Buying Advice Buying the right tractor for 1.5 acres

[Happy Gilmore]

I haven't because I have never lived on an acreage before this will be my first home and I am unaccustomed to the work/chores that go with it. After I have given it more thought I'm thinking about looking into zero turn and a standard walk behind snow blower for the amount of money. Just trying to get opinions of those that have "been there done that" and see what direction that takes me.

I'd still say to go with a SCUT if it's in your budget. I've had a hand shovel, ATV with plow, snow blower, BX1500. We also have a Ford NH 3930 with FEL. The BX is my go to in the snow, unless it's a ridiculously deep snowfall. The snowblower is nice, I have a Honda HS 1132 tracked. However, it's seldom used. One issue with a snow blower to consider is if you only have an inch to two or three of heavy slush, it'll basically be useless.

 

[dave1949]

I haven't because I have never lived on an acreage before this will be my first home and I am unaccustomed to the work/chores that go with it. After I have given it more thought I'm thinking about looking into zero turn and a standard walk behind snow blower for the amount of money. Just trying to get opinions of those that have "been there done that" and see what direction that takes me.

A walk behind snowblower will easily handle a 75' driveway. They are not fast and you need one that will keep the cutting edge below the auger out of the gravel, but they work just fine. If you blow the snow in the prevailing downwind direction, it will help to slow the drifting. I did our 100' asphalt drive in Maine with a 28" walk behind for 5-6 years and no problems. We get more snow but in the deep woods a lot less drifting than what I imagine you will have.

You can certainly mow an 1-1/2 acres with a big box $1800 - $2300 mower. Yes, they are cheaply built and you get what you pay for, but they get the job done. I'm finishing my third summer with a $2000 Cub Cadet LX50 from TSC. Is it a great lawnmower? Heck no, but it works. I figure if it lasts 5 years I'm at even money compared to a BX or similar.

A SCUT is a lot for 1.5 acres doing just the normal chores: snow, mow, garden. Not that it wouldn't be nice, but $5K in the college fund looks good too. :laughing:

A notch down in price would be something like a Deere X500 ~$6K with mower, or an X750 ~$12K. Pricey little boogers but they will blow, blade, mow and rototill if you equip them. They will also pull a garden dump cart around which is handy for yard and garden work. A winter soft cab shelter is available to keep the wind and snow off of you. Other "garden tractor" brands similar to the Deeres are available and may cost a bit less.

 

[txdon]

I haven't because I have never lived on an acreage before this will be my first home and I am unaccustomed to the work/chores that go with it. After I have given it more thought I'm thinking about looking into zero turn and a standard walk behind snow blower for the amount of money. Just trying to get opinions of those that have "been there done that" and see what direction that takes me.

The zero turn makes more sense for mowing, it's a lot quicker and actually more fun than a tractor. That is what I use for my 1.5 acre yard. Another thing is that you do not have to mow all of your property you can leave some wild. The birds, butterflies and other wildlife will be happier living near you. However the area closest to the house should be mowed for animal and fire control.
For snow - I don't know - ours melts before we can start a tractor.
For a garden I have a 6' tiller but prefer my little 10" Honda, I can finish with the walk behind by the time I take off an implement and connect the 6' tiller. Unless you like to can and freeze a small (organic) garden is preferred to get seasonly fresh veggies.

 

[chim]

Everyone has different expectations and experiences. What absolutely tickles me to death would NEVER be satisfactory for some others. What is bad, good, better or best involves more subjective judgment than science and facts for most of us. We also tend to think we're better "deciders" than others. Most of us will lobby for others to make the same selections we have made. I'm no different and share these traits. With that in mind:

We went through a progression of 4 different tractors since 1989. Bigger is better. Went from a B series to an L two years ago and it made quite a difference. Mower width is your friend. When we had 2-1/4 acres of mowing it took about an hour and 15 minutes, or 38 minutes per acre with three different tractors and three different 5 foot decks. We tamed an adjacent field and now have 3-1/2 acres. With the L pulling a 6' RFM it takes the same amount of time as the 2-1/4 did with the 5 footers. That works out to 25 minutes per acre. I keep reading that ZT's will mow "way faster" than a tractor, but can't imagine any time savings that would make it worth it for me to buy an additional machine that does only one thing - even if it does that one thing real well.

