Mini, narrow tractor recommendations

[Vigo327]

I think in terms of operator safety a mini-dozer like a Struck, or perhaps a Steiner type tractor would be the safest to operate on steep slopes, but both of those have the issue of they won't pick anything up very high unless you buy/build uncommon loader attachments or something oddball on the 3pt.

I have a small skid steer and several small Kubotas and again in terms of operator safety the skid steer all day, but.. depends what OP needs a PTO for? Plenty of small skid steers will be able to power hydraulic attachments but the skid steer itself and all the attachments are massively more expensive than the tractor/3pt/pto stuff, almost totally outside the 10k budget except in very fringe cases.

At the end of the day i can take my Kubota B6100 basically anywhere a 4 wheeler can go (just slower!), and do tractor stuff when i get there. It's definitely in the budget, has a loader, 3pt, pto, 4wd, etc etc so there are absolutely some viable answers out there, it's just a question of making sure i/we understand the situation correctly.

So my questions are: How high do you need to lift anything, and what do you plan to power with the PTO?

 

[ssgp2]

Things to consider. Dealership fairly close to you for parts/maint. and support. Go with proven manufacturer history, i.e. name brand tractor/equipment- J.D., Kubota, Yanmar (who makes /made most compact J.D.) etc. Now, that being said, there is a new player in the game that I would definitely take a close look at. Specifications | Summit Tractors.
When going to a dealer, if the first thing they ask is "how much property do you own?" instead of "what do you need it to do?" or "what do you want to do with it?", they are more interested in how much money they can hope to get out of you. You were very specific in what you needed, so, I would guess you need a sub-compact in the 15-25 H.P. range with rear remote hydraulics. I would also suggest liquid tire weight, such as Rim Guard - The Original Liquid Tire Ballast. Whatever you get, read the operators manual paying close attention to the safety warnings and youtube has a boatload of tractor safety stuff. Good luck and welcome to the tractor world.

 

[California]

ETPM above spoke up for Yanmar and I agree. My two, at 40 years old, owned 20 and 12 years respectively, neither has ever seen a dealer that I know of. They were designed to be owner-maintained like the Ford 8N in its day, anyone who could change a fan belt could fix most anything you might do to it. I've repaired a few owner-abuse issues mostly caused by prior owner neglect but nothing reflecting on the inherent quality.

My little Yanmar-USA 18 hp YM186D is on 15 inch wheels, not tall and top-heavy, and I have the wheels set as wide as they will go then wheel weights external to that. It doesn't feel tippy in my apple orchard that is steep in places.

YM1500 was the Japan-market equivalent and is more common here now since a lot of them were imported used. Both have PowerShift, shift gears while moving, which is a lot better than full stop for every gear change.

At 2,000 lbs this is lighter than ideal for trail building, but its a great compromise if cost is an issue. I paid $3,500 for it in 2009 including loader and the blade in the first photo. The small Yanmars might meet your need if you're not in a hurry.

Be sure to add a ROPS for the rollover risk you have there.

 

[Vigo327]

I forgot to comment on the 4wheeler stuff.

If you spend a bunch of time and money adding weight and locking up the suspension on a 4wheeler to make it a tractor, you are basically ruining it as a 4 wheeler. That could be ok if both the 4 wheeler and the modifications were cheap.. but there's no way you end up with less money in that setup than something like my Kubotas, or the Yanmars above, and it's not going to be better at anything either. Once you lock up the suspension it won't even be better at going fast! Might be easier to get on and off of.. maybe..

So i'm against it, at least as a 5k+ over the counter bolt-on option. If someone wanted to spend 1 or 2 grand homebrewing a loader and 3pt onto a 4 wheeler i'd say cool project, more power to you. But for the 5-15k 'all in' you're going to be at with the quad, the loader, and the 3pt you could just buy a purpose built tractor that doesn't suck at being a tractor, and if you already had the quad now you get to keep it doing what it's good at!

I say 'suck at being a tractor' because that loader looks dinky to me even compared to my Kubota B219 which is essentially a Johnson 25 garden tractor loader repurposed for a Kubota, nearly as light as they get. The 3pt is probably fine for light stuff like a cultivator or rake but i'd be worried about it at even 300 lbs. It might pick it up, but at what cost (long term to the quad and all the bracketry). No PTO. Plus most quads are belt-driven, which CAN be fine but is also prone to 'operator error' in terms of relying on rpm for centrifugal clutch action. Unless the quad has a very low low range there would be a lot of times that 'moving slowly' while pulling something = slipping the belt while pulling something, and that's a ticking clock. With a tractor low range you generally spin the tires or stall the engine but nothing in between is in any danger. These 40 year old Kubota and Yanmar mini-tractors are going to outlive us, but a quad put to tractor use would probably become a repair headache in a fairly short timespan.

 

[California]

Yeah I should have included the small Kubotas along with Yanmar. And there were similar mini-tractors from other brands - Ford/Shibaura etc. Cheap now that they are older than many of the owners, and designed to be owner-maintained (so long as there is still a source for mailorder parts). But going beyond Kubota and Yanmar, both excellent quality, be sure to determine if there is a user group supporting them. Some are unsupportable orphans.

And beware of the China cheap tractors, some failed long before the expected lifetime. One dealer of used Yanmars that he inspected and bought in Japan, said he spent less on setup and warranty repairs on these used Yanmars that had already experienced a generation of use in Japan, compared to the Chinese Jinma tractors he sold new. He quit selling Jinma.