Tractors in the suburbs vs acreage

[Sprinklerman]

This site has some great info , seems to me most of those on this site have some acreage or live in the country , and have a actual need for a tractor on their property . I live on a 1/2 suburban lot between Baltimore and Annapolis . There are some larger properties , but they are few . My shop is on 7 acres surrounded by McMansions . Lucky for me those neighbors are pretty cool. I do irrigation for the rich people . But I stumbled on a Kubota BX 24 cheap , I have been doing more and more work with it due to its small size and the fact its so small. After a while I figured out why , all the "landscapers" had skid steers they would do more damage to existing lawns . I had a skid steer for snow and work , but I didnt use it much for the same reason. So I sold it and picked up my 35 hp New Holland. Within 3 weeks of buying it , I had work for it from some landscapers . They need me to use the rotary cutter , they cant afford one or their skid steers cant handle one. Not many contractors around me have tractors . I was wondering how many more on here live in the burbs , but run tractors.


I live in a yuppie neighborhood , I like to get on their nerves at times , one weekend I was driving for a friend and had a tandem dump in my drive , had a heating oil truck for a week , and a old military 6 by 6 . My boys and the neighbors boys thought they were pretty cool . I bring my tractors home for the same reason . Next Is a friends dirt track car

 

[Farmall45b]

1/4 acre lot at my parent's house and I am replacing my B2320 with a B2650HSDC. I do a lot of snow removal on residential driveways and volunteer my time maintaining 10 acres of county owned dog park.

 

[MossRoad]

We have 20 acres of tree farm about 9 miles from us. We live on 1 acre. Our machine mows our lawn just fine with its 60" deck. Also plows our driveway well. And hauls mulch. Yet its also capable of hauling logs out of the woods on the tree farm, running a brush hog, etc.... no one ever gives it a second look. But then again, pretty much everyone here does their own yard work. Its not a "show" neighborhood. :laughing:

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm on 1.5 acres but pretty much rural. There are a few neighbors and a lot of forest around me. My trick is not to have a trailer handy or my tractor will wander. Enough jealous neighbors and a few bro-in-laws living just a little too close if it could travel!

 

[bigbull338]

the truth is theres more compact tractors in the burbs and small acreage owners than farmers here.the is theres some knowlage here regardless of what people are here.

 

[coldfingers]

I'm just on a 1/2 acre lot on the edge of town also, have two bigger driveways to keep clean and cut and haul wood home to sell at a campground down the road. At 61 its nice finally to be warm when cleaning snow in the dark!

 

[tractchores]

I'm on 5 acres, but within 30 miles of Boston. Most of my neighbors don't have tractors (except the horse farms and there are several of those). Luckily we are spaced out enough that I doubt I bother anyone and I find plenty of work on my property. I have a couple other properties, one on .5 acres and the other on .25 acres, there really isn't a need for a tractor at those and if I do any work over there its digging up a utility line or something like that with the BH. I have another 8 acre property, which is vacant land and the tractor is good for keeping the field clear over there and doing periodic work, but again I don't use it that much.

I think in the burbs its more about what you do. If you have lots of projects (I do), then you get a lot of tractor usage. If you don't then it becomes more of a big lawnmower / snow removal machine and maybe a wood hauler if you do firewood. I'd find it hard to justify a tractor just for those tasks, but sometimes its just fun!

It's also a great way to make a LOT of friends quickly haha

 

[MyBX25d]

I'm on 1.5 acres but pretty much rural. There are a few neighbors and a lot of forest around me. My trick is not to have a trailer handy or my tractor will wander. Enough jealous neighbors and a few bro-in-laws living just a little too close if it could travel!

Couldn't Click Bond keep it from wandering?

 

[dragoneggs]

Couldn't Click Bond keep it from wandering?

Well now that you mention it... here are a couple Click Bond tie down fittings. No drilling, welding required!

 

[xzcVAbc5]

I live in a small rural town in KS on two city lots. I haven't measured it, but it might be 200' x 200' or so. I bought a lightly used 6 month old BX25D just a few days before Thanksgiving. For me I wanted to do tilling in my garden, remove snow, maintain the alley and my driveway (all gravel). I also got pallet forks which are pretty handy for picking up heavy stuff and putting in my truck. So far I've only put about 2 hours on it mostly on driveway and alley maintenance right before winter. We haven't had much snow so far.

In addition to the stuff around my house I plan to use it out at my parents house (they have 80 acres a little over a mile from my house) to do projects and clean up the fence lines. There are also some decent sized gardens that need tilled out there. My brother in law and I have been wanting to clean up one section of fence to get a pistol range set up along with a short rifle range. It might end up being 150 yards or so when we're done.

At my sister and brother-in-law's house I envision doing some land leveling for a shed and helping them with their landscaping. They live around 60 miles away.

If I was just buying a tractor to do stuff at my own house only I would have bought an older one without the backhoe and saved the money. Since my family lives so close and has some land I spent the extra money and got a newer tractor and the backhoe.