Starting over - the allure of country!

ljjhouser · Mar 9, 2022

When you reply to a thread, there are icons at the top. You can choose the picture image, or you can push cntrl+P and then find the picture. Or you can click the large Attach Files button at the bottom left. Somehow I feel you know this, maybe there is another question.

IndyJay · Mar 9, 2022

ljjhouser said:
When you reply to a thread, there are icons at the top. You can choose the picture image, or you can push cntrl+P and then find the picture. Or you can click the large Attach Files button at the bottom left. Somehow I feel you know this, maybe there is another question.

You can also copy and paste.

airbiscuit · Mar 9, 2022

I would probably want something a little bigger than a Kubota B series - Maybe a Kioti CK series? If you are leaning toward the Kubota B series, you might consider the Kubota LX 2610SU. It is basically a B with BIGGER TIRES. See 8:50 in the video below.

Jerry/MT · Mar 10, 2022

thunderworks said:
We lived on a beautiful 80 acre farm for nearly 20 years. It was a labor of love. When we bought the ground, it was overgrown, abused, ignored . . . but we saw the potential and had a vision. We turned it into a truly beautiful place. I learned to drive farm equipment and worked my butt off to make our vision real. I bought a used Kubota L5030 tractor, box blade, mowers, grapple, etc. and felt it was the right scale for what I needed. I spent a lot of seat time on the tractor and it served me very well.

My wife and I are now in our 70's. We sold our beloved farm (and all the equipment) a few years ago and moved into town. Our town home is wonderful, but I really miss the country. We won't ever live in the country again - it's simply too much at this stage of life - but we just bought 30 acres of land, 10 miles from town. I want to build a pond, small cabin, recreate a Kansas prairie using native grasses and forbs, etc. My"wish list" might get accomplished before I die. It might not. But I'm going to see how much energy and time I can muster to fulfill my current vision for this recreational property.

I don't want, nor need the same scale of equipment that I used at our farm. The level of maintenance will be entirely different. I will hire a professional to build the pond, but I need to be able to clear brush out of the woods, mow trails in the timber and around the prairie field, mow around the eventual pond, etc. I'm looking at a machine similar in scale to the B2301 (Kubota). I'd use a field mower rather than a belly mower. Get a light duty loader with a grapple and bucket.

Does anyone have advice to offer about the limitations that a small machine like the B series Kubota's might impose? Can a tractor that small really get a lot of work done? . . . of course I suppose my own 70 year old plus body imposes far more limitations . . . so it's probably a stupid question.

I'm excited about this project at this phase of my life . . . we close on the ground purchase October 15th.

I'm near 80 years old and we bought 43 acres in North Idaho (timber and tillable ground) a couple of years ago and are developing it. (We sold our irrigated cow/calf ranch in Western Montana.) It's probably more hilly than your Kansas land.

Personally, I would not consider one of those subcompact tractors for what you are wanting to do. We generally underestimate the power and weight requirements for tractors and we buy smaller with no margin for all the "unknowns" that go along with the work we plan on doing. Your body needs more help not less. I'm partial to tractors in the 50 hp power class that weigh in around 5000 lb. If you are going to need a loader, best to get one with 4wd. You get a heavier front axle and the ability to move out of muddy situations when you have the loader full and the weight is transferred off the rear wheels.

It's you $'s and your choice. Just my advice based on my experience.

Good luck on your new adventure!

Williy · Mar 10, 2022

I was 81 when I purchased my first tractor
my Yanmar YT235C TLB and am very happy
I did but I should have purchased one many
years ago. The backhoe cost over $8K but hay
it sure beats using a shovel. I use the backhoe
quite often and having it sure saves time and
energy spent trying to rent one if they have one.
That's the nice thing about owning the backhoe.
A lot of guys think a backhoe is a waste of money
but they are not over 80 years old either! They say
rent one like how long does it take to drive to town
to the rent it shop fill out the paper work if they have
one to rent then bring it back home and when your
done another trip to town to the rent it shop and then
the trip back home which is like having a case of
hemorrhoids and you can do very nicely without them!
I really enjoy using my tractor!

willy

jyoutz · Mar 10, 2022

Michael In Tennessee said:
I vote for an L or an MX. I went with an MX for similar property work on my 24 acres. An MX with a grapple will move a lot of brush pretty quickly. You are getting older and having something that can take the place of biceps is a useful thing. Never, ever, buy a too small tractor. The MX has the advantage of having much higher loader lift capacity than the L. Even at that I still can pick up a pallet of bricks. I have to off load about half onto another pallet.

I'd write a check for a guy to use a dozer to build the pond. Way too much dirt moving for a tractor and even an excavator. The excavator can dig, but not real good at moving the dirt where it needs to go.

The MX would also be more stable and safer for him.

D2Cat · Mar 14, 2022

thunderworks said:
Yes. Douglas County.

I live in Miami co. and have 50 acre farm in Linn co.

thunderworks · Mar 26, 2022

Figured out how to attach pictures. Here's the barn, nearly done (not my skidster) and the pond in progress. I think the L3301 Kubota will prove to be a sensible choice. I've been using it to collect brush, trees etc with a Homestead grapple. I can notice the clear difference between it and my old L5030, but for my purposes, the L3301 will do the job and be adequate - clearly some limitations compared to the L5030 I used to have . . . but a reasonable compromise economically and a reflection of the diminished demand this "recreational" project requires.

The pond will be approximately 3/4 acre, 13' deep. I put a brush pile and some shipping pallets in the bottom for fish habitat.

thunderworks · Jul 6, 2023

OP here: I thought I would update how my project is coming along . . . The barn was built. The pond was built (and stocked) and 17 months ago I planted native grasses and forbs. I also planted 25 cedar trees where I would like visual barriers and 25 red oaks that will (in somebody else's lifetime) be beautiful. I spend a lot of time there with my good dog Freddie. The Kubota L3301 has been a really good choice for my needs. I did harvest one large black walnut from the timber which yielded 450 board feet of nice lumber (I am a furniture maker).