Tractor Sizing 100 acre playground

[CJerry]

Hello! Im looking for tractor advice. Ive recently purchased 100 acres of old family farm property. It is about 20 years untended, grown in with scrub and trees, relatively flat. Located in southeast Michigan.

I intend to build a house and shape the place into a private park/hobby farm.

So far ive hand cleared 1400 feet of driveway and ive been dragging it smooth with a 9n and back blade. Now i need to step into something with some real utility. I will need to brush hog many paths and fields, build and maintain the driveway and whatever trails i can create. Also typical small farm chores.

Ive been pricing ~38 horsepower machines- NH workmaster 37, mahindra 2538. Etc - trying to figure out if these will do the job. Price is an issue.

Thank you for any advice!

 

[John Fitzgerald]

You are going to need a bigger machine, maybe one of those approx 80 hp tracked skid steers with front brush cutter, six way blade attachment, etc. A neighbor of mine has one of those, and it's really nice.

 

[txdon]

I have a 50hp with 100+ acres and it ok for maintaining. The 80 hp will allow a larger brush hog, but if 8' is wide enough try for a 50-60 hp. Look at the width of the brush hog recommendations in the owners manual of the tractor you are going to buy. A 38hp will most likely recommend no larger than a 6'.

 

[CJerry]

You are going to need a bigger machine, maybe one of those approx 80 hp tracked skid steers with front brush cutter, six way blade attachment, etc. A neighbor of mine has one of those, and it's really nice.

I started looking into those types, would have to be well used obviously. I kind of concluded that it wouldn't really have the overall usefulness that a utity tractor would

 

[CJerry]

I have a 50hp with 100+ acres and it ok for maintaining. The 80 hp will allow a larger brush hog, but if 8' is wide enough try for a 50-60 hp. Look at the width of the brush hog recommendations in the owners manual of the tractor you are going to buy. A 38hp will most likely recommend no larger than a 6'.

The machines ive been looking at do list the 72" rotary at the recommended. I figured it would be enough.

Im having a tough time finding a 50hp machine in the $25k area. New at least.

 

[Creamer]

I am not sure what your plans are for the 100 acres but to keep that all mowed in your area you are going to want at least 50 hp. I would tend to take the project in steps and get a nice smaller utility tractor of 30-40 hp and create your living space and then in a few years when you are ready for the next step get a larger older farm tractor and the implements to do what you want with the rest.

 

[aczlan]

If the 12 acres that you need to know is a large field, I would look at getting a 50-ish horsepower tractor and a Batwing Turf mower. Those will usually have three mower decks that are four to six feet wide tied together so that you can lift up the outer two when you aren't mowing.

Aaron Z

 

[Tractorable]

Given the size of your property and that you're in Michigan, ideally, you should be looking at 60-ish horsepower cabbed tractors like a Kubota Grand L6060 or a Yanmar YT359. But given your budget constraints you could dial it back and consider something like a Kubota MX5800 or look into the Korean made tractor options from Kioti, Branson, TYM, LS, New Holland, etc.

I once considered a used New Holland Workmaster 55 which might fit the ticket for you and be affordable.

 

[Grandad4]

So you're getting basically two kinds of recommendations here: 1) Get a tractor in the 40-50 hp range, which is capable of doing most of your work with 6 ft implements (give or take a foot), and 2) Go up to larger equipment that will do more. I think your $25k budget makes either approach unrealistic unless you can find some good used equipment that won't nickel and dime you to death with repairs and downtime.

It's not clear to me just what you'll be getting into clearing your open spaces. If the saplings in your fields have grown into trees that need to be cut or bulldozed, you have one big job ahead of you that probably is better done with heavy equipment. If most of it can be cleared with a heavy brush cutter, you'll be able to do it, but you should be looking at option #2 above. If you've got 2" and smaller saplings, option #1 is do-able.

For all your other work the option #1 equipment is very adequate.

 

[Todd727]

Rent a decent sized CTL with a heavy brush cutter for a week. You can easily get everything roughed in and then a 50-60hp tractor with attachments will be enough to maintain it. Just make the trails wide enough and use a large enough radius in the turns to accommodate a tractor and bush hog.

 

[paulsharvey]

Rent a decent sized CTL with a heavy brush cutter for a week. You can easily get everything roughed in and then a 50-60hp tractor with attachments will be enough to maintain it. Just make the trails wide enough and use a large enough radius in the turns to accommodate a tractor and bush hog.

CTL with hydraulic bush hog will do 5"-6" soft wood. there are better hammer flails made for chipping major wood, but not that you can just rent (as a home owner). I would call your local equipment rental guys (United Rental, Sunbelt, Kubota, ect) and see if they rent the CTL with the bush mower. they will likely rent the skid steer at one price, and the mower will be basically another piece of equipment to rent (if they have them). no idea how heavy/thick we are talking about, but you will be doing good to do more that 1 acre per day, working all day. Another option is a big old tractor with a HEAVY disk and heavy bush hog. if it's 75% less than 3-4".

