25hp Tractors for Vegetable Farming

[Iowa Hillbilly]

For row crops such as vegetables you may want to consider some of the “offset” tractors such as Farmall Cub, Super A or Farmall 140. These old tractors are great for cultivating row crops.

Those are handy tractors. My issue with them is the lack of ROPS and 2 wheel drive. I've got a Case 400 that could do some of the work, but it doesn't have a ROPS and no one makes one for it in the aftermarket. I hope to get some local teenage help in the summers, if any of them still want to work in this day and age. I don't think I could live with myself if one got badly hurt or killed working for me. There was a 12yr old girl that got killed when she rolled a UTV at her parents place just a few miles away from me this spring, so it is a real concern.

 

[jjp8182]

There are also newer models of cultivating tractors being made. One being the Oggun: Ronnie Baugh Tractors // Cleber, LLC (made entirely from commercially available parts and intended to be an "open source" tractor)

and another made by Tilmor:

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Would seriously consider either of them (or others) for one of the two tractors if cultivating established crops. It can be real easy to wipe out a row (in part or full) with a "regular" tractor if a person can't hold straight & parallel lines while driving (which isn't alwasy as easy as it sounds and is even harder to do if looking anywhere other than forward).

 

[eexner54]

I'm looking to get into vegetable farming and am considering getting a couple of 25hp tractors to do it. There are a lot more options on the market than I expected and I'm not sure which model(s) would work best for me. I plan on having beds that are 36" wide with 18" pathways in between and I want to be able to straddle the beds, so tread width is very important for me. The biggest task for them will be wagon pulling, but I also plan to use them for a 36" tiller, potato digger, flail mower for maintaining fence lines, running a PTO generator, and maybe a wood splitter. I don't need or want a cab for this. I may get a loader for one of them for odd jobs, where a small machine comes in handy. I generally prefer larger displacement, lower rpm engines for longevity and heavier weight machines. I plan for both to be hydrostat transmissions and I want them to be easy to operate for inexperienced tractor drivers.

I've got three models on my short list right now: the Mahindra 1626 HST, the Kioti CK2610 HST, and the Branson 2515H. Kioti lists the front and rear tread width for their tractor on the spec sheet, but Mahindra and Branson don't. I can more or less figure it for the rear axle by subtracting a tire width from the overall width, but the front tread width is a mystery. Does anyone know the front tread widths for those machines? Do any of these models have electronic engine management or are they still mechanical injection? I like to keep it simple.

I'm not at all concerned about putting spacers on the rear axles to widen them out, but I'm somewhat hesitant to try that on the front for fear of messing up the steering radius/geometry and exposing the king pin to potential rock hits. Does anyone have experience with front axle spacers who can educate me on this? I'd appreciate any help you can give me or experience you can share with me about this.

You need to checkout the Agura...it is like a modern Alis Chalmers G model.

 

[Jofang]

I'm looking to get into vegetable farming and am considering getting a couple of 25hp tractors to do it. There are a lot more options on the market than I expected and I'm not sure which model(s) would work best for me. I plan on having beds that are 36" wide with 18" pathways in between and I want to be able to straddle the beds, so tread width is very important for me. The biggest task for them will be wagon pulling, but I also plan to use them for a 36" tiller, potato digger, flail mower for maintaining fence lines, running a PTO generator, and maybe a wood splitter. I don't need or want a cab for this. I may get a loader for one of them for odd jobs, where a small machine comes in handy. I generally prefer larger displacement, lower rpm engines for longevity and heavier weight machines. I plan for both to be hydrostat transmissions and I want them to be easy to operate for inexperienced tractor drivers.

I've got three models on my short list right now: the Mahindra 1626 HST, the Kioti CK2610 HST, and the Branson 2515H. Kioti lists the front and rear tread width for their tractor on the spec sheet, but Mahindra and Branson don't. I can more or less figure it for the rear axle by subtracting a tire width from the overall width, but the front tread width is a mystery. Does anyone know the front tread widths for those machines? Do any of these models have electronic engine management or are they still mechanical injection? I like to keep it simple.

I'm not at all concerned about putting spacers on the rear axles to widen them out, but I'm somewhat hesitant to try that on the front for fear of messing up the steering radius/geometry and exposing the king pin to potential rock hits. Does anyone have experience with front axle spacers who can educate me on this? I'd appreciate any help you can give me or experience you can share with me about this.

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.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

My only concern about Mahindra is that they seem to be a hodgepodge of whatever parts they can put together, meaning that this year's model and next year may look the same but be very different under the hood.

But this can happen to any of them. My Massey 1760 was replaced by a 2760 two months after I bought it.

 

[IndyJay]

My only concern about Mahindra is that they seem to be a hodgepodge of whatever parts they can put together, meaning that this year's model and next year may look the same but be very different under the hood.

But this can happen to any of them. My Massey 1760 was replaced by a 2760 two months after I bought it.

Was this because MF switched back from Shibaura to Iseki this year to build their compacts?

 

[sailonner]

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.

 

[jeff9366]

You need to checkout the Agura...it is like a modern Alis Chalmers G model.

I googled "Agura tractor". Nothing came up.

How about posting a link?

 

[IndyJay]

I googled "Agura tractor". Nothing came up.

How about posting a link?

Maybe he meant this? Some funny looking tractors here...

Agria tractor at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

Good choice for those that struggle between buying Orange or Green...

 

[Randy Gann]

I understand your concern about safety and rops and inexperienced tractor drivers. As mentioned an inexperienced operator can do a lot of damage to your crops. So give a lot of thought to tasks you assign to inexperienced operators.