 tractor information

 

[RSKY]

Hello,
I've read so many posts on here and learned quite a bit. I feel like I have formed an opinion of what I want, but I kinda want to see what comes up in the advice.
I am on 22 acres, 4 I mow with my zero turn, the rest is mildly wooded pasture. I am currently in a conservation program to get rid of cerresa lespodeza (bad weeds for quail). the side affect of spraying for that lespodeza crap, is I have made truck paths all over the property with my mower so i wouldn't hit stumps... Now i have deer paths everywhere and they come up to snack around the barn. (big fan - just wish a big buck would make that choice)

My needs -
shred roughly 15 acres 1-2 times a year
move stones, sand, dirt, etc (nothing beyond skid steer levels)
till/plow approx 2-3 acres of garden
drill a ton of post holes to replace all these rotting ones

the property is hilly in places, but I am not new to negotiating slopes. I would still like to be safe-ish though, so want to go heavier.

so bottom line, i think I want..
Heavier tractor
plow - 1-2 bottom is fine
disc setup
rotary cutter 6-8 foot
loader

I have a Branson, JD, and Kubota within 45 min. the others are not so close. I could be wrong though, it happens... I am in the Rolla MO area, so if someone knows better, please let me know.

Thanks for any and all advice,
-Joe

I think the first two things you must decide are: 1) How much money do I want to spend on my equipment?, 2) How much time do I want to spend doing the tasks?.

If money is not a problem then I would get a super deluxe 60-hp cab tractor with heat and A/C. If time is the problem then I would go the same route without the cab. If like most of us money is a problem and time can be made then something quite a bit smaller and less expensive would fit the bill. You could get by with 25-hp and a five foot cutter if you are retired and have more time than money. This is why these questions and answers are only a guide. Nobody on this forum knows your situation.

When I was a kid we row cropped as much as eighty acres and bushogged about sixty every year with less than fifty horsepower. My dad had a time-saver, me, who spent a lot of time on that old Ford. Unpaid time.

Heavier does not mean more stable. Weight down low is what matters. That is why I like loaded tires, the weight is close to the ground. On hilly ground, I would want the HST, better control. Also mowing around stumps and other stuff would be a LOT easier with the speed control of an HST. Fifty horsepower and a six foot mower would enable you to mow 15 acres in one long day as long as you don't have to mow very heavy stuff. Mowing twice a year would prevent that. Drop down to what I have, 22-hp and five foot mower, and it will take you two LONG days to get the same area mowed. Of course when I mowed 24+ acres this fall I used the old 52-hp Ford my mother has.

A two to three acre garden????? That would feed my entire extended family. We canned forty quarts of green beans and thirty of pickles off three fifteen foot rows of beans and six cucumber plants. We still have purple hull peas from a fifty by fifty patch three years ago. You must be raising veggies to sell. Once the ground is broke up (plowed) the first time all you need is a PTO tiller to run over it each year and a one-row cultivator to keep grass out. Maybe a subsoiler to break up the hard pan where you are planting corn.

Just my two cents for what it is worth. But one final thing, unless you have a lot of cash to blow don't overspend on tractor and equipment. You can easily drop $60,000 on a large tractor and attachments to do what could be done with $30,000 and a little bit more time.

 

[OzarkJoe]

Not sure how you guys do the quote and answer thing with different colors but, Thank you. I'll do my best to answer.
I am retired/disabled vet, with a toy money job as a construction super. My wife works also, and my only kid just finished college. We intended initially to go bigger with say an L6060. We have narrowed down HST as the plan. The garden is for farmers market, with intent of it becoming my only job vs this construction baby sitter.
Wife didn't understand the cost of implements and the tractor so now she wants a smaller tractor and figures I can just take longer to mow... *side note, I sold her on this house saying there's just 2 of us now so smaller kitchen is ok...

I understand the heavy isn't the goal it's the lower cg, I used the wrong terms, my bad. I do know that I need the weight though for ground engagement. Ive been killing coffee time with EverythingAttachment videos and watched some tiny kubotas doing some pretty impressive garden work. Which makes me think I can get by with a quite a bit smaller rig. I don't mind more mow time, I might just mow 3-4 times a year vs 1-2.

Bottom line, the smarter half says keep it under 20k. I am thinking used implements from CL/Bay and maybe 15 on the tractor. I want to try it though with say an old 8N. I will likely buy an old beater and the mower. contract the garden break up of virgin stone soil (the glacier took a major dump on our land), and wait for a loader option.
I am going to stop at Orange on my way thru lebanon today though. DIdn't know LS was near freeburg, I might pop in there too next week.

anyway, long reply. Thanks for your help again, hopefully I didn't miss too much for answers.

 

[jeff9366]

The garden is for farmers market, with intent of it becoming my only job vs this construction baby sitter.

I've been killing time with EverythingAttachment videos and watched some tiny kubotas doing some pretty impressive garden work. Which makes me think I can get by with a quite a bit smaller rig. I don't mind more mow time, I might just mow 3-4 times a year vs 1-2.

Bottom line, the smarter half says keep it under 20k. I am thinking used implements from CL/Bay and maybe 15 on the tractor. I want to try it though with say an old 8N. I will likely buy an old beater and the mower. contract the garden break up of virgin stone soil .

This is quite a shift from my understanding of your initial post. While your power-hungry task remains mowing fifteen acres, your time-intensive task will be the market garden. You will find a 2,500 pound to 3,000 pound bare tractor, such as Kubota's L2501, more agile in a relatively confined garden relative to an 4,400 pound, bare tractor, L6060. You will need a tractor with at least 12" ground clearance, so you can tractor cultivate until crops are 12" tall.

Buy the Loader with the tractor. Loaders are MUCH more expensive purchased separately rather than as an initial option. Loaders are best considered as powered wheelbarrows that flexibly perform other tasks. With a commercial garden you will need a wheelbarrow every day. Buy a Loader. Save your back. preservee your energy.

Your can operate a six foot mower with an L3301, which is the same tractor as the L2501 but with eight additional horsepower, but you have to operate pretty slow in tall grass. I recommend contracting the mowing to someone with a large tractor and multi-spindle bush hog 10' to 15' wide, if stump spacing permits.

I would start commercial gardening with one acre the first year. I trust you have budgeted for a dedicated water well for the garden. It would be folly to use house well for the commercial garden.

A Ford 8N is geared too high to operate a PTO powered roto-tiller. Ford 8Ns are clutch and non-synchromesh gear only. 2-WD only, therefore no braking on slopes. PTO is inconvenien to use. No power steering. No loader. You have to carry many five gallon cans to keep a relatively fuel hungry gasoline fueled tractor operating. Tractors, like cars and trucks, have improved a great deal since 1940. I recommend against this 8N whim.

Your write you initially wanted an ultra-luxe L6060 but now believe a seventy year old Ford 8N will suffice. Your first post emphasized mowing, but one acre garden will demand 85% of your time and be the sole source of revenue. I do not quite understand.

Collect tractor brochures for every new tractor model you consider.