More people buying utility sized tractors? and why? How powerful can CUT's get?

[Piston]

About a year ago I bought my first tractor. I went with a utility tractor (Kubota M6040), mainly because I wanted to be sure it would safely move 4x6 round bales, but also because it didn't cost any more than a larger high-end CUT like a Grand L. The size of it is a little bit intimidating at first, but you do definitely get used to it with experience. I was mowing around our 10-acre property a couple of weeks ago with a 7-foot rotary cutter, and came to the realization that a CUT with HST and a 6-foot cutter would be much more efficient for mowing in some of the smaller paddocks and barnyards we have. However, the big tractor and cutter really excel when mowing in open fields, and the M6040 will unload the big round bales off of a truck safely without any ballast on the 3-point. I was explaining all of this to my wife and she said "I guess that's why some people have more than one tractor". I love my wife!

B Hoofed,
Wouldn't it be nice to have the option of HST in a utility tractor! That day will come, but not for a while I imagine.


I took the advice of many people, including my biggest influence (my father) and thought about what size tractor I'd need, then, added about 10hp and went up a frame size, and ended up with my first tractor-my 46/39 hp Kubota L4610. I figured it was bigger than I'd need.
Now, fast forward 3 years, and the only thing holding me back from buying the utility tractor I could reeeaaallly use, is the financial aspect! I guess I should have jumped TWO frame sizes when I was thinking about what size would suit me best

 

[MHarryE]

We have a JD 6320 utility and a Kubota L5740 CUT among other tractors. The CUTis just super handy for all kinds of things, much more maneuverable due to its smaller size. Yet there some things the full utility can do that the CUT can't handle or would really need to struggle. I guess if worse came to worse I could struggle with the 6230 open platform to move snow, grade the yards and roads, till the garden, etc., but I would also need to put up with holes in buildings because of swinging wide, taking twice the time to do the lighter tasks. I guess I am saying bigger is better. It was so hard shuttling things around with my M135GX when my L5740 loader was disabled it s hard to imagine not having 5 tractors. It's just like my wife asking me why I have pipe wrenches from 6" to 24" - why can't I use the 24" for everything so she can sell the rest at her garage sale.

 

[coobie]

I started out with a 28hp massey ferg.1240 model with front end loader,great little tractor.I heat with wood pellets and I needed a bigger tractor and loader with the ability to handle 2,000 lbs.skids of pellets.Enter the kioti DK40se with KL401 loader,this tractor fits my needs to handle the pellets and a few other bigger projects the massy had a hard time doing.coobie

 

[Lt CHEG]

In my case it was all about road speed. The wife and I are building a new house about 4 miles or so from our current house and keeping our current house as a rental property. We bought our Boomer 3040 to take care of the land where we would eventually build our house because I wanted an air conditioned cab. With the realization that next year we would have to take care of snow removal at both properties we started looking at options including putting a plow on my truck. Driving the Boomer 3040 back and forth wasn't really an option because frankly 10 mph at best was frustratingly slow. The plow on the truck wasn't all that appealing because I buy new trucks every couple of years and just buying new truck end frame attachments and paying for install gets pricy. Also I tried the dedicated plow truck idea and it just didn't make sense.

So I realized that my Boomer 3040 was still worth a lot and that I could probably do well trading it in. I also really liked the look of the new Powerstar tractors, as well as their layout and options. When I realized I could get the 24+ mph road speed option I was just about sold. I realized that I had little to no use left for my backhoe and I make more profit taking on the occasional mowing job than I do any other kind of tractor job so I realized a bigger mower would also be a wise investment. It would allow me to be more profitable with my tractor work AND mow my own property more quickly. Once I tested out the Powerstar the deal was done. It seems to build upon the features I really liked on my Boomer cab tractor and improve on them. The cab is even quieter and the tractor is very fuel efficient with the e-pto option. So for me I'm happy to use the front end loader to handle the snow removal work and not have to buy a truck plow. All the roads that I travel between my two properties are 30 mph roads so I can travel back and forth at almost the same speed with the tractor that I would drive with the truck. Win win win and so far I'm very pleased with my purchase.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I'm not sure of all the history here being a relative latecomer but I have the impression that the site started out being for SCUTS and CUTS only but then grew and evolved from there. It's only natural as some of the posters were bound to own two tractors and say something about their utility sized tractor and get questions back from other owners of both sizes. Lets face it if you own two tractors the smaller one mows the lawn and the big one does everything else. Also there is just so much you can say about mowing the lawn and the machine you mow it with, so many members needed something new to talk about and a utility tractor and some land to work it on fills the bill nicely.
Some may even have bought way more tractor then they really need trying to one up other posters here but I have resisted that tendency and only bought the full sized four wheel drive tractor that meets the needs of my vast holdings of difficult terrain and varied work tasks.

