1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor?

[2manyrocks]

One of the small Agrotek mini excavators might be considered as an alternative.

 

[smartyd]

Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit but I've yet to see a use case quite like mine.

We recently bought a large ~1.5 acre property and historic home in a small town center in Maine. Originally a small horse farm, it was at one point extensively landscaped like a park, with lots of garden plots and about 60 old growth maples and while it's not a big property, it's been a fairly high maintenance one for its small size. The whole property is on a gently sloping hillside with about an acre of lawn, which currently takes me about 90+ minutes to mow with a commercial walk behind (there's a ZTR in our near future). On top of that, it had been neglected for a couple of decades when we bought it, and we're in the process of digging it out from the overgrowth and restoring it to its former glory.

We've got a long list of major landscaping projects planned, including building stone stairs and doing a lot of terracing/retaining wall construction to build foundations for an outdoor dining pavilion as well as a workshop/sugar shack/garage for the ZTR. In addition, the 60 maples generate about 20 cubic yards of leaves every year, which has been "fun" to manage and sustains a leaf pile that's about 45'x25'x6' deep. We're also doing the millennial hobby farmer thing and expanding a large vegetable garden and I'm growing a large hobbyist/small commercial scale maple syrup operation.

With the cost of getting any work done these days, I figure I'm easily at $30-40k or more to get all of the outstanding landscaping projects done, and between moving sap barrels around the yard during syrup season, gardening/landscaping odds and ends, and turning over our large compost pile, a loader would be nice to have. Am I crazy for thinking that a tractor more than pays for itself with the landscaping/earthmoving projects and afterwards becomes a useful tool for managing a small but high maintenance property while raising a growing family and often being pressed for time? What size/hp range should I be considering?

The only rear implements I'd likely be running are a box blade, a small rotary cultivator, and probably a wood chipper. I'd like to be able to lift/move ~800lbs for the landscaping projects. I was thinking that a 25hp emissions-exempt compact with loaded tires would be a good place to start. My local dealerships sell Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, and Yanmar, and they all seem pretty decent. If I even need a tractor, what should I look for?

I have about the same size land in the UK, been here about 12 years. I have a cheap old small 3 cylinder tractor that has a small back hoe. I use it mostly like a small dozer, front bucket used to lift heavy stuff and move soil, the backhoe has been used to put in soakaways, cesspit, dig in cable and water supplies. It was a wreck when I bought it and I've had to get hands on to keep it running. It's saved my thousands and thousands of pounds as my land was run down. This week I've dug up the old water mains and now laying 1500 yards of new pipe, cost is just the pipe, connectors and my time. Get a tractor to suit your needs. You can always sell it later

 

[swa]

I'm a distance from Maine but might suggest a couple of routes;

for the lawn, have you considered a robotic mower. I'm mowing about an acre with a Husqvarna 430X. advantages are;

1. no clippings
2. always got great grass at the right height
3. weather doesn't make a difference
4. no pressure to have to mow
5. no worries if you go away and the grass gets too long
6. way cheaper to run than a mechanical option in service and fuel

disadvantages;

1. no stripes if you want them on the lawn
2. need to strim the edges as and when

As others have said, you are on a tractor forum, OF COURSE you need a tractor. I would opt for a decent second hand compact. In my case I managed to inherit a small all wheel drive Iseki that was over 30 years old and I have had another 15 years of service from it with minimal maintenance. TractorData.com Iseki TX2160 tractor information

The goto implement for me was a rear monted pallet fork and an old pallet (that gets replaced from time to time). You are forever shifting stuff and this is just like having a versatile back box / transport box. I've a few other bits and you will get those as and when you need them.

The other route you might consider is something like an RTV. This was a later addition for me (a Kubota RTV900). Great for moving stiff but it is higher than the pallet fork option. Buy decent second hand though if not buying new.

FYI, I have 30 acres of which 20 is water. I also have a mid-range tractor for hedge trimming, mowing and bigger odd jobs with wood maintenance. The Iseki is perfect for me and apart from the pallet forks it spends a lot of time with a saw bench and splitter on the back.

Final thought. You have a small amount of ground, much of which is lawn. I would avoid too much tractor, back hoes, buckets etc. Seems to be overkill and for the odd occasion you might want one of those features, hire it. Oh, and it helps if you can use some of the more specialist stuff (I'm lucky to have an old 3 1/2 ton digger that gets a fair bit of work around the lake, but first time digger work is messy!).

