Advice on size/brand

[Jim75]

Hi,

I've been a member here for some time, and have been a reader mostly. Now, I've bought a house on 3 acres and need some advice. First, the house has a pretty big front yard which will need to be tended to. About 2 acres in the back is fenced in, with some oak, cedar, and some prickly pear cactus. I don't want to manicure the back, but will occassionally mow it. Also in the future, I may want to put in a guest house and accompanying driveway, along with possibly putting in another section of fence. I currently have a JD lawn tractor, X304, which I don't think will be up to what I need; I will probably sell it, or trade it. Looking for suggestions on what is felt would be units for me to consider. Also, concerned about the needles on the prickly pears penetrating the tires. Thanks for everyone's insight.

Jim

 

[jdbnh]

hello, in my opinion a good little 4x4 tractor say from 30-35hp. You coould fit it with a rough cut shredder for the back rougher land and a finishing mower for your yard and that is plenty of hp to run a box balde or blade for roads, and helping with building the guest house and dirt work. Check out new hollands T1500 series, they are a simple basic tractor that still give you option as far as transmission, implements and so on.

 

[jenkinsph]

A lot would depend on how smooth the ground is and whether or not you want to do anything about it. Where are you located? Do you need snow removal.

Sounds like most of the time you will be mowing about an acre of front yard, I would think the X304 would be sufficient for that. i don't think I would buy a tractor to build a short driveway or build a small guest house. If you want a tractor for fun then go for it.

 

[miramadar]

I would think a 20hp - 30hp 4x4 tractor would do you nicely. You can get a 20hp model at or less than $10k. In deciding which brand, that will take research on your end. Which have the option you want, the build you want, etc. If you're just going to be mowing primarily, you won't need a beefy model as you would with ground engagement. A lighter-weight model would probably be better. Mahindra tractors are lighter than, say, Kioti or Kubota, and might fit your bill better. Also, if you're not going to need a great deal of traction (as in ground engagement), you should get a tractor with industrial (R4) tires. They're a lot easier on your grass than Ag (R1) tires. You might even consider turf tires, as they are the most foregiving on turf, but be warned that you won't have much traction for anything else.

 

[TripleR]

I tend to agree with miramader on the engine size. I like the size and maneuverability of a SCUT, but a CUT will often work as well or better depending on terrain. I prefer Kubotas, but haven't owned the other brands, so I really can't say one is better than the other and a lot will depend on how well they fit you.

We have found it better to rent bigger equipment for those occasional jobs.

 

[Soundguy]

I'd say pretty much anythin in a SCUT up to a smallish CUT.. IE. 30ish hp and lower.. just about anything inthat range will run a 4' rough mower, or a 5' finish mower.. a 4' box... etc..

soundguy