A second Tractor

[Kubota-monkey]

I am making a fairly large field and I already have an L35. I think im gonna need anoither tractor just for mowing purposes. It would be quite a pain to take the backhoe of the L35 on and off so much. I need a smaller tractor than the L35 for a good price... Does anyone have any suggestions on what tractor would be good for this job?

[Bird]

How large a field and/or how large a mower do you want to use? Are you talking about a rotary cutter (as I'm guessing)? I've seen some comments about having 5hp (don't remember for sure whether they were talking about engine, net, gross, or PTO hp, but think it was PTO hp) per foot of rotary cutter width, and depending on how heavy a material you'll be cutting, that's probably not a bad rule of thumb. However, I liked the 4' rotary cutter with a 16hp tractor (13 PTO hp) and now am quite happy with a 5' rotary cutter with a 27hp tractor (20 PTO hp), so I figure 4 PTO hp per foot of width ain't bad.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Bird

[Thomas]

How large of a field are talking about?
Have you consider a good second hand tractor...maybe like a Ford 9n or 8n or JD 320 or JD M something in those lines?
You could save $$ and those models have good pto power also little mules. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Thomas..NH

[Kelvin]

The main questions to be asked (some have been already asked)are:
(1) How large is that field?
(2) Are you planning on using a rotary, flail, or finish mower?
(3) How wide of a cutting path do you want?
(4) How rough is the terrain?".

In my opinion...
Most small tractor's PTOs will handle larger mowers than they are rated for. This is mainly because of stability issues on slopes. If your terrain is relatively level then Bird's setup will most likely do just fine. If you have steeper terrain, then you may want a tractor that is 4wd and/or larger (heavier in the front end). It won't necessarily have to have any more horsepower.

One recommendation would be to buy the size & type mower that you want, then use it on your L35. Based upon that experience you should be able to hopefully judge how much less of a tractor you could stand.
Kelvin

[MarkV]

Kubota-monkey,

I am surprised you feel the backhoe on your L35 would be such a problem to remove and remount. I haven't done it on the L35 but I thought it was the same set up as my B21. I can have mine off in about 5 min may be a few minutes more to put it back on. The L35 is only 62" wide and has 26 PTO hp so I would think it could work a 6' bush hog fine.

[gerard]

I have a 25 hp 21pto gear drive that handels a 5ft rotory withno problem. The manual rates it up to a 6ft. I went with the 5ft because I could still go light duty. When you move up to the 6ft it's all heavy duty and about twice the price. How many acres are you talking about mowing and is it field finish or is this going to be finish grass? Main consideration is how long do you want to spend mowing? Bigger tractor - wider cutter - less time mowing - more $$$$$$. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Kubota-monkey]

Bigger tractor does not necessarily mean more money. My L35 runs for around 35,000 while a bigger tractor such as the Grand Ten series without a backhoe is less.