which new holland would be right for me

[JWB53]

i have 50 acres of field and 3 acres of lawn, would like to use same tractor for both, also would like cab with heat and air, also i've never owned a tractor so what all can i do to make it as safe as possible thanks. i've always been a ford pickup guy so i'm looking at new holland ford, i'll only have time to mow the 50 acres every 6- 8 weeks

[North Dakota]

Originally Posted by JWB53

i have 50 acres of field and 3 acres of lawn, would like to use same tractor for both, also would like cab with heat and air, also i've never owned a tractor so what all can i do to make it as safe as possible thanks. i've always been a ford pickup guy so i'm looking at new holland ford, i'll only have time to mow the 50 acres every 6- 8 weeks

50 acres is quite a bit of property. You'd need a pretty big mower to get that done in a decent time. Something like 10 or 12 feet. Most of the mowers have a PTO horse power rating on them. That would size your tractor for that use anyways.

Maybe you could rent it out as pasture and then would not have to mow it. Or rent it out as hayland and still not have to worry about mowing it.

I would think a tractor big enough to mow 50 acres quickly might be to large for you three acres by the house.

[WTA]

I've got about the same size place and I use my tractor with a 14 foot shredder to mow the yard. Most of it anyway. My son goes around with the riding mower to get up close to the trees and things. My yards about 2.5 acres and the fields are all in hay. My tractor is a TD95D and I love it. It's the perfect size for a place like this and I'm even working a bunch of other small farms with it now too. That helps me pay for the thing.

[dgl24087]

How about a NH T2410 (55 engine, 47 PTO HP) or T2420 (60 engine, 51 PTO HP), both available with cabs. Get a finish mower for the lawn, light to medium duty bush hog for the field. R4 industrial tires would probably be the best compromise for dual purpose use. The T2310 (40/33) or the T2320 (45/38) might be worth considering as well.

[Skerby]

get an old IH 706 or something, then realize how futile it is to cut 50 acres, are you building a sports complex? then you can sell your used tractor for about what you paid for it and get something smaller . open up an excel spreadsheet, calculate your fuel usage on a 90hp tractor to cut 50 acres to have the biggest lawn around.. pretty amazing.... downsize unless you're a farmer...

[mojoinco]

Why would you want to mow anything beyond your yard (other than every few years for occasional cleaning of the dead stuff for renewals sake)? Leaves places for critters to live -- which leaves places to watch wildlife from (mice lead to hawks and owls, etc). Or pasture lease, or haying operations. Just watching stuff grow.

You must live where there is a lot of water to need to mow every 6 weeks. Wished we had that much water -- horses would be a lot cheaper to have as pets then.

[kozak]

Originally Posted by JWB53

i have 50 acres of field and 3 acres of lawn, would like to use same tractor for both, also would like cab with heat and air, also i've never owned a tractor so what all can i do to make it as safe as possible thanks. i've always been a ford pickup guy so i'm looking at new holland ford, i'll only have time to mow the 50 acres every 6- 8 weeks

Realistically, you really need two tractors. A Class III Boomer (35 to 45 HP) would be too big & cumbersome to take care of the grass around the house. Also, if it had rained a few days prior, you run the risk of marking your lawn big time.

A Class II Boomer (31 - 34 HP) may work for you but only if you don't have alot ob obstacles in the way.....i.e. trees, etc. Unfortunately, you could probably only pull a 6 ft (max 8 ft) mower on it & depending upon pasture grass height it could be slow going. You could be cutting for days. Just BRUTAL. Guess that's why you want the Cab with A/C. This may be another barrier for the NH tractor as I don't believe (somebody correct me if I am wrong), that you can get a CAB for the Class II Boomers. May have to look at a Kubota for that.

Your best bet is to get at least a Class III (45 HP) tractor & a zero turn mower.


Good Luck,

Vic

[Robert_in_NY]

I would go with two different tractors for your task, buy a nice older 90 pto hp tractor with cab and a 15' mower to maintain your field and do other property task. Then buy a nice lawn mower to take care of your yard.

[Robert_in_NY]

Originally Posted by mojoinco

Why would you want to mow anything beyond your yard (other than every few years for occasional cleaning of the dead stuff for renewals sake)? Leaves places for critters to live -- which leaves places to watch wildlife from (mice lead to hawks and owls, etc). Or pasture lease, or haying operations. Just watching stuff grow.

You must live where there is a lot of water to need to mow every 6 weeks. Wished we had that much water -- horses would be a lot cheaper to have as pets then.

Mowing fields helps control the spread of weeds. Here we need to mow every 6-8 weeks to keep the weeds down before they go to seed. I just finished cutting in and around the vineyard and around the corn fields. I will have to cut again in a couple months depending on how much rain and warm weather we have.

There will still be a nice place for critters to live and with shorter grass out there you will be able to see the turkeys, foxes and deer easier then with tall grass and weeds.

[WTA]

Same here. In my off season pastures if I don't mow then the next year they will be clean full of nighshade. That stuff doesn't do well for the horses.

The sand storms we get bring in weed seed from all over this part of the country and there just isn't anything to be done about it other than mowing or spraying a lot. I just disced and packed one big pasture 2 weeks ago to get it ready for the grass drill and some teff seed and it's already so full of weeds that it looks almost as green as my bermuda field. Now I have to go out there with some roundup and kill it all out before I plant.