James74
New member
We are in the process of acquiring a 60 acre farm. The farm has little level ground with fields and woods. The hills are the type that you would have to mow them going up and down as opposed to side to side. About a year ago the previous owner did a select cut on some of the timber, the woods are full of large tree tops and old skidder trails. The tasks I see for the new farm are as follows:
mowing the fields
dragging the tree tops out
grooming the old trails so that we can use an ATV/tractor/gator
leveling ground and installing culverts
digging holes for fence posts
I know I need a compact utility tractor but I am not sure which brand or what HP. We have looked at JD, MF, Kubota, and Case IH. We have talked to a few dealers, but I am trying to get the brands narrowed down before I start really getting serious with a dealer. This weekend we visited a Kubota, NH, Case IH dealer. He really was pushing a Case IH DX40. He let us test drive and we (my wife and I) did like it. We are still waiting for a quote. Last weekend we talked to a MF and JD dealer and he was pushing a MF 1533. I have talked to a few farmers I know and they are recommending a minimum of 40HP. Am I on the right track on researching a tractor? I was comfortable with the 33HP price range a little less comfortable in the 40HP, is the difference going to make that much of a difference. I will pay the extra if it is truly needed. We are leaning toward the 40HP but would like to know what others think...The one thing we really liked about the DX40 was the visibility around the FEL. I believe this would be quite useful in the hilly woods we will have. Correct??? I am looking for others experience with various brands and the HP range we should be looking. Are there brands I am missing that would be a great benefit to see if a dealer is close. I live in Dayton, Ohio and the farm is located in the Hocking Hills region by Creola, Ohio.
Then the other question I have is how much should a trailer cost to transport (the farm is a minimum of 40 minutes from any dealer, plus we live about 2 hours away). This leads me to another question, what type of vehicle should we be looking at regarding towing the trailer (truck, SUV)? What type of towing capacity should we be researching?
Any comments are welcome, we know we have a lot to learn.
Thanks in advance.
mowing the fields
dragging the tree tops out
grooming the old trails so that we can use an ATV/tractor/gator
leveling ground and installing culverts
digging holes for fence posts
I know I need a compact utility tractor but I am not sure which brand or what HP. We have looked at JD, MF, Kubota, and Case IH. We have talked to a few dealers, but I am trying to get the brands narrowed down before I start really getting serious with a dealer. This weekend we visited a Kubota, NH, Case IH dealer. He really was pushing a Case IH DX40. He let us test drive and we (my wife and I) did like it. We are still waiting for a quote. Last weekend we talked to a MF and JD dealer and he was pushing a MF 1533. I have talked to a few farmers I know and they are recommending a minimum of 40HP. Am I on the right track on researching a tractor? I was comfortable with the 33HP price range a little less comfortable in the 40HP, is the difference going to make that much of a difference. I will pay the extra if it is truly needed. We are leaning toward the 40HP but would like to know what others think...The one thing we really liked about the DX40 was the visibility around the FEL. I believe this would be quite useful in the hilly woods we will have. Correct??? I am looking for others experience with various brands and the HP range we should be looking. Are there brands I am missing that would be a great benefit to see if a dealer is close. I live in Dayton, Ohio and the farm is located in the Hocking Hills region by Creola, Ohio.
Then the other question I have is how much should a trailer cost to transport (the farm is a minimum of 40 minutes from any dealer, plus we live about 2 hours away). This leads me to another question, what type of vehicle should we be looking at regarding towing the trailer (truck, SUV)? What type of towing capacity should we be researching?
Any comments are welcome, we know we have a lot to learn.
Thanks in advance.