16 acres and a hobby farm what tractor?

[Smokeydog]

We have steep hilly ground, lots of trees, landscaping, fencing, buildings to mow around with rear finish mower. Best is reach backing up over a zero turn under trees, bushes and banks.

 

[Torvy]

No mention of budget that I saw or of what brands have dealers nearby. There are some solid tractors out there with wide bases and sufficient weight to easily lift most round bales. Personally, I would use Hay Dude's experience on the weight of the bales. I would also want my lift capacity to be 10-20% more than I expect to lift, especially if you plan to stack the bales.

Some brands and models to consider..tractors weigh from 3500-4000 lbs and can lift just under 2400-2828 lbs at the pins.
Branson 4820
TYM T494
LS MT 347
Kioti DK4710SE
Kubota L4760
Massey 2850M
Deere 4052 M
CaseIH Farmall 45C
New Holland Boomer 45T4B,

The first four are much more affordable than the others, but cannot account for dealer availability or dependability in your area.

Hopefully, I will be ordering one in the next few months off this list. I habe just a few more acres, but pines, no hay. Best of luck.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Also noteworthy that very seldom would a 5’ round bale weigh 2000lbs. Never seen anything close to that.
It would have to be soaking wet to weigh 2000lbs.
Ive made about 20,000 super dense 4x5’s in the last 10 years and they were about 950-1050lbs average. Even if it was a 5x5 round bale, it might weigh 1300.

2000 lbs is what my dense 4x4x8 square bales weigh.
If your loader can pick up 1200-1500 lbs, you’ll be fine moving any dry 4x5 bale and almost any dry 5x5 bale.

Not to get into a peeing contest but where I come from a "5 foot bale" means five feet wide. So yes you can have your bales made smaller in diameter and thus at less weight. It is easy if you have a Bale Command or similar baler control. Not so if you have manual controls. Most "five foot balers" will make a bale 6 feet in diameter and they are near 2000 lbs in weight.

 

[Hay Dude]

Not to get into a peeing contest but where I come from a "5 foot bale" means five feet wide. So yes you can have your bales made smaller in diameter and thus at less weight. It is easy if you have a Bale Command or similar baler control. Not so if you have manual controls. Most "five foot balers" will make a bale 6 feet in diameter and they are near 2000 lbs in weight.

Fair enough. I was going by 5’ in diameter.
Might be a regional thing?

6’x5’ bale is much bigger, but still have a hard time seeing 2000lbs from one.

 

[Smokeydog]

My little B26 can move 5x5 bales to the feeder. It’s 1200# lift goes along with the chart. Not my preferred tractor for moving and stacking loads of bales.

 

[Bavarian]

I just call it BS. If somebody tries to sell me a 5x6 bale and claims 2000 lbs, I either just hang up thecphone or walk away.
Specially those guys posting a picture of the bales that have the "star" in the center.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I just call it BS. If somebody tries to sell me a 5x6 bale and claims 2000 lbs, I either just hang up thecphone or walk away.
Specially those guys posting a picture of the bales that have the "star" in the center.

A Star in the center ?? Meaning Loosely rolled ?

 

[Bavarian]

A Star in the center ?? Meaning Loosely rolled ?

Yes. The star developes when the core bounces fairly loose in the chamber till the belts finally start to tighten.
I always check the density of the bales first. If I can't get my stretched out fingers in, the 5x6 weighs more than 1500 lbs. Can I get my hand in up to the wrist, it's somewhere between 1300 and 1500. If I get my whole arm in, it's loose and less than 1300.
At the same time I check if it feels moist or warm.

 

[tradosaurus]

No mention of budget that I saw or of what brands have dealers nearby. There are some solid tractors out there with wide bases and sufficient weight to easily lift most round bales. Personally, I would use Hay Dude's experience on the weight of the bales. I would also want my lift capacity to be 10-20% more than I expect to lift, especially if you plan to stack the bales.

Some brands and models to consider..tractors weigh from 3500-4000 lbs and can lift just under 2400-2828 lbs at the pins.
Branson 4820
TYM T494
LS MT 347
Kioti DK4710SE
Kubota L4760
Massey 2850M
Deere 4052 M
CaseIH Farmall 45C
New Holland Boomer 45T4B,

The first four are much more affordable than the others, but cannot account for dealer availability or dependability in your area.

Hopefully, I will be ordering one in the next few months off this list. I habe just a few more acres, but pines, no hay. Best of luck.

Define "much more". I never found that the case when shopping for tractors.

 

[Hay Dude]

Check where the lift capacity is originating from. Loader pins, or further out.
remember, a 5’ wide bale on a bale spear has a lot of weight further out than the loader bucket pin-on point. That’s a crap ton of weight way out there.