Buying Advice First Tractor purchase advice

[jgiannini]

32 inches of snow, one ATV.

 

[CobaltSky]

You might rent a bigger tractor for a day/weekend and see how it works out. That would give you a good sense of what you need and feel comfortable with.

An idea I have been toying with: My father in law in Calhan doesn't have a trailer yet, but I was considering renting one or helping him buy one. Then borrowing his 50hp M series for a weekend with his 6' bush hog and testing out a bigger tractor on our land...

 

[CobaltSky]

32 inches of snow, one ATV.View attachment 460269

Nice! I grew up in NE PA and don't recall too many blue sky days like that in winter. You were very lucky to have such a nice day to clear all that snow. I bet it was a lot wetter and heavier than we get here too.

 

[jgiannini]

It wasn't easy getting started CobaltSky, took a few hours.

 

[DK35vince]

Someone asked what you need 35+ HP for. The answer is snow. 800ft of drive and half a mile of road is impossible with a SCUT. Period. There is no way a SCUT is going to clear a 18+ inches of drifted snow off that length of road before the spring thaw does. 35HP is nearly impossible, it will take you all day. I really struggled the say my road drifted over with about 2 ft. of snow. In fact it took the neighboring farmer's 300HP JD Row Crop tractor with a front blade to really clear it. (that was the day I realized that I would never have enough tractor). The only time I max out the tractor is in the snow. 4WD, LO, Diff lock, going in reverse there are times I'm still sliding. Loading the tires would help, but not a solution. With 35HP you could at least conceivably get out and clear the road. A bigger tractor makes it go quicker. Here weight is way more important that HP, so look at that.

Loading the rear tires on my 35 HP tractor helped very little for snow plowing.
Chains make a HUGE difference.
Before chains my 35 HP tractor with loaded R-4's struggled to get out of its own way trying to push snow..
I now run chains on all 4 and with a 9' power angle snow plow can push some snow. (we have a 650' driveway that drifts)
Between the 9' blade on the front and a snow blower on the rear. I think my 35 HP tractor could handle that driveway and roadway with little problem.

 

[TJP89]

Tony, Cobalt's responsibility is for 800 feet of driveway. Then there is 1.5 miles of community dirt road that every house on that road is responsible for.

Correct. Now I think the OP said he works from home, so this may not be a problem for him, but I have to get to work most every day. If we get a foot plus of snow it doesn't help beans if I clear the driveway and the road is still snowed in. I'm still not going anywhere. So clearing the driveway is great, but sometimes the capability needs too exist so he can clear the road if needed. That said, he shouldn't make the road his primary concern.

Also, 800ft of drive is still a lot. If he gets say, 12-18" of snow (which isn't unreasonable for his area), and then it drifts overnight with the wind, a SCUT isn't going to do squat. Even most CUTs will struggle with that. IMO a SCUT is WAY to small. SCUTs have their place, this isn't it.

 

[airbiscuit]

An idea I have been toying with: My father in law in Calhan doesn't have a trailer yet, but I was considering renting one or helping him buy one. Then borrowing his 50hp M series for a weekend with his 6' bush hog and testing out a bigger tractor on our land...

How many miles is that one way? Have you operated his tractor before?

 

[CobaltSky]

Peyton (zip 80831), Colorado, gets 19 inches of rain per year. The US average is 37. Snowfall is 86 inches. The average US city gets 25 inches of snow per year

80831 is kind of a large oddly shaped zip code. I'd say our area of that zip gets above average precipitation. When we have one foot drifts still on the ground, I can drive 2-3 miles south, drop 600ft in elevation and see no snow on the ground. We are on the high ground in the far north of this zip code
The evidence that we get more precip than the rest of the area is our abundance of trees. The rest of Peyton zip is lower, and flatter and no trees unless someone planted them.

Now my neighbors and relatives in the Calhan are up on a plateau where they installed a wind farm. It is flatter and less treed there too. They get less snow too that doesn't stick around as long. These trees and gullies seem to catch and hold snow. It hasn't snowed since the first week of February here, and it have been unseasonably warm and sunny, I mean gorgeous, since then, and we still have some snow patches on our property where the drifts were shaded by trees a bit.

I won't mind spending a little more time to do tasks like mowing or snow removal than I would if I had a big tractor, but I just want to make sure I CAN do them, especially in regard to the snow.

And oh, I know I will need chains. I have seen 3 trucks get stuck in our driveway this winter and have to chain up, and the first thing the neighbor does in late fall is get the blade and chains on his skid.

 

[CobaltSky]

How many miles is that one way? Have you operated his tractor before?

26 miles. About 40 min by car. Yes I have operated his tractor, but just loader work so far.
He has a 6' heavy duty rotary cutter, 6' rear blade, 4000lb pallet forks, post hole digger. It is in use all the time, so it might be a struggle to get it for a whole weekend.

 

[airbiscuit]

I was thinking you could drive it that far.......