Best Tractor for wooded mountain land

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="green"> Is it safe to assume a 25-40 hp CUT will be able to pull say a 1000 lbs trailer up an access road that a small 2wd pick-up will make it up (barely).
</font>

I would say NO and YES to your question. I'd doubt a tractor on the lower end of your power scale could pull a trailer up hill if a 2wd pick up struggles. I'd stick to the higher end of the power range, and I'd stick with the JD turbo diesels as a safe bet if you are not going to really be playing on the side slopes. The PTs will go into places the traditional machines won't, but if you are not going there then it really is no advantage. PTs are amazing machines! I had a small one out here for a day and they are just amazing. Hard to describe all the advantages, you just have to see it.

 

[Vas]

Thank you for the advice on HP for hauling equipment.

I finally found some information on horsepower loss with altitude for non-turbo engines. Here is a neat horsepower loss calculator (and a lot of other neat calculators).

http://www.csgnetwork.com/relhumhpcalc.html

For my guessed nominal conditions (55f, 30" Hg, 30% humidity, 9000ft) it gives me a 29% loss in power.

It seems to confirm the 3% per 1000ft rule of thumb I found on another TBN thread. With lack of knowledge on turbo performance I'm assuming a 30% loss for non-turbo and negligible hp loss for turbo.

I looked some at the PT products (425, 1430, 1445) but the loss of HP and the fact, as pointed out, that I would mostly be using it in more level areas pushes me toward a traditional tractor with turbo. To that end I've been scouring manufactures websites to find CUTs with turbo in the 35-50 hp range (I've revised my range slightly upward). I could not find any NH, Kubota, case, or cub cadets w/ turbo. I did find the following CUTs have turbo: JD 3520, 3720 and all the 40 twenty series. MF has the 1440, 1540, and 461. Kioti has the DK50. Any thoughts on the relative merits of these? Any CUT turbos I missed?

Thanks,

 

[Keith_B]

The access road doesn't look any steeper than some of the roads we use here on the farm, and less steep than others. If a 2wd truck makes it up those roads a 4wd CUT will make it up easily. Personally, I would go with a 30-40 HP CUT, as the road maintenance with the rocks will be easier with more power.

 

[RedRocker]

I have similar terrain and use a CK30 HST. I don't have the altitude issues though.

 

[PBinWA]

I think the Mahindra 3015 is Turbo but it may be too small for your needs. I would not call it a heavy-duty tractor model although my 2615 is certainly doing everything that I have asked it to do. My 2615 can easily pull a 1000 pound trailer.

 

[JerryG]

Vas,
I have a MF 1440 with the turbo. If you have any questions that I might be able to answer, please do so.

 

[Vas]

Jerry,

I would be very interested in learning how you like it. How long have you owned it? Why did you choose it over other manufacturers, and what you are using it for? How reliable has it been for you? Thank you

Vas

 

[JerryG]

I like it real well. I have owned it for about a year and a half. There isn't much that I don't do with it. I have a commercial poultry operation and use it in the poultry house to decake litter etc. I have dug several thousand feet of trenches with my MF backhoe. I run a 5' brush hog because on the rough irregular land that I travel over and also because of the amount of thick 4' grass that I mow. I plow my garden and my in laws with a 3 bottom moldboard plow and also keep them plowed with a 7 shank plow. I have made several drainage ditches and rebuilt roads with a box blade, rear blade and my loader. There has been several small jobs that I have done for the neighbors. I original hadn't planned to buy a MF compact. I didn't think that they had what I wanted. I shopped around looking at Kubota, JD and New Holland. I was ready to buy a NH and the salesman decided that I needed a different tractor than what I wanted. That was the end of that. I then drove by a new MF dealer that was about 60 miles from where I live. I saw that he had compacts in stock. When I went back to check them out, not only did they have the size that I wanted, but I liked what I saw on the MF better than the other brands that I looked at. Most things were more robust on the MF such as the front axle. The platform area was very roomy and everything was convenient for me to operate. All this was what happened when I bought my first compact in 1999. As you know, I now own a MF 1440. I like it a lot better even than the previous MF 1250. When using the brush hogging to mow some of my steep slopes the 1440 will mow the same area, two gears higher without shifting. Everything is easier to get to on the 1440. The entire hood flips up, the dip stick is in easy reach without moving anything, the filters are convenient to remove, the radiator screen slides out easily with the hood open. If and/or when there is a need to work on the transmission, hydraulics or anything else under the platform, both sides of the platform can be removed by just un-clipping a few pins.
As far as reliability goes, the only thing that I have had to do is change the rubber boot on the loader control.

 

[_RaT_]

Vas, I would be inclined to look a the MF or Deere for the HP size and turbo charged tractor you will undoubtedly need. I drive my truck, a non turbo diesel over a 9500' pass at Lake Tahoe and it leaves much to be desired. It is very, very weak at that altitude.

 

[PBinWA]

One thought that you should aslo consider is the ground clearance of the tractor. If you plan to add a backhoe then you need to see how much clearance you will lose with the sub frame.

I would think you would want the widest stance, highest ground clearance, and turbo. It might be hard to find all three in your HP range but it will be fun looking and test driving.