Buying Advice Advice on purchasing new JD 4520 tractor and needed attachments - 50 acre hobby farm

[rclow]

I have just purchased a small hobby farm (50 acres) and have a question around what would be the best tractor to maintain the land.

I am looking at a 2005 4520 JD Tractor with 400 Loader, turbo and Turf Tires (185 hours) - listed price (Private Owner) is $20K. Is this a fair price?

Also, what would be the best attachements to purchase and what is the best method to move forward

Haying
sickle mower
square baler
rake

Yard
Finish mower attachment


Any other feedback on attachments would be welcome.

thanks for your time

 

[brin]

Don't know about the price for your area but the advice I have is Never buy a used baler !! From my experience over the years you want to buy that new...unless you really know the mechanics of them well. and welcome.

 

[HCJtractor]

What tasks do you see that will need to be done? Bush hogging rough terrain and grasses? Finish mowing of large lawns? Clearing land and cutting down trees or extensive limbing? Preparation of soil for planting by tilling or plowing? Moving hay bales or baling hay? Maintaining dirt or gravel roads? Planting seed or fertilizatrion? The list is endless depending on what the farm is like, what your interest is, and what needs to be done.

Secondly, what is the terrain? Muddy and unimproved or more like a golf course? Hilly or flat?

And what is your budget?

 

[jenkinsph]

first of all welcome to the forum,

I have a 2009 4520 with cab and a few attachments, and really like it. It would be helpful to know more about your terrain and uses as mentioned above. One thing you should know is that the new 4520s' have more power than the early ones.

 

[eepete]

Go to the "My Home" section and fill out information like where you are, what you've got, lot size, etc. too. You can check out my information to see what I mean, and I think you'll find it applicable to the questions you're asking.

Pete

 

[rclow]

Terrain - Small hills, Orchard Grass, very easy to navigate as pasture is mature (could drive small car throughout without any worries)

Main usage
- 40 Acres of Hay - would mow, rake, square bale
- 5 Acres grass - Would like to finish mow around pound, farm yard/barn area
- 1/2 mile gravel road to farm yard - would like to maintain / blade
- approx 2 acre garden area - basically work ground prior to planting garden
- 8 acres of wood - some wood cutting etc


Are the turf tires a good thing or bad thing for this type of operation?


My budget is somewhat flexible, but would like to purchase tractor and all attachements for less than $30K

 

[bp fick]

My thought would be to buy Ag (R1) tires, frankly. Your tasks are genuine farm work and any tractor you buy to deal with hay is going to be too darn big to be your lawn mower, that is, fine house lawn, as well.

Pick up a small riding lawn mower or Zero turn for that.

 

[jenkinsph]

With what you have in mind I think a 4520 will work well, good size for what you are doing. I would definately buy a 4520 cab for that. Since your place is open and you want to do hay work a cab is the way to go. All this equipment and implements adds up rather quickly though so your budget is too low to buy a tractor with fel and hay equipment. I have built my equipment up a piece at a time, for the most part trying to buy it once and buy it right. You should be able to purchase a 4520 with cab and extras (without a fel) for about $34,000 new this would be a 60 hp tractor with 50 pto hp. Trading up later after you realize you want a cab is costly, and there are alot of threads on TBN with people doing just that. So I urge you to give that some time and consideration before you decide.

 

[MarkV]

I would question the turf tires for haying. A tractor that size is pretty heavy for finish mowing. You will also need remote hydraulics for the hay work.

MarkV

 

[Mike120]

Can it be done? Yes. But. You are going to wear out that little tractor pretty quickly trying to do much hay with it. Yes, I know that in the old days we did hay with small tractors. Engines were different and there were a lot of kids to pickup bales. With a sickle mower you can cut with very little horse power, doesn't take much for raking either, baling needs 35 hp (maybe you can do it with less but balers are hard on tractors). Now, how are you going to get the bales out of the field and stacked? If you're old enough to buy a "hobby farm", you should be wise enough to buy the proper equipment to do what you want to do. The cheapest thing you can buy is the land....don't try to do the equipment cheap.....Unless you want to be a "hobby mechanic" also.

 

[AKfish]

The cheapest thing you can buy is the land....don't try to do the equipment cheap.....Unless you want to be a "hobby mechanic" also.

He makes several good points.. However, land around me averages $8,000/acre!

If your budget is somewhat inflexible or your timeline to get things rolling along is short --

You shouldn't be looking at a newer or new 4520 - IMO.

Get a good condition, used utility tractor in the 50-60hp @ pto range. You should be able to find a tractor in that size, with 3-4000 hours and a loader for $12-14K.

A small, square baler in good working condition is gonna be in the neighborhood of $3K. A good sickle mower is gonna be around $750-1,000 (I know... take a look at the cost of a NEW sickle mower; crazy!)

Good rake (side delivery) is likely gonna run another $1,000 - $1,500.

Good, working condition riding lawn tractor - $2,500. (I agree with the previous post re: using a large frame CUT to mow your lawn is not a real good idea.)

If you've got tight weather windows during hay season - get a tedder. They can give you an added time margin that can make the difference between having bales in the barn or black straw in the windrows that you'll have to rake up and dump in a pit.

Last note: a new square baler - low end - from New Holland (565) or JD (328) is in the neighborhood of $18K. Unless you're operating commercially (real farming) or a custom operator - a new baler, rake, tedder, mower is not financially justifiable for the majority of folk's.

Sorry for the long post... but this is something I've been scratching my head over for nearly the past 3 years!

AKfish

 

[Mike120]

He makes several good points.. However, land around me averages $8,000/acre! AKfish

Sadly, land around me goes for a lot more than that. Every year I question my sanity of growing hay, but it's better than growing houses around my house. Plus I use pretty much all I grow. I got 5 cuttings last year and still had to buy over 1K bales.

I naturally agree with AKfish. A couple of questions and observations...Why do you want to grow hay, what are you planning to do with the hay, and what do you plan on planting?

I have friends in Ohio that do hay for a living. Their major complaint is the weather window up there. Depending on the crop you're planning you may need a mower/conditioner. The shorter the window, the faster you need it to dry. Square bales are rather unforgiving with moisture content.

If you are planning on selling it, I assume you are planning to produce "horse quality", otherwise why do square bales? If you are planning "horse quality" you'll also need a sprayer to get rid of the weeds (you should have one anyway). You'll also need a a barn to store them in. Stacking and tarping squares outside is not a solution. You'll also need a way to handle them. I retired my old NH stacker wagon last year and went to a Hoelscher accumulator/grapple. Something I should have done long ago. The alternative is to do cow rounds. Anything more than a 4X4 bale and you're going to need more HP. But, rounds are easier to handle, more forgiving with moisture content, and can be stored outside.

Crop is another issue....grass is usually easier than alfalfa, but you can't get much for it. Again it depends on "Why". There is a lot more to haying than most people realize. Good luck!

 

[radman1]

40 acres of hay! Do you really want to deal with the mowing, raking, baling and hauling the hay? That is a lot of work for a hobby farmer and probably little return for the work and maintenance required. Get the 4520 for your other tasks. Let someone else do the hay and you still make a little profit on it.