Help Sizing Tractor

[Baby Grand]

Sounds like your MX track is essentially a road building project. For that, and for the size tractor that you are considering, I'd want a heavy box blade with the aforementioned hydraulic scarifier function plus top-n-tilt. So 3 hydraulic remotes, at least. You can add them your self, if you find a good, used tractor. They ain't cheap, but they will save you so much time and aggravation that they pay for themselves very quickly.

You want to be thinking:
Have I got the grade profile right?
How much di I need to cut from here to fill over there?
Will it shed water where I want it to?
Not how many turns of the turnbuckle to put the camber you want on a particular part of the course.

About shedding water - a backhoe attachment can be very handy if you need to put down culverts, etc.

 

[todd92]

Remember, I'm only maintaining the MX track with the tractor, so box blade to break up compacted dirt and smooth sections when they get too rough/rutted. FEL to touch up jump faces. Not really heavy dirt moving. I'm renting a D5 to build the track and the guy who built and maintains our club track is building mine. He knows drainage/erosion control etc, he really knows his stuff, built and maintained Raceway Park for years. I would never try to build a track with a tractor, it would take months. He'll have it done in 4-5 days.

Lot's of good stuff to think about in your posts.

 

[todd92]

Boggen are you saying HST or shuttle shift is best? Yes, there will be lots of back and forth. Orchard is 8 acres of peach and apple trees, 20 acres of sheep pasture.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I've narrowed the search to 55-60 HP tractors with HST. I narrowed the search to (in no particular order), MF 1758, JD 4066R, Mahindra 2555, Kubota L6060, LS XR4155 and Kioti NX6010. I ruled out the JD and Kubota pretty quickly due to the utterly ridiculous price premium. The MF and Mahindra are surprisingly hard to find. and are slightly more expensive. The LS is vaporware right now, I suppose they are sitting in a warehouse waiting for the XR4000 series inventory to be depleted? So I've pretty much decided on the NX6010. My journey sounds exactly like a certain prolific TBN poster's, but I've done all of it so far from behind a keyboard, thanks to all of the reviews here.

Today I'm off to our club MX track, where I'll try the MF shuttle shift tractor to see if I absolutely want/need HST. I'm mostly set on it, but why not try one with gears on an actual MX track?

The last decision is cab/open. I was certain I didn't want a cab, but after reading all of your comments I think I actually do want one. No woods work for me, so the only concern was the orchard, in particular mowing under the branches. I've decided to get a zero turn mower to zip around the trees with (and mow the house yard and the fencelines). Any recommendation on ZTR's for rough terrain (ZTR's I'm finding to be a much bigger can of worms than tractors)?

Something else to have in mind are the type of rear remote valves that you get. You really would be able to make use of valves that have the float function. With the tractors that you have listed that you are considering MF has the option for sure and Mahindra may have it, I really don't know and sort of doubt it. The MF 1758 would be the tractor for me of the ones that you are down to.

Just something else to consider that most people never even think about that can make a HUGE difference with your work.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[GManBart]

Boggen are you saying HST or shuttle shift is best? Yes, there will be lots of back and forth. Orchard is 8 acres of peach and apple trees, 20 acres of sheep pasture.

If there's a lot of back and forth, an HST setup will be the best. Power shuttle isn't far behind, but as mentioned before, there are times when you want/need to be steering with your left hand while operating the 3pt control with your right, but your left hand is working the shuttle lever. It's not a huge issue, but it is noticeable. The other thing I've noticed with a power shuttle compared with an HST setup is that when you let off the gas on a power shuttle, it keeps moving until you hit the brakes, where an HST setup slows pretty quickly once you let off the pedal. After a while you can time letting off the pedal with an HST such that you almost never use the brakes. I notice this most when backing up to things that you don't want to hit, or drop offs you don't want to drop off! It's not that you can't do it with a shuttle, but it's not as easy, and requires more hands/feet movement to get right.

