New Tractor Comparison

[indebt]

I have been looking at ck20's and like what I see but , what are my other options in JD, NH, and kabota. I will be using it to clear snow (5 miles ),take care of lawn, clean stalls (I will need a loader ) and brush hog the field 3-4 times a year (approx 10 ac) . All opinions are requested. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Casimir]

Duane:

With 5 miles of snow to clear and 10 acres to brush hog, you should probably be looking for something in the 30 Hp range. The lawn mowing and cleaning stalls will probably restrict you from going larger, but it depends on your soils and access to the stalls. I can get my NH TC33DA through 6-foot wide gates, but not into 4-ft wide stall doors - still have to muck those out the old fashioned way. However, we have four 12-foot wide run-in sheds that I can easily use the tractor to clean, because they are open in the front.

In this range, you would be looking at the NH TC 30 (a basic, bare bones, but capable tractor), the more deluxe NH TC33DA, the Kubota 7800 or B2910 (may be a different model number this year - I haven't checked since I decided to buy blue /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif), or the JD 4210 or 4310. All are very capable tractors, but still something you can mow a lawn with if it is not too soggy. They will all handle at least a 60 inch brush hog, and perhaps a 72 inch, depending on the vegetation you are mowing.

Prices vary regionally and one brand may be lower priced in your area, but higher priced in another. Perhaps the most important thing is to find a dealer that you like and are comfortable will stand by you when you need service or if you have any warranty issues. Second most important, is which one "feels" best to you -- controls easy to reach and logically placed. Get out and test drive them all and get to know the dealers before you leap. Shopping is half the fun, but not as fun as actually having your own tractor available when you have time to play --- I mean, work. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Good luck, and welcome to TBN.

 

[sneaky_pete]

All of the manufacturers you mention make machines that could be great for your various needs, it ought to come down to which dealer you like best - which gives the best price and service after the sale.

You are asking a lot of one single tractor to do all those things - for example, for cleaning stalls you need one small enough to get in and out of the stalls, but for maintaining 30 acres outside I'd want a much larger one. Ditto with finish lawn mowing around the house; a large tractor will be too heavy and not very maneuverable, but for 5 miles of snow removal I'd want the biggest I could afford. Consider getting two different size tractors if you can afford it, maybe one of them second hand?

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Clear 5 Miles of snow, bush hog 10 acres, and mow your lawn.

I have a feeling you're not going to be satisified with either the big jobs or the lawn mowing. This is assuming your lawn has trees and plantings and various areas to mow around etc.

If you are careful about how you set up your lawn, you can design in the size of your tractor and the type of finish mower you have, then I suppose you could mow effectively without resorting to another machine to mow with (though I suspect you would be happier with a LT and a larger tractor for the real work.

Cliff

 

[Kub0ta]

http://www.kubota.com/f/products/tlb.cfm

Definaitly check out the TLB series at Kubota. I am biased but i also have tried JD and NH and didnt like either.

 

[KiotiJohn]

I really think you'd do better to buy a larger tractor as well. With the CK20, you'll be all day long doing 5 miles of snow and the same with 10 acres of pasture.
I would suggest you go with at least a Kioti LK3054 which has a mechanical shuttle shift (stop first, shift F/R and go without shifting gears) or a CK25 or 30 (HST or Synchronized shuttle where no need to stop before F/R.)
Either of these tractors, I think, would be the minimum you'd want to get. I no longer remember all the comparable models in JD and Kubota, NH. It's too much to keep up with all those models, but they all have plenty to offer. I just like the Kioti and it's price weight and standard features. John

 

[Varmintmist]

It really depends on what you want to spend. A JD 790 or NH TC30, or any other 30 ish HP tractor will do the work you want to do. Mid mount mower or rear finish, FEL, 5 foot brush hog, and a light rear blade.

If your snow removal is like my folks in West By God, a pass up the road and a pass back down will clear you out 99.9% of the time. That one time every 10 years that you get hammered with snow, everything shuts down anyway so you have time to get to it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I wouldnt worry to much about the snow part of it, unless you live right next to the only ski resort in WVA.

Anyhow, that said, you are looking at 27-35 hp tractors. All the rest is what you want to put on it. Gear vs HST vs Shuttle shift lift of the loader, how it feels to you.............

Drive a few, then come here and ask about real life experiances with the mod tractors that you get it narrowed to.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

If it was me, I would go for a small frame lightweight 30hp tractor. The Kubota B7800 (low price), B2910 (higher price, more features) or the new B3030 (soon to replace the B2910) all fit that bill very nicely. New Holland TC29 & TC33 are both fairly small 30/33hp tractors, but they are larger/heavier than the Kubotas I would select.

Now let me state why I would go with a small frame lightweight machine. Given the tasks you have outlined, I would also strongly prefer a HST machine over a gear machine.

#1, the smaller the machine the eaiser it will be to get in/out of the stalls.

#2, mucking the stalls is not heavy work, you don't need the biggest, baddest, meanest loader so a lighter weight machine will do the job without straining. This is going to be a regular task, every week, all year, buy a machine suited to this task.

#3, you will be mowing the lawn, low weight, small size & high (relative) PTO hp all fit perfectly into the equasion. Small size = greater manuverability = shorter mowing time! Low weight = less rutting of the yard. Higher PTO hp = mower deck. Mowing & bush hogging will be a large % of your tractoring hours, buy a machine suited to these tasks.

#4, keeping the 5 miles of road open during the winter is a big machine job unless the snow fall is 6" or less. I suspect that most of your snows would be modest snows, therefore you can get buy with a modest size/weight tractor. Realize that as a % of time spent doing jobs, snow removal will be very few hours relative to mowing.

 

[zekeman]

Duane
There is no way a tractor can fit inside a normal stall, even if it was one of the small Kubota's, to get a tractor that small it would be seriously challenged to accomplish the other chores you have in mind. Before I bought my Mahindra 4110 (41 HP.) I used a ground driven Manure spreader- 75 Bushel - being pullet by a ATV down the center Isle of the horse barn- the center isle is 12 ft wide with stalls on both sides of the isle, this system is so effective I still clean the same way except now half the time I use the Mahindra 4110 to pull the spreader. The Mahindra 4110 is small enough to fit down the center isle but big enough to do all the other chores you mentioned. It has had one warranty repair in 440 hrs of work and that repair was more "operator error" than tractor defect, and it was still repaired by Mahindra under warranty. Two other Factors you must consider is Dealer and price. I was fortunate to have a Good dealer to work with and on average the Mahindra is 3 to 4 thousand Cheaper than the big three Tractors in that size
(41 HP). Hope this helps

Ron

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> There is no way a tractor can fit inside a normal stall </font>

Really? Are you sure? Because that will come as a great surprise to some folks who are doing it. I guess they better stop it then? Now, I will say that you want to have wider stall doors, or better yet exterior access. The best set up I can think of for stall cleaning is using a Power Trac, Steiner or Ventrac articulating tractor, those are ideal for working inside of barns, but I'm not sure they would be the best suited overall for the various tasks outlined. If any one would do all of them, it would be the PowerTrac.

I'd still look for a smaller frame lightweight tractor for overall use. We just got a local Mahindra dealer in our county. Nice tractors, lower priced than John Deere, but very heavy machines and larger than I'd want inside a barn or for mowing the lawn.