First Tractor

[sciguy2902]

I am in the market for a tractor and would appreciate any advice or comments.
I recently purchased 13 acres with the following:

1 acre with the house that is fenced in, cut with riding mower
gravel driveway about 750 ft long
2.5 acres wooded that I would like to keep fairly clear of undergrowth
8 acres cleared pasture (previously had cattle)
1.5 acres cleared but low level, frequently holds water

My initial objective is to keep the pasture cut and maintain the gravel drive. Eventually I hope to do some farming- I'm thinking citrus, grapes, mayhaw, maybe a little corn. I expect I'll buy a horse in the next year or two and could possibly stable a few extras for some income which could involve growing a little hay.

The only local dealer sells Kubota which I have heard are good tractors but a little on the expensive side. They currently have 0% financing for 36 months which seems like a good way to go for me, a first time buyer. I can re-visit the dealer if I have any questions or problems and I could easily get burned on a used tractor since I don't know exactly what I'm looking at.

My questions:

1. How much tractor do I need? The dealers I've talked to suggested the L3240 or the L3540. The argument for the 32 HP is that it is just as good as the 35 and the difference is minimal and not worth an extra $1500. The case for the 35 is that 3 HP is a big difference (~10%) for a small tractor and every little bit helps. A friend of mine with 8 acres has a 42 HP but that seems like more than I need.

2. Are the more expensive transmissions worth the money? I don't consider a tractor a pleasure vehicle so I'd just as soon save the money and shift the darn thing, besides, how much shifting am I going to do? On the other hand, I'm not getting younger (doing pretty good for 50) and I don't won't to have to struggle in 10-15 years if I still want to keep at it. Still, I'm leaning toward the DT since I think I can handle any shifting required.

3. Should I get a front loader? This seems like my best chance to save some money as they are asking $3500 or more. I don't see any immediate use for one but how easy is it to add one later? I would eventually like to move some dirt and possibly fill some of the low areas and/or create a pond so I'll need something. Will a loader do the trick? The only use I can see for one immediately is to pick up trunk sections of a large pine tree that fell and move them to the wooded area but I don't expect to have trees fall very ofter. Are there other uses that would justify the cost? I'm also getting conflicting advice on the loader model, 514 vs. 724. Is the difference worth $600?

4. Is a box blade necessary to maintain the gravel drive? I know their not that expensive but the drive looks to be in decent shape and I can't imagine it will require a tremendous amount of work. I'm filling in a few low areas that puddle when it rains. That's going pretty well just hauling small loads in a van. Do gravel roads deteriorate quickly enough to buy the box?

5. Is there much difference in bush hogs? I figure 5 ft is good enough but some salesmen are pushing Woods while others say it doesn't really matter. It's not a huge expense so I'm inclined to go with a good new one. Don't most of them have pretty good longevity?


Lastly, if anyone wants to argue that I should get a used tractor or another brand I'll certainly listen. The more I hear the sooner I'll get up to speed and doing some positive things with my land.

Thanks for any help.

 

[RoyJackson]

With a manual gearbox, you select the gear you intend to work with and leave it in that gear. You don't shift up through the gears like you'd do with a manual tranny in a car. As an example, if you wanted to drive on the road, you put the tranny in top gear and drive away.

Selection of your working gear would depend upon conditions.
That 8 acres of pasture would be field mowing (brush cutting) with a rotary cutter. If the field is flat and rut free, you could move along at a fairly good clip (3-5 MPH) although I suggest you go very slow the first time you cut it (since you don't know what's under the growth).
The same would apply to that 1.5 acres of low level field.
Keeping the undergrowth down (in the wooded area) would require slow going and maybe a fair amount of shifting between a forward gear and reverse.

Other then the wooded area, the manual would be fine. The wooded area may require a substantial amount of shifting (depending on how thick the trees are) and would be the only reason I would consider a hydro (although I'd prefer a power reverser tranny before the hydro...but that's just a preference). With Deere's, low gear and reverse are in line, so shifting is quite easy and quick.

