Buying Advice Help me find a tractor to manage my 40 wooded acres

[newbury]

<snip>
Subcompact:
Kubota BX1870, John Deere 1023E, TYM 234

Compact:
Kubota L2501, John Deere 3032e, TYM 354

Probably out of my price range, but

Kubota L3301, John Deere 3033R
<snip>

Nothing smaller than the L3301.

Now, for my questions:
- Is a subcompact tractor adequate for a grapple (assuming a lightweight one like the EA)?

Marginal for your uses.

- I know the JD tractors I mentioned don't have the 3rd function hydraulics needed for the grapple. It's an extra cost to add it. What about Kubota or TYM?
- Filled tires or no?
- R1 or R4 tires?
- I prefer the HST transmission. Any drawbacks to them besides price?
- Is my 1/2 ton truck ok for pulling an 18 trailer with a heavier tractor on it?
- Any other advice for my situation?

-optional
-filled
-Ag
-no
-maybe
-buy used and bigger

All things said, I wouldn't go less than 30hp, unless you can find a good Kubota, Ford or JD CUT from the late 80's or 90's. Don't be scared of a shuttle shift, or gear shift. I've had both HST and gear, and SCUT and CUT. I wouldn't recommend a SCUT for your application. With my last tractor; HST 24hp New Holland, I could maneuver faster, but I get work done twice as fast with my 27hp gear shift Ford 1715 simply due to more weight, larger bucket and brute force (in comparison).

Have fun tractor shopping!

Chris

What he wrote.

Look used.

Here's a 50HP Kubota w/ 1400 hrs, FEL, dual rear remotes, Cat 2 3pt, canopy.

price I paid was about $12,000 at a local public service auction.

Since the date on the photo I've had to replace the 2 front tires, about 5 hydraulic lines (< $300), rebuild 1 FEL cylinder ($50).

I could have gotten a slightly less capable but newer Kubota from Barlow's for $16K.

We are far from "40 acres and a mule".

I just checked the Dallas CL.

KUBOTA M4900 55HP 4X4 TRACTOR/ QT LDR/ SHUTTLE/ REMOTES/ LOW HRS/ NICE - $19500 (COOKVILLE)
2003 KUBOTA M4900, 55HP 5CYL DIESEL, FOUR WHEEL DRIVE,
KUBOTA LA1002 Q-TACH LOADER, QT BUCKET, JOYSTICK
CONTROL, 8FOR/ 8REV MECH SHUTTLE TRANS, 3POINT HOOK-
UPS, 540 IND. PTO, POWER STEERING, BRUSH GUARD, GOOD
TIRES, REAR ARE LIQUID FILLED, REMOTES, FOLDDOWN ROPS,
CLEAN TRACTOR, STARTS AND RUNS GREAT

And there are probably plenty of other bargains out there.

Tractors are not that hard to maintain.

 

[motownbrowne]

Just want to reiterate that the 2501 isn't smaller than the 3301. Just missing some horsepower.

 

[sd455dan]

may take some flack for this -But
imo Any subcompact used in the woods when it gets wet out, just don't have the ground clearance, tire size, traction, power and weight needed for the size, type of property and use listed.
Agree with newbury above that a minimum of 45 hp 4x utility tractor with AG tires -with a 50-55 hp version being more optimal and that a good used utility or large framed CUT tractor is a better choice than a new SCUT.
my :2cents:


ps some other used 4x FEL tractors on a short list I would consider -
Kioti DK 45-55,
Mahindra 30 series
Ford 3910- 4630
JD 5000 series

 

[AllenArmory]

Thanks for all the responses, everyone! To answer some of your questions:

I'm mainly looking for new models since I'm short of cash on hand. I have about $10K cash to spend, but can budget $5K/year over the next 4 years. I'm not broke, but don't have DW's approval to take from our joint account so I have to finance it from my own pocket. New tractors these days can be had with 0%/60mo financing. Yes, I know I'll end up really paying about 3% due to the difference between cash vs. financing, additional fees, etc. Financing a used tractor can be higher than this, up to 10% in some cases. In addition, I'm not a very good mechanic and want something that will work for the next 4-5 years without major maintenance. I figure it would take me about 4-5 years to get most of the clearing done.

The trees I'm looking to cut and clear are 4" diameter and under, however I've had larger trees that have fallen that are up to 20" diameter. The bigger trees would be cut into smaller chunks before moving. Mostly, I'm cutting a lot of cedar trees and brush.

My truck is a Ram 1500 4x4. Tow capacity is rated at 10K pounds. I have towed a 6000lb camper without any issue. I don't have a trailer for the tractor but I'm able to borrow one. The tractors I'm looking at are around 3000lbs, but I don't know how much weight filled tires will add, plus the weight from loader, brush hog, box blade, the trailer itself, etc.

Thanks,
AllenArmory

 

[sd455dan]

rescind my list- if you have the need to tow with a hard limit of total weight of tractor trailer implements under 10k.

Since the trees are smaller than i pictured a smaller machine may be the ticket,.

Last fall in our area there were some great deals on new old stock Yanmars that would have fit your weight,power, and $ new tractor needs.

 

[AllenArmory]

Excluding the sub-compacts, I've narrowed it down to the following if I stay within my budget of $20K, since this gives me some room to buy implements:

John Deere 3032E (31hp) + loader for $17.5K. Dealership is 20 minutes away.
Kubota L2501HST (25hp) + loader for $19K. Dealership is 15 minutes away.
TYM T345HST (35hp) + loader for $19K. Dealership is 1 hour from my property if service is needed.

How would you rank these if you had to choose? What others should I include in this group?

 

[AllenArmory]

FYI, the 3032E has a retail $3200 discount going on until Feb 28th, which is why the price is so good right now.

 

[nybirdman]

Of those three the L2501 HST would be my choice.Equipt with R1's(Ags) and away you go.No tier 4 to deal with new tractor,close dealer.Not a fan of the small JD(I have several of their mowers),TYM more HP but don't know about down the road.
We used to do what you are talking about with 2WD Ford 8N's and 9N's.
We have a L3000 gear tractor for a wood's tractor and it is a beast,amazing what it will pull.

 

[newbury]

Excluding the sub-compacts, I've narrowed it down to the following if I stay within my budget of $20K, since this gives me some room to buy implements:

John Deere 3032E (31hp) + loader for $17.5K. Dealership is 20 minutes away.
Kubota L2501HST (25hp) + loader for $19K. Dealership is 15 minutes away.
TYM T345HST (35hp) + loader for $19K. Dealership is 1 hour from my property if service is needed.

How would you rank these if you had to choose? What others should I include in this group?

List on the Kubota seems to be about $21K.
Knowing nothing about the Deere or TYM I would rank them
TYM
Deere
Kubota

My Kubota B7610 is 23HP and it is a real struggle with 20" logs 10' long. That's why I bought the M4700.

 

[s219]

The Deere 3032E is one of their economy models and not as good of a choice (despite the price). It's got an aluminum rear end, lighter weight, etc.