I'm in the process of buying a home and need a tractor. With a few Deere dealers nearby that seems like the appropriate choice, but which model? (I haven't visited any of those dealers yet.) There's only about 1/2 acre to mow (though that may grow over the years as we clear some more of the property), however there's a flat 500' driveway that I'll need to clean. It seems to me that the demands to blow the driveway will far exceed the mowing and other light hauling and yard cleanup the tractor will be used for. If it weren't for the blowing, I'd think an X300 would be more than adequate for a very long life of use. But what will the flat 500' driveway require -- step up to an x320? x360? Even an x500? Any input is appreciated.
Dan
We built a home on 4 acres with a 650-700' driveway (gravel). Before building, I bought a Kubota
B2920 to do some light clearing, mainly to cut a narrow driveway path in, prepare for surveying, and to gather up lumber and firewood from valuable trees. Having a front loader and 3-pt hitch was invaluable for this work, as was 4WD. I had briefly given thought to using my Deere riding mower (LT series, previous model to the X300 series but with some features now on X500 series) with the rear garden cart, but was unsure of this. In retrospect, it would have been a failure, and a
B2920-sized machine with front loader and 4WD was just perfect.
Later on, I upgraded the
B2920 to an
L3200 mainly to get a larger front bucket and a little more front loader capacity, but also to pull a larger box blade to improve driveway maintenance work (which has happened about once a year for the first couple years, but will probably taper off since the gravel has locked up pretty good now). I also use a 6' rear blade to clear snow, and the L has been great for this -- it has enough weight and traction that I can clear snow in 2WD. Here, we only get 2-3 significant snowfalls a year (significant for this area = more than 5").
Through all of that, I have kept the Deere LT, as it's superior for mowing. I went down from about 3/8 acre of landscaped fescue at our old house to 1/4 acre of simpler lawn over the septic field, with another 1/4 acre of native grasses up by the road front.
So with that pre-amble, here are some key points I have learned:
1) for under 1/2 acre, I have no doubt a small riding mower or lawn/garden tractor (or maybe zero-turn if lots of trees, curves, or obstacles) is the best option for mowing. Maneuvering the B and L in the same spaces is cumbersome and would not be practical for mowing. If the lawn is flattish, 2WD is just fine.
2) the 2WD lawn tractor is just fine for basic gardening work with a small cart. However, the larger tractors with front loader do that just fine even though it would seem overkill.
3) venturing off the lawn for any sort harder work, even as simple as hauling firewood around, is a chore for the little 2WD tractor, and it will get stuck in soft or slippery ground in a heartbeat. This is where 4WD starts to become important on any size tractor, and I'd think X700 series garden tractor is a minimum for harder work. If venturing into the woods or rougher terrain, ground clearance becomes important, and then you're talking about a SCUT or CUT for sure (though some of the SCUTs don't have that much more clearance than garden tractors).
4) the dynamics of pushing a snow blower are different than using a blade, but even with our limited amount of snow, there's no way I can envision using my X300/X500 sized LT model to clear snow on my long curved gravel driveway. Knowing how hopeless my 2WD LT is in snow, I'd say, 4WD and X700 sizing is a minimum, though it still seems too small when I consider the scale of the tractor to the scale of the driveway. The
B2920 scaled well to my driveway in general. The L is a good size too.
Overall, I feel like you should look at a 4WD X700 series as a minimum (X748 is a gem if I am remembering the model numbers right). But that gets you up into a pretty lofty pricing range, and it is a lot more cost effective to consider a 1023E or 1025R at that point. Then you have the ability to put on a honest and capable front loader, and a lot more room for expansion down the road. Also consider the Kubota BX series. These SCUTs mow pretty good from what I have seen, and are not so large that they get cumbersome.
If ground clearance ever would become a factor when venturing off the lawn and driveway, maybe consider a Deere 2-series or equivalent. But then you have a machine that's too big for mowing small areas. And you'll start to arrive at my solution, which is a dedicated 2WD mower and a larger 4WD tractor. I think a lot of people here have the same or similar solution.
So X700 series and 4WD is your entry point in my opinion. I hope that helps. Good luck!
