Just purchased a farm

[IronHog]

I'm going to give some advice that may not be popular on here, but here it goes.


To make money farming, you do not need all the big equipment everyone is suggesting. In fact, that is a good way to not make money farming.

This.


On a working cattle farm a tractor actually gets very little use....... move some hay, baling, etc.


A decent paid for hill farm will make you about $90 per acre per year......... it will lose money if you spend all that on tractors..... and it will work out to be less than minimum wage.

 

[tngamecockfan]

Reading every comment. Lots of information to digest and sort out. But I know that I am getting good advice from everone. Some almost 180 degrees different but makes sense from their vantage point.

Hope to get more suggestions.

I also know where I can come in the future for advice from people that are friendly, genuine, and have a desire to help others.

So far, my main need for a tractor was to do some moving of rocks and bush hogging the fields. I don't plan on trying to harvest any hay. If anything, I may rent the fields out for hay.

I do plan on planting a fair amount of saplings (tulip poplars, bee bee trees, vitex) for bees. If I rent the land for grazing I will have to find out just how much cows fancy tree saplings. Back home in SC I know that new peach orchards catch the dickens from deer and there are deer on this property.

 

[strum456]

It sounds like you have some fairly heavy loader work to do to get your roads the way you want. If you are looking at tractors in the 30 to 40 hp range maybe you should hire out some of that work. If you arent going to hay either 40 or 45 hp should do the job. If you get
Into hay later get a older bigger ag tractor then.

 

[nwngunner]

Well if your not going to make hay, then you dont need a big machine. How ever if you need a machine to maintain your land fix fences ect ect. Your going to want a skid steer. Your going to want a compact track loader. A tractor can be used to clean barns and to put up hay ect ect. How ever unless your running crops a skid steer can do everything better and faster.

I just recently in the last week actually purchased a bobcat t250. The work i have gotten done in the last week is down right surprising. For the work that you need to do, i would look at getting a skid steer.

 

[Kytractor]

Reading every comment. Lots of information to digest and sort out. But I know that I am getting good advice from everone. Some almost 180 degrees different but makes sense from their vantage point.

Hope to get more suggestions.

I also know where I can come in the future for advice from people that are friendly, genuine, and have a desire to help others.

So far, my main need for a tractor was to do some moving of rocks and bush hogging the fields. I don't plan on trying to harvest any hay. If anything, I may rent the fields out for hay.

I do plan on planting a fair amount of saplings (tulip poplars, bee bee trees, vitex) for bees. If I rent the land for grazing I will have to find out just how much cows fancy tree saplings. Back home in SC I know that new peach orchards catch the dickens from deer and there are deer on this property.

Congratulations on your new farm. Murfreesboro is a growing area. I have 59 acres there I may be selling shortly. A lot of great advice on here for you. I have an L45 Tlb Kubota that I use a lot.

 

[Piston]

Only suggestion I will give is think long and hard about the size and accessories prior to purchasing. Once you decide move up to the next machine size.

Good luck and enjoy.

I think this is by far the best advice given. So many people (including myself) make the mistake of buying a tractor and THEN figuring out what size implements they need. Think long and hard about what you will be doing, what implements you will need to get those things done, and what some of those implements weigh. THEN, figure out what size tractor you need to do the job :thumbsup:

You don't need a nice new tractor, they sure are nice though (I imagine)

Welcome to the forum! Keep asking questions!

Who is this Dave Ramsey fellow you are all talking about?

You mentioned you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a tractor. What do you consider an arm and a leg to be worth these days?

I look forward to following your progress. :thumbsup:

 

[tngamecockfan]

IWho is this Dave Ramsey fellow you are all talking about?

:thumbsup:

Go to his website. Dave Ramsey Homepage - daveramsey.com

From there you can find a radio station in your area that carries his show. Ramsey teaches being smart with your money. As he says "Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later". He believes in getting out of debt and has a great plan on how to do it.

Took his course. Great course and advice.

 

[Groo]

I think one of these would be an ideal machine;
Telehandler Agri Tech 32.9 VS (PTO + 3-point hitch)
but I'm guessing they are probably much closer to the neighborhood of $100k than my finances would allow, and they haven't been around long enough that I might actually find one used for a decent price.

 

[schmism]

Perhaps the most important thing to consider when buying a tractor, is what money you have left over to buy implements.

After all if you spend the entire (or most of it) on a nice big tractor with FEL, you can mostly move dirt/rock with it and thats it.

Basic farm upkeep will require.

Box blade
Brush hog
FEL

If you want food plots for hunting or to be able to revitalize your own pastures youll need a disc.

I find i use my rear blade as much as my box blade especially as i do much more road maintenance as i do land grading.

youll need to learn to build/mend fences. a Post hold digger is nice for this.

youll find a full size backhoe or mini/small excavator to be invaluable. put one or the other on the need to have list early.

Youll want to learn to bale hay. Its perhaps one of the most basic farm actions a "real" farm will do. its a (mostly) dependable source of income and will likely be needed for livestock.

that means a baler, rake, and mower. regardless of how quick you aquire your hay makeing tools, youll still need a bale spear for the FEL to move large rounds with for the cows.

livestock (cows. horses, lamas, sheep etc) make poo, so an oldschool manure spreader is a good option for small time operation.

seriously consider having 2 or 3 diffrent working "tractors"
many farms these days have a skid steer that work the barn, with a bale spear, and loader forks.

-a ZTR mower for cutting grass
- a skid steer for working the barns
-a class 3 CUT (perhaps cabbed) that can do light field work, mowing, pulling the rake etc
- a large 80-100hp AG tractor that you do the field work with.

could you do all that with one tractor.. maybee but not well. A 40/50hp large CUT/small AG isnt going to be very maneuverable for stall/barn cleaning, but isnt big enough to pull a decent sized disc.

Could you get away with a large 80-100hp field tractor and just a skidsteer, perhaps, but the second CUT tractor is invaluable when the big boy goes down and you got hay to get raked/baled in the next 2 days.

 

[Groo]

Actually, I think the piece of equipment I linked to could do it all. 100hp PTO and as maneuverable as a CUT, but for the price you could get a few used pieces of equipment to do all the jobs that 1 would do

and aren't most bale spears on the 3 point these days?