 

[paulsharvey]

CTL with hydraulic bush hog will do 5"-6" soft wood. there are better hammer flails made for chipping major wood, but not that you can just rent (as a home owner). I would call your local equipment rental guys (United Rental, Sunbelt, Kubota, ect) and see if they rent the CTL with the bush mower. they will likely rent the skid steer at one price, and the mower will be basically another piece of equipment to rent (if they have them). no idea how heavy/thick we are talking about, but you will be doing good to do more that 1 acre per day, working all day. Another option is a big old tractor with a HEAVY disk and heavy bush hog. if it's 75% less than 3-4".

Also, if you can rent from someone you might buy a tractor from, (Kubota, Ag-Pro[John Deere], ect) might be good to talk to the about that too, see if the CTL could be on 'Demo' price for the week, or they might include the mower at a lower price, to butter you up. Just food for thought

 

[Tractorable]

Yea, probably a good idea to rent some heavy equipment to knock it down first, then get yourself a decent sized CUT to maintain it.

 

[CJerry]

Thank you for all the replies!

I actually dont plan on finish mowing much more than 2 acres plus whatever it takes to keep the driveway in order. Ideally the finish mowing will be done with a lawnmower, ZTR or the like. I didnt plan on buying a finish mower for the tractor.

The pastures look to be grown in with 2" or less trees, just that they are sometime really bunched up thick. I can make some pretty quick progress with the weed whip/brush saw that i used to clear the driveway, but these areas aren't critical in the short term.

My intention was to get the all around utility machine to tune up the build site and driveway and re open the old lanes, then maybe in the future bring in a 60+ hp old farm tractor to tear up ground. They seem to be plentiful on craigslist

 

[Creamer]

I had a bunch of 15' tall saplings on a back part of my property and my 1710 with a 5' Bush Hog made short work of them. (I had cut everything larger than 3" down short by hand which were very few.) It would have been real nice to have live PTO so I could clutch it a little as I was chewing up 15 saplings or so at a time but it made it through. My point being that if you get them before they get too big it is an easy job for basic equipment.

After the initial bush hogging I cut 3-4 more times with the bush hog to keep chewing things up and in two years I could mow it with my lawnmower.

 

[paulsharvey]

Thank you for all the replies!

I actually dont plan on finish mowing much more than 2 acres plus whatever it takes to keep the driveway in order. Ideally the finish mowing will be done with a lawnmower, ZTR or the like. I didnt plan on buying a finish mower for the tractor.

The pastures look to be grown in with 2" or less trees, just that they are sometime really bunched up thick. I can make some pretty quick progress with the weed whip/brush saw that i used to clear the driveway, but these areas aren't critical in the short term.

My intention was to get the all around utility machine to tune up the build site and driveway and re open the old lanes, then maybe in the future bring in a 60+ hp old farm tractor to tear up ground. They seem to be plentiful on craigslist

Sounds like anything in the 45+ hp with a 5-7 ft medium to heavy duty bush hog should do you well. Loader is nice to push down the saplings as you run the over. I would avoid the $400-600 bush hog from TSC, and get at least medium duty. Here in Florida, 20 years of grow could easily be 8-12"+ pines ECT, so that's why I thought you where dealing with heavier stuff.

 

[airbiscuit]

Pics of the property would be helpful. If you cleared 1400' of driveway with a brush saw, and aren't going to mow all 100 acres, you don't need a large tractor. a 35hp-45 hp tractor with a 5' or 6' implements would be just fine. It sounds like you will be using it mostly for trails, driveway improvement and some mowing. 35-45 hp would fit your budget and take care of your needs.

 

[CJerry]

Creamer that is pretty encouraging. A 1710 isnt a very big machine, tho maybe heavy by todays 26horsepower standards? I have time and i enjoy the work.

I have some pics, but not much in the way of perspective. 25 years ago they were several ~10+ acre sections and were over farmed and pretty poor. They have been slow to recover so no real vigorous growth besides wild grape vines. Definitely no 10" trees other than some ash, but theyre all dead due to the borer beetle. Much hawthorn, dogwood, honeysuckle, a million wild apple and pear trees.

 

[nybirdman]

I have(had) a very similar situation.Purchased a 32 HP tractor then moved up to a 42 HP and six ft.bush-hog.Great for the grasses and small stuff,previously cleared areas.Cleared by a large AG tractor and bh.
My property was badly over grown;maybe 80 years worth for most of it.Just this week-end I hired a skid steer with front brush-hog;he did more in two days than I could do in two years.It was so thick in spots a rabbit was about the only thing that could move in it.
Bottom line;hire the first cut and maintain with a 40-50 HP tractor.

 

[Code54]

Rent to clear everything than a 50hp will cover your needs. May want to look at the Kubota MX series - a little more value priced but a solid machine.