Buying Advice 4x4 or 2x4

[jenkinsph]

Rereading the entire thread makes me suggest that 80 acres requires a larger expenditure for equipment than you may be able to afford at one time. I would venture to say that most of us have built this equipment up over time. I would also say that most of us have had to learn alot about mechanics to stay with it.:laughing:

I suggest if money is tight with the new land purchase that you hire someone to cut the fields once every year until you can buy your own equipment.

Buy a new larger mower for the house area, get a good one that will last for years and mow the yard quickly. I assume you will need one large enough to handle a snowblower too. Recover from the cost of buying the property and then add the larger equipment as you can. In the meantime you can focus on getting the 5 acre lawn in good shape along with any outbuildings and of course the house itself. All of this takes time, money and patience.

 

[TripleR]

On our flat land farm, we use 2WD and on our hill farms we use only 4WD.

I tried 2WD up here for a few years, but going down hills

 

[twarr1]

I won't be doing a whole lot of FEL work, ...

Are you sure?

 

[foggy1111]

Rereading the entire thread makes me suggest that 80 acres requires a larger expenditure for equipment than you may be able to afford at one time. I would venture to say that most of us have built this equipment up over time. I would also say that most of us have had to learn alot about mechanics to stay with it.:laughing:

I suggest if money is tight with the new land purchase that you hire someone to cut the fields once every year until you can buy your own equipment.

Buy a new larger mower for the house area, get a good one that will last for years and mow the yard quickly. I assume you will need one large enough to handle a snowblower too. Recover from the cost of buying the property and then add the larger equipment as you can. In the meantime you can focus on getting the 5 acre lawn in good shape along with any outbuildings and of course the house itself. All of this takes time, money and patience.

This is pretty sound advice Jenk's. I would think you could locate someone to do the brush-hogging for a reasonable price....or even rent equipment to do the job for a few seasons. It may buy you some time to research and find a great buy on the tractor / loader / brush hog, and equipment for your long-term need.

 

[whistlepig]

I live on ground that is pretty flat. The only time I use 4WD is when using the loader. For loader work the 4WD is worth it's weight in gold. For snow removal with a loader I can't see where 4WD helps as much as tire chains on the rear. A 2WD tractor with tire chains will push far more snow than a 4WD without tire chains.

 

[doall]

If you are going to bush hog all that acreage, I think you will want a machine that will at least pull a 10 ft. hog, if not more. So older 2wd tractor and lawn mower.

 

[Skyco]

Personally I require 4wd...I've run in 2wd and gotten stuck or had major slippage, sure is nice to add the front wheels in when needed. And as stated, when using a FEL for heavy stuff the rear wheels don't have a lot of traction.

 

[bglz42]

I love my 5045d. I have yet to get into a situation where I miss 4wd. Not knocking it, just wanted my tractor SIMPLE.

Get the loader... you will use it all the time!

 

[jenkinsph]

I love my 5045d. I have yet to get into a situation where I miss 4wd. Not knocking it, just wanted my tractor SIMPLE.

Get the loader... you will use it all the time!

Glad to hear the new tractor is working out for you but you may not have had it long enough to need 4x4 yet. I think you have had this new one for a month or so?

 

[Bigfoot62]

4X4 is prudent with FEL especially on hills. With 80 acres get as big a tractor as you can afford. Nothing worse than having buyer's remorse later.

Agree. 2wd would probably be OK until you add the FEL. Then, it will be "crippled." Even a 100 hp 2wd tractor with FEL is useless with a full bucket of dirt. Besides, even without the FEL, what if you want to disc one of those hills? Are you just going to cut it going downhill?

Also agree with Jenkins. Hire the 'hogging done until you can afford the tractor that you need. Or, consider getting an older 2wd tractor to "get by with" until you can get what you want. Until about 15 or 16 years ago, a Ford 2600 was the only tractor that I had. (I still have it, too. It's my "lawn mower" now with a 6' finish mower) Then, I bought a (well) used JD 4020 with a 14' disc, and later a 10' hog. Made do with that until I was able to replace the 4020 with a used NH 7610S MFWD with a FEL. Just replaced the 7610S with the JD 5085M. (and yes, I love it!) Point is, sometimes you have to "crawl before you can walk."