Need Help Defining Requirements

[jeff9366]

Keep rubbing it in, Murph-------- and I will drop you from our Christmas Card List.

Inform nova3930 what your Massey-Ferguson 135 weighs.

I expect the 4-WD is engaged most of the time when you are operating the Kioti.

I like my 4-WD tractor. We have a 4-WD Subaru too. 4-WD Rocks!

 

[murphy1244]

Keep rubbing it in, Murph-------- and I will drop you from our Christmas Card List.

Inform nova3930 what your Massey-Ferguson 135 weighs.

I expect the 4-WD is engaged most of the time when you are operating the Kioti.

I like my 4-WD tractor. We have a 4-WD Subaru too. 4-WD ROCKS.

I rarely use 4 wheel, Off the list I spouse....

 

[murphy1244]

Ok you guys are kinda confirming some initial thoughts I had. I started out this process browsing used tractors and the 2wd models seemed the most affordable even in late model and I wasn't really seeing the advantage of 4wd on dry level ground.

What would be considered ample weight for say a 30hp 2wd tractor? How about a 40?

3700Lbs is the weight of a 135 plus loaded tires would add 1000+ more

 

[nova3930]

3700Lbs is the weight of a 135 plus loaded tires would add 1000+ more

So 80-100lbs per HP would probably be a good rule of thumb.

Last night my uncle informed me there's an old Case 990 left over from the dairy farm sitting at my grandparents old place. Unfortunately he said the engine block is cracked and it's been sitting uncovered for nearly 20 years. If it had at least been sitting in the barn it might be restorable assuming I could get parts. Since it's been sitting out, I could probably get a running tractor for less than restoration cost....

 

[jenkinsph]

I would look for a 50 hp tractor with 2wd that could pull a subsoil plow, heavy brush cutter and disk. If buying new something similar to a Deere 5045E with 4x4 would be a good choice. I would not buy a new 2wd tractor today in this size, while it may work for you it would be harder to sell or trade later.

For the lawn mower which will get more use on a routine basis get something good enough to last and cover some ground quickly. I would put a good percent of the budget in this machine as it will be used on a weekly basis.

 

[HEC]

Level ground or not I would never buy another 2wd tractor , in your case you may only need 4wd on rare ocasions but when you do you have it to get out of sticky situations . I had a 50 hp case tractor many years ago and with good loaded ag tires and it would have a very hard time doing some of the things I needed to get done or just couldn't do them . I use 4wd a good part of the time and I am on level ground also your situation may be entirely different then mine . As far as going bigger with more HP that is your choice for sure . I had a little L235 ( 23 hp range ) and that would run a tiller with no problem at all . If it was new ground I would plow first . I made the big mistake of selling the 235 and tiller several years ago . I have been useing the disc but a tiller does a much better job of preparing the seed beb in my opinion . Good luck with your choice as there are so many out there with many different opinions .

 

[nova3930]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'm getting some more things to think about.

Another wrinkle that I've thought about. If I go on the smaller end of tractors, I can utilize the pull behind finish mower to do 90% of my mowing, even in the immediate area around the house, then use the nice lawnboy mulching push mower I bought when we inhabited a subdivision to do the rest. I think I could easily get within 10 ft of the house with the right sized tractor and finish mower and then the rest should be easily done with the push mower.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

If your subsoil layer is that compacted, you may want to think about busting it up with a subsoiler to allow the rain to penetrate instead of running off. Those things take a lot of power. A 30hp tractor will probably handle one with a single ripper and even then might struggle depending on your soil, the tractor weight and the type of tires it has (ag vs R4's).

I'd think about going up to a 40hp+/- size. The good news is that used 2wd tractors without FELs are relatively cheap because most people these days want 4wd and a FEL. The bad news is that there aren't that many used 2wd tractors without FELs (at least around my area).

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you only have 10-12" of topsoil and then solid rock, I don't think you would do well to use a subsoiler. Likely it would just pull up a bunch of rocks that you don't want. I used to use a disk to break up my soil and it still has a place in preparing the pasture for seeding when you don't want to kill the existing grass, but a tiller makes a very good seed bed for a garden without any clods to interfere with planting. A 30-40 HP tractor in either 2 wd or 4 wd will do all that you need done especially since you say you never have any wet areas to negotiate. I like the 4 WD myself as you can use a much smaller HP tractor to propel the same implement as a larger tractor pull with just 2 WD especially in the new CUT tractors. They are so much lighter than yesterdays old iron machines that you really need 4 wd to effectively use the HP that they have. A 50 HP CUT may not weigh more than 3000# or even less where as an old iron machine in 50 Hp would be pushing 6-7K without weights but in 2 WD because it needed all that weight to pull ground engaging implements. As for tillers and mowers you don't need traction for those just PTO power but tillers don't require a lot of power to turn just need lift capacity in the 3 PH to be able to pick them up.

 

[nova3930]

If you only have 10-12" of topsoil and then solid rock,

It's not really solid rock. Maybe I wasn't terribly clear on that point. 10-12" of good topsoil (old river bottom the old timer I bought the property from said), then it gets to be a red clay/chert mixture. From what the neighbors have said, bedrock is probably 30+ft down...