If there's a choice between the transmission type and getting a loader, I'd definitely go for the loader first. The justification is the loader might be essential to help you out of a soggy area of the low lying pasture. It'll be handy for filling in that area too, but that's probably a better job to contract out to a professional with a bull dozer.
And, the loader would be available for a lot of other tasks. When I'm field mowing, I always have the loader on to counterbalance the weight of the rotary cutter (commonly referred to as a bush hog) and to push over or give me warning of any hidden obstacles under the growth.

I do suggest you go with a 72" rotary cutter if possible. The limiting factor would the the wooded areas. That cutter has to go between those trees.

With a 72" cutter, I think 25 PTO HP would be in order.

As far as buying a box blade...nope, I wouldn't buy any implement until I've lived on the property for a while. You can better assess your needs then. Those low areas on the drive can be filled with the loader and a pile of gravel.

As far as buying used equpment...definitely, if you can find what you're looking for. Try Used Farm Equipment & Agricultural Equipment - John Deere MachineFinder.com. Even though that's got Deere on it, you can select which brand you're interested in.
If you buy used (and that's all I ever do), I'd stick with the local dealer brand.

Since Kubota is the only local dealer, it's probably advisable to go with that brand. If there are other brand dealers within 25 miles, I'd suggest you look there too. Personally, I'll stick with the better known brands (Deere, Kubota, New Holland), but there's a number of folks on TBN that will disagree with that limitation.

However, when it comes to recommending which Kubotas would suit your needs, I'll defer to those with more experience in that brand.

In conclusion:
25 PTO HP or a bit more.
4 Wheel Drive (aka MFWD or Mechanical Front Wheel Drive)
Manual Transmission (or power reverser, if available)
R-1 Ag tires for the best traction in the wooded area and the low lying field. Suggest you get them filled too.
Front End Loader with a Ballast Box (dealer should throw this in as part of the deal)

72" rotary cutter (if it'll fit between the trees in the wooded area)

Those would be my priorities. Good luck in your selection!

 

[jbrumberg]

sciguy2902:

Welcome to TBN ! I agree with RoyJackson on everything except the size of the tractor. You could get by with a slightly smaller tractor (high 20's HP/ low 20's PTO HP) if you want to stay with 60" attachments which would obviously increase your mowing time etc. A smaller frame tractor would be more manuverable in your woods along with a smaller rotary cutter. I would recommend a FEL especially if you anticipate acquiring a
4WD manure maker. FEL's are incredibly useful for tasks you can not even imagine yet. I would also recommend HST for its ease of operation especially if you get a FEL. There are many competitive rotary cutters in the market and most your major brands come in light, medium, and heavy duty models. The differences between models include thickness of construction (weight), gearbox ratings, PTO HP requirements, blade speed, etc. When comparing RC's make sure you are comparing similar units (ie LD to LD). The difference between models is a HD RC (in theory) can smash a 2'' diameter sapling (@5HP/Foot Rule) whereas a LD RC could smash a ~1" diameter sapling. Good luck on your research and aquisition activities and keep the posts coming . Jay

PS: I maintain ~12.5 acres (~7A's open/~5A's wooded) with what is identified in my signature.

 

[ToadHill]

One more comment on the loader, I "tractored" for over 20 years without a loader, it can be done. Now that I have a loader, I don't know how I did it.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I pretty much agree with Roy's comments, and mostly with Jay's comments except that I think a FEL is optional if you don't have significant, immediate uses for one. They are easy to add later to any common brand (including Kubota).

I don't think you need to get a box blade right away for your driveway. I have a 1300' gravel driveway (900' from road to house) and have not improved it in any way since getting a tractor. With very light traffic, even though some of it is large trucks, it doesn't seem to require much maintenance. However, the box blade might be useful for some of your other tasks.

