Upgrade to Cab Tractor for 75 acres

[MickeyDBC]

We have 86 acres in Dime Box which is pretty central. Went with a Kioti 7320 cab model, thought about going bigger but after all of the problems I had with my Ram truck in DEF I stayed under 75HP. We still mow about 25 acres of orchard because the trees are too small to defend themselves from the cows (what I am doing today), use it like a fork lift, augering tree and post holes, pulling a water wagon, etc.. I have a 10.5' foot Shulte 3 point mower that I have a love/hate relationship with. pretty indestructible but I am going to eventually replace it with a 12 or 15 foot batwing mower. We will eventually need a second tractor, so I think I am going to try to get something like an older Deere 4320 or the like - something pre-emissions. I have had the Kioti for almost 3 years, did the 400 hour oil change this morning, everything works and it gets good fuel economy. Good luck and enjoy this cooler weather.

 

[hdmyers]

Thanks for the nice reply and congratulations on the nice piece of property and tractor.

It is always nice when a new member's first post is helpful to answer a post on the forum. Please keep an eye on this thread and appreciate any further information you can share with me.

Yes, I am looking to buy new as there have been so many changes to tractors in the last 20 years since mine was purchased.

I purchased my Kubota in 1999 and had no idea that a Cab would be such a necessity on these hot Texas summer days.

Over the years, I have become dependent on the tractor for all operations on the farm. The pallet jacks have unloaded countless pallets of feed, seed, and materials. Those over 2000 pounds usually required me to unload a lot of the load by hand, so have wished for a loader that could handle 3500-4000 pounds.

Unloading hay from an 18 wheeler or any high trailer convinced me that it would be nice to be able to reach a little higher to stack or unstack round bales of hay.

The larger tractors solve a lot of problems, but create many of their own in these emission controlled Tier 4 (and coming tier 5) tractors.

I don't like the new emissions, but do like the cleaner burning engines.

The biggest problem for me is initial cost and having a very reliable tractor as most will be over 10,000 pounds and harder and more expensive to transport.

My Kubota 68HP was only in the shop once and they found two bolts were left out of the oil pump when the tractor was manufactured. Since there were no bolts in the Oil Pan, Kubota repaired it as warranty, although it was past the factory warranty. About 3 years ago, I had to replace every single hydraulic hose on the tractor. Seems like they knew their lifetime was up.

Yes, the shuttle reverse and thumb controlled clutch on the shift as well as the 3 point control from outside of the tractor are mandatory for me.

I sure hope to find a 100Hp+ tractor in my budget range. The 75hp seem to be quite a bit less expensive and somewhat less capable.

The budget will probably keep me from owning another Kubota or Deer tractor. I believe I will have to find a Kioti, Branson, or ???. Unfortunately, I have never driven any of these lower cost tractors.

i wonder if any farms use a zoom-boom forklift/tractor (telescopic) to deal with heavy lifting and placing of materials. Seems like a good fit that would add a lot of agility to the operation. Most /all would be 4x4 with extreme capability in very difficult terrain ( could never really bury mine...but good luck if you did lol). ALl carry minimum 6000lbs and certainly lift to 30+ feet... that being said, could get used one for farm use readily and for little expense.
cheers,

 

[hdmyers]

I had looked extensively at Branson and really like their approach to building tractors. T

hen Big Red sold out and the new owner never seemed to have the 78 HP cab version in stock. I was actually planning to wait until the first or second quarter to buy a new tractor, but it is so hard to find data and prices on tractors, that I got discouraged and quit looking. I did see that Branson was working on a tier 5 version that had a manual regeneration capability, but it lost 4 HP over the previous version. In the last six months the big Branson tractors seem hard to find. Every website seems to just dump you back on the Branson website when you are looking for their stock, and prices are no where to be found. Maybe someone will clue me in. I also think the Kioti is a fine tractor and the PX series seem to fit my use very well.

I had a Massey 135 before I bought the Kubota. It was definitely a third world tractor and I sold it. It was a 2WD tractor and if you got a wheel in a ditch while mowing it was hard to get it out again. I also know nothing about the other tractors, but will check them out.

Thanks for the reply and let me know if you have any more ideas about tractors in the 78-110HP group. Thanks again.

3rd world? Ahh..Texas. your MF135 was Made in AMerica ...Bro. too funny.

 

[MickeyDBC]

If you have to go over 75hp and have the DEF system, I would go with either Deere, Kubota, or Case. These guys sell a lot of bigger tractors and industrial equipment so they have a lot more experience in getting it right. There are a lot of horror stories on this site about emissions problems even without the DEF system, so going with a brand that has a lot of experience would seem to pay off. Shoot, the big three truck makers (Ford, Ram, and GM) are just now getting theirs reliable and they sell close to half a million units a year combined.

