16 acres and a hobby farm what tractor?

[Larry MO]

I have 16 acres of land mostly flat and i plan on getting a pole barn two horses and some other animals. I currently have a B2650 with 60" MMM, FEL, Front blade, 3PT rear snow blower, 5ft bush hog, rear blade.

Another farmer will make hay on my field, i think they are 5 ft round bales that he will let me have a few. There is no way the B2650 can lift them, i would like only one tractor that can do it all and was looking for suggestions.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I have 16 acres of land mostly flat and i plan on getting a pole barn two horses and some other animals. I currently have a B2650 with 60" MMM, FEL, Front blade, 3PT rear snow blower, 5ft bush hog, rear blade.

Another farmer will make hay on my field, i think they are 5 ft round bales that he will let me have a few. There is no way the B2650 can lift them, i would like only one tractor that can do it all and was looking for suggestions.

5 ft round bales can weigh up to 2000 lbs so you'll need a stout loader and tractor to deal with them. You'll need a heavier front axle so 4WD is probably a must.
Most likely you'll need a tractor with a minimum of ~50 horsepower. That means it will likely have a Category II three-point hitch and so all your implements may not be usable as is.

 

[Cougsfan]

There are a lot of good brands of tractors around (very few bad ones). I'd pick the horse power that you need (probably in the neighborhood of 50 hp, and look for a new or used one in good shape with the attachments you need (FEL at the minimum) and just start looking. You may get a lot of responses saying buy this brand or that brand. I wouldn't pay excessive attention to that.

 

[JWR]

Like many of us you may have other needs you have not described and/or a desire to own a bigger/better/newer tractor. Based on your description so far you cannot justify a bigger tractor based on a few hay bales a year. Your existing tractor will "do it all" with exception of picking up those bales. You probably can have the guy cutting hay to place the bales he leaves for you in a spot where you can feed from them through a fence or other workarounds. Maybe in the back of your new pole barn, or worst case under a tarp. You can probably get a bale spear attachment for the FEL you have and move parts of the round bales after you cut loose the binding too.
Your hay cutting guy can probably adjust his baler to put out a few lighter bales for the ones he is passing on to you to keep.

One problem is that you have to go a pretty large step up in terms of size and capacity (like 2000 lbs heavier and 30 more hp) to actually pick up the round bales. Do you really need to do that? It depends mainly on what you want. If you want to shop for a bigger tractor the one you have will bring good money used and/or as trade in. The snowblower, rear blade and 5 ft hog will probably work just fine on a bigger tractor if you go that way. One thing you'll likely NOT have on a bigger tractor is the mid mount mower and that may be one of your more used attachments (?)

 

[jeff9366]

You have some tractor seat time.

Your land is flat.

You will only be moving a few bales per year.

A 4-WD tractor with a bare tractor weight of 3,700 to 4,200 pounds will serve you well. Tractors in this weight range are about 66" wide for stability. All use minimum 72" wide implements. Some have Category 1 TPH, some have a Category 1/2 TPH. All will lift 2,000 pounds with the FEL.

This is the mid-weight in compact tractors. All manufacturers make at least two models, an economy and a deluxe model, in this weight range.

VIDEO:

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.


If you intended to move a 50+ round bales, or had the need to stack round bales three high, I would recommend a 5,000 pound bare weight tractor.


VIDEO:

----- 0 -----​

Your existing tractor will "do it all" with exception of picking up round bales. Have the guy cutting hay place the bales he leaves you in a spot where you can feed from them through a fence or other workarounds. You can probably get a bale spear attachment for the FEL you have and move parts of the round bales after you cut loose the binding.

VENDER: Multi-Spear Ultra Fork

GOOD POST

 

[sea2summit]

I have 16 acres of land mostly flat and i plan on getting a pole barn two horses and some other animals. I currently have a B2650 with 60" MMM, FEL, Front blade, 3PT rear snow blower, 5ft bush hog, rear blade.

Another farmer will make hay on my field, i think they are 5 ft round bales that he will let me have a few. There is no way the B2650 can lift them, i would like only one tractor that can do it all and was looking for suggestions.

Are the round bales the only issue? Someone said 2k, I doubt it but you can talk to whoever is baling and have them wrap smaller/lighter very easily since they are doing custom bales for you. Then I'd just get a 3PT spear and call it good, with two horses it's not like you have to move multiple round bales a day maybe once every other week.

 

[Larry MO]

I never even thought about using the 3pt to lift them but i do want a larger tractor and to move away from the MMM and buy a rear finish mower to do my yard. I was looking at the Kubota L tractors. L39 or L4701.

My drive way is gravel and almost a mile long the B2650 feels to light when pushing snow not that it happens very often.............mowing is what i spend the most time doing with it in thick heavy grass with a bush hog the b2650 feel under powered seeing as to i only mow around the field once or twice a year along the fence line.

Now my yard i mow every week when we get rain. The MMM is a pain to work on and i have already broke one hanger off. The kubota weld did not hold up in it's defense it takes a beating on my ruff yard.

 

[jyoutz]

5 ft round bales can weigh up to 2000 lbs so you'll need a stout loader and tractor to deal with them. You'll need a heavier front axle so 4WD is probably a must.
Most likely you'll need a tractor with a minimum of ~50 horsepower. That means it will likely have a Category II three-point hitch and so all your implements may not be usable as is.

Agree. You’ve listed what he needs to look for. Minimum a Kubota MX or equivalent tractors in other colors.

 

[5030]

Are the round bales the only issue? Someone said 2k, I doubt it but you can talk to whoever is baling and have them wrap smaller/lighter very easily since they are doing custom bales for you. Then I'd just get a 3PT spear and call it good, with two horses it's not like you have to move multiple round bales a day maybe once every other week.

Exactly, Nothing says you have to have a FEL that is capable of a large round. You can use the 3 point and a bale spear just as easy and any of your Cat 1 implements will fit just fine. What they sell bushings for.

 

[sea2summit]

I never even thought about using the 3pt to lift them but i do want a larger tractor and to move away from the MMM and buy a rear finish mower to do my yard. I was looking at the Kubota L tractors. L39 or L4701.

My drive way is gravel and almost a mile long the B2650 feels to light when pushing snow not that it happens very often.............mowing is what i spend the most time doing with it in thick heavy grass with a bush hog the b2650 feel under powered seeing as to i only mow around the field once or twice a year along the fence line.

Now my yard i mow every week when we get rain. The MMM is a pain to work on and i have already broke one hanger off. The kubota weld did not hold up in it's defense it takes a beating on my ruff yard.

Rear finish mower is the worst attachment I ever spent money on, should have just gotten a zero turn.

If you're serous about an L47 I'd look hard at the MX, way more capability/capacity for not much more money.