Looking for the right tractor

[dcgrosvold]

Hey Y'all -

I've been lurking on this forum for several months, and now have come to the point where I need some advice. I'm almost finished building a new log house on 42 acres of land, and I know I'm going to need a tractor to keep it up. I've got about 1/4 mile of driveway to improve and maintain, trees to clear, firewood to split, a barn to build, fencing to build, and hay to bale. We have 4 horses, and I know once we get settled, my wife will insist on more (not to mention 3 dogs, chickens, and possibly a beef steer or two.)

I have about 28 acres in grass that I need to bale, as well as possibly helping out neighbors. We hired a guy to bale our hay last year on this property, but it was hard to get him out, and the last cutting went by without baling because I couldn't get him out before the winter weather hit, even though there were several windows of opportunity. The problem is I want square bales -- not round, since we're feeding mostly horses. This year, this guy was the only one I could find who would bale square bales. I can control the amount fed to each horse a lot better with square bales.

We're situated on a mountaintop in NW Arkansas, and the ground up here is solid bedrock below about 32". It took almost $20K just to dig the lines for rural water and septic In fact, we had to dig for 2 septic tanks - the second has a pump - and then run the septic line 650' to soil suitable for a leach field. Anyway, I have plans to build a barn, loafing sheds, a shop building, and eventually a riding arena (possibly a covered on later - much later.) As you can understand, these will have to happen a little at a time.

My wife and I are both country folks, and we had 28 acres of vey rugged terrain that didn't lend itself much to grass, pastures, or anything like that. Some of it was vertical, if you can understand. Anyway - I got by with a pickup, chainsaw, and an occasional help-out from the neighbors when it came to getting things done. Well, now things will be different. In fact, in our new area, I'm guessing I'll be the one called upon to help out.

Ha! Enough of my life story - what I could use is some advice about what size tractor to buy, what attachments I need, and what I can do without. After quite a bit of study I'm leaning toward a Mahindra. So far, I'm impressed with what I've seen. My wife is sold on John Deere (she likes green & yellow,) but they're expensive, and I'm not sure they are as heavy-duty. One consideration - my wife had Polio when she was young and has a hard time shifting a geared vehicle, but she wants to drive the tractor. She drove school buses for years, and has her airbrake certification, but I'm afraid a gear tractor might be too much for her.

I don't see much on the Mahindra site about these HST tractors like I see on the NH and JD sites. Of course, even they don't have lot to offer that way in the higher HP ranges. I'm thinking that I could get by with a JD 4720 with HST, or an NH TD55DA, but was wondering if there was something in the Mahindra lineup that could fill the bill. Maybe 55HP is too much or maybe it's not enough. These are the kinds of things I need a little help with.

One of the main things we'll be doing besides baling hay is road maintenance - lifting bucketloads of #2 and spreading with a straight blade. Would an HST be better for that? Everything I've heard says a geared tractor is better for baling, but I'm not baling 500 acres. I know posthole diggers don't care what kind of tranny you use, but the back-and-forth required when moving gravel might.

There seem to be a good group of knowledgeable people on this forum and I know y'all have a lot to offer.

Thanks
-- Dave

 

[George2615]

Dave,

First of all, welcome to the group. I'm sure you will find, as I have, a wealth of knowledge and experience here on TBN.

Mahindra does have several to choose from in the 50 plus HP range. 5500,5520,6000,6500, (54,55,59,&65HP respectively). Base prices are on the site and run ballpark from 19-25K plus implements. They also have 4530 & 4510 in the 42-44HP range. I'd say get 4WD but choice is yours. If your dead set on HST you may be out of luck, I think the largest Mahindra with HST is the 3215 which may or may not work for you. All higher models are gear.
I'd take the wife to the dealer for a test drive on a gear model to see if she can operate it without too much difficulty. Then I'd try a 3215HST. Don't underestimate what a 3215 can do. I think it would work well for your 42 acres. I only have a 2615HST and have dragged 30-40' trees without problem while clearing building lots. If you decide a 3215 isn't big enough then you'll have to switch to another brand.
For whatever tractor you decide on I'd suggest the following for implements to start:
Loader
Post Hole Digger
3Pt Baling spear
Rotary cutter
3Pt log splitter
3Pt rake, back blade, box blade

Good luck and keep us informed on your purchase.

