First Tractor Purchase for 100 Acre Property

[ylazyy]

We have been considering a JD 4320 Cab EHydro 4WD 400x loader, and rear mount snow blower for our property. We have a 1700 driveway to maintain and lots of deep snow here in Colorado. We also need to mow much of our pasture and have over 40 acres that is currently hayed by our neighbor for 50% of the crop.

Questions:
Is this the right size tractor or do we need a higher HP?

We are confused about the options we should be purchasing and do not want to rely on the dealer to suggest the appropriateness of what is available. Is there a resource for researching this?

Who makes the best snow blowers? We often have 4-5 ft drifts.

If we wanted the flexibility to hay our own field - does that make the 4320 to small?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

[greggh]

This is my opinion only. I don't have any experience to back me up, but I have been reading the forums here for a couple of months. What I have gleaned from all the reading if you are going to put up your own hay you need something bigger tha an CUT. Mainlly because of the PTO power. I would suggest a utility size or larger IMHO.

[MtnViewRanch]

With that much property, get as big as you can afford. Unless you have nothing else to do, you want to get stuff done as quickly as possible, getting a smaller tractor doesn't mean that you can't do the work that is needed to get done, it just takes longer. Maybe list out what you think that you want to be able to do at your property and from that list, people here can help you out with what you could use to get it done. (options on tractor, size of tractor, implements, etc.)

Good luck

[SnowRidge]

Very few people wish they had a smaller tractor. The opposite is not true.

[IloveJD]

Howdy
I would think it might be a little small for your needs. If I were you and had the funds I would consider a 5x25 series tractor. we have just under 30 ac. and are hoping to get a 5425 soon, but man they will burn a hole in the pocket! just my 0.02

[bigtiller]

[QUOTE=ylazyy]We have been considering a JD 4320 Cab EHydro 4WD 400x loader, and rear mount snow blower for our property. We have a 1700 driveway to maintain and lots of deep snow here in Colorado. We also need to mow much of our pasture and have over 40 acres that is currently hayed by our neighbor for 50% of the crop.

Questions:
Is this the right size tractor or do we need a higher HP?



With that much snow I would look for something in the 4440 size. They were built 1978 - 1982. Some good ones are still around and sell for 30,000 more or less. They have 130 PTO hp which is enough to run a 4' x 8' snow blower. And they weigh 12000 lbs so a loader will work great.

[Soundguy]

I can't imagine anything smaller than 100 hp for that size land..

heck.. I run that size of a tractor on 13ac just to cut down on mowing time.

Soundguy

We have been considering a JD 4320 Cab EHydro 4WD 400x loader, and rear mount snow blower for our property. We have a 1700 driveway to maintain and lots of deep snow here in Colorado. We also need to mow much of our pasture and have over 40 acres that is currently hayed by our neighbor for 50% of the crop.

Questions:
Is this the right size tractor or do we need a higher HP?

We are confused about the options we should be purchasing and do not want to rely on the dealer to suggest the appropriateness of what is available. Is there a resource for researching this?

Who makes the best snow blowers? We often have 4-5 ft drifts.

If we wanted the flexibility to hay our own field - does that make the 4320 to small?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

[BarryinMN]

That's a long snow covered drive. Any particular reason for a snowblower? Drifted powder may be faster with a loader/snow bucket.

Haying takes as much weight as hp especially in adverse conditions. Are you thinking square or round bales?

Why pick the 4720? size features cost?

[ylazyy]

After much research today, I can't say that your responses surprise me about the size of the tractor we are considering. The 4320 seemed like a large tractor to us as "newbies" and the price range is very important. We could possibly pull off purchasing a 4720 if that would be better, but no way to afford a 100HP or anything near it. Also, as a woman on the property often working alone, the more automated features, the better. I am worried that I would not be able to handle some of the implements without help and a used tractor would not have the maintenance and warranty needs that are also important.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

[Z-Michigan]

I guess I will be in the minority. I don't think a 4320 is necessarily too small for your tasks. I do need to know how many acres of pasture you're mowing (is it 60 or something smaller?) and what size mower you'll use. A 4320 should be fine with a 6', maybe ok with a 7', above that you probably need more PTO power and more weight to control the heavy mower. I can tell you that mowing 5 acres with a 6' takes more time than I like, though I don't have a cab and that would make a huge difference in what it would feel like. I couldn't imagine mowing 60 acres with a 6' mower, though I'm sure someone, somewhere does that. For me it would take at least all summer and maybe two.

For other tasks, a 4320 might work. There is another person on here who uses a 4120 for real farming including complete hay work. I think he said he would buy a 4320 if he did it over again, which isn't a big jump. The 4x20 series models have a turbo and given the altitude you're at in Colorado that will be a big plus.

I have limited snow to deal with and use a rear blade and FEL bucket. If I had a lot I would likely use a front mounted blade. The snowblower will work well but I wouldn't want to crane my neck driving backwards 1700' at 3mph. If any single snowfall is more than 24" or so, that may be your only real choice.

If you want a cab - and I would (and wish I had one) - the next JD model up with a cab is a 5225, and with a FEL that will set you back at least $35k, probably more. It is a lot more tractor than a 4x20 and should last forever for your type uses. There are better deals on cab tractors between those sizes from some other makers, particularly including the Kubota M7040 and the Kioti DK55 and DK65 models. Mind you I own a JD 5105 and am very happy with it, but they aren't cheap especially for cab models. All of these would be utility tractors and HST is not available, but you can get hydro-shuttle at least on the JD and Kubotas I mentioned and that will be as good or better for most purposes (better for mowing and plowing snow, almost as good for FEL work).

I'm not sure what you mean by "not be able to handle some of the implements without help". Unless you've won numerous weightlifting competitions, you're not going to be able to pick up any implements by hand for a 4320. Nor should you need to - attaching the implements is mostly a matter of backing precisely, regardless of the tractor size. If you can clarify the concern it might be helpful.

As for haying - I don't currently do hay, but we bought with that in mind as a possible future use. Cost of operable hay equipment is significant and it requires considerable mechanical skill to keep it running. 40 acres might be enough to justify the cost, but consider the maintenance too. A 4320 should be enough to run a square baler or some of the smallest round balers, and there are several people on here doing significant hay with smaller tractors than that. For conventional round bales at a nice speed, a bigger tractor would be needed. But an operable 4x5 round baler would likely be at least $5k, maybe $10k, and would be really underused on a 40 acre field, so I'm not guessing that's your plan.