If I get an older Yanmar will my orchard start producing like your's?
@California, how do you feel about the stability of your smaller Yanmar tractors? These older machines have no ROPS but you seem to manage alright. I assume it's the pushing aspect of your water tank/trailer that makes you hesitate. Do you worry about rolling?
Yes, avoiding rolling over is the first thing in mind when I leave the level portion. (upper photo). After a while, you get a sense of what will push it to the limit. Similar to the instincts to operate a motorcycle or sailboat. The main strategy for sloping ground is to crawl along in second range, even low range for downhill u-turns like in the second photo. At these less than walking speeds, the physics are obvious and there would (hopefully) be time to shut down the engine, get off the little YM186D, and reconsider the situation if things got too spooky. The main consideration is to avoid adding any force of inertia to the unavoidable downhill forces. The YM240 is larger and there is no way you could get off it if it started to go over, you would have to climb over a huge revolving tire which would be impossible. I put a ROPS on that one as soon as Fredricks contracted to have them made up.
Both tractors are wider than original spec. The YM240 has bigger tires and wider, deeper-dish wheels apparently from a larger Kubota, that were on it when I bought it. On the YM186D's, there is a flange to center the wheel when the adjustable hub is mounted outboard of the wheel but I run them the opposite way, wheels outboard of the hubs, with only the lug bolts centering the wheels. This is widest possible configuration. And I bought the YM186D specifically because it is low to the ground on these small wheels, not skinny and tall like YM1500 etc. Both models have the tires filled with water
ballast, and the YM186D has wheel weights out beyond the tires. These ballast measures make a large difference in stability, with this much ballast going over a bump on a side slope doesn't feel like it will lift the uphill side but instead just slew the tractor sideways. (but I avoid that!)
My neighbor with a larger orchard operates this old orchard along with his own: prune/disc/spray/thin/harvest/haul/market, with me responsible to backhoe out stumps of old fallen trees, water and maintain new trees until they are bearing, maintain roads, water supply, etc. I would need a labor crew, larger equipment, marketing connections, and more time than I have, to operate it myself. And the income from only 11 acres wouldn't support a family. This is more a retirement hobby, my neighbor is the one trying to make a living. (And I suspect his premium vineyards are more profitable than the apple orchards he also operates).
I hope you can find what you want. My advice if you really mean a $2500 budget is that a YM2000/YM240 2wd is the only thing cheap enough while big enough to run those borrowed implements. I don't know much about the old Ford 8N's and 50's Masseys but they might be another solution within this budget. They would be more stable on sloping ground.
