Newbie: 2.7 Acres - Need help on a Tractor

[Metiger]

Hello Forum

Glad to have found such informative place and knowledge sharing.

I bought a 2.7 acres ranchette a year ago, pic is attached. I am looking for help from experienced folks on this forum to get me started in this sea of information. In the year I have owned this place and come to realize that those big acre homes that look so beautiful need a lot of maintenance and constant project to keep them visually appealing. I will list below some of the projects I have planned and ongoing maintenance required on this property and based on that list I am looking for help on some recommendation on what kind of tractors and equipment would be most helpful to procure. My budget for this is about 10K.

1) Grade and Level some areas of the property
2) Add a sprinklers to the back of the property and right side of the property for lawn and grass
3) Dig postholes for additional fence to segregate some sections of the property for pets and veggie garden
4) Carve a road or walkway/path around the property with DG or compressed roadbase
5) Add tan bark or ground cover in some areas of the property
6) Maintainence includes spraying plants/weeds, mowing lawn, yearly pruning and trimming trees etc
7) Hauling stuff from one location to another

this should give you an idea of what I am planning.

thanks

 

[jeff9366]

Do you have experience operating a tractor?

What type of soil do you have? How hard? Rocks an issue? ( In photo soil looks HARD.)

How much time do you plan to spend on the tractor? How much time for tractor repair?

Are you mechanically adept? Have tools? Is tractor service available nearby?

Does anyone around you have a tractor so you can share implements?

Where will you store tractor and implements?

You should consider a tractor with 25hp-35hp, Category 1 Three Point Hitch, four wheel drive and a front end loader (FEL). (NEW: $20,000) There are a zillion new/used tractors with these attributes.

FEL = Hauling, smoothing, spreading, assist on path

Ratchet Rake for FEL.= Grading, leveling, path, prep garden, spreading ($400)

Fred Cain Subsoiler for 3-Pt. = Shallow trenching/sprinkler pipe, prep garden, prep path ($400)

Continue existing method of mowing turf.

Hire casual labor to dig post holes.

Spraying is not tractor work except on large scale.

Buy a hand powered or gas powered pole saw for tree trimming. Hand or power, buy from Stihl.

LINK:

http://www.tractordata.com/articles/technical/threepoint.html


BUYING/PRICING/COMPARISONS Forum would be optimum for responses to your questions.
T-B-N Admin may move your thread there.

 

[dave1949]

Welcome!

"In the year I have owned this place and come to realize that those big acre homes that look so beautiful need a lot of maintenance and constant project to keep them visually appealing."

A corollary realization is why so many suburban retirees move to condominiums. :laughing:

I wouldn't buy the equipment needed to do things like fencing or sprinkler systems. They are one-time things for the most part. You can rent a trencher or post hole auger for a day or two. The same is true for the dirt work involved in carving out the walkway. Depending on how rocky or hard it is, that may be within the capabilities of a SCUT FEL and $130 subsoiler from TSC. If not, it will be cheaper in the long run to hire it out.

If you are interested in extensive landscaping and hardscaping, that would be a reason to have more tractor and implements. That tends to be an on-going, ever-evolving thing that is very expensive to hire out, plus that takes the fun out of it.

I think for <3 acres a SCUT would be the place to start looking. You can spread stone on the path and maintain it, mow, carry stuff around like mulch with the FEL and/or small trailer, till the garden and deal with moderate snow (if that's needed) with a SCUT.

Just my 2 cents, have fun whatever you do, or you will find yourself in a condo someday.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Just my 2 cents, have fun whatever you do, or you will find yourself in a condo someday.

Probably one of the most valid statements I've ever read on here. If you don't love it, you'll hate it, and even IF you love it, there'll be times you'll cuss it!!!

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[jeff9366]

METIGER: Any decision?

 

[knotweed]

Beautiful place.

 

[knotweed]

I have 6 acres with 3 acres wooded. My tractor is a Yanmar 20 HP and has been excellent mainly for the size and getting into the wooded areas. Handling big trees stumps, logs, stones makes me wish I had bigger sometimes but have managed when I think the job out. When I bought the property, there were 80 loads of dirt the previous owner brought in but didn't spread. I contracted this out to a dozer operator to save the wear on my tractor. Looking at your aerial photo, it looks real clean and I would thing you only need a maintenance tractor with high maneuverability and not a lot of H.P. maybe 20-30 horse max.

 

[dodge man]

Look at something like a Kubota BX series or the equivalent in another brand. It all depends on how much you want to spend and how much you want to spend on implements for it.

 

[RJBaldwin]

I would look at a smaller mahindra tractor. They are actually pretty affordable. Just don't do like me and be undersized and then need to move up. As for your jobs, you can find used 3 pt equipment fairly cheap. Look at country garage sales or auctions. You could pick up a 3pt blade, auger, and FEL, or make sure the tractor you look at has the FEL on it. I would look for gas though, as no point in you dealing with diesel if you don't have to, though they tend to have more HP. A small enough multipurpose tractor can have a mowing deck under it or you can pick up a pull behind finish mower at like tractor supply. Just my thoughts. Hard for me to look back at a small yard. I guess I was a gluten for punishment...

 

[mostly_gas]

What part of the country? snow removal? Probably SCUT w/ 4WD, belly mower front loader.