I believe there are 3 main factors that will determine which would be best to suit your needs. All have their place, even a wheeled skid steer, but I don't believe acreage is the right place for that.
What do you want to do with it?
What kind of land will it be used on?
What kind of person you are? (yes a very broad category, but many things make a big difference.)
I have a history with vehicle repairs (degree in auto/diesel tech), take very good care of my equipment, and ask a lot out of my equipment. That in itself would rule out an agricultural tractor of any sorts. I've never owned an ag tractor, and only the only one I've used for more than 10 minutes is a little Deere 2210 (not counting my Deere 345 riding mower). I've worked on several, but never owned one. I worked on class 8 trucks for a while, but never worked on or operated machinery professionally.
I have put a lot of time in various heavy equipment pieces. I used to own a Case 580C TLB. Which was great until I purchased my MTL. 90%+ of the work that I've done has been earth moving, such as landscaping, trenches, building site prep, gravel moving and distribution, drain tile, etc. I live on 20 acres in Northern MN. Fairly flat ground with a creek running through the middle of my property. I'll give you my observed experiences with the various things I've owned or used a lot, but ultimately it is more important to match the owner with the right machine.
Case 580C Industrial Tractor Loader Backhoe, 50ish Hp, 2wd, 14,000lbs. Owned for 3 years. It was the first large piece of equipment I owned. I bought and sold it for $8,500. I spent roughly $2000 of repairs, maintenance, and fuel and put less than 200 hours on the machine. Strengths; it had a lot of digging and lifting power, good reach and was semi-easy to get in and out. It had a full cab with an almost useless heater and no door. It really is like an old swiss army knife, can do many things, but not really good at anything. Weaknesses; Couldn't hardly use the loader bucket to move anything unless it was really light or only needed to be moved on flat, level, dry ground. If you picked up a bucked of dirt or gravel, you were limited on where you could take it or you'd spin the tires and have to help out with the backhoe. Backhoe dug great, but needed to be moved to continue a trench every couple minutes, which was really annoying. When digging a larger area, the lack of swing meant you were very limited on where you could dump the dirt. For many, if you can only have one machine, for whatever reason, it is the best one to have. It is significantly more capable than an Ag tractor backhoe because of the power that comes with a larger engine and heavier steel that you would have to try to break something on it, but it is much heavier and can not use much for other attachments. I will never own a 2wd TLB again, but plan on buying a 4wd TLB after I sell my mini excavator.
Deere 2210 Ag Tractor Loader. 4wd 22hp 2,000lbs. Friend/Neighbors, and I probably put 100 hours on it over 10 years. I did spend a lot of time fixing it, but that was mostly due to how it was used by it's owner. Strengths; excellent mower, small, light, manuverable. It can move a mountain with the loader, but it had better be loosened first and you'd better have a lot of time on your hands. Weaknesses; small, light, breakable, weak. I would not use it to do landscaping, unless it is all I had, and had a lot of time with no money to rent something else. It was perfect (almost, he was a bit hard on it) for my neighbor.
Bobcat 325 Mini-Excavator. 27hp, 6000lb. Friend/Neighbors, and I put on 300+ hours over 10 years. I spent a lot of time fixing this one too. This was the first excavator I used, and it could do a lot, if you have time. It could dig a 6 foot trench well, as long as there wasn't any hard ground. Strengths; quick cycle times, light, capable of anything if you have time. Weaknesses; did not have a lot of digging power. It would barely scratch the hard packed clay with the teeth. Digging through this clay we have could take a really long time.
Cat 277B Multi-Terrain Loader. 80hp 11,000lb tracked skid steer. I've owned it for 7 years and put more than 800 hours on. Purchased for less than $20,000, over $10,000 in repairs since. I've pushed it past it's limits several times, and they are very high limits. I love it and could not be without a skid steer (mtl) again. Strengths; power, low ground pressure ASV tracks, can drive it almost anywhere and never get stuck, capable of doing whatever you want with the right attachment. I love the low ground pressure. I can drive it across a wet yard and barely leave a mark, or drive it down in the mud next to the creek. It drove right over the three feet of snow we had on the ground last winter. It can lift a car to load it on a trailer. It can dig into this clay enough to fill the 7ft wide bucket. I dug the hole for a septic holding tank, faster and cleaner than the installer could with his larger excavator. Weaknesses; ASV tracks, hard to get in and out, expensive to repair. The ASV tracks are great for a smooth ride and low ground pressure, but they are maintenance intensive, and expensive. It is a pain to get into and out of, and when something breaks, it costs a small fortune to fix. I replaced one drive motor, for nearly $5,000 all said and done. Cost about $1,000 to replace the head gasket (my fault, I'll try to remember to add a picture later), plus another $1000 to rebuild the head and the injectors. I still wouldn't be without one. Someday I'd like to upgrade to a 289D or 299D for a little more lifting power and more durable tracks. I've used wheeled skid steers and found they get stuck too easily, not so with these tracks.
Komatsu pc50mr-2 mini excavator. 40hp 11,000lb, rubber capped hybrid tracks, full cab with heat and A/C. Owned for 2 years now, 200 hours on it. Purchased for more than $30,000. Great machine if you need one, can't recommend it unless you actually need one because of the high price tag. It will dig anything, just slowly. Not much more to say about it. Very handy to have, but overkill for most private endeavors. Once I'm done with my big projects, it will be sold in favor of a much cheaper one, or a TLB. It is 10 times better for digging than a backhoe, and can lift things like a hoist, but that is about it.
Deere 310D Industrial tractor loader. 70hp 13,000lb, 4wd, no backhoe. Owned for 3 years, purchased for $4,000. This one I love too. I just don't use it much. It can move snow great, cab is warm enough. It can pickup anything you fit into the bucket, but is a little hard to get full scoops unless it is very loose material. It really does work great, but is very limited in it's abilities. I used it last winter after my skid's head gasket problem to put hay in for the horses using a hay spear that clamped onto the bucket. Much harder to see what you're doing that far out front, although that could be because I'm use to how well I can see what I'm doing with the skid steer. It works great to plow the driveway during the first couple storms so I don't scrape my gravel off the driveway with the plow truck. It worked great last winter for pushing the huge snow banks back. It works to pull stuck vehicles out of where they shouldn't be. For the price I paid I couldn't be happier. It is not very versatile, but can do some things very well. It too is a little hard to get into, but not as bad as the skid steer, just high steps. 4wd makes it capable of moving with a loaded bucket even when the ground is a little soft.
Everything has it's place. Things go better when using a machine that is suited for the job, but many things can be accomplished if you have enough time even with an ill suited machine. I've come to find out, that Ag tractors are really strong and great for pulling, but weak in most other areas. Yes you can dig using the loader bucket, but you need to be careful and take your time, they will break. Pulling is what they were designed to do. If you are doing ag type work mostly (field maintenance and work) with light duty stuff on the side an Ag tractor could be the perfect fit. I haven't even seen it yet, but my dad got a deere 20 series with backhoe attachment last summer. He loves it, but he is long since retired and has nothing but time. He is also only using the backhoe for digging up stumps and little stuff. Nothing heavy, and it is about the perfect machine for him to mow, snow blow his driveway, and such. He lives on the side of a hill, almost the top, and tipped over the 1 series he had several years ago within a month of buying it. He had a bunch of bags of potting soil in the bucket, raised up. But that was his first real experience using any sort of loader. If you start with AG, it is much easier to stay within the limits, vs starting with industrial and trying to limit yourself.
