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

[TrueAmericanVeteran]

I bought a 2019 John Deere 1025R when I bought our 5-acres in NW WI.

As part of the new tractor I had included the iMatch Quick Hitch 3-point, a mid-mount drive over quick-connect mower deck, and a 54" front snow blower.

I had it less than a year before I realized the mower deck was a bit of a hassle because to many obstacles like trees bushes, flower beds etc..., it was just not compact enough for my needs. I also purchased a front end loader and a rear ballast box. I use the loader far more than I ever did the mower deck. Shortly thereafter, I bought a box blade for the back and I just leave it on 95% of the tie as my ballast.

Usually sometime in late October, I remove the quick-connect loader and put the snow blower on and usually sometime in April or May, I switch back to the loader.

This tractor has done everything I have ever asked it to do. I have pulled out small trees, I have lifted full buckets of concrete chunks to dump into rented dumpster.

All in all, this has been a great tractor and I most certainly would buy again.

 

[Millwood]

I also have a small hobby farm (2 acres) that I raise Blueberries on. I purchased my Kubota B3300SU in 2014 and lucked out with this great machine! I have an LA504 FEL, Land Pride reverse tine tiller, 72 inch brush cutter and set of Danish S tine cultivators for weed control around the Blueberries. Winter snow in driveway is scooped and stacked w FEL, so no need for blower. The best part is the 4 cylinder diesel is very easy on fuel, the hydrostatic drive let's me adjust my speed as I see fit and it has all the power I need.

 

[RandR10]

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?

Short answer is no, you're not crazy. I had a sub-1 acre lot and found the need for a tractor. Now that I'm on 2+acres, even more so. Everybody thinks it's overkill, but then again none of them do their own work on major building projects or want to maintain a large garden like I do. A tractor loader is a must in this scenario IMO.
That said, go as small as you can while still getting the job done. Maneuverability can be an issue with bigger equipment, so I think you're on the right track with a sub-25hp compact or subcompact. My last tractor was a 2wd 40 HP industrial loader with a Gannon box on the back. It did the digging and grading work I needed it to, but the footprint and turning radius was not great for my small property. Also, being on a slope, 4x4 is a must IMO. I was on a slope and I had constant traction issues, especially with something in the bucket. Don't cheap out and get a 2wd machine, especially if it's a subcompact with a loader on it. Get the 4x4. My current tractor is a 24 hp compact with 4x4. It does 95% of the bigger machine, and it's more maneuverable and usable, and literally like 10x more fuel efficient (small diesel vs big gas). I do not regret downsizing at all, and I tend to jump on it more often because of its better convenience.

 

[RandR10]

Oh, also, if the prices and features are comparable, I'd go with the Kubota personally.

 

[Torvy]

Oh, also, if the prices and features are comparable, I'd go with the Kubota personally.

That will not do what he needs. Lift is a key feature given his sap handling and to get enough lift out of a Kubota, you have to size up and spend up. Kioti makes the most sense given his location and needs. If he has the money to spend, Yanmar is more capable for similar money to Kubota. (Meaning the smaller footprint tractor has more lift ability)

 

[JasperFrank]

Power Trac PT425. I would not be too concerned about clearing rock on an older established property. Prior owners will have already done that.

To get rid of unmaintained tree growth, that's something I would hire out, as its a one time deal.

At 1.5 acres, nothing in your work area is too far away. So many smaller trips makes sense, therefore you can use a smaller tractor and it would work better getting around your maple trees, and only needs a small shelter for winter. The link is to MossRoad's review of his PT425 after 100 hours. In this review he does point out that when articulated, with a full FEL, he feels the tractor is a bit tippy. Seat time, and experience will mitigate this, as most all FELs have a learning curve on what is safe.

Another thought would be to get a small Bobcat Skid Steer. I my area, which does have slopes, I've noticed that everyone doing new construction, get the same set of equipment. They get a small dedicated, continuous track excavator, a 25 HP HST, compact tractor, and a small Skid Steer Bobcat with FEL. To me this seems excessive. But all of them, hire out the first stump/tree removal to larger excavator operators. I suspect the small excavators will be sold off after mop up, an other one time smaller jobs are done.

No one I know, actually uses any sort of ride on tractor for their personal vegetable gardens as we use raised beds and fencing against the deer.

We have built many revetment rock walls and created terracing. This depends on what you have on site to use for the revetments, or if you want to use manufactured locking blocks. We have native rocks that are on the big side for the tractor I have, a 1220 Ford with FEL - a small 14 hp tractor. So its slow going most of time..... one big rock at a time. I gave up finding any sort of usable soil on property as fill. So that's something we buy, have dumped, move with the FEL and spread with a box scraper. I bought it used, $7,500 and over 20 years have put 5K back into it on repairs. Ignoring gas, and fluids, this means the tractor cost me so far, about two bucks a day. And if I ever resell it, which any day I can get 4K, that's a daily cost over twenty years of $1.75 cents: A cup of coffee at a store.

