Amount of horsepower

[Corey148]

Hello,

I am new to TBN but have found many interesting discussions while searching through the site. I was wondering what is a reasonable amount of horsepower for a tractor to have in order to perform small projects around my house including snow removal, hauling logs, carrying wood, running a blade or brush hog. I would also like to find a tractor with a front end loader at a reasonable price even if it had moderate amount of engine hours, however I don't want to fork out a tremendous amount of money because I can't justify the need to spend that amount of money. My father owns an old Ford 9N which I think only has around mid 20's in horsepower and he has not had any problems pulling or hauling. Any import would be much appreciated!!!!

Thanks,
Corey

 

[MikeInEburg]

Welcome to TbN from Emmitsburg.
Of your list, the only one that really requires horsepower is mowing. More important is weight in order to transfer horsepower to the ground. Horsepower in low 20s should be fine.

 

[dex3361]

You will hear 5 HP per foot of mower quoted here a lot. That said a 20 HP tractor could run a 5 foot finish mower or a 4 foot rotary cutter(bush hog). Small tractors will do about anything that a larger tractor will do just takes longer. i have a BX1500 and its just 15 HP and it runs a 54" belly mower just fine.

 

[Mark Page]

I agree with Mike when you buy more horsepower you are buying more weight and more traction. Your Dad's 8N was a heavy tractor for the horsepower.
I wouldn't consider less than 30 hp. Consider all that snow you've got to push in Western MD. With a 7ft. blade and 4wd you can clean up most snow storms.

 

[art]

Probably 30 horsepower would be your cap. I like horsepower as much as anyone but what today is counted on as being heavy is different then yester year which is what a lot of people look for that haven't had the experience with new tractor set-ups.
For most of a compact tractors work anything close to 100 lbs per horsepower is considered a ground engaging tractor. For general work anything close to 80 is fine and will give less aggrivation of chassis issues in later life. Comparing fuel would be another issue! Look at the chores you have and figure how much time you will be doing each of the chores and buy around what you will put the most hours on the tractor doing.

Some tractors seem to have a history of longer life or life after 5,000 hours with out major repairs even bumping into double that, some seem to begin around 2,500 to 3,000 hours with about 4,000 for a max life. Some say there is no difference in tractors but that is not so, your dealer could or will be a really good freind to have with a higher houred tractor.

 

[Botabill]

I have a 26 HP kubota and everything you indicated you needed to do it can do and then some.

 

[MIKE R]

Your Dad's 8N was a heavy tractor for the horsepower.
I wouldn't consider less than 30 hp. Consider all that snow you've got to push in Western MD. With a 7ft. blade and 4wd you can clean up most snow storms.

I would say 30hp would suit your needs perfectly. 20hp today is more like a garden tractor compared to the 20hp, 40years ago.

 

[RaydaKub]

You can get a 25+ hp "tractor" from Sears and mow your lawn, but they won't pull out a kid on a bicycle stuck in a mud puddle. A BX will do all of those things and handle a fair amount of snow too, and do it with a lot less numeric "hp" than that box store brand. I can tell you that a properly equipped 8N (I think ours was 32hp) can clear out a large yard from any snow storm, but the newest one you'll find is still gonna be 60 years old. You'll have to balance the hp/size/vintage with the $$ you want to spend.

 

[Gary Fowler]

i think that for what your stated needs are, a 25 HP CUT would handle just about anything you want to do. In the Kubota B xxxx series, you may get a 2930 model (30HP) for not much more than the 2630 if you are shopping for new. THey are all the same frame size so there isnt much difference in price. I think all the major brand ie New Holland, Kubota, Case IH, LS, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, Kioti and Mahindra have models like that that use one frame size for several models with very little cost difference so check them out. Greater Engine HP is good for mowing and snowblowing as long as the frame size fits your needs. Dont let the HP frenzy get to you to the point of getting too big of a frame size tractor that it wont fit into your landscape. I can do as much FEL work with my B26 Kubota as I did with the Yanmar 4220 but for PTO work, No way could I pull a 6 foot bush hog with the little B26