George

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Dave,
Mahindra doesn't have a HST above a 32 HP tractor, but if the shuttle shift would work for you and your wife, a Mahindra 4110 or a 4530 would do your job. There is a small farmer here in western, NY that runs a square kicker baler with a 4110 and hauls the wagon load behind. Power has not been a issue, but if you are on hilly ground, I would recommend the 4530 for the extra weight to hold back the load. I'm sure if you loaded all 4 tires on the 4110 it would hold the load back also. Mowing and baling would be the most HP taxing out of what you have mentioned you would be doing with the tractor. I know from experience these 2 tractors will handle the job. The other attribute you need to look at in a tractor is the weight. I can't stress enough that the weight of the tractor will be as important as HP. I hope I have been heplful.

Galen LaWall
Your Mahindra Tractor Dealer
Batavia, NY 14020
585-343-0770

 

[dcgrosvold]

Gentlemen -

You've both been very helpful already. I talked to my wife and she's willing to try the gear tractors at the dealer to see what she can handle.

I've talked to a couple of local long-time farmers who are telling me that I need at least 65 HP on the PTO for a baler - but that seems a bit out of line based on the small square baler specs I've looked at. Like you say - it's probably the extra weight that's necessary more than the HP.

I've been actually looking at the 6520 4WD and that looks like a solid bulletproof tractor, but it may be a bit too much. I'd probably be burning fuel unnecessarily.

Thanks again.
-- Dave

 

[RedRiver]

I would suggest that you go to a dealer and let your wife get on several different tractors to see how they feel to her. We do this all the time with husband/wives who are unsure they can handle a certain size tractor.

 

[Smithla]

Welcome to the forum,

First let me say, I can't get my wife on my tractor, and I'm still debating if that is a good thing or not. It sure allows me more time on it.

I upgraded from a 4005DI a few weeks ago to a 6000 4WD shuttle shift, and other than pushing a clutch in to shift forward and backward, its a breeze. In fact the clutch isn't very hard to push in compared to the 4005DI.

I have a friend that has a HST, and its kinda neat, but I hear the expense of getting it repaired is very high. My 6000 will do anything I want it too, dig in soft wet dirt, push over 8 to 12 inch trees. Its a real beast.

Go try them out, I did, and bought it.

 

[dcgrosvold]

RedRiver,

I appreciate the suggestion. We are going to do just that as soon as the house closes. We've just had so much to do to get the house completed that I haven't had time to go to dealers and look around. All my shopping so far has had to be done at night on the Internet.

Smithla -

I'm all for more tractor time, but I have to work for a living on the side. My wife doesn't. As such, she's be the one usually carting bales to the horses every day, and taking care of small jobs on the place.

I agree that HST is probably not the right answer for us. However, my wife's Polio has put her in a position where she just can't take the physical abuse of pushing in the clutch, no matter how easy it seems to you and I. Several manufacturers offer some type of "Power Shuttle" transmissions that allow clutching by pushing a button on the shift lever. My wife could probably handle one of these. It's her legs that don't work as well. Does Mahindra offer something like that or is the clutch engagement only done from the floor?

As Galen mentioned earlier, we may be able to handle a shuttle-shift, but I don't know yet. It's been a LONG time since I was on a tractor - I used to do some farm work for my grandparents in Montana when was a kid - this was back in the late 60's and early 70's (just dated myself, I know,) and drove their old Minneapolis-Molines, and JDs. They even had me driving their 2-ton grain trucks when I was 11. Anyway, if I remember right, you had to double-clutch those old tractors, and even had to use the clutch to engage/disengage the PTO. It's been a long time, and I know things have changed since then.

I'll probably just have to wait and go to the dealers around here. I've got access to a good collection of dealers in this area, so I shouldn't have too much trouble finding one I like.

Thanks for all your comments and advice. This is a great place to get good information. My wife has had to drag me away from here at night. I just can't get enough.

 

[Keith_B]

The clutch on the newer tractors doesn't take as much force as the old ones, and doesn't take anymore force than braking does.

An HST tractor takes a lot of footwork, or at least the ones I have driven have, as you control all of your motion with the pedals. My 4110 has a throttle control mounted on the steering column, and I use it 90% of the time to control my speed.

A 4530 or 5500 would be about the right size to run the bailer and do the other work you mention. With all the construction work in your future a front end loader will be a must have item.

You really just about have a two tractor sized farm, a smaller chore tractor and a larger hay tractor. Larger 2WD tractors can be found at some pretty good prices on the used market. They will be too big for most of the jobs you outlined, but be very useful in the hay field. Two tractors in the hay field are always handy. You can rake with one, a job your wife would probably take to if she likes driving the tractor, and bail with the other.