 

[newbury]

This thread is ugly without pictures and hurting for a definition of "utility sized tractor".

Is this 23HP B7610 a "utility sized tractor"?

I don't think so.

Is this 47HP (or 50HP) M4700 a "utility sized tractor"?

Might be.

Kubota is now calling all the M series "utility" or Ag" tractors.

Regardless -

In addition, just for discussion's sake, what was your reason for upgrading from CUT to Utility? I'd love to hear your 'story'.

My reason for upgrade was planned from the get-go. Small tractor to learn on, bigger later, and later is now.

Small tractor for many small uses, larger tractor to lift a ton. I can't access my buildings and drive down walkways with the M4700. I can't lift two tons with the B7610.

Four years ago I found it difficult to attempt to even think of justifying a 50HP tractor for my quarter acre lot in Virginia, going from a 50 year old contractors wheelbarrow to a 50hp tractor was just too much. Showing myself I could make good use of a utility sized tractor moving trees convinced SWMBO.

The reason for doing it this January was having my son (and wife, and now 2 month old baby )moving in to my rental property and having to clear half an acre of 30 years of growing bushes and bamboo, PRONTO that sealed the deal. (I had planned on getting a 40HP tractor, this one just turned up). I probably would have looked for at least another 6 months. It was either buy one or rent one.

 

[jenkinsph]

If you have enough larger jobs to do a larger utility tractor can make lots of sense, I suspect that is why people who get involved with tractor work move up in size. Once you get a handle on the smaller chores most people start looking closer at the larger projects, leads to larger tractors.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I do think newbury's photos clear things up on what is what.

The CUT's have their place and always will but as the one and only tractor I think they were more a FAD then a TREND. Initially the imports were dirt cheap even when new but over the last 20 years that has changed.

As a kid I remember the old H Farmall with steel wheels but never saw it working which was mainly dragging things. Then came the AC model B, 600 Ford and finally the 801. It was the 801 that finally had the weight to move a good size load.

A 60 HP tractor can do most of what a 20 HP tractor can do but not the other way around. Still a 20 HP is needed if you are cleaning out smaller barns, etc.

Two tractors are handy if one is doing much tractor work.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

How many horses? The obvious stopping point would be where the traction can't take advantage of the power.

It isn't always about traction. Running pto powered equipment uses hp more so then traction. My M8540 Narrow is smaller then a Grand L width wise, same cab as a Grand L but with the engine of a M8540. I use all that horsepower running a 400 gallon airblast sprayer.

As for the trend of people going more to utility tractors I believe it is because the utility tractors are a better bargin then a CUT. If your looking at a large CUT then depending on your tasks a entry utility tractor will be more useful for around the same money as it is slightly larger and has more built in weight and holds up better to loader and tillage work. Just like the pickup truck market, trucks use to be simple and affordable. Then more and more homeowners starting buying them so the OEMs starting making them fancier and more expensive so the farmers and contractors went to the 3/4 ton trucks because they were more work oriented and priced better but even now those trucks are being bought by more and more homeowners. The more homeowners that buy a truck or tractor usually means the manufacturers will notice and start adding more features geared towards the new buyers driving the segment and generally pushes the price up. When the price gets up there enough then they move to the next size up because price wise it is a better bargin. It is something I have noticed the past 20 years at least.

 

[Lt CHEG]

A couple additional good points have been made that I agree with. Namely with respect to value I have to agree that utility class tractors do seem to be a better value. It seems like you pay a lot of extra money to shrink tractors down and the cost ratio between dollars and horsepower favors the larger utility class tractors. Honestly in terms of capability I certainly found my Boomer to be a capable tractor able to do just about anything I would need, but in comparison it seems like even running bigger implements my Powerstar gets the job done in a truly effortless manner. The bigger tractor barely flexes its muscles to get jobs done that the CUT would strain at, and that is impressive. So far I'm very pleased with my decision to upgrade.