What tractor to buy? 5 acre lot

[rdclark]

Getting ready to buy some land (5 acres) and have no idea what tractor to own. I don't want something that is going to limit me from time to time. I'm looking to do my own landscaping on around 1.5 acres and then just maintaining the rest of the land and little projects from time to time.

What would you recommend? There is a kubota dealer in town, so I was thinking of going orange!

Thanks!

 

[grm61]

Getting ready to buy some land (5 acres) and have no idea what tractor to own. I don't want something that is going to limit me from time to time. I'm looking to do my own landscaping on around 1.5 acres and then just maintaining the rest of the land and little projects from time to time.

What would you recommend? There is a kubota dealer in town, so I was thinking of going orange!

Thanks!

Nothing wrong with kubota, they make a good tractor$$
For comparison take a look at Kioti and LS, very good tractors, and a good very good value for the money.

To keep you from feeling " limited " I would suggest something with 2000lbs plus lift capacity on the loader, and a large enough framed tractor to be stable.
I would not entertain the thought of a SCUT if you don't want to feel "limited".

I am happy with my Kioti, it will lift 2765 lbs to full height properly ballasted.

 

[GaryM]

I happen to own Deere, but the dealer you trust and ideally is nearby is the most important factor to me.

 

[rdclark]

What do you think of mahindra. They seem nicely priced....

 

[John Deere 16]

Just posting to follow the thread as I'm interested in this exact topic.

 

[TheMan419]

I recently bought 18 acres and went through the same process.

Nothing beats going out to the dealers and taking a test drive. Ask loads of questions.

To not feel "limited" is a tough thing to answer, unless your budget is similarly unlimited. Think about the projects you see right now you want to do and get a tractor that will make easy work of them.

I went with a Boomer 24 from NH. Partially price wise. Also partially because the dealer seemed really good and responsive.

Near by for me were NH, Kubota and JD. I also went out of the way to see a Massey Furgeson.

Ultimately for me NH just seemed like the right dealer. Each "color" had a tractor in the same size and price range (well except for JD which was more $$) as each other, so there was no thought of liking dealer A, but them not having a tractor that worked for me.

Have fun with the process!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Getting ready to buy some land (5 acres) and have no idea what tractor to own. I don't want something that is going to limit me from time to time. I'm looking to do my own landscaping on around 1.5 acres and then just maintaining the rest of the land and little projects from time to time.

What would you recommend? There is a kubota dealer in town, so I was thinking of going orange!

Thanks!

I would think that a 23XX or 26XX Kubota would be all you need for 5 acres. Regardless of size you buy, there is going to be times that you could use more tractor, but not necessarily NEED more tractor. I have seen on TBN what a small BX25D can do when given the time which is quite impressive. Smaller tractors will of course be limited in the FEL lift capacity. All that means when transporting material is that you need to make more trips. I dig out a lot of rocks from my Arkansas near Ozark mountains and have occasionally found some that my B26 TLB just wont handle. I have also found some the my LS P7010 wont handle and a pond digger found one that his D6 dozer wouldn't handle so there really is not such thing as limitless.
Do some thinking and planning to determine what your future projects are and buy a tractor that will do 90% of them easily. The other projects may require renting some equipment or just not doing them if that is feasible. Nothing wrong with a daily or weekly rental of large equipment when needed.

 

[Tonyinohio]

We bought 5 acres last year. Not sure where you are located but that may vary your needs from mine. I had access to a 4x4 NH 30 hp tractor with no FEL. IT was great for mowing, pulling brush lines clean, grading the gravel drive. Earlier this year I bought a 24 hp 4x4 Yanmar with a FEL. Great machine, great dealer. Sometimes its too big (R4's can tear up the lawn for example) other times it's too small. My wife was a fan of green paint but she got over it. Regardless of the never ending 'my tractor is better than your tractor' banter, the big name machines will most likely meet your needs for years to come.

 

[grm61]

What do you think of mahindra. They seem nicely priced....

The Mahindra guys on here seem happy...I am not up on them, you have to do some digging to figure out whose engine they are using, I think some of the smaller ones are Daedong (Kioti motors) and I think possibly TYM made some tractors for them....and some are all mahindra.

They are all pretty good these days..Japanese and Korean...Mahindra from India.......Stay away from the Chinese tractors.

 

[Creamer]

I am not sure exactly what you are looking for but I would think a 30 Hp CUT would be good. My 1710 is just right for a lot of things - most notably not being too heavy to be able to drive on the lawn at any time without leaving tracks. Of course I do have high flotation tires on the back. It is not great for pulling but then who does much of that. Front wheel assist helps with the pulling though. It amazes me what I can do with it and very little that I feel limited with even though I grew up on a farm with a lot larger equipment.

If you get a loader that lifts 1000 lbs that is all you will need. Heavier loads can be handled with the 3 pt.

Just to give you an idea of some of the projects I have done with mine:

Graded site for new 40 x 60 building including removing over 2 ft of dirt on one side of the site
Maintain rock driveway - grading, plowing snow
I cut and move about 6 cords of firewood per year - logs up to 18" diameter and 18' long plus shorter and larger
Landscaping around house including recutting slopes for improved drainage
Tilling and hilling garden
Pulling a 7' sickle bar mower, 12' rake, rear finish mower, and 5' bush hog over saplings 14' high