Buying Advice Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post

   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #1  

johnwilldo

Bronze Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
62
Location
North Eastern Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley
Tractor
John Deere 2305
Just closed on a small farm in hilly Lehigh County of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Is is a horse farm with 23 acres, half in steeply sloped woods with hilly pastures and lawn. We leased it for a year prior to purchase.

I need to decide on a tractor or a combination of mower and tractor to perhaps do the following: Lawn mowing of about six acres, pasture mowing of about seven acres, dragging indoor and outdoor arenas, removing pesky bushes, snow removal from a long and hilly paved lane, installing fence posts,
trenching for French drains and water lines, laying out additional driveway to establish a circular pattern, carve out additional parking areas, restore pastures. Soil is heavy shale and well drained in most places.

It will be our summer retreat, but our adult children life on the property and maintain it year round. We retreat to Mesa, AZ, before the snow flies.

Decisions: MMM or rear finish mower? Snow thrower or use FEL? Type of tires, 4X4 or 2WD? Size of tractor? New or used? Kubota, John Deere or New Holland? Size of brush hog for field mowing? Buy or rent box blade? Size of post hole digger?
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #2  
Just closed on a small farm in hilly Lehigh County of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Is is a horse farm with 23 acres, half in steeply sloped woods with hilly pastures and lawn. We leased it for a year prior to purchase.

I need to decide on a tractor or a combination of mower and tractor to perhaps do the following: Lawn mowing of about six acres, pasture mowing of about seven acres, dragging indoor and outdoor arenas, removing pesky bushes, snow removal from a long and hilly paved lane, installing fence posts,
trenching for French drains and water lines, laying out additional driveway to establish a circular pattern, carve out additional parking areas, restore pastures. Soil is heavy shale and well drained in most places.

It will be our summer retreat, but our adult children life on the property and maintain it year round. We retreat to Mesa, AZ, before the snow flies.

Decisions: MMM or rear finish mower? Bunch of trees and bunch of mowing around house, MMM otherwise 6' RFM Snow thrower or use FEL? Type of tires,R/I4's 4X4 or 2WD? 4X4 absolutelySize of tractor? Let others answer this one. hillside is scary for me on L and B is better but still not as stable as BX but BX may be to small for the jobs you mention New or used? New Kubota of courseKubota, John Deere or New Holland? Size of brush hog for field mowing? As big as the tractor you buy will run Buy or rent box blade? Buy and also use it as counter weight along with filled tires Size of post hole digger? One to fit your tractor with the size auger to fit your auger size hole needs.
I'm sure more info will come but this is my story and I'm sticking to it. This can get you started for the coming advise and questions. Money and stuff like thta.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks for the rapid responce. The BX 25 is really attractive. Some advisers have mentioned that the smaller compact tractors still get the job done but just take a little longer.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #4  
I really don't think any one machine is going to do a really good job on all of your maintenance needs.

If money was no object, I would get an F Series Kubota mower and a Kubota tractor, 30 or more HP like an upper end Bxx30 or an L. If as usual, money is an issue then go ZTR. I have an L and unlike John have not found it scary on hills, well no more so than anything else especially some of the Bxx20's. On the L, you need to be sure the tires are mounted to their widest stance. I am certainly not an expert on all things Kubota, so I am sure you will get info from some others that may have a broader knowledge base.

For me, any tractor would have to be 4WD and have position control, HST, strong and easy to remove FEL with skid steer type quick attach, at least one set of rear remotes.

Buy a box blade.

R4 tires or R1 will work.

My preference is Kubota, but JD, NH, Kioti, Massey etc all make good tractors, so check and see which one fits you best.

We don't get much snow here, so I can't help there.

A five foot bush hog as a minimum.

Good luck.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #5  
Our buddies TripleR and JohnThomas laid it out pretty well.

Green/Orange you cannot go wrong, but you'll find a price difference, I suspect. I'd have the right dealer be the coin toss winner on that. A lousy dealer can take the joy right out of a new tractor purchase.

Your land sounds a bit rugged and the tasks will prove challenging for a BX and you'll want to finish the jobs in reasonable time frames. If you go with a larger B Kubota (which many here will recommend) or a John Deere 2320 or 2520 (also great machines) then be sure and get the rear wheel kit, or rear wheels set to widest setting. This option is available for both the JD and the Kubota. Some guys here would point you even higher up the food chain, but in the end, you will have to make your own decision about how big is big enough.

The bigger 2000 series JD and the Kubota B series will also handle a slightly heavier duty implement in every case. This can be a plus, imho.
Post hole digging also points toward a taller tractor than a subcut in my mind. Subcuts typically have a vulnerable plastic trans cooling fan, where the B series and the JD 2520 and up do not. That is a genuine issue to understand.

Absolutely buy the box blade and use it for counter weight. The MMM on and off thing is OK and somewhat necessary if you are going to mow up beside house, flower beds, etc. But if you are going to mow a few acres, the RFM is so much easier to take on and off and far less money as well.

I am so pleased for you in getting this place. Congratulations and best wishes on happy tractor hunting. The zero percent financing is a no brainer.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #6  
For what you have, at the very least, an L size Kubota. Any smaller and I think you will be disappointed.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #7  
TripleR has expressed my opinion quite well. For things such as 3-point hitch mowers, blades, and tillers, I'd want a size just a bit wider than the outside of the rear tires. R1 (ag) tires would be my personal preference, just as rear mowers instead of mid-mount is my preference, but others may like the R4 tires and mid-mount mowers and there's certainly nothing wrong with those options.
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Others advisers have suggested the AG tires especially for snow removal on long hilly driveways. That might be the way to go since most of the mowing tasks are pretty much straight shots without much need to go around trees or old trucks buried in the weeds! The close in mowing can be done with a smaller riding mower, but then I would have to buy a wife a thong so that she can get maximum tan while mowing!
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #9  
I recommend Ag's also. We have 11 very hilly acres and maintain 1/2 mile gravel road with our Kubota L3400 or Ford 8N. In my opinion, R1's are the best for snow removal and have never been a problem with mowing in the summer. Good Luck, alot of choices out there. Jim
 
   / Decisions, Decisions....Loooong Post #10  
Size=Time

Size=Money

Time may=Money

It really all depends on how much you want to spend and how much is your time worth. Smaller tractors are most capable of a lot of tasks. They just take longer to do them. Although you will probably encounter some that can't be done with it. Weigh all of your costs and time.


Is it worth an extra 5 grand for a machine that will save you an hour of mowing? Or for that one task that you could hire out for a few hundred?
 
 
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