1 acre with the house that is fenced in, cut with riding mower
gravel driveway about 750 ft long
2.5 acres wooded that I would like to keep fairly clear of undergrowth
8 acres cleared pasture (previously had cattle)
1.5 acres cleared but low level, frequently holds water

My initial objective is to keep the pasture cut and maintain the gravel drive. Eventually I hope to do some farming- I'm thinking citrus, grapes, mayhaw, maybe a little corn. I expect I'll buy a horse in the next year or two and could possibly stable a few extras for some income which could involve growing a little hay.

With your amount of land I think you have a choice of having either pasture OR hayfield. A meaningful pasture (enough grass growing for one or more horses to eat) will be 2+ acres, preferably 2 acres per horse. If you want to board 3 horses and own one, there goes your 8 acres. Nice thing is that 8 acres is already fenced in. A hayfield of 8 acres or less will not produce huge amounts of hay - it will be enough to feed 3-8 horses for the winter (depending how productive it is and how long your winters are), maybe slightly more, but far from commercial scale. Shrink it to maybe 4 acres because you're using 4 as pasture, and it becomes pretty small. You also would have a hard time justifying cost of hay tools for 8 acres or less (actually, hay tools probably don't make sense til you have 20-30+ acres). Best bet would be getting a local farmer to do hay work for you, but if you want to board horses I would likely do all pasture, splitting the 8 acres into 2-4 parcels to allow rotational grazing, and plan to buy hay for winter needs.

 

[jbrumberg]

One more comment on the loader, I "tractored" for over 20 years without a loader, it can be done. Now that I have a loader, I don't know how I did it.

ToadHill: I can relate to you perfectly. My old Ford 1100 did not have a FEL either. jay

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I have a shuttle shift on my machine and like it a lot. Hydrostat makes me nervous - too many ways for it to go wrong, but that's just my prejudice talking and there are a lot of happy folks out there who love it.
Loader is a very good thing - you will be amazed at the number of things you use it for.
I have a 35 hp tractor with mfwd, shuttle shift, loader, a 5' brush hog I picked up used for cheap, and 66" box blade. I don't mow enough to justify a 6' mower, and this one is small enough to fit between trees in my rough pasture. the 35 HP is overkill for the type of things I do on the land, but I wanted the extra loader capacity as I'm using it as a construction tool on my house. (95 tons of native limestone makes for a unique retaining wall, but I don't know many smaller tractors that can pick up 1000 pound rocks)
I use my box blade as a counterweight, too - I made a bracket to stack buckets of concrete on it instead of having a dedicated counterweight.

I'd suggest buying the loader now - because you can roll the extra cost into the loan and spread it out over those 36 interest free months rather than having to come up with a spare $3500 or so in a lump in the future. (keep in mind hayburners are really just a pretty way to convert grass into fertilizer at a rate of 30-50 pounds a day per head, and a loader is a good way to save your back!)
I'd also look at purchasing any implements you think you might need (within reason) at the same time for that reason and also a lot of dealers will cut you a pretty decent deal on attachments purchased with the tractor. (I got my pallet forks and box blade pretty close to cost which saved me about $500 over buying them separately)

happy hunting/shopping and good luck!

 

[texasjohn]

A FEL about doubles the uses that I put my tractor to..... very worthwhile, I recommend getting it when you get the tractor... plan for a way to put extra weight on rear so you remain balanced.

 

[3RRL]

Boy,
The other guys sure gave you some great input, especially Roy's post. It's great that TBN'ers take the time to post this information.
I would go with the loader too. It will become an integral part of your tractor work for sure. My only addition is to also consider getting the boxblade. That too IMO, will become a valuable asset for a number of chores.

 

[VABlue]

IMO, all tractors should come with a loader. The option should be to remove it! Keep in mind that, in addition to everything the bucket can do, it can be removed for even more uses. Think forks, bale spear, blade, sweeper... It is the implement you'll get the most use out of by far...