What to buy? I want a small tractor with a turbo (high altitude use)

[buickanddeere]

Bigger is better with tractor sizes.

 

[CADplans]

My 1.5 liter with a turbo,,,

The 4105 has plenty of power,,, I do not know how to tell if the turbo makes a difference,,

 

[rScotty]

Hello all,

I wanted something kind of like the Kubota 2601 TLB, or maybe Kioti CK2510, LS, etc, but I live at 9,000 feet and some math quickly figures up a naturally aspirated 25hp engine becomes more like 18ish.

I want a turbo because much like my Ecoboost truck they will be relatively unaffected at this altitude. But I am having trouble finding anything under around 40hp that is turbod, and I'd really rather not have a bigger 40 hp tractor if I don't need one.

What all is turbocharged out there, or should I just buy a mid 30s horsepower tractor and use it as a 25 hp tractor?

Thanks!

You are right. We live at 7000 feet and all of our diesel equipment is turboed. It's not just the altitude, but it's that in the mountains you tend to find yourself on slopes and side hills. Basically, for all your machines you need to recalibrate yourself into looking at least one size larger than you did in Alabama. In the Rockies, you have rocks and snow. Driving through fresh snow is like always driving uphill. Snow has decent traction if you have enough weight to compact it.

Our go-to machine is our M59 Kubota TLB. It has the weight, power, and turbo necessary to get around all year without chains. Plus accessory hydraulics and cat II 3 pt. Don't know if the smallest TLBs are turbos; I had thought that the larger Kubota TLBs were all turbos even though the literature doesn't mention it anymore. Anyone? IMHO, that Kubota 2601 is just too small for a small farm at 9000 feet in the snow.
luck,
rScotty

 

[Bama67]

You are right. We live at 7000 feet and all of our diesel equipment is turboed. It's not just the altitude, but it's that in the mountains you tend to find yourself on slopes and side hills. Basically, for all your machines you need to recalibrate yourself into looking at least one size larger than you did in Alabama. In the Rockies, you have rocks and snow. Driving through fresh snow is like always driving uphill. Snow has decent traction if you have enough weight to compact it.

Our go-to machine is our M59 Kubota TLB. It has the weight, power, and turbo necessary to get around all year without chains. Plus accessory hydraulics and cat II 3 pt. Don't know if the smallest TLBs are turbos; I had thought that the larger Kubota TLBs were all turbos even though the literature doesn't mention it anymore. Anyone? IMHO, that Kubota 2601 is just too small for a small farm at 9000 feet in the snow.
luck,
rScotty

Yeah, pretty much decided on one of the midsize compacts with 35-40 hp. I mainly only use my tractor for loader work and possibly a backhoe in the future. I don't really want the larger heavier 40hp tractor for my small here, my Bobcat was pretty big and was definitely heavy. I am not sure what that thing weighed with loaded tires and a bushog on it, but it was enough to pick the rear end of a truck off the ground when loading on a trailer
I want as much loader capacity as I can get in the size I am looking at.
I like the LS XG3140, but the loader height is quite a bit lower than the rest.
I also dig the Branson 4015, it picks up several inches higher and seems to be a nice little tractor, but I have no dealers within 3 hours of here and the prices are just as high as anything else.

 

[jenkinsph]

You are right. We live at 7000 feet and all of our diesel equipment is turboed. It's not just the altitude, but it's that in the mountains you tend to find yourself on slopes and side hills. Basically, for all your machines you need to recalibrate yourself into looking at least one size larger than you did in Alabama. In the Rockies, you have rocks and snow. Driving through fresh snow is like always driving uphill. Snow has decent traction if you have enough weight to compact it.

Our go-to machine is our M59 Kubota TLB. It has the weight, power, and turbo necessary to get around all year without chains. Plus accessory hydraulics and cat II 3 pt. Don't know if the smallest TLBs are turbos; I had thought that the larger Kubota TLBs were all turbos even though the literature doesn't mention it anymore. Anyone? IMHO, that Kubota 2601 is just too small for a small farm at 9000 feet in the snow.
luck,
rScotty

I agree with this^^^^
I would rather have more ground clearance in the snow too. 110tlbs are not turbo charged either and I do notice a difference when working at higher elevations in NM. My 4520 is and does very well at 10,000 feet with no problem.

 

[Bama67]

Well, as much as I want a Branson, I guess they are out of the running.

