New and need help.

[wisc]

New to this forum. I'm in the Navy and stationed in Florida.

I have about 21 acres of land in SC. I need a tractor. Plan on bush hogging, 10 acres, plowing 2-3, and the rest maybe planting in pines. If I don't plant in pines I'll probably plow it up and plant food plots for deer.

I know nothing about tractors other than I want one. I don't get to SC often but my wife does and I think she would at least do some bush hogging.
Since I don't know what the future holds I really don't want to spend more than 10K.
1. Is that possible?
2. What size of tractor do I need?
3. I have looked on ebay and some other sites and noticed the Chinese made tractors are less expensive. I assume there is a reason for this. Are they realible?

Don't want to start bashing brands but I need honest opinions and help.

Thank you.

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon wisc,
Welcome to TBN ! Glad to have you on board ! Plenty of helpful guys on here willing to spend your money !

You will get many opinions on which way to go as far as buying a tractor on a $10,000 budget. You can start by using the search feature on this site. I personally went the used route myself, I dont mind doing some mechanical work and got a good deal on a used machine that needed a minumum amount of work ! I stayed with a brand that I could easily get parts for.

Many guys on here have gone the Chinese route and are also happy, so you will have to evaluate what others tell you and make some decisions !

I would think you would need a tractor in the 30-40 hp range for what your planning on doing !

Good Luck !

 

[Coyote]

The japanese tractors (Yanmar) have a better reputation of reliabilty than the chinese. Don't be afraid to go used on any tractor, they are built to last. Minimum HP is probably 24 for what you want to do. Bigger means you bushog wider passes = less time.

 

[Soundguy]

Since your wife will be using it, I don't reccomend anything old. if it were just you.. then an oldie but goodie might have been ok.

For the wife unit.. deffinately get something that is reliable.. starts easy.. and is loaded with safety features.. and is easy to use.. perhaps even hydro tranny.

Sounds like something in the 30hp range to 40hp range would be good.

Soundguy

 

[EddieWalker]

All good advice.

Don't rule out new just yet. Some of the biggest names in tractors have zero percent financing. With a few thousand down, you can have a brand new tractor for a few hundred bucks a month.

First you need to narrow down what it is you need. My thoughts are that with mowing ten acres, you are going to want as big a mower as you can get. This is a double edged sward as more HP means more money, and bigger mowers can get very, very expensive. I think a 6 foot mower is about your best bang for your dollar, but it's still small for mowing that much acreage. To run a 6 ft mower, you will want at least 30 PTO hp, or around 35 engine hp.

How steep is your terrain and how bad is the mud? 4wheel drive has more traction, but you will pay more for this. 2wd will give you more hp for less money, but if you can't drive around your land, 2wd isn't any good to you.

Since you have so much mowing to do and you want your wife to drive it, I'd also consider power steering. The difference is worth the extra money!!! A sun shade would be nice too, but you can add that later.

There are three main types of transmissions. I'd probably stay away from the manual transmissions, unless your wife really doesn't mind changing gears? Manual tansmissins will be the least expensive, but also the hardest to operate.

Lastly and most importantly are what dealers are around your land? Even brand new tractors break. Usually it's operator error, but either way, you will have to get it fixed, buy parts for it and do basic preventive maintenance. Buying a tractor on price alone might mean getting one that you cannot find parts for.

The brand isn't as important as the support for it is. Figure out what sized tractor you need and then it's allot easier to narrow down the exact tractor for your needs.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[thingy]

I got a chinese nortrac,,go to northern tools web site,I got a 25 hp one,its got about 570 hours on it in over 4 years,has never brokendown,has never failed to start. Can buy one for about 8,000,,5ft hog maybe 600 or so,disk,500-600 maybe,,you would be in your budget.

Now having said all that,its not you average woman friendly tractor,[not saying your woman is average],,many gears duel stage clutch,,gotta blow out raditiator and screen pretty often when hogging,and you can't call your
local dealer to come pick it up for servicing.

Check out all the brands,,,down on the powertrac part of this board,,they got some different kind of tractors,,25hp gas 4wd all hydro new one is about 10,000,,check out the rest of the non big three or 4 or 5,,,maybe for that amount or slightly more you can get something,,
Used is used,,and unless you knew the owner its like everything else thats used,you take your chances,big time. thingy

 

[Jaybr]

I was in the same boat as you for the last five years, remote property that I visited occasionally. I purchased a new JD 790, no frills 27hp gear tractor, w 4 wheel drive. I had 67 acres, and bush hogged about 1/2 of it, but only once or twice a year to keep it from growing over. I used a 5 foot bush hog and it took awhile to get it all done, but it got done. I also had a tiller that I used for food plots.

I didn't buy used because I kept the tractor at the remote property in the neighbors barn. I didn't want to have to carry all my tools with me every visit so I could get the tractor running, I wanted to turn the key and get to work.

HST is nice, but in my oppinion much less of a big deal when you mowing or tilling a feild.

I'm not necessarily suggesting you buy a JD, just that you don't need a huge expensive tractor to do what you need to do. I sold that property last year and the JD with it. I bought a new place and built a house recently on 37 acres, and just purchased a new Kioti for all the chores. The JD was overpriced in my opinion and the Kioti dealer was great to work with.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm one of those "old school" types myself. I PREFER older tractors as they're a great deal easier to maintain due to simple design and construction, as well as being far less expensive. I've farmed for more than 35 years and still own the very first new tractr I bought (1971) I'd match it head to head against ANY make, model, or year as far as reliability and economy of operation.

Don't be afraid of used.

And on the wife bush hogging. Running a tractor ISN'T brain surgery OR rocket science. SOme guys have the idea that tractorin' is always mans job. A nickels worth of free advice..... NEVER say that in front of my wife or you might end up missing a few "important parts". Over the years, my wife has logged hundreds of hours on the tractors while I rode a hay wagon, stacking bales. It plays both ways equally. Some women and some MEN don't need to be operating a tractor. To say women can't or shouldn't or that they need a "safer" tractor is straight out of the dark ages and needs to be taken back to the cave from which the silly idea came.

Personal opinion now. I'd look for something in the 35 to 45 hp range. They'll handle a 6' bush hog, a 2-bottom plow, a 6' tiller, or a host of other common implements. You'll want power steering, live power, diesel if you have a choice, and of course, 3-point hitch. You can find better-than-average examples for around $5000 or less. That leaves extra cash for all the implements you'll be needing.

By the way, I prefer Massey Fergusons. You might be interested in these models. 135, 150, 230,235,240,245, ect. Fords that'll fit the agenda are 3000, 3600, ect.

 

[jbrumberg]

wisc:

Welcome to TBN and thank you for your military service ! I suggest that you provide us a little more information about your property's terrain (ie hilly, steep sloped, rough, obstacles, etc.) as well as other uses you foresee in both the near and long term. If you feel that you will need a FEL I would definitely suggest HST, power steering and 4WD/MFWD especially if wifey gets to "ride the seat". There are a lot of good tractors out there and many good bargains on used, low hour tractors if you are patient. Keep the posts coming- Jay

 

[RoyJackson]

I'm going to offer some specifics...

I'd look at Deere 3320 minimum to the 4720. Then, it depends on how mauch money you want to spend since those tractor go from $20K to $40K

Used, I'd look at the Deere 4300 minimum to the 4710 max. The 4400 or 4500 series would probably be the best fits. If you're OK with gears, you could look at the 990.

All the above are Compact tractors.

Full sized utility, new the Deere 5xxx series tractor start about $20K, but those would probably be more then you need.

With 20 acres, I'd start looking for a 4400 or 4410 or the Kubota and New Holland equivalents.

I'm firmly against the Chinese tractors. I looked at a couple over the years...throwaway tractors...but that's just my opinion. If you want a quality machine, go American or Japanese.