Whatever you do, enjoy. Seems like you are buying as much for the fun as the necessity, so have fun with it. That may include workshopping whatever you get or buying new and having someone else do it.

 

[JONNY BOYYY]

Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit but I've yet to see a use case quite like mine.

We recently bought a large ~1.5 acre property and historic home in a small town center in Maine. Originally a small horse farm, it was at one point extensively landscaped like a park, with lots of garden plots and about 60 old growth maples and while it's not a big property, it's been a fairly high maintenance one for its small size. The whole property is on a gently sloping hillside with about an acre of lawn, which currently takes me about 90+ minutes to mow with a commercial walk behind (there's a ZTR in our near future). On top of that, it had been neglected for a couple of decades when we bought it, and we're in the process of digging it out from the overgrowth and restoring it to its former glory.

We've got a long list of major landscaping projects planned, including building stone stairs and doing a lot of terracing/retaining wall construction to build foundations for an outdoor dining pavilion as well as a workshop/sugar shack/garage for the ZTR. In addition, the 60 maples generate about 20 cubic yards of leaves every year, which has been "fun" to manage and sustains a leaf pile that's about 45'x25'x6' deep. We're also doing the millennial hobby farmer thing and expanding a large vegetable garden and I'm growing a large hobbyist/small commercial scale maple syrup operation.

With the cost of getting any work done these days, I figure I'm easily at $30-40k or more to get all of the outstanding landscaping projects done, and between moving sap barrels around the yard during syrup season, gardening/landscaping odds and ends, and turning over our large compost pile, a loader would be nice to have. Am I crazy for thinking that a tractor more than pays for itself with the landscaping/earthmoving projects and afterwards becomes a useful tool for managing a small but high maintenance property while raising a growing family and often being pressed for time? What size/hp range should I be considering?

The only rear implements I'd likely be running are a box blade, a small rotary cultivator, and probably a wood chipper. I'd like to be able to lift/move ~800lbs for the landscaping projects. I was thinking that a 25hp emissions-exempt compact with loaded tires would be a good place to start. My local dealerships sell Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, and Yanmar, and they all seem pretty decent. If I even need a tractor, what should I look for?

if you want a tractor, get one..but get a deere, kubota, or a massey..use the zero turn for mowing the hills--they are almost impossible to turn over..it sounds like you want a tractor bad but you are afraid of something or your wife or both. Remember you die and leave this earth with a tractor or with no tractor...go to a dealer and get one...your family is just going to sell it in a yard sale after you kick the bucket anyway....

 

[mohamer]

Absolutely, go get a tractor, I mow 2 acres here in Missouri, tractor is BX1500 (SMALL), Front End Loader, Belly Mower, 3 Pt disk, 3 Pt Plow. You can't use a FEL or 3Pt stuff on a ZTR!! BUT you can mow very well with a small tractor, etc... I use my little Kubota every day.

 

[Rustyiron]

Do you like MB tractor? I bought one from them..

They (MB) bought the longstanding local dealer and the only thing that really seemed to change is the name on the door. They did drop atv/snowmobile (Polaris) side and inventory was highly reduced, but this was also early during the height of the kung flu hysteria.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Be careful, it’s a slippery slope. First comes a tractor for 1.5 acres, then a 20 acre hunting lease and a larger tractor, and….

...more land, bigger tractors, more implements...

 

[tonys55]

Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit but I've yet to see a use case quite like mine.

We recently bought a large ~1.5 acre property and historic home in a small town center in Maine. Originally a small horse farm, it was at one point extensively landscaped like a park, with lots of garden plots and about 60 old growth maples and while it's not a big property, it's been a fairly high maintenance one for its small size. The whole property is on a gently sloping hillside with about an acre of lawn, which currently takes me about 90+ minutes to mow with a commercial walk behind (there's a ZTR in our near future). On top of that, it had been neglected for a couple of decades when we bought it, and we're in the process of digging it out from the overgrowth and restoring it to its former glory.

We've got a long list of major landscaping projects planned, including building stone stairs and doing a lot of terracing/retaining wall construction to build foundations for an outdoor dining pavilion as well as a workshop/sugar shack/garage for the ZTR. In addition, the 60 maples generate about 20 cubic yards of leaves every year, which has been "fun" to manage and sustains a leaf pile that's about 45'x25'x6' deep. We're also doing the millennial hobby farmer thing and expanding a large vegetable garden and I'm growing a large hobbyist/small commercial scale maple syrup operation.

