Tractor Sizing How many horses is enough?

[backdoor]

Be sure to get a tractor with enough weight and the right tires to hold the baler back on those hilly fields, and consider what ever weight you will have behind you coming off hills with a load of firewood. As for transmission type, preference is the big point. My 16 year old daughter drives my Ford with a 4x2 gear trans, and a friend's 855 JD TLB with something like a 3x4 gear trans. When you can hold the brakes and clutch at the same time, and set the hand throttle up a little, gear work is simple. I've driven HST's, and I liked them. I have a friend who uses a 2" dia. auger to drill holes where he is going to dig postholes, fills these holes with water for a couple days, then uses his PHD to finish the job after the water has soaked in. I live in western Franklin County, VA. I have relatives in Botetourt County and I've built a few houses there. I expect I have the same kind of hills and dirt as you have. Hope this helps.

 

[8404]

Ive seen in my experiance that i realy needed a tractor with cat 2 lift arms so now it looks like ill be owning two tractors now. so maybe you should just skip the small stuff and get the 55hp to 75hp tractor then you can get any small farm empliment you want and have the weight to use it. I believe you would be better off buy something bigger than you feel you need.

 

[Ken45101]

When I had a M4700 (40 hp pto and about 4000#), I was told that would be too light for running a baler. Also, on hilly terrain, it may be light for controlling a baler or hay wagon.

It did fine with a 6' rotary cutter ("bush hog") no matter how tall the weeds and grass.

However, it was a bit big for working in the woods on trails. I now have a M5040 (similar size) but I don't even want to take that into the woods unless the trail is 8-9' wide. It also seems that the newer tractors (Kubota at least) have more exposed underneath that can be damaged by brush.

Some post hole diggers might not fit on smaller tractors. I've never been able to get mine onto a B2710.

Ken

 

[tree farmer]

Two tractors would be nice, but compromises have been made by neccesity for many years. When I was young, (100+ years ago:confused2 we had 1 tractor, a B model John Deere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was less than 20 HP. With it we ran a 6' sickle bar mower, iron wheel side delivery rake, IH baler, which had a v-4 Wisconsin drive engine, single bottom plow, etc. When it came time to chop sileage, we had the neighbor come over with his model D John Deere and chopper to do that task in trade for our labor later on. Post holes were dug by hand, FEL's were a luxury that few had, and we stayed relatively physically fit. All this on 45 wet, hilly acres here on the coast. Regarding driveabity of a tractor, I would NEVER buy a machine based on a person's ability to operate it safely. Proper way is to train that person to safely operate it.:thumbsup: We all know people that shouldn't be allowed to operate anything more technical than a toilet plunger:laughing:....Dan.

 

[wolc123]

I see you are talking about tractors. Before I opened the thread, I thought it was about the HBSM type of horse (Hay-Burning S - - T Maker).

 

[Ken45101]

Two tractors would be nice, but compromises have been made by neccesity for many years. When I was young, (100+ years ago:confused2 we had 1 tractor, a B model John Deere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was less than 20 HP. With it we ran a 6' sickle bar mower, iron wheel side delivery rake, IH baler, which had a v-4 Wisconsin drive engine, single bottom plow, etc.

I suspect that those old tractors weighed a lot more than today's 20 hp tractors. That's important for controlling heavy equipment.

Of course, a 6' sickle bar mower doesn't take near as much power to run as a 6' bush hog.

Ken

 

[atlkep1]

Thanx for the input guys!

There won't be any hay making on my hilly land. That will happen (if it happens) strictly on very flat bottom land down by the creek. But after conversations today, I'm not sure that it will even happen.

So . . . . let me modify my original list of tasks to EXCLUDE running a square baler:confused2:

With the remaining list of tasks, how many horses?

Also, RobertN mentioned "down pressure" on the auger, so I'm assuming that the 3PH, by default, does NOT have any down pressure on it. Is this correct?

Is this part of what a TNT (top and tilt, is that right?) would give me? Does that create "down pressure"? Or is that a property of a much more expensive auger?

We have 60 acres here. Approx 15 - 20 will be cleared and converted to pasture. It's somewhat hilly, sitting mainly on the top of the ridge and running off the south side. The pasture will be oddly shaped to take advantage of the flattest land that is available, a couple of "arms" running off of our ridge.

The land is currently all wooded with some good woods roads that were left when we timbered the land about 15 years ago. Only one of the logging roads is too steep to be usable, rest are very drivable. I intend to use these to gather wood for stove.

Keith

 

[Ken45101]

Keith,

a 3 pt hitch provides no down pressure beyond the weight of whatever is attached to it. A hydraulic toplink (e.g. TNT) will NOT add any downpressure.

Some post hold diggers have an arm on them that sticks out and you can add your weight to pull it down. Or you could add concrete blocks or iron weights to the PHD.

But nothing on the tractor pushes the 3pt down. The arms only lift upward, gravity takes it back down.

Post hole diggers for skid steers or front end loaders CAN exert down pressure.

Ken

 

[foggy1111]

Drilling post size holes (9") with a post hole digger should not be a big deal with a good auger.....at least in my part of the world. Some soil types are more difficult than others, and big augers can be a challenge....but I think you can bore some holes....especially if you get one with a lever on it to assist the down pressure.

You will have enough power for the PHD with any tractor were talking about here....IMO. Gravity and the screw will get it in the ground in most cases.

Oh....and one horse is one too many....if it eats hay.

 

[CurlyDave]

If you give up on the hay, 30-40 HP should handle it quite nicely. Maybe even a few less if the budget is a major concern.

In my part of the country post holes do not get dug without down pressure from mid-spring until early spring new year. There is a short window when the ground is wet enough to dig, and after that it is too hard. There might be another short window in late fall, after the rains start but before the ground freezes. That window coincides with deer and elk seasons, and it is only under great duress that a post hole would get dug then.

New, a unit with down pressure is about $400-500 more than one without (almost double). Some units have the option of adding down pressure and be sure to get one like that if you want to try just gravity.