Plowing with a Compact

[looch]

Oh dear, here we go.

I'll say that I agree whole-heartedly with Doc. Anyone who doesn't agree on something which at least I (and I hope others) think is elementary probably won't be convinced by a series of heated posts, so let's not go there again.

I wouldn't doubt that there are farmers who use them for their day-to-day operations. So please don't doubt that are at least an equal amount of farmers who would scoff at the same idea.

 

[cowboydoc]

I still stand behind my post that these aren't a real tractor in my opinion. In your opinion they very well may be. I have a very hard time believing that anyone could mow and bale 75-100 acres though with a compact. First of all it would take you a week to pull a sickle mower with a compact as there is no way you could pull any kind of a mower conditioner with a compact tractor. Most of the sickle bars are 7'. You do the math driving that slow with a sickle bar mower how fast you can cut hay. It takes me a day to cut 15 acres of hay with a 14' John Deere rotarty mower conditioner. You could rake without any problem and you could pull a small square baler but not very fast.

But that aside these CUT's don't have most of the options that a larger tractor has. Namely very few of them have draft control. You can't run planters, etc. on them either.

Now with that aside yes you can take care of mowing, small plowing and discing jobs, loader jobs, landscape, dirt moving, etc. etc. but they aren't an ag tractor and you can't go out and take care of a 160 acre farm if you're planting crops, etc. Even the mere fact of having to set the wheels for different row crops is impossible to do on most compact tractors.

When I say they aren't a real tractor I mean they aren't a real crop production tractor. Their design wasn't one to go out and plow all day with or disc, etc. I don't know of anyone that's going to go out and buy a compact tractor to specifically farm with. Most people buy compact to take care of a small acreage and fit all kinds of time saving devices to them to do this like 4 in 1 buckets, rototillers, snow blowers, mid mount mowers, etc. etc. You buy an ag. tractor to hook up a disc, plow, planter, baler, etc. You certainly could take care of 5 acres, 10 acres, etc. if you had all day to do it! About three years ago I needed to plow some ground to plant some hay. I had that Massey Super 90 at the time. The most I could pull was a three bottom plow and it took me two and a half days to plow 25 acres. There were spaces as well that I couldn't get that three bottom plow through either.

Don't take offense to my posts. It doesn't bother me that you think a compact tractor is a real ag tractor. It's just my opinion about them. If someone wants to do alot of farming they really should have a row crop tractor not a compact tractor.

 

[cowboydoc]

Well said Paul. Blessed I was not with the right choice of words. I'm way too blunt most of the time. I apologize if my comments offended anyone it's just my opinion.

 

[jhburke]

Besides money the biggest thing to consider is how much time will be needed to do the job. You can move dirt with a hand trowel, but if you have a yard of dirt nicer to have a shovel. If 5 yards of dirt it is even nicer to have a tractor w/FEL.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I agree with cowboydoc. Every farmer I know that EVEN HAS a compact, uses them for light farm chores like running a circular saw or pulling a hay tedder. I would love to see a compact hook up to a 9' disc mower. That said, I like compacts and use mine heavilly.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Yes. It is a really heavy offset disc. My brother-in-law had a 4430 that, when equipped with duals, worked great. Unfortunately, the tractor was a piece of garbage and he got rid of it. He has been making do with the 4020 until last year when he got the 4320. 4320 kicks butt.

 

[jbs]

Well guys looks like we are going down the gear vs hydro road again.

I dont believe anyone is arguing the fact if you had a 1000 acres of wheat that you would jump in your compact and go to work
The point was if you spend plus or minus 20 grand for a compact it should be capable of performing most of the task of a larger tractor,on a smaller scale of course.
I fail to see why this would invoke such hostile responses?

 

[EdKing]

I also agree with CowboyDoc. While compacts can do a lot of work, they are not an Ag tractor. I would plow a garden with my compact, mow, move dirt, but for serious plowing, planting, or hay production a compact is just to light for the work.

 

[JerryG]

<font color=blue>The compacts were never made to do a "real" tractors work. Contrary to popular belief these CUT's aren't real tractors.</font color=blue>

They are tractors. Tractors for a smaller scale. A farmer that has a Cat Challenger or a John Deere track tractor or a Case Quadtrack might say that a 100-horse tractor is not a real tractor either. He wouldn’t think about spending all day in the field with anything smaller. It is all on a scale of acreage or job size as to the size of TRACTOR you need.

 

[PaulInMi]

Woodyed,

In response to your original question, I have a Kubota L3000(32hp) w/turf tires that i pull a 2-16" behind. It does fine in my garden that has been worked for years, not so good at breaking new ground. My manual recomends however, that I only pull a 2-12" or a 1-16". I got a good deal on the plow though, so i make do.

Hope that helps.

Paul