Buying Advice First time on 5 acres - tractor selection?

   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #11  
How useful would the backhoe be on an ongoing basis? (I've heard that they are small enough to be not so useful.)

This is a long running and sometimes bitter debate here. There is no one single right or wrong answer. Check around. If you have a rental place close by that will always have a BH available when YOU want it at a price you're willing to pay and YOU have the means to transport it at your will, then you may not want to buy one. If none of that is true, get one and see for yourself how useful it can be.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #12  
This is a long running and sometimes bitter debate here. There is no one single right or wrong answer. Check around. If you have a rental place close by that will always have a BH available when YOU want it at a price you're willing to pay and YOU have the means to transport it at your will, then you may not want to buy one. If none of that is true, get one and see for yourself how useful it can be.

^^^^^YEP !!!
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #13  
I've got ten acres and been using a Mitsubishi D2350 for about fifteen years - it's now about 45 years old. It's a grey market tractor and getting harder to source parts. I could have picked up a newer grey market tractor from Tractorco (branch in North Bend). The Mitsubishi has been a very reliable tractor but I'm concerned about finding parts. I purchased a new Kubota L2501. It's a lot like my old Mitsubishi - even the controls are in the same places. At just under 25 horsepower (24.8) there is no computer and no add ons. It's a very basic tractor which nicely fills my needs. I'm in the process of accessorizing it.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection?
  • Thread Starter
#14  
Thanks for the input, everyone. I was wondering if I should consider the New Holland Workmaster 25 as well? How does it stack up against the B and L Kubotas?
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #15  
Welcome from Kitsap County. You have a nice looking place, lots of potential. I have 4 tractors without a cab, in our climate it is not worth it unless as you are making hay or something dusty. We just do not have enough hot or cold days. A lid attached to the ROPS is more than adequate in my opinion. As for size on your property, I would look for a used or new economy Kubota L series. A backhoe is handy, I have one, but if you are just getting started I would skip it and rent the few times you need it. An FEL and Grapple are a must. Forks are good, bucket good, ratchet rake good, brush hog a must. Those Himalayan berries can be tamed with a Grapple and burning and then maintained with a brush hog.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #16  
Thanks for the input, everyone. I was wondering if I should consider the New Holland Workmaster 25 as well?

If you're going to do that, look at the LS MT125 also. Exactly the same machine, lighter shade of blue and priced lower. LS makes the WM line for NH.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #17  
I agree with a lot of the answers, a 25 hp machine would be a good size. I live on 3 acres. I own a Deere 2025r with an end loader, a 6’ rear blade, pallet forks and a 60” mid mount mower. I also own a lawn roller, a 3 point fertilizer spreader and a 4’ brush hog. I have lived here 22 years and yes, you will want a tractor. I owned a Kubota BX for 10 years but wanted something a little larger.

I often wish I had a backhoe but they add a lot to the cost. So far I have not needed to rent one.

Two things that have not been discussed, budget and a mid mount mower.

I would budget $20,000 to $25,000, it would be easy to spend more. Less if you buy used.

A mid mount mower? Have not see anyone bring it up. They make a tractor kind of like a riding mower. If there is a lot of stuff to mow around, they will work great. The bad, they add quite a bit of cost, around $2000, and they can be in the way for other tractor work. One reason I bought a John Deere was the auto connect deck. The mower goes off and on easy. You need to figure out how much yard you want to finish mow. You might get buy with a cheap riding mower or even a push mower if it is a small area.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #18  
I wouldn’t be without a backhoe for my tractor! However this depends on You and what type of projects you will get into once you realize what one can do. The cost of rentals adds up and the inconvenience of having multiple things started so you can justify the rental time also adds to frustration and makes some projects less likely to ever get done.
Most of my neighbors that have tractors were in the same thought process of rent instead of buy, they have practically paid for my backhoe over the years with a steady stream of odd projects that they had to go rent or pay me to come do for them.
One neighbor who I did a little work for yesterday has paid me over 2500 for work done and still has more to go over the next few years. He honestly would have been able to buy a hoe, do all his work then sell it and lost less with depreciation.

Understand that I can not say if a hoe is right for you or others but it is something that you must look at very closely before you decide because sometimes it’s not as simple as renting costs less.