As someone who has forklifts and tractors, a tractor is not a very good forklift. Visibility at the end of the forks is not great, they don't lift that high compared to a real forklift, and because the suspension pivot is at the front axle on a tractor vs. a rigid mounted "front" axle on a forklift, they can get very unstable very quickly on janky ground with a heavy load. My 20 year old Toyota lift cost $5,000 ten years ago and will lift 7,000 pounds all day long and other than a water pump, starter, and a couple of batteries has been pretty reliable. Tractors are great for moving round bales, pallets of feed, etc, but for heavy finesse work you really need a forklift.

 

[W5FL]

We have 86 acres in Dime Box which is pretty central. Went with a Kioti 7320 cab model, thought about going bigger but after all of the problems I had with my Ram truck in DEF I stayed under 75HP. We still mow about 25 acres of orchard because the trees are too small to defend themselves from the cows (what I am doing today), use it like a fork lift, augering tree and post holes, pulling a water wagon, etc.. I have a 10.5' foot Shulte 3 point mower that I have a love/hate relationship with. pretty indestructible but I am going to eventually replace it with a 12 or 15 foot batwing mower. We will eventually need a second tractor, so I think I am going to try to get something like an older Deere 4320 or the like - something pre-emissions. I have had the Kioti for almost 3 years, did the 400 hour oil change this morning, everything works and it gets good fuel economy. Good luck and enjoy this cooler weather.

I have never seen a Kioti tractor, but I will check the local area. Unfortunately, their stock is not too large on Kioti. I do like the RX7320. Would you care to guess at the price of that tractor?

I had thought about the PX series, but will have to research a little more on the emission reliability. I really like Kubota tractors, but not sure they are any better than the Kioti of the same size.

 

[W5FL]

i wonder if any farms use a zoom-boom forklift/tractor (telescopic) to deal with heavy lifting and placing of materials. Seems like a good fit that would add a lot of agility to the operation. Most /all would be 4x4 with extreme capability in very difficult terrain ( could never really bury mine...but good luck if you did lol). ALl carry minimum 6000lbs and certainly lift to 30+ feet... that being said, could get used one for farm use readily and for little expense.
cheers,

One was used to lift materials for my metal Barn. We had to level the area around the barn for them to be stable. It was only a 14 foot wall building. They are a wonderful tool, but a tractor can do so many other things needed on a farm.

 

[W5FL]

3rd world? Ahh..Texas. your MF135 was Made in AMerica ...Bro. too funny.

Actually it was a Massey 245 and it was pretty old in 2000 when I sold it. I did not know that ANY tractor was made in the US in 2000. Only the loader was made in US on my Kubota M6800 and the roof for my Kubota RTV. My dad's John Deer was also not made here. I see several tractors now that say they are manufactured in the US, but that seems to only be to only to do final assembly of the tractor. Thanks for the information.

 

[W5FL]

If you have to go over 75hp and have the DEF system, I would go with either Deere, Kubota, or Case. These guys sell a lot of bigger tractors and industrial equipment so they have a lot more experience in getting it right. There are a lot of horror stories on this site about emissions problems even without the DEF system, so going with a brand that has a lot of experience would seem to pay off. Shoot, the big three truck makers (Ford, Ram, and GM) are just now getting theirs reliable and they sell close to half a million units a year combined.

As someone who has forklifts and tractors, a tractor is not a very good forklift. Visibility at the end of the forks is not great, they don't lift that high compared to a real forklift, and because the suspension pivot is at the front axle on a tractor vs. a rigid mounted "front" axle on a forklift, they can get very unstable very quickly on janky ground with a heavy load. My 20 year old Toyota lift cost $5,000 ten years ago and will lift 7,000 pounds all day long and other than a water pump, starter, and a couple of batteries has been pretty reliable. Tractors are great for moving round bales, pallets of feed, etc, but for heavy finesse work you really need a forklift.

I have thought about buying one many times since I have a pallet storage system in my barn. I am taking a hard look at the Kioti RX7320PC. I would be interested in your comments on how you like yours!

 

[MickeyDBC]

I got mine 3 years ago and it was right at 40K with two rear remotes and the 3rd function valve on the front. I looked at the Kubota and liked it (the cab was quieter) but it was almost 15K more and had a long lead time (needed to get delivery before the end of the year for tax reasons). Putting a rubber mat under the seat area would quiet it down. Bought it at Paige Tractors and have been very happy with them, but the place is dangerous to your wallet because they have a LOT of good things to spend money on, especially if you wander around outside without your spouse. Right now the tractor is filthy from mowing, the cab needs to be cleaned out, and the dog got mud on the seat, and I still need to put spacers under the seat to raise it up a couple of inches. But it always starts, I have yet to get it stuck, and the loader will lift a lot more than most will, and the ac will freeze you out when it is 105 outside.

 

[MickeyDBC]

I have thought about buying one many times since I have a pallet storage system in my barn. I am taking a hard look at the Kioti RX7320PC. I would be interested in your comments on how you like yours!

When you start looking for a forklift, make sure you get one with pneumatic tires. Warehouse lifts with slick solid rubber tires do not do well in the grass or gravel and are a bear to get unstuck.