30 acre farm. What tractor system do I need?

[D7E]

I disagree. I think you could do a full 640 acres w/o going over 150hp fairly easily.

In this area to work and plant every acre every year 640 acres typically would have a main tractor that would be a 1970's versatile or steiger 250hp articulated tractor , Then something 150hp like JD4430 etc for planting and light work . And a 80-100hp fwa,cab,loader like ford 7710 for chore tractor . Neighbour with only 200 acres has 4450,4020,3020,2130

 

[MtHam]

With 45 acres of forest and meadowland, my 1st (and only) tractor purchase was a 2 year old Kubota B3030 (60 hours) which came with a FEL, backhoe, 4 rear remotes, tiller, box blade scrapper, bush hog, and ripper for $23,000. I have since sold the ripper and purchased a chipper/shredder and logging winch. I think I made a great choice and have made good use (400 hours) of this package over the last 3 years. The only change I would make is a bigger tractor.

 

[RaydaKub]

In this area to work and plant every acre every year 640 acres typically would have a main tractor that would be a 1970's versatile or steiger 250hp articulated tractor , Then something 150hp like JD4430 etc for planting and light work . And a 80-100hp fwa,cab,loader like ford 7710 for chore tractor . Neighbour with only 200 acres has 4450,4020,3020,2130

I don't doubt you'd see that much equipment for 640 acres. I suppose it comes down to defining "need". We managed 255 tillable acres with 67 hp and 38hp. It seems reasonable to me that 150 hp could be used to handle a square mile for primary tillage and something lesser for a planting tractor. I never said that was a recommendation or that it would satisfy a desire. I just said it could be done.

 

[D7E]

I don't doubt you'd see that much equipment for 640 acres. I suppose it comes down to defining "need". We managed 255 tillable acres with 67 hp and 38hp. It seems reasonable to me that 150 hp could be used to handle a square mile for primary tillage and something lesser for a planting tractor. I never said that was a recommendation or that it would satisfy a desire. I just said it could be done.

Depends on your location , climate and weather window that you have to work with . It is quite normal for us to have to plant / harvest 2000 acres in 10 days of good weather on a wet year .

 

[wolftree]

Gonner3,

$1000-$2000 will get you a 1950s era tractor such as International Harvester "A"- "B"-"C"-"H"-"M" or John Deere "A"-"B"-"G". These are what I term drawbar tractors. Most do not have hydraulics and are mostly for pulling an implement such as a rotary cutter, plows, disc and etc. They will pull a wagon with fence supplies, but you dig the hole or drive the post by human power.

$4000-$6000 will get you a 1960s-1970s tractor with hydraulics, 3 point lift, may have a front loader. Examples would be International Harvester 424, 444, 504, 560. John Deere 1010/1020, 2010/2020, 2510/2520. You can now use a pto post hole auger for boring post holes.

I strongly encourage you to look at high tensil fencing. It is cheaper and easier to build.

 

[Creamer]

In this area to work and plant every acre every year 640 acres typically would have a main tractor that would be a 1970's versatile or steiger 250hp articulated tractor , Then something 150hp like JD4430 etc for planting and light work . And a 80-100hp fwa,cab,loader like ford 7710 for chore tractor . Neighbour with only 200 acres has 4450,4020,3020,2130

Wow! Talk about overkill! Growing up we tilled 2000-2500 acres planting corn and small grains. It was sure nice when we moved from a 4020 (94 hp) to a 1466 (145 hp) and associated implements. With the 1466 we could do most of our tillage at about 20 acres/hr which makes pretty short work of 640 acres. One spring I did all our spring tillage after school and on weekends.

 

[Harold_J]

The tractor that you buy should have a wide front with power steering and a live pto and three point is a plus.You should try operating it before you buy it to see if the controls are located in such a manner that you can operate them without needing to look at them.Hydrostatic trannies are nice for controling ground speed but they cost a small fortune to repair, so I would choose a conventional transmission.Diesel will run alot longer on the same amount of fuel.Don't hesitate buying a tractor bigger than you need.The bigger tractor many times will be just as cheap as the small one and will do the jobs quicker, and they are no harder to operate than the small tractor.Look for oil leaks, missing parts and take someone with you that has experience with motors.Farm auctions are a good place to buy your tractor and equipment and much cheaper than the dealers.When the farmer who own the equipment tells the crowd that its field ready, that is usually the case.

I like your advice, especially about the farm auctions. I don't care for the "consignment" type auctions like someone else mentioned, you never know what your getting. On a farmer retiring/going out of business auction at least you can figure the owner was using the stuff up until the end. Find the local farm paper(s) where these auctions are advertised and go to as many as possible. Even if you don't buy anything at least you will get an education on the "real" price of things for the local area. It may be getting a little late in the year for most farm auctions (usually early-mid Spring) but there should still be some activity for a while. At consignment auctions I only like to purchase items that have few moving parts and motors that can go wrong.

 

[RaydaKub]

Wow! Talk about overkill! Growing up we tilled 2000-2500 acres planting corn and small grains. It was sure nice when we moved from a 4020 (94 hp) to a 1466 (145 hp) and associated implements. With the 1466 we could do most of our tillage at about 20 acres/hr which makes pretty short work of 640 acres. One spring I did all our spring tillage after school and on weekends.

I wouldn't call it overkill either. I'd say you were under-equipped doing 2000 acres with a 4020. But note that nothing has been mentioned about the type of soil or whether it was all hills. As you noted, 145 hp handled 640 acres nicely, but if you think about it, at 20 acres/hour, that still takes you 32 hours to till a section, so 2 long days.

The point is, can you get the work done with the equipment you have and can you do it safely in a time frame that is acceptable for your growing season? I gave my opinion (and that's all it is) that 150hp would be enough for 640 acres. The answer to the question will differ between areas, and possibly from year to year. Last year, a friend was done planting corn by yesterday. This year he still has several inches of snow on the ground (6 new inches just yesterday). He might desire some larger equipment this year than what he owns and is used to driving once he can turn a wheel.