TheMan419
Veteran Member
We currently have 5 horses and 18 acres.
First you will not want to rent a bush hog. Buy one. For our pasture a light duty unity from TSC is more that sufficient. I could not find a decent used one when I was looking.
You will want to make sure the tractor can get in your stall barn. We built with a 12 foot aisle for that purpose. Being able to deliver a load of dirt, stall mats whatever directly to the stall door is a huge plus. You will find a million ways to use the tractor to replace things you currently do by hand.
Regarding size we have a 25 hp New Holland. I love that tractor. Do I wish I had more HP? Well I am a man so of course I do. Did a buy not enough tractor? No it does absolutely everything I have asked of it. It will even run a 5 foot tiller through our clay soil.
We only feed small squares. So no issue there. I could lift and move a round with my 3 point, but not the FEL. So stacking them would be a no go. Large squares on the FEL would be marginal and I would not want to do it regularly.
Also in terms of moving the manure one issue I am having now is not a high enough dump height on my FEL. I found an organic farm that would take it all away for free. However my FEL max dump height is 6.5 feet. The dump truck they have has sides taller than that. So no go. I am thinking about building my own "loading dock" for this.
Regarding the FEL capacity, that is one of the reasons I went NH. The Boomer 24 DOES NOT have a QA bucket, but had a much higher weight rating than the comparable JD or Orange units. So for me that trade off was ok.
Also if you have not done so go sit your butt in each tractor. I am 6'7" so that eliminated some tractors straight away just due to their layout.
I can easily lift a full bucket load of manure without the rear end feeling light, but I am very careful turning and moving so I do not run into trouble. If I had to move a lot of it I would just pick up the bush hog or tiller and then would move a full bucket load without concern.
Have fun with the search!
First you will not want to rent a bush hog. Buy one. For our pasture a light duty unity from TSC is more that sufficient. I could not find a decent used one when I was looking.
You will want to make sure the tractor can get in your stall barn. We built with a 12 foot aisle for that purpose. Being able to deliver a load of dirt, stall mats whatever directly to the stall door is a huge plus. You will find a million ways to use the tractor to replace things you currently do by hand.
Regarding size we have a 25 hp New Holland. I love that tractor. Do I wish I had more HP? Well I am a man so of course I do. Did a buy not enough tractor? No it does absolutely everything I have asked of it. It will even run a 5 foot tiller through our clay soil.
We only feed small squares. So no issue there. I could lift and move a round with my 3 point, but not the FEL. So stacking them would be a no go. Large squares on the FEL would be marginal and I would not want to do it regularly.
Also in terms of moving the manure one issue I am having now is not a high enough dump height on my FEL. I found an organic farm that would take it all away for free. However my FEL max dump height is 6.5 feet. The dump truck they have has sides taller than that. So no go. I am thinking about building my own "loading dock" for this.
Regarding the FEL capacity, that is one of the reasons I went NH. The Boomer 24 DOES NOT have a QA bucket, but had a much higher weight rating than the comparable JD or Orange units. So for me that trade off was ok.
Also if you have not done so go sit your butt in each tractor. I am 6'7" so that eliminated some tractors straight away just due to their layout.
I can easily lift a full bucket load of manure without the rear end feeling light, but I am very careful turning and moving so I do not run into trouble. If I had to move a lot of it I would just pick up the bush hog or tiller and then would move a full bucket load without concern.
Have fun with the search!
