16 acres and a hobby farm what tractor?

[loggin]

I would have to agree with others here that if the load is 2000 pounds I would not want to be using an MX series tractor for going any kind of distance with that load. I would think the M series of Kubota or equivalent other manufacture would be the way to go.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jerry/MT]

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.



View attachment 736395

When I was rolling hay, I had a NH688 and I rolled 52 inch bales (4.33ft in diameter) of grass hay at about 12% moisture and they averaged 1250 lbs each by actual scale weight. Scaling this up to 5 ft gives (D^2) gives 1664 lbs. Alfalfa would be even greater. According to this chart, a 5x5 bale would weigh 1200 lbs. All I can conclude is that the bales in this chart were rolled at a lower bale density and/or a lower moisture content then the bales I rolled.
I handled bales with a FEL spear and a bale spinner on the 3 point with my Ford 4610 and moved up to a NH TD95D. I can tell you from experience that the NH does a much better job than that Ford. But I would never think of handling round bales with anything less that that 4610.

My point was if you are going to handle round bales, you aren't going to do it safely with a small tractor. My definition of small is less than 50 hp and <~5000 lbs in weight. You also need a front axle that will withstand the weigh of a FEL with loads. Now the OP says he only needs 2 round bales a year. That's today. What about 2 years from now?
It's his money and his choice. I'm just trying to give him the benefit of my experience. I started out with a TO-30 (28 engine HP) moved to a Ford 4610 (60 engine HP) and then to a NH TD95D (95 engine HP) when I started baling.
'Nuff said

 

[airbiscuit]

"I currently have B2650 with 60" MMM, FEL, Front blade, 3PT rear snow blower, 5ft bush hog, rear blade."

You have lots of options to consider:

• Keep your B2650 and buy a used Farm Utility Tractor with a loader capable of moving those bales
  
• Buy a 50-60hp CUT with strong loader and all new implements
  
• Buy a new 30-40hp CUT with 3pt bale mover, keep your implements
  
• Keep your B2650 + implements, Build/Buy a Trailer Bale Mover, buy a rough cut mower with the $$ you save

There is so much wrong with this video, but those bale mover trailers work better than I thought

 

[ovrszd]

If you need to keep a budget one of these would move a heavy bale with little strain on your current tractor. It is not ideal but for a few bales it would be good. Watch FB and CL for a used one.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/477311260508553444/

Yep. I was reading to the end before commenting on this solution.

Keep the tractor you have. Buy a trailer like this. You'll save thousands of dollars. And you won't be back on here complaining about how the larger tractor you bought tears up your lawn when mowing. You think your lawn is rough now. Mow it a couple years with a 5K lb tractor.....

 

[Torvy]

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

More than $1000 is much to me. Some are as much as $10k+ more.

In my examples, the average price for the first 4 was $32k. Some of those also include some implements. The average of the other 5 was $41k. Those include no implements and assume you get the horse discount for the Kubota.

The comparisons were made as close as possible to apples to apples on the tractors. That means adding rear remotes and 3rd function valves to those where they are not standard. All include a FEL and bucket.

 

[tradosaurus]

More than $1000 is much to me. Some are as much as $10k+ more.

In my examples, the average price for the first 4 was $32k. Some of those also include some implements. The average of the other 5 was $41k. Those include no implements and assume you get the horse discount for the Kubota.

The comparisons were made as close as possible to apples to apples on the tractors. That means adding rear remotes and 3rd function valves to those where they are not standard. All include a FEL and bucket.

1 yr ago I bought my MX5400 for $30K out the door after horse discount ( I did purchase a few minor extras).

 

[Torvy]

1 yr ago I bought my MX5400 for $30K out the door after horse discount ( I did purchase a few minor extras).

There is not an MX on my list. I was comparing similar tractors. MX does not have the Auto throttle HST and some other features that were important to me. 1 year ago they were all cheaper. The MX may be a good fit for the OP. With the discount and quick attach the 5400 is $32k.

 

[tradosaurus]

There is not an MX on my list. I was comparing similar tractors. MX does not have the Auto throttle HST and some other features that were important to me. 1 year ago they were all cheaper. The MX may be a good fit for the OP. With the discount and quick attach the 5400 is $32k.

Granted. I was just illustrating the price of the MX5400 and how comparable in price it would be to other mfg's.

 

[dh206]

As others have said, the front end definitely could not lift that bale.. But... the back-end might. the 3ph capacity on your B2650 is ~2100 lbs (which means it "might" lift a little bit more than that if pushed). Now, 2000 bale is mighty close to that and you'd probably want 500lbs of counterweight in the bucket, and there's a torque issue, but a 3ph bale spear might lift it if your farmer goes just a tiny bit light on the bale, or if it's left out to dry for a little bit to burn off some water weight. It's worth asking if he can leave a couple smaller bails for you that you could manage with a 3ph bale spear without changing up to cat-2 and potentially losing a big chunk of your implement investment.

The main point: is don't neglect the capability to use the back end. Lots more lift capacity there.

 

[Hay Dude]

I think the big takeaway(s) here is that very seldom would a round bale weigh 2000lbs and that a 3 point hitch will only lift that bale a little bit off the ground if it were 6’ in diameter. That would present a problem IF the bales needs to be loaded into a raised round bale feeder.
You could always request 5’ diameter bales and with a weight under 1000lbs, they could easily be handled by a smaller tractor.

Dont let the tail wag the dog