Buying 13acre farm, what machine to buy? BX?

[KU Gator]

We purchased 12 acres about 1.5 years ago. It is about 30 miles from where we live and does not have any structures on it. We mow about 6 or 7 acres I would estimate with the rest in woods, creek, pond and rocks. We bought a B2920 and haul it on a trailer (I would miss not having it at the house). We started looking at the BX's, but felt the B was a better size for our needs. Besides mowing, I have hauled a lot of brush and logs to burn piles and work on cleaning. It takes me about 4 hours to mow which I prefer to do with the belly mower (5') but we also have a rotary mower for when we get behind or go into uncharted areas. I do not feel a BX would have been big enough for what we do on that rough of property. If I wasn't hauling it, I would probably opt for an L or maybe a B7800 which would give me a bit more weight and power and keep the belly mower capability. Around here, L's are probably easier to find used than some of the CUT's, but I don't know about your area.

Good luck and enjoy the property

 

[ChuckinNH]

How well has the drive over deck install / remove procedure worked for you, and does your height adjustment work well? Thanks, and sorry for interrupting the flow of the thread.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'll add my voice to those who are saying that the BX is too small. It is not designed for Ag work at all but is more than a lawnmower on steroids and does many things very well (but not Ag).

If you are very patient and have lots of time you could do with a 20-30 hp CUT (one size up from a BX SCUT). In the Kubota line that would be a "B" series tractor. Even better would be something in the 30-40 hp range like an "L". Used tractors with less than 200-300 hours are essentially new if they have been well maintained and those types of used machines are readily available for many $$ off list price. They also frequently are sold with some of the implements that you will need to purchase anyway.

I am not a subscriber to the notion that "more horsepower is better" but in this case, 13 acres of Ag land is not something that anyone (except LBrown) would try to do with a BX class machine.

 

[Western]

Soundguy, 2 BX's? Thats rediculous. Everybody knows they dont come in groups less than 3.

I would cross the BX off the list for 13 acres, unless buying a newer BX2360, BX 2660 (those numbers may be wrong). You will need the bigger frame size of AT LEAST a B series, most likely a small L series if going Kubota. JD 750, 850, 790 ect also would fit your budget with a little shopping around.

Yeah. weld 2 together and have one for parts!

I think you've got good advise, I have only 15+ acres now and 38hp cut, was a little hard to get used to, from a 145hp. 30-40hp should do you real good as previously pointed out. You can always hire out the tuff stuff like deep plowing, pushing trees, possibly cutting and baling hay which would push a cut, these are things you won't do very often anyway.

The things you mentioned are fairly easy to do with the proper attachments, such as an adjustable blade for snow removal/road work.. build it yourself so you can buy a new pretty welder too!!

 

[bp fick]

Add another voice for an L sized, and only using the Kubota class name because it seems you might be familiar.

Disclaimer- I am a BX owner because it is flat out great for my place, my uses and my chores. I don't equate it to a lawn mower, even one that is on steroids, but rather more a modern, better, diesel version of the super garden tractors of the past. Here I am showing my age, but the BX might be better understood as cast in the role of millennium version of the Wheel Horse or Case Ingersol or cub cadets of times past. Great tractors all.

But could you imagine managing 13 acres with one? I grew up with the Massey Harris Pony and neighbors had little Farmalls and such, but we were working 5-10 acres and these little guys were run to death to keep up with the tasks of subsistence farms of that era. I would equate a B to those tractors of old. That 1000' driveway you mentioned is what did me in!!!

 

[redharley]

Am I reading this wrong,the man said Till 1 acre,easily done with a BX,4acre's of feild mowing if 3 or 4 times a year no problem.What I don't know is when he said needs a lot of ground work could you please let us know a little more. Other than that a BX would most likely fit his need. I bush hog 6 acres twice a year with my BX and a 4 foot landpride RC easily does and acre an hour in high grass, I plow over 2 acre's with a 1 bottom plow no problem. Run a disk and drag harrow no problem. Is he going to mow any lawn ?A BX will make it look good and be a pleasure to operate. A BX just might be the answer, it was for me but I only have 12 acre's.Need a little more info. In my opinion most buy to large for their property. Wasn't that long ago[50 years or less] 8N ford's were tilling farms of 70 acre's.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I dont know what the OP has in mind for his property, but on my 11.2 acres,I have taxed my 45 HP tractor cleaning it up. It had laid fallow for looks to be about 10 years and had some fairly large sweetgum thickets that I wanted to get rid of. Pushing them over and cleaning up the roots, leveling the ground back out and running over the small 10 foot tall trees with a bush hog would have been impossible for a smaller tractor. I am not advocating that the OP needs a 45 Hp tractor, just that he should look at his intentions and decide what his long term goal are for his land.

 

[KU Gator]

How well has the drive over deck install / remove procedure worked for you, and does your height adjustment work well? Thanks, and sorry for interrupting the flow of the thread.

Chuck,

The drive over deck seems to work fine. I takes me probably less than 5 minutes to remove or install the deck. Most of that time is spent lowering or raising the anti-scalp wheels. I have tried sliding it out because someone mentioned they were going to do that on theirs, I assume out of concern of driving over it. It takes the same time as you still have to turn the wheels. I didn't experience any difficulty sliding it out though. In driving over it, I use the supplied ramps and put it in 4wd and crawl over it. Sometimes it takes a bit of juggling it around in the back to get those linkages to line up, but not much. From reading threads, I think an advantage to the process of the B over the BX is there is more room between the tractor and the mower when it is lowered so easier to get your arms up in there to disconnect the PTO. For me, the agrivation of R&R ing the MMM is worth it compared to using an RFM, but to each his own.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Let's not get too far off the Original poster's questions. The OP did state "Basically I have about 4 acres of fields and maybe 1 of true crop areas." That is much different than 13 acres of agricultural land, which implies that it all will be tilled, and worked every year. Four acres of fields is not much more than I mow every week with my garden tractor. I expect that his land is rougher than mine, but maybe not a lot! His woods, and perhaps rough ground warrant the clearance, and tough underbelly of something "B" sized, and it might be more versitile than anything larger. Perhaps I could use an "L" size tractor on my 13 acres, but I wouldn't have been able to get some of the places, and do some of the things I have done with my B. My woods are rough, and rocky, and have been logged by skidders in past years. That means I either have to go "over" things they left (need a skidder for that) or around them. In my yard, my B is heavy enough, and only barely manuverable enough to consider mowing around all my rocks, and trees. I suppose that an L would more easily handle a 5' rotary cutter than a larger B like the B3200 /B3030 but not by much. I don't see any problem myself in mowning 4 acres once in a while with a 4' RC........ that is the size mmm that I currently have though I could use a larger one now that I've removed many big rocks, and I mow a bit over 3 acres every week. One acre of tillable land is easily handled by a B sized tractor of any color though you might want a larger B if you plan on tilling all of it every year.

 

[Soundguy]

I am not a subscriber to the notion that "more horsepower is better" but in this case, 13 acres of Ag land is not something that anyone (except LBrown) would try to do with a BX class machine.

No.. he'd do it with a small fleet of them!

soundguy