In the market now.

[Hoosier Hay Man]

For 60 acres I would get at least 60hp. It will give you more options like making hay. There are alot of good choices
I am happy with my 34 year old 125hp deere and my 3 year old 45hp Kioti. I make hay using both. No doubt Deere supports its products no matter how old.
The Kioti has been alot of bang for the buck and is heavier than the Kubota of similar size. Try all you can. Good Luck!

[tmeadows]

I would look at at the LS brand if I were you. I have had very good service out of my U5030c.

[WilliamBos]

I don't own a tractor now. I am about to be out on 60 acres of pasture land and will need one soon. I am a car guy and gear head and set out over the last six months to find out what makes a good tractor and which ones are the best. It has fun exploring this question because I want to own the best. I took my car knowledge and started the search. I was looking for the best designs, the best engine, the best materials, the best assembly and reliability. It seemed to me that everyone thought what they owned was the best, and everyone defends their colors to the grave. Many will say the dealer relationship is tops and trumps brands. My brother-in-law thinks his Kubota is best and another friend thinks JD is tops. I will say that which brands are best depends on the size of tractor your considering, for this I concentrated on compact tractors between 25-60hp. Clearly price was not a major factor, I was looking for quality but all the brands are competitive in pricing. The engines lead me to think Japanese small diesels are clearly the best. Their country has a history of small properties and family agriculture and that has driven small tractor design and manufacture there and created the best small diesel engines to power them. When you put German direct injection, high-pressure diesel designs on them you have a fantastic small diesel engine. I found that two manufactures stood out Yanmar and Izeki as the best, with Izeki on top. Their engines and small tractors are just the best, in the grey market 30-year-old Izeki and Yanmars pass as new after rebuild and paint, unbelievable. Many top brands have had Yanmar and Izeki parts and engines in them for years. Fit finish design and a new modern factory have lead me to the MF 1600 tractors as the clearly the best compact tractor. I have no dog in the fight so don't get mad at me I was looking from the outside in for the best. Here is how I came down on brands in order of quality. After reading the forum I find that MF is the only brand mentioned by other brand owners as a step up. Any recommendations for the 60 acres, pasture mowing, 1 acre gardening, and small cattle operations with some hey operations are anticipated. I thought the 1652 might do the job. It's the smallest model in the line up with the 2.9L engine and has enough PTO power to operate small hay bailers. Your thoughts?

MF
NH
Kubota DJ
Kioti LS
Mahindra

Hard to place

Bobcat
Cub Yanmar

HS

If you go MF 1600 series, go with the DynaQPS. Simple to use, strong as a bull, and you will be in a better position for doing ground engaging work with it. Plus, no HST whine.

Have you also considered a full blown utility tractor? If you are thinking of doing hay, or heavy logging work, you will need WEIGHT. A 60 HP CUT may not be able to keep up to a 60HP Utility tractor. Something else to consider.

[droptop]

I have a fearless prediction worthy of Carnac the Magnificent ..... I would be willing to bet that the OP is going to end up with an LS U5030.

Ended up with an LS U5030. A utility tractor of 4300lbs and FEL capacity of 2900lbs. A class 1, 2, tractor. 57hp and 50hp at PTO.

It's been just over a year now and the LS is superb. The Mitsubishi engine is a full 3.3 liters and is smooth and quite. The fit and finish are fantastic and the whole tractor is very high quality of materials and assembly. We (my son and I) made a very good choice.

HS

How about that, I was right!!!