Kubota 7500 vs Kubota 7800 vs New Holland TC24D

[bear]

I'm starting a small horse farm from the ground up and have to watch expenses very closely. I have 8 acres of woods and 4 acres of pasture to finish mow with an additional 4-5 acres of finish mowing to do at an adjacent horse farm. Will the 7500 do? I am planning on a FEL and a 60" finish mower. Am I definitely better off with something in the 30HP range? I don't want to go too large because of additional expense. Is it me or does it seem like there is no reason at all to buy used? It seems like a very difficult process. <font color="red"> </font>

 

[MadDog]

I hesitate to offer any advice, being pretty new to CUTs myself. However, I looked at the 7510, 7610 and 7800 pretty closely myself prior to buying a 7800 so I am pretty familiar with the tradeoffs.

First of all, if your primary intended uses are brush hog and finish mowing and some light duty FEL work (manure, mulch moving, etc.) , 16 PTO hp is sufficient for several 60" rearmount mowers and the LA302 FEL can handle reasonable loads.

Obviously, a 22PTO hp rig, like the B7800, can handle bigger workloads, but as others have said, it's not so much that you can't do most of the same jobs on the smaller machines; it just means that you have to take smaller bites, or work a bit slower. Many feel that they can do almost as much on the sub-compact BX machines but it obviously takes significantly longer.

The tradeoff is really a business decision; how much do you need to trade time efficiency/productivity for cost savings. Personally, I would resolve doubts in favor of economizing in any startup business; it's a lot easier to work longer hours than it is to find the $ to make payments that you really can't afford. Moreover, if the business goes well, and you are careful about maintenance, your tractor will hold its resale value (not on a trade-in, but on a private sale) pretty well and you can always trade up.

Just my $.02.

However you decide, good luck with your business.

 

[crown]

The 7500 will certianly do all that you stated you want to accomplish, I own one and have been very pleased. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif That being said if I had to do it all over again I would opt up for the 7800 it is basically the same frame and will allow you to go up to a larger finish mower ie a 72 and a 60 brush hog for the pasture you will find that that is a good deal of mowing I enjoy both mowing and bush hogging but they do take time and time is money if you can swing it go for the 7800, if finances will not allow you will be satisfied with the 7500. Remember this is a long term investment have fun test them out and enjoy the seat time, /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[bear]

Thanks for the reply. I think I realize that in this case bigger is most likely better. As far as actual mowing goes, how manueverable is the 7500 or 7800 with a rear mower? I will have to mow along buildings and aroung large pine trees. Will I need to supplement whichever tractor I get with something other than a standard push mower?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

The 7500 is, if I recall correctly, a 21hp tractor, that would be very marginal for a 60" finish mower. Under ideal conditions it would run the mower, but if the grass gets tall, has a high moisture content, etc, then you will be pushing your luck on that size deck.

I own a TC24D and use a 60" Befco finish mower with that tractor, it handles the mower well and RARELY bogs down, but it can bog down. Also, I had to install an extra 100# of weight onto the front of the TC24D to hold the front end of the tractor down when using the mower deck because the deck easily lifts the front of the tractor off the ground. I don't know the weight of a 7500 versus a TC24D but I suspect the 7500 would be even lighter. There is a rule of thumb that I've heard several times, it says you need 3hp to 5hp per 12" of mower deck. If the 7500 has a 16 available PTO hp, that would mean that a 48" deck would probably be a better fit than a 60" deck if you use an average; that also matches up with my experience running a 60" deck on my TC24D which has about 19 PTO hp.

I also have a B2910 which is the full featured version of the 7800, I think the 7800 would be a nice choice for your situation. If you want a more manuverable tractor, I would opt for a TC24D, it is less power than the 7800, but it offers plenty of power on a smaller frame that is tighter turning so mowing is easier. I like my TC24D better than I like the B2910, especially for FEL work because the curved hood of the TC give a better view forward. The B2910 has a big flat hood and big square loader arms that limit forward visibility.

Bear in mind that you are comparing a fully featured or deluxe version of the New Holland to a bare bones Kubota. The bare bones New Holland would be the TC30, it would be a direct comparison to the Kubota B7800. I'm not really sure if the B7500 is a bare bones unit, but I think it is, I THINK BUT I'M NOT SURE that a more reasonable comparison would be the B2410? or B2610? to a TC24D in terms of both power and features.

 

[crown]

I respectfully disagree about the finish mower size. My B-7500 handles the 60 with ease I mow often times very tall and sometimes to my regret quite wet, I might add that I also have some realitively steep slopes I have never bogged down or even come close to doing so. I will admit that I have 165 pounds of suitcase weights on the front without which my Woods RD 6000 would lift the front when raised. I hope this post does not come across as an attack but I just want the poster to know a B-7500 will easily handle a 60 finish mower, now a brush hog a 4 footer is my choice.

 

[crown]

The tractor and mower is fairly manueverable but it will take some getting used to a rear mount. I use a standard push mower, I guess a weed eater would do to go against my house, tractor shed, and propane tank fill, I don't worry to much about the trees they usually starve the grass of moisture in the summer and growth is not that strong.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

It may just be that my Befco mower requires more power than the Woods mower you used. I didn't consider it an attack. Each of us has our own experiences and each brand of equipment will react slightly differently. We don't know what brand mower BEAR is considering, but that may also make a difference, as will the type of grass being mowed.

 

[theboman]

All the tractors will handle your needs fine and dandy. I have a B7500 and till a garden, bush hog some thick stuff, FEL around some, play with a box blade when I can and mow just a whole lot with a 60" MMM. I also tow my RV around as needed around the place to clean or park.