I asked the dealer some questions and they didn't know the answer to some of them, so I emailed Branson USA over a week ago now and no one has bothered to respond even though I explained I was interested in buying one of their tractors.

The dealer never emailed back either from the last email either.


So now looks like I am going to try to get my Bobcat back from my friend that bought it, as he is thinking about a 70hp tractor now anyway.
I did find out that Kioti made a turbocharged version of my Bobcats engine (same as DK40) that has no other changes than the turbocharger (DK50)
So it looks like that is the direction I am heading now.

 

[Moluke]

I would second the Massey Ferguson 1700 series recommendation. I looked at them quite a bit before I found my Kubota, and was very impressed with them, they are very sturdy machines. They are made by Iseki in Japan, even have the plate on them to prove it. It appears that all of the non-Economy tractors in the 1700 series are turbocharged, from 36 to 59 horsepower. The 1734e and 1739e tractors have turbos as well. Now, if you really want a nice tractor, look at the MF 1759. Very heavy, planetary rear axle, hydraulic shuttle trans... :licking:

Nothing wrong at all with the Korean tractors, though. Good quality, good price little machines. At least around here, though, I've kinda seen the dealers come and go. Make sure your dealers are well established.

 

[rScotty]

I agree with this^^^^
I would rather have more ground clearance in the snow too. 110tlbs are not turbo charged either and I do notice a difference when working at higher elevations in NM. My 4520 is and does very well at 10,000 feet with no problem.

I'm glad you mentioned the ground clearance in the snow. Ground clearance really helps getting around in a mountains if the winter is snowy. This last winter was not typical. In fact, we hardly had winter at all this year.
So it's worth looking for decent ground clearance and a wider stance to deal with slopes. Any weight down low or wider tire stance helps stability too.

And I agree with Moluke on those Masseys. Nice tractors, decent dealer network, and worth a look. The one I tried was very comfortable to operate. Branson isn't the only other option.

The M59 is probably my tenth tractor but my first HST, and I'm now a believer. For loader work, HST is just better in every way. But it's worth mentioning that's on a tractor with turbo and 60 hp, and the 3 speed hydrostatic is the high end type with High and Low on each speed as well as on reverse. All that extra gearing helps compensate for the lost power.
good luck with the search. The only way you will really know is to get something and try it for a season. Any tractor is better than none.
rScotty

 

[jenkinsph]

Before you buy the Bobcat back does it have a single range reverse? In the mountains often you need three range reverse just to get up and down some of the slopes. If I remember right the Bobcat I looked at a few years ago had 3 range gears forward but only a single range for reverse, that was a deal breaker for me. Other than that it seemed like a nice enough tractor.

 

[jenkinsph]

I'm glad you mentioned the ground clearance in the snow. Ground clearance really helps getting around in a mountains if the winter is snowy. This last winter was not typical. In fact, we hardly had winter at all this year.
So it's worth looking for decent ground clearance and a wider stance to deal with slopes. Any weight down low or wider tire stance helps stability too.

And I agree with Moluke on those Masseys. Nice tractors, decent dealer network, and worth a look. The one I tried was very comfortable to operate. Branson isn't the only other option.

The M59 is probably my tenth tractor but my first HST, and I'm now a believer. For loader work, HST is just better in every way. But it's worth mentioning that's on a tractor with turbo and 60 hp, and the 3 speed hydrostatic is the high end type with High and Low on each speed as well as on reverse. All that extra gearing helps compensate for the lost power.
good luck with the search. The only way you will really know is to get something and try it for a season. Any tractor is better than none.
rScotty

I like the M59 and M62 tlb's very good combination of power, compact size and ability. I particularly like the high/low in each range for box blade work. Allows pulling box in low and reversing back to the starting point in high.:thumbsup:

My 110 works great for most of my work though and am well pleased with it. For the larger pipeline projects I use a 40 ton excavator to dig. Then set pipe and backfill with the 110 right behind the excavator that has made these projects go much faster and a lot more profitable.

For working in the Rockies I much prefer a tlb if I only had one machine. The loader is a lot more sturdy and you need it to be in the rocky ground. Also working the steep terrain the creep to reposition is very important to have as well as more reach for the hoe. An ag add on backhoe attachment without these features is much more difficult to use on steep terrain.

That said a good used 110, L45 or M59 would be my first choice for an all in one machine in the mountains.