I like having the weight, horsepower and lift capacity to do everything needed here. The loader is very easy on and off, so it is never on for mowing. If there's something heavy to load or unload from my truck or trailer it's a real quick deal. Monday evening I loaded my disassembled snow blower (new to me, needs painted) on the truck to take along to work. Down to the shed, hook up the loader, pick and set the equipment and back to the shed and remove the loader. The whole operation took about 15 minutes.

 

[txdon]

. . . .Most of us will lobby for others to make the same selections we have made. . . .

Or to not make the bad or not so good selections or finically unwise selections we all have made but may not admit.

I do agree that the FEL is great for loading and unloading heavy objects and the perfect wheelbarrow if needed for those jobs. But with 1.5 acres why invest in non income machinery worth more than the land just to maintain the land?

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you don't plan to put in a garden or use the tractor for digging in the ground, then it would be better for you to just get a walk behind snow blower and a lawnmower of your choice in styles (tractor type or zero turn). If all you really need a tractor for is removing snow, and have a typical driveway for a 1.5 acre plot or about 75 feet then a walk behind snow blower would be nearly as fast as doing it with a tractor with FEL. It would be hard to justify $20,000 to a dedicated piece of equipment like an SCUT or CUT just to mow about an acre (after deduct for house, driveway, flowerbeds etc). I don't have a clue what a walk behind snow blower cost (don't have a need for one and even if I wanted one to look at, no one has them here) but lets theorize that they cost $2000. SO for less than the cost of a tractor mounted snow blower, you could get a walk behind blower AND a box store mower. DO YOU REALLY NEED A TRACTOR?

A box store mower will last you a long time just mowing 1 acre. My BIL bought a 6500 series Craftsman, mows about 3 acres with it, has had it for 5 years now and it still works perfectly. It isn't as fast as a ZTR mower going around trees and such but it gets the job done for about 1/3 the cost of a good commercial entry grade mower.

 

[Matt95684]

I can't believe you did not list MOWING as a task in Post #1, now at Post #65 it seems MOWING is your primary task.

I'm outta here.

Hello everyone! I'm new to tbn although I've been on here reading a lot of threads. My wife and I are looking pretty strongly at a home on 1.5 acres with a white rock lane of probably 75 feet. I'm wondering what tractor and implements everyone recommends for mowing and snow removal.

Jeff I put mowing as a primary task in the very first paragraph. I then followed that up with I have no idea what I need for a property of that size hence I came here to get opinions and one such opinion is a zero turn with walk behind blower to the tune of $10,000 less...

Sorry if I offended you, but I would also suggest you read a little more carefully in the future.

 

[dave1949]

I can't believe you did not list MOWING as a task in Post #1, now at Post #65 it seems MOWING is your primary task.

I'm outta here.

Let's keep it friendly.

The OP is new to all this and is working his way through the information and ideas tossed out here. He needs to have an idea of what can be done with what equipment.

Years ago I lived on a 1.5 acre flat as a pancake lot in NW Ohio. A decent garden tractor with a blade, tiller, snowblower, mower would have been the bee's knees for that situation. If someone wanted to get into more intensive home food production, like a large garden, some chickens, a 2-3 hog pen, etc. on 1.5 acres, then a SCUT would be a welcome tool along with a low-cost mower to keep after the small amount of yard left open.

 

[Matt95684]

I would like to thank everyone for their input and advice . I am going to do some calling around and see what I come up with. I will let you all know when I make a decision.

 

[Streetcar]

When I had two acres and young kids, I had lawn tractor with cart. The tractor had blade for snow. I borrowed or rented special equipment. With smaller equipment, it was cheaper and kids could help more. My kids, now in their twentys will talk about helping inthe yard on the old house. Not as fun as real tractor but it got the job done for eight years. I also had 1/4 acre of yard as garden or orchard.