New Jx95 - Implements?

[Alanray]

I've got a couple of pastures to maintain in South Texas. The first is a 500 acre pasture with about 300 acres of open field, sand hills, to mow and about two miles of river bottom that's got allot of over grown brush to clear...some of which I think I can get with a brush cutter. And the second, which is about 7 miles away, is about 400 acres with a 100 or so acres of over grown brush. There are also gravel roads to maintain and lots of fence to rebuild.

I ordered a Case JX95 since it seemed to be the most tractor for the money (27K) and the Case dealer is the closest and makes house calls. My goal is to replace two older tractors, a Case 1090 (115 hp) and an International 785 (65 hp) with this one. I plan on spending allot of time on it - hopefully, it'll be up to the task.

But I've got questions on attachments - will it handle a 15 or even a 20 foot cutter, a 14 foot tandem disk or a eight foot or so blade? And will the front end loader and backhoe attachments be sufficient to replace a stand-alone backhoe? I'd like to have as little equipment as possible for maintainence reasons but still get the job done efficiently. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[JoeinTX]

Your tractor, at 80 pto hp, can handle 15-20' cutters but, as usual, all depends on what you're trying cut.......pasture grass and sparse mesquite shrubs, etc you should be fine.

8' blade shouldn't be any problem at all but the 14' disc could be a tad big for 90 engine hp but, like the shredders above, depends on what you want it to do. Using it for light tillage or as a harrow your tractor can pull it but if you're looking to do deep primary tillage on hard ground you're going to have some trouble. A 12' disc is probably more appropriate.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I'd think a 15' cutter would keep that nice machine busy.

Like Joe said, disk depends on if you are buying a heavy or a fine finishing disk.

What did you pull with the older tractors? What shape are the fields in now? If the fields are overgrown and full of mesquite, you'll want to get it root plowed 1st with the biggest dozer you can hire out.

I don't envy you having to clear 2 miles of river bottom.

 

[Alanray]

Thanks, I'm pulling the 14' disk with the 115 hp tractor now and it does just fine for what I use it for - mostly knocking down brush and turning grass and weeds to dirt for fire breaks. I really haven't had the need to deep disk so hopefully the JX95 will pull it. The new tractor has a roll bar and a top over the seat so hopefull I can keep from getting smacked by the tree limbs as the disk pulls them down - that and the hydraulic hose repairs have been the downsides of using the disk for brush control. Maybe I can weld some mesh on the backside of the roll bar to keep the limbs outside the cab.

I went ahead and ordered a 7' brush cutter - I figured a 10' would pull down the tractor too much on big stuff and be hard to get into tight areas. And I think I'll go ahead and pull the trigger on a 15' bat wing when the new wears off the brush cutter. Most of the grass and weeds in the open fields are about knee high with the occasional grouping of small Yupon and Mesquite.

I've never used a blade before though - with a good hydraulic operated blade, can I do the same job as a maintainer or is that asking too much?

 

[RancherSam]

Hi Alanray. I have a jx95 as well with a little over 100 hours. I use it for brush cutting and secondary tandem disc tillage, and no problems so far. I have an 8 ft brush cutter, and I can go through 6 or 7ft tall brush easily in the second range, and 3rd if it's knee high or a little higher. My disc is 14ft, and it pulls it without a problem. I'd recommend an 8ft brush cutter just because it covers the width of the tractor.

 

[JoeinTX]

Sounds like your JX95 can handle the 14' disc as you're using it primarily to break-up surface growth but it might run a little slower than the older Case. Or not, depends on what it's putting out. A 7' cutter, I agree, is too small and an at least 8' rig is better suited. But, here we are seconding your guesses and spending your money for you, so.