With the cost of getting any work done these days, I figure I'm easily at $30-40k or more to get all of the outstanding landscaping projects done, and between moving sap barrels around the yard during syrup season, gardening/landscaping odds and ends, and turning over our large compost pile, a loader would be nice to have. Am I crazy for thinking that a tractor more than pays for itself with the landscaping/earthmoving projects and afterwards becomes a useful tool for managing a small but high maintenance property while raising a growing family and often being pressed for time? What size/hp range should I be considering?

The only rear implements I'd likely be running are a box blade, a small rotary cultivator, and probably a wood chipper. I'd like to be able to lift/move ~800lbs for the landscaping projects. I was thinking that a 25hp emissions-exempt compact with loaded tires would be a good place to start. My local dealerships sell Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, and Yanmar, and they all seem pretty decent. If I even need a tractor, what should I look for?

Nothing nuts about it. I have .75 acres and did the very same thing. Lots of things to be done that would add up to more than the cost of my 1025R TLB. I got it interest free for 72 mos. through John Deere. No interest was the tipping point for me. Have always preferred to use the money I'd pay someone else to do the work and buy the tools I need to do it myself. Now that I am semi-retired it is good to keep busy and for the projects I need to take on, a tractor is one way to do it. This retaining wall is the first big project, no way I'd tackle it without the tractor and the time to do it at my own pace.

 

[rider89]

Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit but I've yet to see a use case quite like mine.

We recently bought a large ~1.5 acre property and historic home in a small town center in Maine. Originally a small horse farm, it was at one point extensively landscaped like a park, with lots of garden plots and about 60 old growth maples and while it's not a big property, it's been a fairly high maintenance one for its small size. The whole property is on a gently sloping hillside with about an acre of lawn, which currently takes me about 90+ minutes to mow with a commercial walk behind (there's a ZTR in our near future). On top of that, it had been neglected for a couple of decades when we bought it, and we're in the process of digging it out from the overgrowth and restoring it to its former glory.

We've got a long list of major landscaping projects planned, including building stone stairs and doing a lot of terracing/retaining wall construction to build foundations for an outdoor dining pavilion as well as a workshop/sugar shack/garage for the ZTR. In addition, the 60 maples generate about 20 cubic yards of leaves every year, which has been "fun" to manage and sustains a leaf pile that's about 45'x25'x6' deep. We're also doing the millennial hobby farmer thing and expanding a large vegetable garden and I'm growing a large hobbyist/small commercial scale maple syrup operation.

With the cost of getting any work done these days, I figure I'm easily at $30-40k or more to get all of the outstanding landscaping projects done, and between moving sap barrels around the yard during syrup season, gardening/landscaping odds and ends, and turning over our large compost pile, a loader would be nice to have. Am I crazy for thinking that a tractor more than pays for itself with the landscaping/earthmoving projects and afterwards becomes a useful tool for managing a small but high maintenance property while raising a growing family and often being pressed for time? What size/hp range should I be considering?

The only rear implements I'd likely be running are a box blade, a small rotary cultivator, and probably a wood chipper. I'd like to be able to lift/move ~800lbs for the landscaping projects. I was thinking that a 25hp emissions-exempt compact with loaded tires would be a good place to start. My local dealerships sell Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, and Yanmar, and they all seem pretty decent. If I even need a tractor, what should I look for?

I have a B7500 Kubota (23hp) that I've used on a 1 acre lot, but nearly everything I do with it involves a backhoe attachment, i.e. excavated for a garage slab, shaped a driveway, moved bushes, etc. If I didn't already own one, I couldn't justify a purchase now. I think these are too heavy to use for lawn mowing, due to compacting the soil and tire damage to sod. The 60 maples and all the other stuff is on 1.5 acres? Not sure I understand how that all fits. LOL

 

[thereisnothername]

I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

I have an old 8n with a backhoe on it. The backhoe has a stationary claw. Helps a ton with moving rocks. You said you had some hardscaping to do.... How much of your own body do you want to wreck for what you want to have in this world? I don't know about you, but I'd rather lift those rocks with a backhoe attachment on a tractor than wreck my body.