How much tractor do I need?

[newbury]

one other thing a lot of people ignore is clearance.
45 acres of flat pasture can be handled by almost anything above a 25HP. Or maybe 3 BX1800's.
But don't ignore clearance, all dimensions.
Do you have a bunch of buildings to manuever around?
Do you have a garage you don't want to modify but has low opening?
Do you anticipate towing it (keep weight low)?

Then comes location (of good dealer), location (of good dealer), location (of good dealer).

 

[Snead Tractor LLC]

I am purchasing around 45 acres of mostly flat pasture. For occasional mowing, clearing, and hauling (assume it will have a front-end loader) how big of a tractor would I need (hp)? Also, any personal opinions on brands, such as quality of customer service, etc.?

Are you planning on any hay operation?

 

[Samandothers]

You can see we all have reasons/opinions on what is needed for the 45 acres. I purchased a L4240 as the Kubota Dealer was very good and I got a better price than with a Deere and liked the Kubota better than the NH. Those were the ones near by. The L4240 was a good size tractor with loaded rears and R1's it sticks to the ground. The loader is the next size up from the one used with the Kubota L3940. I have used a 5' bush hog and could easily run a 6'. Got the 5' so my brother could use it with his 8N. I have a grapple I use on the FEL that is great for clearing , you really want one. I use it most of the time with the backhoe as ballast. Great combo for digging out trees and carting them off. The HST is good for moving around in the wooded areas and in the fields. Drive different units find a good dealer and with a 30 to 50 hp tractor and then purchase some toys.

 

[scoutcub]

Coastie -

I haven't seen your reply to few queries regarding size of area you're mowing...if you're mowing the majority of the acreage, that will be quite different than a few acres of it.
And, I'm curious about your name....are you a retiring/retired Coastie?

 

[Ken45101]

As several have said, a lot depends on how much time and money you have.

I've mowed 35 acres with a 6' cutter and a 45 hp tractor. BUT it was hard keeping up with it, especially this year which has been wet. I decided to go to a bigger cutter (hey, some of the weeds were 8' tall!) so that I could get the job done quicker and mow more than once a season to try to keep the weeds out. I ended up with a 15' batwing mower and a 90 hp Kubota. Wonderful!

As for the loader, I would strongly suggest 4wd if you are going to have a loader. Or maybe pick up a skid steer (used prices are very affordable these days). For digging, popping out brush and trees, a skid steer runs circles around a tractor and loader (I have both).

Ken

 

[Soundguy]

how long do you want to spend mowing? 8' mower will mow 45ac as a all-day job.. I wouldn't run 8' with anything less than 50hp for comfort.. plus that's a decent size machine for other tasks.. etc.

soundguy

 

[WayneT]

As everyone has already said, depending on how much you have to mow and how quickly you want to mow it, size your tractor to fit that and your budget. I've only got 22 acres of mostly open farm land that is currently leased out but I've got almost 2000' ft of road frontage on 3 different highways that I want to maintain and about 3 acres of woods land that I want to thin out and keep grassed and maintained. I tried an Iseki with a 4' mower but the tractor is too small and mowing ditchbanks is tough and dangerous because of the slope. Then I bought a FarmTrac 60 and put a MicroMower on that but mowing 3' strips takes too long. I sold the FarmTrac for cash and carpentry work for more than I had in it and came across an 07 John Deere 4120 with loader that had been repoed. Only had 650 hrs on it and looks like brand new, except for the bucket but I financed it with nothing down at $400 a month and I'm adding a 6' rotary mower (bush hog type). The 4120 is 4WD and E-Hydro drive (2 ft pedals, 1 fwd and 1 reverse). The dealer delivered it 35 miles. The fuel guage quit and the dealer is picking it up in the morning and replacing the guage as well as checking it out to be sure he also fixes what killed the guage, and then delivering it back, all at no charge. The tractor is rated at 43.1 hp with 35 hp on the PTO and will easily handle everything I want it to do. In my area, all of the full time farmers have John Deeres and there are dealers as close as 10 miles from me and service from all of them is excellent.
The tractor only weighs about 4000 lbs so any 2 axle trailer will transport it.
The 4120 is also the only so called compact tractor that does not have a foreign made engine. This one has 4 cyl engine made by John Deere, not the 3 cyl YanMar engine.
Anyhow, if cost is a consideration, consider a new or fairly new tractor, such as a John Deere, though there are others, because there won't be much maintenance to do on them and you can finance them easily. I'd personally rather pay the money for the newer tractor than pay it out in repairs, where you'd also have down time and labor costs and/or even your own labor.
BTW - Replacement bearings on the MicroMower from the manufacturer cost me $79.00 each but the same bearings from John Deere cost me $29.00 for the pair and may have been even cheaper at NAPA as they are standard Timken bearings. (They are one of the few parts at John Deere that don't come painted green..;-) )