Looking at the picture of property you posted. Unless you plan on filling the property with obstacles I would NEVER even consider a belly mower on a tractor of any size. With open property like pictured a rear discharge finish mower is the way to go. You will find it will cut faster gets just as close to the few obstacles you have and in most cases closer and in most cases you will be able to go with a much wider mower cutting down on cut time even more.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #19  
It sounds to me like you could skip the backhoe attachment. They are expensive, heavy, and a pain in the 3-point to put on, remove and store when not in use. Having a flat, level paved area to set it on when storing it off the tractor will help, but then that is taking up valuable space while just sitting there gathering dust.

You mentioned "sheep" and feeding hay. The biggest question I have for you is what kind of bales are you going to be working with? Round bales? Square bales, large or small? If your source for hay only comes in large (read *heavy*) round bales, then you are not looking at near big enough tractors to handle moving large round bales. If you're going for small square bales, are you confident you have a reliable source provider for these small square bales? Most Ag's around here don't/won't produce small squares because it's not worth their time. So it's normally large round bales being produced and sold here. The key will be finding a reliable hay producing source that is willing to put up small square bales every year. Do you have a space to put up square bales under cover, out of rain/snow, etc?

For a mower, a belly mower will drastically reduce the amount of ground clearance your tractor has while it's on. Yes they can be taken on and off, but on most designs, it is not super simple or easy. Not near as bad as taking on and off a backhoe, but it may make you not take it off maybe every time you should, or hesitate to put it back on when you kind of need it. And a belly mower won't take much abuse from heavy brush or rocks or other small debris that a true rear mounted brush hog style cutter will breeze over and take in stride.

A brush hog style mower will not give you a park or golf course like cut appearance like a finish mower will. But for pasture work, they are more robust and will take the occasional rock (and brush cutting) in stride where a finish mower may blow it's guts out on you. The cutting blades on a brush cutter spin slower, are larger/thicker/heavier and they are also dull (on purpose) for chopping and hacking, not truly slice cutting the grass like a knife blade.

A finish mower is made for cutting grass, and that's it. They won't tolerate brush cutting for long (or very large brush at all), and they don't take impacts well with uneven ground or rocks and other debris. The blades are smaller, thinner, lighter and they are sharp like a regular lawn mower blade. They do require sharpening from time to time as they dull from normal use. They also spin at a much higher speed. All this is what gives them that park like clean finishing cut, but it does make them much more prone to damage from foreign objects.

Hanging a 3 point hitch style rear mower, either finish or brush, off the back of your tractor will make it hard to maneuver around obstacles, buildings, cars, etc while you're mowing. A belly mower would be easier to mow around obstacles with, but it will still be difficult to get close to walls, sprinklers, flower beds, etc. You'll need some kind of secondary mower for getting around "stuff" in your yard and around the house. Either a push mower, or a riding mower will be needed, as well as some kind of string trimmer/weed eater for getting the last finish work done.

We're just under 4 acres here presently, but I mow about 6 acres (neighbor's pasture too). I mow all the pasture area, road ditches and rough places with the 3 pt rear brush hog mower. And I mow the "lawn" areas around our house and out buildings with a plain old riding lawn mower. I also use a string trimmer around the house, trees, fence and flower beds that are immediately around the house and back yard. I don't worry about trimming around the out buildings, lean to, or pasture fencing.
 
   / First time on 5 acres - tractor selection? #20  
Forget about mowing 1/6 of an acre with a tractor. Waste of money and a pain to remove/attach mower deck. Get a lawnmower for that. Even a rider is overkill.

Nothing you have mentioned would justify the cost of a backhoe IMHO. Use the savings for a better machine and implements

Tractors will handle snow with the right implements. I have done a decent job with a back blade and FEL. This year I am going with a front blade and snowblower...but I get 135 inches of snow a year. For a few years, I used a beater pickup with a plow....a good option if you have space to push snow...much faster than using a tractor...can be used for hauling all sorts of stuff...about the same cost as a blower on a tractor....heated cab and wipers. Think about it. Cab and blower on a tractor adds about $8000+


As mentioned, hay can be heavy if using large round bales. Look at loader capacity....be wary of specs at the pins...your load will be well beyond the pins and that reduces lift capacity. Buying square bales will be more costly, but allow use of a smaller tractor.

Lastly, storage. I like my tractor and implements indoors or at least under cover. A carport 20x21 and 9 ft high is under $2000 installed in my area. Good option to get you started. It can be enclosed later when funds are available. You want it high enough to take a large enough door to drive the tractor in if you ever enclose it.
 

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