Tractor Sizing First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice

   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #1  

mx250r

New member
Joined
Sep 25, 2010
Messages
4
Hello,
I just closed on a home with 23 acres. About 4 acres to finish mow and 7-8 is field that could be made to finish mow quite easily(it is mowed now). I am not sure how much time I will have to keep the field mowed yet. Can you please give best advice on a Kubota? I have a dealer here that has a great program for rental attachments if you purchase a tractor from them. I may buy a FEL at some point for hauling firewood around among other things. Would love to hear what size Kubota and mid-mount mower you think I should get. There are some rolling hills and trees but nothing too extreme. I don't want to spend more money than necessary. At first I was thinking of a 72 inch MMM, but now I am thinking 60 inch MMM and later get a wide rear discharge for the field?
Thanks!
Rich
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #2  
Either a B3200 or B3030 would work well for what you describe. They will both run a 60 or 72" mid mount mower or rear mount finish mower, and a 5' bush hog (which is what I would recommend for your field.) Go ahead and get a loader on it now, you will find LOTS of work to do with it and will get a better deal on it now vs adding it later. The B3030 has some nicer features, but cost a little more. The chassis/drivetrain and engine are virtually identical between the two.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #3  
Just about anything in the B Series will work well for your situation. I would prefer something in the 26 HP range up, but a 2320 would work. In the end it is going to wind up being how much or how little you want to spend. My personal choice would be a 2630 or 3030, but they cost more than the xx20's.

I will never buy a tractor without a FEL.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #4  
Any of the B models with a Landpride 72" rear finish mower and a fel. Get it all now at your Kubota Dealer with 0% interest for 60 months. The RFM is less expensive than a MMM and much easier to maintain and attach and disconnect. The savings on the MMM will get you a good start of the FEL. Contact Barlows for a price and then see if you can beat it locally. That's my opinion after having bought eleven in six years of BX's, B's, F's and one L.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #5  
Hello,
I just closed on a home with 23 acres. About 4 acres to finish mow and 7-8 is field that could be made to finish mow quite easily(it is mowed now). I am not sure how much time I will have to keep the field mowed yet. Can you please give best advice on a Kubota? I have a dealer here that has a great program for rental attachments if you purchase a tractor from them. I may buy a FEL at some point for hauling firewood around among other things. Would love to hear what size Kubota and mid-mount mower you think I should get. There are some rolling hills and trees but nothing too extreme. I don't want to spend more money than necessary. At first I was thinking of a 72 inch MMM, but now I am thinking 60 inch MMM and later get a wide rear discharge for the field?
Thanks!
Rich




Like Triple R said anything in the B series would work but the B3030 with a cab is tippy.


In my opinion a Kubota 2660 with a cab and with a Caroni 5 foot flail mower will work very well and can give you a finish lawn with the F(finish) rotor-4 rows of mower knives and be able to mow brush with no changes at all.


About mowers:

And I know there will be a lot of responses about this topic a flail mower is much less work from my experience and ownership simply because there is only greasing and checking and replacing belts occasionally.

A flail mower will not throw objects like a finish or brush mower can or will and are much quieter and safer to use around pedestrians and animals and along roads


A finish mower or brush mower has only a limited amount of cutting edge to cut grass or brush.

A flailmower and its compliment of slicer knives cuts the entire width of the mower at all times and over laps when slicing grass.

The Caroni TL1500FSC with a 59 inch cut has 88 grass slicer knives and the A rotor has 44 knives.

The total length of the knife cutting edges is greater than the cutting edge length of any finish or brush mower.

The flail mower can be used for both finish mowing and brush mowing with no changes other than slowing down a bit with heavy brush.

The flailmower does not require constant scraping to keep it clean either.

If you damage a mower blade on a finish mower it requires a lot of work to change it and replace it with a new one where a flail mower only requires that the damaged knife can be quickly replaced with a replacement knife.


The slower you mow when using flail mower the less residue is left to decompose, where a belly mower cuts at one hieght and does very if any recutting while blowing it around.


The flail mower uses what is referred to as verticutting where the grass knife is rotating at a very high rate of speed and cuts and lifts the grass blade over the rotor andf throws it on the ground behind the rotor.

It will also recut any long grass in the same manner to tiny bits and it will decompose to mulch quicker.



The flail mower will not plug up like a finish mower(due to the wind tunnels used to move the grass clippings) and once you have it knocked down thew weeds will have a very hard time comming back if the cutting height is set low.


Please look at the 93 pages plus titled "Lets talk flail mowers" and "more on flail mowers" before you become involved with a rotary mower or rotary finish mower before you make any kind of decision.


You will have the benefit of seeing many pages of before and after pictures
and please read about iron horse and his experience witrh brush mowers your hair will stand on end.


I would also recommend that you look at the
Agri Supply - Farm Supplies, Tools, Lawn Mower Blades, Cast Iron Cookware


web site with regard to flailmowers as they have an internet sales special which includes the cost of frieght to your door with the flail mower specials.

You wil find that you can save a lot of money buying a flail mower from agrisupply versus a Kubota belly mower

welcome to the forum
 
Last edited:
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #6  
You would be making a big mistake not having a rotary cutter in your arsenal. By rotary cutter I mean what many call a "brush hog", "bush hog", etc. Not a finish mower with fixed blades. You will, as I have, let a field go too long and you will find 2-3 inch saplings, wild rose bushes, etc. in a field. You need a rotary cutter, no flail mower or finish mower will handle that stuff.

Truth be told, I let bushes dry out and the rotary cutter does a good imitation of a wood chipper/shredder even on thicker brush than 4 inches.

A rotary cutter is, in my opinion, a required attachment if you have some acreage.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #7  
I have 30 plus year old flailmower that would disgree with you as I use it for everything and I have a good carpet on what was brush choked land.:thumbsup::laughing:
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #8  
I have 30 plus year old flailmower that would disgree with you as I use it for everything and I have a good carpet on what was brush choked land.:thumbsup::laughing:

I think you are a bit obsessed with flail mowers, but that's ok. But that doesn't change the fact that a rotary cutter is a must have implement.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice #9  
Hello,
I just closed on a home with 23 acres. About 4 acres to finish mow and 7-8 is field that could be made to finish mow quite easily(it is mowed now). I am not sure how much time I will have to keep the field mowed yet. Can you please give best advice on a Kubota? I have a dealer here that has a great program for rental attachments if you purchase a tractor from them. I may buy a FEL at some point for hauling firewood around among other things. Would love to hear what size Kubota and mid-mount mower you think I should get. There are some rolling hills and trees but nothing too extreme. I don't want to spend more money than necessary. At first I was thinking of a 72 inch MMM, but now I am thinking 60 inch MMM and later get a wide rear discharge for the field?
Thanks!
Rich

I have 20 acres. Seven in yard, ten in pasture, and 3 in woods. I use a B7800 with a Woods PRD7200 RFM and a Land Pride 5' RCR1860 rotary cutter. The B3030 replaced the B7800. I would recommend a 72" mower over a 60" for the size of yard you are describing. I wouldn't recommend a rear finish mower for the field. That's what rotary cutters are for. And I wouldn't even think of buying a good compact tractor these days without the FEL that comes with it. The wear and tear these FEL's save on your body is priceless.
 
   / First Time Tractor Buyer Looking for Advice
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I really appreciate everyone's advice! Would love to hear more ideas. Another question comes up. I have heard mid-mount mowers are better because they maneuver easier and you can look down and see it to get close to trees, etc. Do you think I would have issues just having a 3-point flail or finish mower?
 
 
Top