 

[jenkinsph]

If there's a lot of back and forth, an HST setup will be the best. Power shuttle isn't far behind, but as mentioned before, there are times when you want/need to be steering with your left hand while operating the 3pt control with your right, but your left hand is working the shuttle lever. It's not a huge issue, but it is noticeable. The other thing I've noticed with a power shuttle compared with an HST setup is that when you let off the gas on a power shuttle, it keeps moving until you hit the brakes, where an HST setup slows pretty quickly once you let off the pedal. After a while you can time letting off the pedal with an HST such that you almost never use the brakes. I notice this most when backing up to things that you don't want to hit, or drop offs you don't want to drop off! It's not that you can't do it with a shuttle, but it's not as easy, and requires more hands/feet movement to get right.

I agree ^^^^, if you have much fel work to do using your feet to control direction frees up your arms to steer and operate the joystick or rock shaft lever. You can operate a shuttle and get good results but it isn't as convenient imo.

 

[todd92]

I didn't get to try the tractor. I decided I would ride 1st. After my 1st moto, a member, who is a former national pro, came over and told me he had never seen me ride better, I was smooth, fast, etc. Kiss of death. I've been very, very fortunate, haven't had a get off that required medical attention in 14 years. Of course, my luck ran out.

2nd moto, cross rutted the 80 ft triple and landed sideways. My elbow found a footpeg in the carnage. Needless to say, my day ended with a trip to an urgent care place. This morning, I feel like I stepped in front of a bus yesterday.

The track builder said get the hydro and cab. He was puzzled why I would even think about it.

 

[boggen]

Youch! funny bone hurt much? hope for some rest and healing of the elbow and all is good for ya.

 

[todd92]

Surprisingly, the elbow didn't/doesn't hurt at all. Shoulder, ribs and back are stiff, but OK. I didn't know I had gashed my elbow until I saw the blood stains on my pants. It was bleeding pretty good, then oddly just stopped by itself before I could even make it back to the truck. Go figure. Dr. was a smart ***, I had a gauze bandage on it and I told him I needed a bunch of stitches. He said, so you've determined what treatment is necessary? I said I wouldn't be here if I thought I could tape it back together with band-aids. His face when he pulled the gauze off was priceless.

 

[rutwad]

For tractor size, I found bigger is usually better assuming it physically fits where you need it to go. My M5040 4wd was overkill for the 84" finishing mower it was bought for. But I have since found other projects where the tractor came in very handy. The same about 4wd. My M5040 is, and if it takes 4wd to mow the grass then I shouldn't be mowing anyway. But for some unforeseen projects I have came up with, the 4wd is great!

Definitely go cab.

HST is awesome!! I had it on my last tractor, also used for mowing. My mom used it and was very accustomed to it. When she encountered a rough area, she simply slowed down by easing up on the F/R pedal. When I moved to the M5040 Shuttle Shift, she kept trying to reduce throttle in the rough areas which reduces PTO speed.

I think someone mentioned here about the HST vs. Shuttle Shift concerning it stopping without using the brakes. The HST does great at this. The Shuttle Shift is different than the Shuttle Shift on our backhoe. The backhoe can remain still with the lever engaged F or R, but the shuttle shift will move. It will bog the tractor down if you stop it.

Shuttle Shift on left side of steering wheel is an advantage to me. You will get used to making sure your left hand is on the left side of the steering wheel and lower a finger as needed to change direction of the lever. That would be much easier than trying to use the right hand to operate the F/R lever and 3 pt. hitch.

I haven't read about the tractor where someone mentioned "reversible PTO", but I don't think it would actually turn the PTO in the opposite direction. What I have seen on reversible PTO on JD is the PTO shaft is 540 on one end and 1000 on the other. You remove the snap-ring retaining the shaft, take the shaft out and insert the other end and replace the snap-ring.

I would also keep the Farmall H (I have one too!!). You're not going to get much for it, but it is handy if you get stuck or break down and need a tow back to the barn. Plus they ride great!

R1 tires? That is an agriculture tire that will give you the most traction but I wouldn't imagine your orchard being that muddy. I think the R4 tires would be easier on the ground but still provide adequate traction. The R4 will not ride quite as smooth as the R1 though.