Tractor Sizing First Time Buyer - What Size?

   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #1  

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Hi all, just looking for some pointers on a new tractor. I have been watching this forum a little and am very glad to see all of the extending of helping hands.

I have a little experience with tractors, mostly driveway maintenace and field work (when I was a young teen working on my parents hobby farm). I have done some basic excavating using a small dozer as well.

We have eight acres of land (mostly wooded) and want to do some landscaping, driveway maintenance and ground leveling along with cleaning up the wooded areas. The equipment I am considering adding to the tractor purchase consist of FEL, box blade, tiller, brush hog and wood chipper.

Any thoughts on other equipment for consideration and tractor size/HP would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #2  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We have eight acres of land (mostly wooded) and want to do some landscaping, driveway maintenance and ground leveling along with cleaning up the wooded areas. The equipment I am considering adding to the tractor purchase consist of FEL, box blade, tiller, and wood chipper.
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Sounds quite similiar to me. We have 10 acres that we built on. I needed to maintain a driveway, landscape the yard, get a garden growing, rough mow a pasture and clean up the "woods". I looked from the 20 hp to the 30 hp range and ended up in the middle with the Kubota B2410 (24hp). It has done everything I've asked it to. The only thing you list it wouldn't do (at least effectively) is "ground levelling". I had some of that done by an external contractor. If you have a fair bit to do, I don't think a CUT is the best choice. Probably better to have someone contract it for you. The rest you can certainly do with a CUT.

Kevin
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #3  
hi and welcome to the board.i think you are going to have to look at the hp requirments of the items you want to add to the tractor to make sure you have enough hp to handle them.i'm guessing 25to 35 hp range.we just got a jd 4310 we have 14 acres and need to blow snow, mow,brush hog and sure much more.after determining your hp requirments go and sit on,test drive etc.the various models and see what feels good.also be looking for a good dealer also not just the lowest price,a good dealer will pay for it's self in no time.good luck and have fun with it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #4  
Hello there, and welcome to TBN. This is a great source of information and you'll be able to get answers (or at least opinions /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) to just about any question you can think of.

I have a 10 acre parcel, and when I bought my tractor I got a Kubota B7300, which is 18HP (I think - some have said it is 16HP). I maintain a couple of gravel drives (probably about 600' total), do lots of brush hogging, and have a backhoe to plant trees and do general landscaping (retaining walls and such). It also has an FEL that is immensely helpful for all kinds of stuff.

My tractor is great, and I don't know what I'd do without it. But...I should have bought a bigger one. Mine lacks power steering, which isn't all that bad (but would be nice, especially with a full bucket in front). As far as raw HP is concerned, I usually run out of traction before I run out of power. But my backhoe (a Woods 6500) really pulls the back end down (the lack of weight probably has quite a bit to do with my traction issues) and there are times that I wouldn't mind some more HP for brush hogging. A bigger mower deck would also be really nice - my hog is a 48", and a 60" would be most nifty.

Sounds like the recommendations you've gotten for specific models are good ones. My personal opinion is that you should buy as much tractor as you can afford, but if you go with one of the 25-35HP Kubotas and tack on all the equipment you're thinking of you'll be talking some pretty serious money (epecially the chipper - I'd love one but they're pricey). I haven't priced those models in a while, but I'd guess you're in the $20K range just for the tractor, and implements will add up pretty fast.

When I was looking, I was leaning towards the John Deeres - my family has always been "green" and has owned a bunch of them. But when push came to shove, I got the Kubota because for what was essentially the same level of tractor and equipment the JD would have cost me about $2K more. I did buy a JD for my lawn tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

It's tough. My father-in-law just bought a 2 acre parcel and is looking at tractors. He priced some Sears garden tractors at about $1200 and then asked me what it would cost to move up to something like mine - "what, maybe $2500 or so?". He nearly fainted when I told him I paid more like $10K for the tractor, and then added the FEL, brush hog...and I didn't want to mention that a 3pt chipper would run more than a Sears garden tractor by itself /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif...

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll get plenty more input...Chris
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thank you for the reply's! Initially, I was thinking that the new Kioti CK20 was going to do the job but, now it sounds like I better plan on bigger things. My CFO is not going to like hearing that - I just got her convinced that it would be worth while to make such a purchase so I better wait a while to tell her about an upgrade. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I am going to want to have 4WD & Hydra and ergonomics are a serious consideration. I also like the visibility allowed by the new sloped hood designs - that is what caught my attention in the CK20. A bigger tractor may put the cost over the top so I may have to investigate used, it just seems hard to find good used compacts around here. (Central Wisconsin)

My cousin recently purchased a Kubota 7500 and I tried that out on my driveway using the FEL and box scraper and I have to admit, I thought that a little bigger tractor would probably serve us better.
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Chrisjbell, thanks for the info. I think the tractor mounted chippers are a pretty good value when I consider what I paid for a small DR chipper that has less than half the capacity but, then again, I have only priced a Chinese version. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #7  
Hi TractorTruck...

Well, the PTO mounted chippers *are* a much better deal. I envy your DR chipper, as I'm sure it beats my "Home Depot Special" by a mile (a 10HP mulcher, really). Trying to cram a 3" or so branch in that thing is a real exersize - literally /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. And in retrospect, it would have been a better idea to take the $$$ that I spent on that thing and made a dent in a savings program for a PTO chipper.

I want one! But first, a tiller /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif...Chris
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size? #8  
I have a property similar in size to your's and perhaps can offer some advice. When I first moved here 8 years ago, I bought a JD 425 (20 HP gasoline engine, about 800#) with 48" MMM and similarly sized snowblower, a year later decided I needed a larger tractor and a FEL, traded in the JD 425 for a JD445 (22 HP gasoline at about the same size with a FEL capable of 580# lift). It lasted about two years as I was doing more than it was capable of and severely straining the little beast. Traded it in on a JD 4200 ( 26 HP diesel, 4 wheel drive, at 2700#) with 60" MMM, 59" snowblower, a backhoe, and a FEL. Last year having torn up the lawn near the house using a nearly 3000" tractor for lawn mowing, bought a little JD lawn tractor (LX-176) with a 38" mower to do the fine stuff near the house. Used the excuse that the wife could use it with a 10 cu ft trailer for her landscaping instead of a wheel barrow. The point being that if you start small, you will end up going much larger in order to do the heavy lifting and work in the woods. However, you still might need something smaller for the fine work. That being the case, it would have been a lot less expensive for me to go with the larger tractor first, vice sequentially going up in small increments and eating the depreciation on new tractors. My advice, carefully look at the work you might conceivably want the tractor to do, then make sure you get one that will handle all that and then some, recognizing that you may have to get something smaller later if it is too large for the fine work. Good Luck,

P.S. I could give you an identical story on both chain saws (currently have 6)and chippers (5 hp Sears to 18 HP DR)
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Bill
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
<font color="blue"> I was thinking that the new Kioti CK20 was going to do the job but, now it sounds like I better plan on bigger things. </font>

<font color="black"> Kioti has a 25/30 hp CK hydro in the pipe line for roll out late this year or early next year. It will be one frame size larger than the CK20. </font>
 
   / First Time Buyer - What Size?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
About chippers, I have about seven acres of Popple tree tops to clean up and the DR chipper is proving to be far too slow - I think it would take every weekend for a year to accomplish and burning is out of the question with the current dry conditions. May have to consider renting a large industrial chipper.

On tractors, I know that the advise to go larger makes sense but, we will have to determine feasibility. We Will have to look around more for used again and see what turns up.

Thanks for the advise all, once again.
 
 
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