Buying Advice Tractor I need vs tractor I want.

[desertdog71]

Yeah, its another one of those posts.

I'm a tractor virgin and recently purchased some land. 10.3 AC of thistles, cedar, some sort of natural razor wire and groves of saplings of assorted flavors and spikyness.

The plan is to clear some of the nasty brush (I rented and got some of that done already) maintain the property, drag the driveway and my wife insists on a mid deck mower since I travel a lot and she has some inner ear issues that would make a 3pt finish mower more difficult for her to work with.

Long term what I need is probably just a 25hp sub compact. It will do most of what we need. Short term I need to cut a driveway, level a build site, dig septic and water lines, etc. I think it's probably better to hire those jobs out or rent equipment more suited for those jobs.

Any man will of course want bigger, badder, and more power. So part of me wants to go big and buy a riding mower. Maybe some of those jobs could be handled by a bigger toy. Once you spend the first $20K or so a few more thousand seems to go a long way.

Logic tells me just buy a baby tractor because all I'm going to do is mow, Bush hog, and drag a driveway (once everything is established.)

So with logic guiding me and looking to save a few bucks. I'm looking at LS MT125, Branson 2510, MF GC1725. The big 2 tend to want a few thousand more for basically the same machine. I'm not needing a Lexus when a Hyundai will get the job done.

So let's hear some wisdom.

 

[jeff9366]

I'm a tractor virgin and recently purchased some land. 10.3 AC of thistles, cedar, some sort of natural razor wire and groves of saplings of assorted flavors and spikyness.

My wife insists on a mid deck mower since I travel a lot and she has some inner ear issues that would make a 3pt finish mower more difficult for her to work with.

Long term what I need is probably just a 25hp sub compact. It will do most of what we need.


Logic tells me just buy a baby tractor because all I'm going to do is mow, Bush hog, and drag a driveway (once everything is established.)

We really need to know how you intend to use your land by segment. Your wife's need for a MMM limits you to a tractor with 3" of ground clearance with MMM mounted and 7" to 9" of ground clearance with MMM removed. Will this be as much as 1-1/2 acres of your 10-1/3 acres?

Here is a mowing calculator, so you can determine approximate mowing times. Mowing smooth ground may allow a speed of four to five mph. Rough ground less speed. Small wheels and small tires and only air in tires for suspension (no springs, no shock absorbers) means a very rough ride over rough ground. Rough ground means a WIDE MMM will scalp occasionally.

How tough is your soil? What about slopes/hillocks?

Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

 

[fatjay]

Buy a tractor for every need. Snow tractor, now tractor, bucket tractor, back blade tractor. Tractors are fun. Then if one breaks you can do other stuff with other machines. Then you can fix it yourself. My Ferguson can pull a house down, it runs the back blade and clears brush with ease. Bobcat moves dirt and lifts pallets, zero turn mows, kubota has 50” snow blower, backhoe uproots trees and concrete. And I could have any one of them running in 20min or less. I paid less than 10k for all my machines.

 

[Diggin It]

Long term what I need is probably just a 25hp sub compact. It will do most of what we need. Short term I need to cut a driveway, level a build site, dig septic and water lines, etc. I think it's probably better to hire those jobs out or rent equipment more suited for those jobs.


Logic tells me just buy a baby tractor because all I'm going to do is mow, Bush hog, and drag a driveway (once everything is established.)

So with logic guiding me and looking to save a few bucks. I'm looking at LS MT125,

While a 125 will do a lot, I don't think you'll be happy trying to do those tasks with it. It will be better for some of the lesser tasks after the big work is done, but I'm not sure it'll be sufficient for 10 acres. LS has a few options in the next couple of size steps.

 

[whistlepig]

Pick the implement requiring the most power required to use and then back the tractor into it. Although I use my tractor for many things running a bush hog puts the greatest load on it. The possibility of buying to big or too small could be equally unpleasant.

 

[GeneV]

I'll say this, with that much land, unless you hire out for all your landscaping, you're gonna at least want a scut with a loader for general stuff like hauling this there and that here. And of course, you could mow with a scut, plow with it, all that stuff. Having a backhoe on a scut is nice as well, you'll definitely find uses for it.

However, as far as doing big projects with a scut, well, how much time you got? Per your post, you travel lots, so... If I was you I'd either rent or hire out for that sorta stuff.

 

[Carl_NH]

So you are building a new house/garage on these 10 Acres - as others have stated, will you have 6- 8 ac to mow/maintain or 2-3? Also it seems you understand - "get the big stuff done - foundation/excavation, and water/sewer/grading" by a contractor which is a good approach.

So if this is the goal, and you will need a unit to plant shrubs and trees/maintain/mow a few acres, and the driveway you are on the right path.

If I were you I would look around for low hour used machine, that has a FEL,BH, MM Mower, (like a Kubota BX) and hope you get some seat time with all your travel. If you only plan to have 2-3 acres a riding mower, and a little bigger tractor may be a better solution once you get the house built.

 

[desertdog71]

Probably 2-3 AC of lawn. Some trails. Keep the rest knocked down a few times a year most likely. Its hard to say exactly, I can hardly see what I have until I get it all cut back some. I'll have a garden or greenhouse most likely. I don't think I need a backhoe, I can rent vs paying $5-8 grand extra for one of those.

I guess the real question is if a larger tractor can do excavation type work and have value on the front end? I kind of doubt that they're made for doing much earthwork. So that's why I'm thinking small is fine.

Yes I travel a lot, I'm gone 16 days then home for 2 weeks. I have tons of time on my hands for projects. I'm somewhat mechanically inclined but I have no desire to wrench on machines non stop to keep them running. I'm beyond that part of my life. I want to fish and drink bourbon, not work on machinery.

Soil, I have no clue. I suspect it has some clay and shale and whatever else. It's mine spoils from 100 years ago when they strip mined coal in that area of Kansas. I bought it because I have a private strip pit to fish ans explore right out my soon to be back door. Always a dream of mine.

 

[Granthol]

If you mean excavation, moving a few inches a soil around, yes what you are looking at is fine. If you mean digging a foundation, you need a dozer or at least a skid steer.

 

[PsRumors]

I have 5 acres and was always amazed at what I could accomplish with my 1025r loader, backhoe and mmm. After several years I realized mowing was very slow and bought a zero turn, wish I had initially invested the mmm money in the zero turn. Then as time went on I found the stuff the 1025r couldn't do, lift capacity, digging depth, etc so I sold it and bought a used 4700 loader backhoe and am getting the stuff done I couldn't.

With 10 acres you'll want bigger than a SCUT, sooner or later. The backhoe is indispensable. I hehawed around about it but now wouldnt be without it.