Tractor Sizing TRACTOR WEIGHT as ONE (1) CRITERION in TRACTOR SELECTION

[cathy liebchen]

OP is asking about sub $20K machines. You're pushing one closer to $40K. Are you offering to pay the difference?

You seem to do this a lot. It's like you don't even read the threads before you advertise for orange.

the thread was about whether the OP would buy enough tractor, getting a huge one is an easy solution to that. If they are budget constrained, just buy the heaviest you can afford with a good dealer nearby. The cost is just a sunk cost, you get that back on any resale. And Kubota is an easy recommendation since no one ever says they regret choosing that brand, you sure hear that about the others

 

[MechanicalGuy]

the thread was about whether the OP would buy enough tractor, getting a huge one is an easy solution to that. If they are budget constrained, just buy the heaviest you can afford with a good dealer nearby. The cost is just a sunk cost, you get that back on any resale. And Kubota is an easy recommendation since no one ever says they regret choosing that brand, you sure hear that about the others

Not bad points at all.

Buying a more expensive machine that says Kubota only means you have more tied up in it while you have it. If you sell it in the future, you'll likely get a great percentage back. You can't assume that with all brands.

 

[jeff9366]

Bare tractors are designed with a standard weight distribution of 40% front, 60% rear.

Add a Front End Loader and the weight distribution becomes 50% front, 50% rear. (+/-)

Fill the bucket and the weight moves forward, leveraged by low-forward position of a laden bucket.
Could be 60% front, 40% rear. (Tractor wheelbase affects weight distribution.)

Traction is reduced because weight has transferred away from the driving, heavy tread rear wheels.
(Hence the need for liquid rear tire ballast or iron wheel weights.)

Rear wheels may or may not lift from the ground at this moment, but they will certainly be "light" if bucket payload is wet.

Green tree trunk sections and laden pallets on pallet forks are often heavier than wet bucket loads. Laden pallets protrude forward. Weight distribution could be 70% front, 30% rear. Rear wheels will lift.

Suffecient Three Point Hitch counterbalance restores weight distribution to 40% front, 60% rear. (+/-)

Too much rear weight and the tractor front will lift when you move up a slope with the bucket empty.

 

[jeff9366]

The LS dealer, Hobby Tractor, is 242 mile north of where I will be in Utah.

If something goes wrong, and many, many neophyte tractor operators prang their tractors in the first year, delivering the tractor for dealer service will require a 484 mile round trip and a second 484 mile round trip to retrieve tractor after service, 968 total miles. If you trailer the tractor your cost has to be at least $1.00 per mile plus hotels plus food. If the dealer trailers the tractor your transportation cost will be $2.00 per mile.

A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most new tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction, often safety/cutout switches which require adjustment to operator weight. My kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after seven years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

If something goes wrong, and many, many neophyte tractor operators prang their tractors in the first year, those that have Kubota's KTAC insurance are grateful. My Kubota is six years old and has 1,700 engine hours. I maintain KTAC insurance. Except for fueling and greasing my dealer does service. This is my third tractor, second new Kubota. I am age 72.

I have shopped LS at the SE Ag Expo and consider LS a good competitor to Kubota but dealer quality and dealer proximity are especially important to tractor neophytes.

 

[Arctic Taco]

Correct info, buy enough tractor, do not fall into the ‘don’t buy too much tractor’ trap set by tractor salesman which equals them making 2 or more sales.

 

[tradosaurus]

Correct info, buy enough tractor, do not fall into the ‘don’t buy too much tractor’ trap set by tractor salesman which equals them making 2 or more sales.

That is true for me. Because most of my work is in and among trees I had to be careful to choose a tractor that couldn't maneuver among trees or might get stuck because of weight. Looking back I think I could have gone with a MX5200 instead of the L3301. Anything heavier and bigger might be problematic. I did get a 10,000 lb skid steer stuck up to the top of the treads on my property before I bought my tractor.

 

[Trillium Farm]

For those who work in wood lots or restricted spaces, why not consider orchard or vineyard tractors, same hp as the bigger brethren, but much lower in profile and more maneuverable.
Are salespeople not offering this type of tractor?

 

[jeff9366]

My career was spent in the wine industry.

At my last winery we had four Deere O&V tractors and two standard Deere tractors with Loaders, one with a Backhoe, on our three largest vineyards.

O & V tractors have high volume hydraulic pumps, often ten to twenty times the pumping power of a standard tractor of same weight, to power powerful spray rigs. Grapes are sprayed two to four rows at a time. Engines had 100+ horsepower.

Vineyard and orchard tractors are a low volume category high in price considering weight/$$ or HP/$$.

Twenty years ago no Deere O&V tractor could be ordered with an FEL.

 

[jeff9366]

WORKING DRAFT (7.47)​

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Tractor capability is more closely correlated to tractor weight than any other specification.

The most efficient way to shop for tractors is to first identify potential tractor applications, then, through consulataton, establish bare tractor weight necessary to safely accomplish your applications. Tractor dealers, experienced tractor owners and TractorByNet.com are sources for weight recommendations.

Bare tractor weight is a fundamental tractor specification easily found in sales brochures and web sites, readily comparable across tractor brands and tractor models, new and used. Shop your weight range within tractor brands. Budget will eliminate some choices. Collect a dealer brochure for each tractor model in your weight range.

I spreadsheet tractor and implement specs, often a revealing exercise which cuts through specification clutter. I have a column for cost per pound.

Selling a used tractor is easy. Selling multiple light implements in order to buy heavier, wider implements for a new, heavier tractor requires a lot of time. Depreciation on implements is worse than depreciation on a tractor.

A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most new tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction. My kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after eight years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR.​

Neophyte tractor operators are often intimidated by instability of tractors with small front wheels and large rear wheels, therefore frequently purchase tractors too light, too small for long term satisfaction. ((Tractors seem to shrink after about twenty hours of operating experience.)) Within subcompact and compact tractor categories, a significant tractor capability increase requires a bare tractor weight increase of 50%. It takes a 100% increase in bare tractor weight to elicit MY-OH-MY!

Subcompact and compact tractors under 3,000 pounds bare weight operate in landscape, kitchen/commercial garden or hobby farm applications on one to ten flat acres.

Tractors are inherently unstable operating on sloped ground. Tractor rear wheel/tire spread, sometimes adjustable, is a critical factor increasing compact tractor stability working sloped or uneven ground. A 6" to 10" wider rear axle substantially decreases tractor rollover potential.

When considering a tractor purchase, bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.

 

[RickB]

After 2-1/2 months? Really?