Tractor Sizing First time buyer: SCUT or CUT, other questions

[Featherbrained farms]

Hi everyone, been reading a good bit around, super interesting stuff everyone here is very helpful it seems, so I thought I'd ask. I know ''what tractor to buy'' has been asked a million times, but I couldn't quite find a thread that matched my circumstances.

We live on 3 acres in south East Ontario, so it's quite cold and snowy. Additionally, we rent 2 acres to run our farm which is my wife's sole income - I have a boring office job and I'd much rather be farming. We do chicken, eggs, duck eggs, micro greens and vegetables for sale, by hand, and I'm fed up. Particularly with turning our enormous manure pile in hopes of getting compost. So for us, getting a tractor is a required time saver to allow my wife to run the farm without me working my entire weekend. The main consideration for us is, the tractor has to be narrow. We grow our organic vegetables over semi-permanent beds, which are 2.5 ft, with about 1.5 ft between beds. so a bed every 48 inches. I plan on driving over the bed (clearance is important) to surface till (therefore a tiller is key, but small will do), and sow cover crops, and flail mow the cover crops before tilling in and planting. Other tasks that I plan on doing are, using a FEL to move manure out of barn, to turn over composting manure and vegetable leftovers, move soil, etc... Using a rear-mounted blower in winter, mowing - not necessarily with a finish mower, I'm not a manicured lawn kind of guy, so rotary cutter or flail would do if I already have one - and finally, in a perfect world, pulling a plastic mulch layer. No backhoe, though I could use it, I can't justify the 10k, I'll rent mini-excavators if and when needed.

First question is, CUT or SCUT. I know more power is always better, but increased width comes at a loss of growing space for us. Also, money is tight-ish and spending more for nothing, well blah. I am still leaning towards a CUT, however, since I think some of what I want to do is not realistic with a SCUT, but perspectives would be welcome.

Second question... which one? All major brands are available nearby, in particular, JD, Kubota, NH, CASE and MF are all within 15 minutes. I know dealer and personal preference are the tie-breakers from other threads, but right now my short list - in the CUT world - is 2032R, B2601, B2650.

Advice would be welcome.

 

[conkli48]

Welcome to the forum,

Ya seems like you guys got alot going on. I went through similar predicaments when deciding for my self, I have 4.5 acres 2 acres of woods, 1.5 acres of pasture, 1 acre of garden and lawn. We have horses, pigs, and laying hens. I had a barn that i built prior to any of this, that had a narrow door at 72 inches, and i wanted to be able to maneuver a tractor in to use the bucket to clean stalls and make it easy to park it in the barn. My main use of the tractor is to plow garden, clear brush, snow removal, clean stalls, and other various landscaping duties,( like spreading gravel and mulch) But also to haul wood.

Now i looked at scuts for a quick second, but i already had a nice lawnmower and the big attraction to scuts its to mow with. So that set my mind on a compact. I looked at mainly Kioti and Kubota.

MY friend has a b2650 and it is a nice premium tractor, with lots of features, but had similar price as the L2501, which is a bit bigger but has larger frame and can lift more and do more in general.

The dealer didnt have a 2601 , but to my knowledge its a bit smaller and less featured, but is cheaper. But i looked long and hard at the kioti ck2510 as well and again it lead me to the larger frame ck2610 which is a similar class to the l2501. ( they are larger framed smaller motor and dont have DPFs) The larger size wheel base is at 60 inches and bucket is 66 so fit in barn and worked good, a little big for my current property, but works well and does more than i need it to. ( i also didnt know how long i would be at my property and its tough to size to a property, if you plan on building on a 30 acre Family lot down the line, as your tractor needs can change drastically. SO i went with the larger frame smaller horsepower Kioti ck2610.


Now, for you, ground clearance and ground engagement is a concern. So i would not even consider the scut. It works good but you will grow out of one fast doing what your doing. The b series, is i think a good fit for you. The 2650, is a nice machine, problem is , it seems like your main thing isnt to mow with it and the 2650 comes with a mid mount mower. So you are paying for it whether you want to or not. There is an option that had issues in the past, but i believe would work well for ya, the b3350 SU, it has more horse power, no mid mount mower pto, and can offer some savings. but theres the DPF, ..... so trade offs. I think honestly go as big as you think you can fit into the property. I know you had some concerns with row widths and such, but kubota has some aftermarket wheel spacers you can help adjust wheel spacing to fit your needs, its available.

That said, i know you listed some major brands, but i wouldnt disregard the minor ones, either, good machines and cheaper prices. My kioti was 4000 dollars less than a similarly equipped kubota. I decided id rather take a chance and save the money, and so far i enjoy my tractor.

So my suggestion is to get out there and see what works for you. Like i said, width can be adjustable. But nothings worse than finding out you went to small, and it doesnt do everything you ask of it. and needing to take a bath to get the right size.

 

[Tractorable]

While your cross shopping compare the Yanmar SA424 as well. It has uniquely high ground clearance, 1200lb loader lift capacity, and a mid PTO.

