Buying Advice How much Tractor Do I need for 300 acre farm

[McGeesEquip]

I recently acquired a 300 acre farm through inheritance. The farm has not been worked in many years. There are roughly 150 to 160 acres of tillable land and about 100 acres of good rolling pasture land with about 40 or 50 acres of timber. I plan to purchase a tractor and some equipment to work this farm but I am unsure of the size/type of equipment to buy. I plan to plant corn/soybeans on the 160 acres of tillable land and start a cattle herd on the 100 acres of pasture. I don't expect to do all of this over night but I want to purchase a tractor and some row crop equipment. What size and type of tractor should I purchase and what size disc, cultivator and planter should I purchase to row crop 160 acres?

I put some information on my site about different pull type discs. The different sizes and types have the required Draw Bar HP. It may be of some help figuring out the size of discs you'll be interested in and what size tractor to be considering. I hope it may be some help.

 

[blueriver]

Not in today's economy...

Roy has a point ... todays economy ... plan ahead a 55-65 hp will use less gallons per hour .. and do as much as 100 hp in simply a lttle more time.

Think about your needs and how to accomplish them ... 55 -65 hp will pull a 10-12 ft disc, brushog, cut rake and bale all the hay you need.

 

[Duffster]

Fuel costs are a big factor in the farms around south central PA. Property around here is also more valuable for development (then agriculture), so that's more pressure.
Fortunately, the local state representatives are pretty solid for agriculture...so that keeps regulation at bay.

As I wrote in my first response, I'm not a farmer...in manufacturing here. I get most of my information from some folks who work in manufacturing while they work their farms.

a 55-65 hp will use less gallons per hour .

But possibly more per acre.

 

[GGB]

The "margins" are decent now, if you don't include the input costs for seed, fertilizer, chemicals, etc. A lousy crop may not even cover the input costs.
(Don't ask how I know...)

It really comes down to what you need to get out of the production. If you are not dependent on this operation to provide for your needs, or can live simply, and have the time to devout to seeing it work, you'll figure out how to make it work.

Having the land paid for is a huge leg up for someone trying to do this. This size of farming can be done with smaller equipment, which can often be found for very reasonable money. I'm refering to 4 row equipment, not 6 row.

Yes, it's nice to have the 150HP MFWD and all the other pieces, but our grandfathers seemed to make it work with much smaller equipment.

Good luck with your new farm!

GGB

 

[blueriver]

But possibly more per acre.

I don't think so ... I had the old big boy that sucked the fuel and the new 55 hp sips it like aged whiskey ...

 

[Duffster]

I'm refering to 4 row equipment, not 6 row.

Assuming that the 4 row is wide rows there will be nothing gained by using 4 row vs 6 row narrow.

I don't think so ... I had the old big boy that sucked the fuel and the new 55 hp sips it like aged whiskey ...

We also had an oldy that put out about 75hp that used more fuel than our current 7420.

Fuel usage will be minor now matter the choice of recent tractors.

 

[GGB]

Good point-I was referring to 30" row equipment, not 40". In our area, you really don't see much left of the older 40"-much of it has gone to the recycler when scrap iron prices went up, but I'm sure there's still 4 row equipment out there. (For that matter, a lot of used up 6 row equipment has gone to the scrapyard as well.)

My thought was that you can get by with a smaller, less expensive tractor if you are using 4 row equipment.

It's certainly true that the newer tractors are more fuel efficient, but without know the budget and available time available for the operation, I was assuming a limited budget but a lot of time. Although fuel is certainly one of the costs of operation, you can still buy a lot of fuel with the money not spent on a more expensive tractor. Just a thought....

Ken Sweet, can you chime in on this subject?

GGB

 

[Verticaltrx]

I recently acquired a 300 acre farm through inheritance. The farm has not been worked in many years. There are roughly 150 to 160 acres of tillable land and about 100 acres of good rolling pasture land with about 40 or 50 acres of timber. I plan to purchase a tractor and some equipment to work this farm but I am unsure of the size/type of equipment to buy. I plan to plant corn/soybeans on the 160 acres of tillable land and start a cattle herd on the 100 acres of pasture. I don't expect to do all of this over night but I want to purchase a tractor and some row crop equipment. What size and type of tractor should I purchase and what size disc, cultivator and planter should I purchase to row crop 160 acres?

I assume since you are asking this type of question you have little or no experience with crop farming? If this is the case I think you should rent the tillable land out and focus on the cattle and pasture land. By renting out the other land it would help bring in some $$$ to pay the property tax and give you a little money to put towards equipment, etc.

With that being said, basically the equipment you need depends on how much you want to spend. If you bought all new, top of the line, you could blow $200K real easy. I'll just focus on the hay/cattle aspect here.

Tractor: about 100pto hp would be plenty. Cab and 4wd are nice, but a loader is a necessity. Power shift transmission is very nice for field work, but a fully syncro trans is also sufficient. If you plan on using it for a lot of loader work a hydraulic shuttle trans is nice. Having a second tractor, say 40-50hp 2wd is nice for hay work to run a tedder or rake ahead of the baler.

Hay equipment: A 10' disc mower-conditioner, 20' V-wheel rake and a 5x6' round baler should take care of 100ac of hay pretty well. A pair of bale spears, maybe a tedder and you would be set. A nice sized gooseneck flatbed trailer would also be good, it takes a while to haul that much hay in 2 bales at a time.

Misc: A 15' batwing bush hog is also nice for clippling pastures when needed.

As for the equipment to put in 160ac of corn/soybeans, there are probably others here that could help you better. I do have my share of experience with Midwestern grain farming (spent many summers helping my uncle on his 800ac grain/hog farm), but don't know the specifics well enough to give good advice. We used 130hp 2wd, 150hp 4wd and 180hp 4wd tractors, pulling everything from a 20' disc and field cultivator, to a 12 row planters, to 1000gal sprayer, and 500-750 bu grain carts. Combined with an R62 Gleaner, 18' grain platform, 8 row corn head.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would consider a 50hp utility tractor and some fence tools to start with. Think about it all while you rebuild the place. I would not jump in with wallet and credit in hand before you have some time to think it all over. Purchasing equipment is very easy to do, knowing why and which ones you need will take a little longer.

 

[grnspot110]

I agree on the renting out the row-crops. Have you checked the price of harvesting equipment these days? How about seed & fertilizer costs? Mom has a 190 "brush farm", about 70 A tillable in North MO. It's rented to an adjoining farmer who can harvest in a day! Farming is entirely different now than when I grew up on the farm in the 50's & 60's.

And yes, a good used 60HP tractor will handle anything needed on a farm that size! ~~ grnspot110