Snow on the easement road, the FEL works pretty well using the push, turn, drop off road, method.

Grass mowing depends on how the Spring has gone. High grass, I use the tractor pulled brush hog, on first run, then control with a Cub Cadet 42" XT2. We have many trails too narrow for the Brush Hog.


Will be interested in your maple syrup endeavor. We have lots of Broad Leaf Maples, which I've read you CAN make syrup from. Best of luck.

 

[Hexa Fox]

1000% This answer. Interestingly enough, I was in a very similar situation as Kennebec_guy, had 1.6 acres in need of a lot of landscaping and maintenance, and felt like I needed a tractor but thought maybe I was also crazy for thinking that. My wife thought I was crazy when I brought it up. The more we talked about the projects though, the more she (and I) both realized getting a tractor was the right thing to do. I mean, think of it this way - a whole compact tractor is way cheaper than a single spinal surgery. Buying one turned out to be one of the BEST financial decisions I made, since it more than paid for itself. In 2017 after doing a ton of research, I came to the conclusion that the Yanmar SA424 (now 425, with a few new features) was the ideal sweet spot of capability, weight (but not too much weight), and all around feature set. I had many stumps and dead trees to remove, so I got the TLB configuration with the backhoe. I added a thumb, bolt on hooks, work lights, and pallet forks. It's been amazing. It's proven out that the machine is big enough to do real work, but JUST not big enough to destroy the lawn. I did not fill the tires on purpose. I am also glad I did not buy a subcompact. Yanmar makes amazing subcompacts, but you take a hit on loader capacity and I can tell you I've used every bit of the 1200 pounds, moving logs, pallets of cinder blocks, etc. I have about 150 hours on mine, and it's been absolutely flawless. I did the 50 hour service myself with one of Yanmar's kits, which is easy. Also, those Yanmar engines are everything they're cracked up to be - incredibly reliable and they sip fuel, which is why they're in everything. In the end, the tractor made even interior house renovations easier, since I would pick up palletized items (tile, appliances, etc) and unload into my garage or porch in a snap. My wife and I joke now about how we even considered NOT getting it.

See I do not see why people have so much trouble convincing themselves that a tractor is great for many properties, even smaller ones. I live on a 0.75 acre lot. So I look at smaller tractors with a 52" deck all the time. Having that said, there is so much to use it for. Like my 150' long driveway that is a pain in the @$$ to remove snow from. The large garden area that we have not tilled in forever. It would be important for me personally to be able to mow the grass with it though. The proper size tractor is definitely important. I also firmly believe you will actually make your money back in the long run. As opposed to the maintenance and buying the junk you see outside of big box stores.

There are people where I live on the same lot with huge tractors and they are the same guys who bought a tractor for the same reason they bought a truck. Because they "just needed it" and now do nothing but complain about it. Seriously I see some of these guys cutting their lawns with huge tractors and it is painful to watch, constantly backing up and going forward. I do mean constantly as well. There is a guy with a large John Deere tractor, ( I think is is a 3000 series tractor) and he finally bought a zero turn to mow his grass with and now all the tractor does is sit outside year after year.

My dream tractor is a Ventrac but the emissions crap have ruined the diesel options. I always told myself when I was ready I would invest in a nice small diesel tractor with a proven Kubota, Daihatsu or Shibaura engine. This site also got me looking at compact Massey Ferguson tractors again too. They are really nice for the money. I was seriously looking at a John Deere 2032r as well.

 

[RandR10]

That will not do what he needs. Lift is a key feature given his sap handling and to get enough lift out of a Kubota, you have to size up and spend up. Kioti makes the most sense given his location and needs. If he has the money to spend, Yanmar is more capable for similar money to Kubota. (Meaning the smaller footprint tractor has more lift ability)

How much does he need to lift though? Even a BX loader will lift 739lbs. That should pick up a 55 gallon drum. He could also just use smaller containers than that even.

 

[Omega Woods]

If you were closer, I'd make you a good deal on a 2017 BX2380 with 100 hours on...

 

[paulsharvey]

How much does he need to lift though? Even a BX loader will lift 739lbs. That should pick up a 55 gallon drum. He could also just use smaller containers than that even.

800 lbs granite for steps/landscaping and 860+ lbs of sap; all before counting on bucket or forks weight; plus distance from pins to load. I would feel comfortable doing what he wants with 1200-1600 lift capacity (either front or rear); but not 740 lbs capacity.