 

[Featherbrained farms]

Thank you for the input! Unfortunately we don稚 have a yanmar dealer anywhere near. As for Kioti, it really bugs me that they don稚 list the prices online. What model should I look up (2510?) and how much could I expect to pay in Canada if anyone has an idea?

 

[agd5f]

It really depends what your use cases are. I mostly use mine for mowing and hauling stuff around with the FEL (firewood, mulch, trimmings, etc.). I didn't need or want the extra weight on the lawn.

 

[AxleHub]

Featherbrained,

It would seem your needs are rather small in size of jobs but rather numerous in quantity. 4 foot beds and a MF GC1715 scut would fit right in. in addition - you don't want lots of compaction and turf tires and modest weight would be your friend.

But lets talk about weight. My GC1715 with loaded rears (Turfs), a fel, weighs in at about 2200 pounds or so without weight bracket etc.. with the fel off your talking 1600 pounds. So it is not a 500 pound lawn mower. You'll have about 6.5 to 7 inches of ground clearance if you don't have a belly mower. And mine will lift over 850 pounds of payload plus my fork set on.

I myself have a 3pt 40 gallon sprayer and a mmm. Others I know who have the GC1715 are using a flail mower, a front plow, post hole digger and 4 foot tiller with really good results.

Important in Canada is service - and I'd think Massey service is well represented in service choices. I can tell you mine is extremely sure footed in winter use on blacktop, concrete and moving snow or on quite steep hills. I'd also imagine your needs would include tight turning capabilities for maneuvering in a farmette as you describe.

Another important thing to me - is comfort. The GC1715 is 25 hp, and its seat is both coil and spring suspension. If you want high ground clearances - then you're going to be working with less nimble product choices. Grapples are readily available as well as quick attach fork sets that work on front AND on 3pt.

While the GC1715 is very stable and strong enough to do significant work frequently - its not so big and bulky so that your wife could feel comfortable and enjoy its features too. And with the slightest of adjustment - my unit can easily have a 6'6" 300 pound driver or a 5" 125 pound driver because the seat cockpit is especially variable for legs and boots and adjustment (see other posts where I describe it).

And Canadaian dollar is what it is - but in the U.S. A GC1715 is definitely less money than a JD or BX of similar size - yet its engine and tractor frame are built by a leader in the industry for 30+ years - Iseki (Japanese).

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I think since your tasks are more specialty you might be better off with multiple machines.

R4 tires don’t make good row crop tractors, if you have row requirements you might be better getting a older row crop tractor with skinny R1 tires and an adjustable front end so you wheels only track in the same row.

Main prob with older geared tractors is they are less convent to run a tiller and things with compared to HST.

You can prob by a CUT that can do all the tasks you want but not all well, FELs are heavy which effects maneuverability in the Garden, small FELs aren’t very good at taking large scoops or hauling pallets of materials around.

I would suggest a older tractor set up for gardens then a larger tractor set up with a manure bucket for the compost.

 

[DieselBound]

My little B7800 could likely do everything needed. Small-framed but with a 30hp engine. Narrow, though unsure whether it would be narrow enough: I know that Kubota does make narrow tractors, but I think they tend to be larger ones. Lightweight (though I have now ballasted the rears to help with traction). Easy to operate and nearly bulletproof.

Regardless, a machine will make demands on you. You'll have to be sure to do proper maintenance. And in cases when things break you're going to have to figure out what you're going to do. If it's in the middle of needing to get stuff done then you're going to be stressed: stuff has to be done AND the tractor needs to be repaired. If you work on your equipment then you'll need tools to do so.

My first tractor, my B7800, had 738 hours on it. Only a couple years old- it had had the snot worked out of it. I'm now about 1,800 hours and have had very few problems: never had to take it anywhere to get repaired.

 

[TripleChestnut]

For the 30 inch beds you will likely find that a SCUT will not have enough ground clearance and will not be wide enough between the tires to fit over the beds, especially if you want to use the tractor for cultivating. Since you are using 18 inches between the beds you shouldn't have a problem with the the outside of the tires being too wide. You need 30+ inches inside the tires to clear the bed and less than 66 inches (one 30 inch bed plus two 18 inch access areas) outside the tires. The large frame CUTs like the Kubota L2501 and Kioti CK2610 will work well for this. Many of the smaller frame CUTs will likely work as well, but be sure to check that you have the inside and outside clearance needed for your beds. Everyone has their favorite brand, but it seems that all the major brands are making good quality CUTs. Go to your local dealers and try out tractors to find the one you like best. Normally buying used would save you some money, but the prices of used tractors this size are almost as much as new. Sometimes even more after you figure in the value of 0% financing which is equivalent to a discount of about 13% or so.

 

[DieselBound]

Why not go for a used tractor? If it doesn't work out for you then you're not going to take a huge depreciation hit (or not try to force yourself to make it a new tractor work because of how much you shelled out).