I am looking at purchasing my first tractor for use on our small farm. The tasks that I envisage are:
* A little slashing of what stock avoid
* Spraying of weeds along the driveway sides - 500m
* Some grader work here and there
* Personal vegetable patch cultivation
* Fencing of paddocks with the post hole digger
* Laying of poly pipes to troughs in paddocks from dam
* FEL work here and there whilst building the house and general works
* Mowing of 7 acres of lawn around the house site and gardens
* Preparation includig ripping and maintenance of a 5 acre olive grove
The total farm is 80 acres however most of this is simply grazing and does not require tractor work. I am currently torn between purchasing a HST tractor or a larger manual tractor for the same price ? The unit will be mostly used for mowing the lawns by my wife and I however she has no trouble with the concept of a manual transmission.
I was looking at a Daedong CK30HST (Kioti in the USA) as this appears to be excellent value however this model is not compatible with a MMM so the HST's only real advantage here is ease of operation, alternativly I could opt for a unit with greater HP in a manual transmission (Kubota MX 5000) but... as I've never owned one before I have no idea which way to turn. My greatest fear is spending this amount of money on a tool and finding out that it doesn't do the job. For example with the CK30HST I was quoted on a 1800mm (6 ft) rear finishing mower and I checked the specs only to find this unit requires a PTO HP of 21-43 and the CK30HST tractor has a PTO HP of 23.5hp which is at the bottom end of the required range, is this a problem ? I don't know until I finally use it to cut grass...
Help and advice would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks
Murph
* A little slashing of what stock avoid
* Spraying of weeds along the driveway sides - 500m
* Some grader work here and there
* Personal vegetable patch cultivation
* Fencing of paddocks with the post hole digger
* Laying of poly pipes to troughs in paddocks from dam
* FEL work here and there whilst building the house and general works
* Mowing of 7 acres of lawn around the house site and gardens
* Preparation includig ripping and maintenance of a 5 acre olive grove
The total farm is 80 acres however most of this is simply grazing and does not require tractor work. I am currently torn between purchasing a HST tractor or a larger manual tractor for the same price ? The unit will be mostly used for mowing the lawns by my wife and I however she has no trouble with the concept of a manual transmission.
I was looking at a Daedong CK30HST (Kioti in the USA) as this appears to be excellent value however this model is not compatible with a MMM so the HST's only real advantage here is ease of operation, alternativly I could opt for a unit with greater HP in a manual transmission (Kubota MX 5000) but... as I've never owned one before I have no idea which way to turn. My greatest fear is spending this amount of money on a tool and finding out that it doesn't do the job. For example with the CK30HST I was quoted on a 1800mm (6 ft) rear finishing mower and I checked the specs only to find this unit requires a PTO HP of 21-43 and the CK30HST tractor has a PTO HP of 23.5hp which is at the bottom end of the required range, is this a problem ? I don't know until I finally use it to cut grass...
Help and advice would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks
Murph