Selecting a sub-compact for cheap (Kubota BX1500?)

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> I still think he needs to demo a couple different sizes on his property to really see the difference. </font>

I think that is the best advice anyone can give. Put them to the test in the actual environment that you are going to use them in and see which ones suit your needs the best.

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> I think that is the best advice anyone can give. Put them to the test in the actual environment that you are going to use them in and see which ones suit your needs the best. </font>

No doubt about that!

I keep thinking where I was last year when I, in a way, was in the same postition as the poster here. I wanted a tractor and did not know what it could really do for me. In other words I did not really know what my full range of needs were.

Now that a year has gone by I can imagine what my needs would be if I had 20 acres to work with. Maybe not the first-year needs...because I would not understand what a workhorse a real tractor can be until after I owned one!

Let's see...14 acres of woods...wouldn't it be nice to make some trails in there...to make the existing trails nicer...to thing the woods here and there and cart that "free" fire wood back, rather than buying it from someone else...smooth off that rough section...pop out those little stumps...and so it goes.

Whenever we tend to encourage someone to go a little bigger, I think this kind of personal experience is what drives our recommendations. It is not that we want to spend more of the poster's money, but actually we want to save him some in the long run...by possibly helping him to avoid the losses that could be involved with buying the wrong tractor and trading it in to correct the problem.

But in the end...it is true that a LOT can be done with any real tractor of any size. Myself, I would probably not be happy over the long term with a little tractor like the BX1500 on 20 acres.

But for dealing with six acres of grass and the jobs listed by the poster in the first post, it would likly work just fine. A second larger tractor can always be purchased later... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The only trouble is [as we all know] that each time you step up in size you get more tractor value for each dollar spent.

What I am trying to say is spend twice as much and get four times the tractor, in size and capability.

I know I have said nothing new here, but it is something that a new guy might not pick up on right away, even if he reads it once or twice...I'm using myself as the measuring stick here... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[JeffreyG]

Lot's of good advice and opinions so far. Thanks!

Here's some clarification on intended uses:
1. Of the 6 acres pasture/lawn, sheep and horses will eat a lot of that down. Pasture has to be mowed about 3 or 4 times a year to keep it in good shape. There's probably about 2 acres of lawn, including the buffer space around the pasture fence (so woods and brush don't short out my fences, and gives me a nice trail).

2. I don't know how much firewood I will take from my woods. Probably not too much. I use woodstove for back-up heat. If oil prices rise, I'll burn more wood. I get wood delivered. If the delivery prices rise, I'll go into my own woods!

3. Bigger tractor would be nice. With new, the cost goes up. With used, the chance of needing to fix it go up. I'm trying to go new and cheap.

4. Any tractor is likely bigger than what I have now.

5. Snow. I can get a lot of it. Albany doesn't get as much. I do, because I'm up in the hilltowns. Snowblower is nice, but sometimes the snow is over my 21" high snowblower intake. Sometimes the "wall" is higher than the exit chute can clear. Lawn tractor with a blade would just be for when there is a few inches, and I wouldn't expect much out of it. FEL would be for digging into and moving sides back if they get too high, and for that "wall" at the end of the driveway that gets built on each side of driveway as I clear the extra snow from the county snowplow.

6. I've thought about maybe getting the BX2200 without the FEL, and add it later.

7. Don't forget that I currently use shovels and a wheelbarrow for most of my work now. You should have seen me wheelbarrowing fence posts 200 yards down the pasture, and hand digging the holes. And I use snow shovels at the end of the driveway to make room for the snowblower to blow over the wall.

 

[cowboydoc]

It's not that they're trying to get him to spend more money. These guys have been around the block and have bought undersized machines thinking you can do more with less. Just not the case with tractors. You need the right tractor for the job. Many guys on here have bought too small of a tractor and regretted and lost money getting what they really needed in the first place. The comments here have been to help this guy avoid that. A 1500 or equivalent on 20 acres isn't much of a tractor.

 

[Egon]

Re: Selecting a sub-compact for cheap (Kubota BX15

If you really want a FEL do not take a tractor home without one attatched to it. Later is like tommorrow; it has a tendency to never be today.

A litle trailer is also very usefull.

Fel is invaluable for the uses it can be put to. Also remember that with a larger tractor and more ponies the snowblower works much better.

Egon

 

[fivestring]

<font color="blue">"The only bad tractor is a broken tractor that can't be fixed relatively quickly." </font>

Very well put, Bill.

 

[shoppintractors]

<font color="blue"> 6. I've thought about maybe getting the BX2200 without the FEL, and add it later.
</font>

You need to get a price for the FEL with the purchase of the tractor and a price to buy it later. You'll likely find it will cost you a lot more to add it later.

Don

 

[pruntyc]

Again I have to say, he is not asking about doing 20 acres. 14 is woods and from what he said he plans on it staying woods. That leaves 6 and of that 6 he is only going to mow about 4 of it 3 or 4 times a year. And two is in yard. Come on now, how much of a BIG tractor do you really think he would need for this, not as big as some of you seem to want him to buy. I have a Yanmar YM1700, that is about 20 hp and I cut about 5 acres and have no problem, it is plenty big for the job. My 4 ft brush hog, get it done fast enough. That is not a lot of mowing. And it handles my blade to take care of over a 1/5 miles of gravel road. That my neighbor keeps tearing up, he thinks you need to spin to come up a gravel road hill. But my "little" tractor is big enough for the job. Lets get real and look at what he is asking about, not what you may have or think he has, as he said very plain what he has.

 

[JeffreyG]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Again I have to say, he is not asking about doing 20 acres. 14 is woods and from what he said he plans on it staying woods. That leaves 6 and of that 6 he is only going to mow about 4 of it 3 or 4 times a year. And two is in yard. Come on now, how much of a BIG tractor do you really think he would need for this, not as big as some of you seem to want him to buy...)</font>

That's ok. It's all imaginary money anyway /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What some may be saying, I think, is that buying a small tractor might be a waste of money and that I could wait until I can afford a bigger tractor.

I could be convinced to hold out for say the Kubota BX2200. Extra cylinder, more power, 60" deck instead of 54", and maybe better suited to a wider range of 3 pt attachments. And only $2,000 more than the BX1500.

But I doubt I'd go bigger than that. Aferall, the first priority, the first job, for the tractor is to mow the lawn. But I figure,hypothetically, if I'm going to spend at least $999 for the cheapest 42" lawn tractor I can find, I ought to spend $3,000 for the cheapest 50" garden tractor, and if I'm spending that then maybe I should spend $4,000 for something like a John Deere 50", and if I'm spending that then I might as well get a heavier duty John Deere 54" with a front blade for $6,000. And if I'm spending that much, I might as well spend $8,000 for the 4WD Kubota BX1500 54" that I can put a loader on. And if I'm spending that much, I might as well spend $10,000 to actually get the loader. And if I'm spending that much, I might as well go with more horsepower an get the 60" deck with a loader in the BX2200 for $12,000.

And if I'm spending $12,000, then for just a few thousand more I might as well get a bigger tractor for ...

Pretty soon I'll have one of those GIANT tractors that swivels in the middle and plows the 500 acre fields.

 

[Hambone]

Pretty soon I'll have one of those GIANT tractors that swivels in the middle and plows the 500 acre fields

That was good!!! I got a good laugh, still smiling.
Dont forget you new 60 x 60 pole barn to put it in!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif