Buy right & buy once ?

[Yer_Man]

Hi all,

We recently bought a 50ac farm and are now looking at what we need to run it. Its rolling terrain of 30ac tillage, 10 pasture, 10 woodland. The tillage has just come out of CRP.

We had a small beef operation growing up but Ive no real experience of the ins and outs of tillage. [Im even considering renting the tillable gound to a neighbour for a couple of years so as not to bite off too much at once].

Im approaching this tractor as a 20+ year investment decision - I want to "buy right and buy once" so Id like to borrow your experience to help with the decision making. Heres what Im thinking.

40-55 HP - smaller frame would help around the woodland, cab wouldnt.
4WD - some of the pasture terrain is steep enough
FEL - w/ skid steer capability (material handling & some contruction/grading work)
Shuttle/Gear shift (love HST but dont see too many HSTs doing tillage)
Class II 3PT - seems like its easier to pick up good deals on class II implements as the big operators arent interested in them. Round bale spear might be needed for pastured animals.
R1s - for pulling ground engaging equipment & loader work traction. I dont need it to do double duty and cut lawns etc.

Im torn on the old/new decision. The old stuff lasts and I could probably buy a decent older tractor+FEL outright for about $10k. And I enjoy wrenching on stuff so that would almost pull me into looking used.
But with current financing offers Im giving serious consideration to buying new. (And can redirect my hard earned stuff into fixing up the barn etc).

Im not hung up on any brand - did grow up with MF and JD so probably have some bias there. I do like the MF2600 series and the JD5045E but could see myself just as happy on older machines (maybe the older the better).

Wow - I dont think Ive written anything that long since I left school

Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[Red Beast]

I approached my purchasing decision similarly. I have small acreage at the moment, but will only ever move to more land. I didn't want to spend big now, and have to spend further in years to come if/when we move to more land. I have always spent money on quality.
My property is mostly pasture..... waiting to be improved with new tractor, plough, etc.

Set your must haves in stone, list your likes and wants for consideration.
Your budget obviously has a huge bearing on your decision.

I never considered used, as I don't have the time for breakdowns. I figured this is my tractor for the next 30 years. I looked at Kubota (have a B1550 HST), New Holland, MF, JD, and then Case.
I nearly went with Kubota, the salesman was a top bloke, the shop was awesome, but the deal from Case was unbeatable.
Good luck.
RB

 

[MarkV]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new property. It sounds like you have a good idea of what to look for in a tractor. My only thought is that 40 - 55hp may be on the small side for 30 acres of crops. It sounds as if you might consider some cattle in the future. If so you my want to get into hay production and a larger tractor would handle that much better.

You sound as if enjoy old iron and have the ability to turn a wrench. Might be that a new 50 hp tractor with loader and an older 80 +/- hp tractor would be a good match.

Good luck and keep us posted.

MarkV

 

[TripleR]

I sure can't improve on your assessment of equipment, except I would lean toward a 50-60 hp range, but that's just me. I have bought both new and used and if you can do some work on them, you can save a ton of money. My approach to zero percent financing is that it is a non issue as it makes no difference if I write a check for 30k or pay for it over five years, it is still 30k, so I just figure how much I am willing to spend.

I won't go into my brand preferences as they may be unique to me, but I will offer advice on land usage. We own several small farms and don't "farm" an acre as we make more renting it out. Your acreage is too small to be profitable unless you specialize. My wife retired from USDA and I grew up farming row crop and livestock; take it for what it's worth.

 

[forester2]

The key to your decision is what you ae planning on doing with your crop land. If you're planning on making hay or planting the 30 acres in crow crops, I would lean toward a larger tractor. Maybe buying once is not really the best decision for you until you get your plans finalized. One thing I've noticed over the last 20 years is that my plans do change, hence necessitating changes in equip. It's kind of fun actually. Are you using tractor for mowing and snow removal as well? Do you think renting out the land or contracting planting might be a viable option? Financing is attractive right now but it's also making for some awesome deals on used equip. I got my feet wet on a lessexpensive used piece of equuip. and then moved up as my needs changed. Good luck.

 

[bp fick]

TripeR +1
forester2 +1

Until your decisions firm up regarding just what you are going to do with your property, Hay?, Row Crops?, Specialized Vegetables? Livestock? a decision concerning a tractor will likely be off.

50% of the stuff one does with a tractor is pretty universal. But it is the other 50% that trips up a purchase. Those specific tasks can require markedly different tractors and implements.

If you buy based on general thinking, or if your thinking changes in a year or two, you will not have bought "right and bought once". That "buy right & buy once" stuff is hard to do, unless you are really specific in your goals and really committed to your plan.

 

[greggh]

This is only my opinion so take it as such. I think that you have a good handle on what you want to do. I do think that for your property that I would look at 50 hp plus. The only drawback is not having a smaller frame for the woods. But with a little clearing you should be OK with a 50-60 hp utility tractor. With that size utility you can use CAT I and II implements.

 

[jdjdjd]

I joined this forum to research buying a tractor. Someone wise said "Buy your second tractor first". It made a lot of sense and I re-thought my selection. I bought a larger tractor with a cab and I am very pleased with its capabilities.

You are headed in the right direction with your research by planning for future uses. Good luck in your search and be sure to let us know what you decide.

 

[art]

Time is of concern with most jobs so I'd try and figure how much time you can spend doing them and then size your equipment.

That is often why people by larger then reallly needed other then the lack of knowledge of proper use of the equipment or how to get the most out of it!

 

[pitt_md]

I have 30 acres total about 2/3 of the land is tillable/pasture. i went with a 50 hp Kubota MX5000. It has what your looking for as far as shuttle/gear and a FEL thats able to lift round bales. I have never plowed with this tractor so can't tell you what to expect in that area. I did what you were thinking when I first got my place and rented out one of my fields to a local guy that tilled it up and planted it for a couple years. I used a 6' tiller to go over a 7 acre patch and that is all that i would ever want to take on with this method.

With the amount of land that you have I would lean toward a bigger machine if you can afford it. I think you could get by with a 50 hp but would be happier with something in the 60-70hp range.

As far as the used/new debate I went new. I am pretty good with a wrench but when it comes to having the facilities/tools to split a tractor to fix a clutch I am not there. A new tractor does not mean you will never have to fix it though.