AZ 10 acres prairie land-Tractor needs

[prescottvalley]

Hi,

My husband and I have 10 acres in Prescott Valley AZ and plan on retiring there in the next 1-2 years. The land is prairie style, cross fenced into 3 pastures (if you can call tumbleweeds pasture!) and an existing home. I'm researching what we will need tractor-wise to easily maintain our property.
Our needs:

Dealing with the tumbleweeds. Anyone with experience with these buggers is asked to send help!!! Our tenant has sent us photos of huge pileups of tumbles against the fences and he has burned some of them. They tend to blow in from the land around us and as well as we are cultivalting some beauties ourselves. We have done some cleanup on the property and when the tumbles are dry, they are monsters. Has anyone used a chipper that shoots into a bag so you can grind the tumbles and dispose of. I wouldn't want to shoot the debris back onto to the land and have them reseed. If a chipper isn't an option, what tractor attachment would we use to keep the tumbles at bay?

We will have horses and will also need a manure spreader tractor attachment and a tractor attachment to groom a riding arena.

So the question is really what size tractor would fit our needs and would be able to handle the attachments. If there are any other attachments that would make the upkeep on our property easier, I would love the advice.

Sorry for the long intro, I got carried away. I can repost this on a new thread. Thanks to everyone who posts.

Teri

 

[Muhammad]

Welcome to TBN.

 

[crash325]

Welcome Glad to have you here.

Simple solution to the tumble weeds, take the fence down and let them blow away. :laughing: OK not such a good idea.

Chipper with bag's is a good idea and burning will help. But you can only slow them down on you property. Having horses will help keep them down to some extent.

As for tractor size here is my :2cents:. Not less than 40 HP, with a Front end loader. Next to the loader my favorite toy is a Back Hoe. I could write 2 pages on the many uses that you will find for a BH.

Have spent a fair amount of time in your part of the world, but it has been a long time ago. What I remember is a lot of the ground is coarse DG and will need some amending and loosing for a horse arena. A hydraulic box blade will be useful for that job.

Take some pictures and let us see the "Joint".

Have Fun

 

[flusher]

What's your tractor budget?
The chores you listed could be done by a $5-10K used tractor in the 30-40hp range with a front end loader (FEL) or a $15-20K new tractor with FEL.

Many brands to select from.

I'd start with the local tractor dealers because you'll need them eventually for parts, service and repairs (unless you can do the work yourself in your shop). Get some seat time on typical tractors in that hp range. Ask a lot of questions. If you prefer buying used, then get help from someone who knows tractors and can distinguish the good ones from the beaters.

Good luck.

 

[BoFuller]

Welcome PrescottValley. We come through there very often. We live currently in Mesa but recently bought 40 acres up by Seligman (see Arizona Ranch thread). I got a used Kubota L3400 with FEL and box scraper and like it very much. PV is a great area - I'm sure you'll love it. Are you new to PV or just new to the 10 acres? Where in PV? Out off of Coyote Springs?

 

[prescottvalley]

As for tractor size here is my :2cents:. Not less than 40 HP, with a Front end loader. Next to the loader my favorite toy is a Back Hoe. I could write 2 pages on the many uses that you will find for a BH.

Hi Crash, Thanks for your .02cents... I think you're selling too cheap, that was at least .03cents worth! I like your idea of the FE. I went online and looked at some websites and saw how useful an FE would be hauling: a hay bale, tools for repairing fence, etc. I had not considered 40HP, I was thinking diesel and maybe 30hp. Was looking at a compact size that would manuever easily down the barn or mare motel aisle.

Not sure what the heck I would do with a BH. I thought that's what husbands and shovels were for!!

 

[prescottvalley]

What's your tractor budget?
The chores you listed could be done by a $5-10K used tractor in the 30-40hp range with a front end loader (FEL) or a $15-20K new tractor with FEL.
Good luck.

Hi Flush, I was thinking a compact tractor and 30hp, also a diesel. We may wind up going new just because I'm not sure I want to research and search for a good used one. Rather spend the time enjoying the horses, chickens etc. You know when you're on the dark side of 55 years old, there's no time to waste. I'm not sure of our budget yet and it may turn out that a good used tractor is what we can afford. You input on the price range is very helpful. Thanks!

 

[prescottvalley]

Hi Bo, yep our property is in Coyote Springs and I love the wide open feel of the prairie, it is wonderful. We are still in So Calif waiting for retirement and not patiently I might add. I was looking at Kubota and also Kioti's.

Do you deal with Tumbleweeds where you are? Our tenant has sent us some photos of tumbles that would have inspired an Alfred Hitchcock film "The Tumbleweeds". Do you have livestock on your land? How often do you use the box scaper? I'm assuming the box scaper is used to clear land?

Any thoughts on Diesle vs Gasoline?

thanks

 

[BoFuller]

No tumbleweeds at our place. We're at 6200 feet and covered with juniper trees and pinion pine trees. We don't have any domestic animals yet.
I used the scraper to make a drive - about 1000 feet long, scraping off the topsoil and getting it ready for gravel. I need to haul about 25 loads of limestone to cover it all.
I was just down Coyote Springs about a week ago, as that is where I bought my dumptruck. We also looked at some 10 acres places in that area six months ago before we decided to head north in search of trees.
Bingham Equipment in Mesa has good prices on Kubotas and attachments. Nate is an awesome salesman!

 

[BoFuller]

And I would go diesel!