25hp Tractors for Vegetable Farming

[Iowa Hillbilly]

Would seriously consider either of them (or others) for one of the two tractors if cultivating established crops.

Those do look like a slick way to cultivate, but I'm planning to do mulching instead of cultivation wherever possible.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

I'm sure you'll get some sound advice here on which tractor to buy but whatever you do don't buy a log splitter to work off the 25hp tractor hydraulics. If you consider the large diameter of the log splitter hydraulic cylinder and then compare that to any hydraulic cylinder on the size of the tractor you're planning to buy you'll soon realise that the log splitter would move so slow it would be impractical to use. It's best to buy a self-powered log splitter with a reasonable cycle time.

I was actually thinking about making a splitter with a PTO powered pump. I like to avoid owning small engines whenever I can. They usually end up sitting idle for too long and then giving me trouble, because I was to lazy or too forgetful to drain out the fuel or stabilize it.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

My 25hp Chinese 4WD diesel Taskmaster has 34" spacing between the front tires. Standard rims, no spacers. I wonder why you are thinking about 36" beds? I tried wide beds like that but found it's too hard for an old geezer like me to bend into the center and weed it. (I don't use any chemicals) I use a single plow blade and drive the furrows with the wheels next the mound I just ran. They wind up about 24"' apart. Much easier to tend to.

Part of it came down to space efficiency. If the beds 36" and the rows between are 18" then I'm getting 2/3 actually growing the crop, not counting the lanes that go around each plot of beds. The vegetable plantings are going on my 'good' ground. It's got good soil, good drainage, and good sun exposure and it's pretty close to the processing shed. I want to get as much out of that ground as I can, because things get worse when I get out of that area.

 

[ning]

You just might want to check out this Yanmar
Very nice warranties and discounts and all the
controls are at your finger tips for easy operation.

Compact & Sub Compact Utility Tractors | YANMAR Tractor

www.yanmartractor.com

willy

Aren't dealers supposed to be marked as such on TBN? I've seen definite brand fanboys here but you can tell when someone is really into their brand (j w/ Kubota, a couple Kioti fans come to mind) but is obviously using their stuff and even occasionally mentions other brands positively, but it seems all I see from this guy is this sort of post.

 

[jjp8182]

Those do look like a slick way to cultivate, but I'm planning to do mulching instead of cultivation wherever possible.

What type of mulch?

Some of the plastic sheet mulches can be put down/rolled up with implements ....some of which may have tractor size minimums.

Otherwise if it's some sort of loose mulch it may also be worth looking at trailers to assist in spreading - which could also drive tractor sizing.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

What type of mulch?

Some of the plastic sheet mulches can be put down/rolled up with implements ....some of which may have tractor size minimums.

Otherwise if it's some sort of loose mulch it may also be worth looking at trailers to assist in spreading - which could also drive tractor sizing.

I'm planning on using ground hay for the mulch. I can till it in the following year and 'chop and drop' any weeds that come up to add to the mulch layer. I'm planing on using the tractors to pull it in on trailers. After listening to all the comments here and thinking harder about things I think I might go a little bigger, like 35hp.

 

[Williy]

Yanmar made tractors for JD for over 20 years
and over 75 different tractors are using Yanmar
engines and you will find Yanmar diesel engines
in all kinds of construction equipment boats and
all most all Asian countries use Yanmar generators
for power so I do tell people about Yanmar and I
have seen the cute little blue LS tractors also and
to me they are well made and they are expanding.
ning when you like something you want to tell others
about it and not complain when someone does this!
I am not a dealer and this tractor is so easy to operate and with the finger tip controls its a gem.
If you have some good equipment I am sure you
would want to let others know! But then to each
his own ways!

willy

 

[jjp8182]

I'm planning on using ground hay for the mulch. I can till it in the following year and 'chop and drop' any weeds that come up to add to the mulch layer. I'm planing on using the tractors to pull it in on trailers. After listening to all the comments here and thinking harder about things I think I might go a little bigger, like 35hp.

Sounds like a good plan with the trailer. Definitely want to consider the width of any rotortiller vs the hp available at the PTO as rototillers can use a fair amount of Hp per foot of working width (dependent upon on soil conditions).

 

[rScotty]

There was a tractor made expressly for vegetable farming. It is the Farmall Cub, and they were made for 40 years....up into the 1980s.
They had a lot a ground clearance, good visibility, quiet running, very economic, width is very adjustable, and they had a huge line of specialty implements specifically for cultivating vegetable crops.

Farmall Cubs were very popular back when vegetable farming was common.
They owned that market. Cute, too...Parts are very available. There are lots of those Farmall Cubs are still around. You see them sitting behind the barn in rural America all the time. They are also very commonly refurbished for farm shows and tractor shows.

You would have to search for a real cherry, but no matter the cost it will be a fraction of the cost of a new 4wd Compact diesel. With luck, you could find one all ready to go with all the implements.

Vegetable farming is light work but labor intensive. A decent running Farmall Cub should be good for 100 years of that kind of work.

It will do everything you want and more, but they rarely had a loader.

 

[Hall00]

What size pto generator do you plan on running? I read somewhere "they" say 2HP @ the pto per KW. Couldn't tell you where I read it, just that I did.

I run a 15kw pto generator behind my JD 5055D, no issues and I think I have plenty of hp to spare.