Best tractor for 5 acres?

tractornewbie · Jul 23, 2002

We're soon to be in our new house on 5 flat, unwooded acres. It's in pretty rough shape now, very sandy(Florida), it's been bushhogged, but we'll be disking/leveling it and planting grass. What would be the best Kubota for mowing, and doing some light work, landscaping type stuff? I know I'll be clearing a pad to build a extra building on the lot, and moving dirt/gravel to build a driveway to it, fencing the land, other than that, just keeping the grass cut. Any suggestions recomendation? I'd rather get some unbiased advice about my needs before talking to a dealer trying to sell what he happens to have in stock.

Thanks,
DH

Anonymous Poster · Jul 23, 2002

The best Kubota would be the green one. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

If you've settled on orange, you might want to try the Kubota forums on this site. You might get a "slightly" less biased answer...

tractornewbie · Jul 23, 2002

HA! Guess I SHOULD preveiw my posts before posting! No, I'm NOT settled on anything. I'm very open to suggestions as to what my best bet would be. I'm interested in quality, and what is going to work best long term. I don't want to buy something and with I had something else, something bigger or whatever etc. in a year.

Nuru · Jul 24, 2002

4100, or a 4110 or 4115!

Gary_in_Indiana · Jul 24, 2002

First the disclosure; I own a Deere.

Now for the answer; I honestly don't think for what you're looking to do there will be and absolute best (or worst) tractor. Among the big three (Deere, Kubota & New Holland {listed alphabetically /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif }) there's no clear winner or loser. Go look at them, sit on them, drive them and see what feels more comfortable.

Speaking of comfortable, having a dealer with which you are comfortable is very important. Make certain you factor that heavily into your decision. In my case, I'll still use my nearby Kubota dealer for any service work I don't do myself (spelled "Have my mechanic do" /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif ) since I bought used and am out of warranty anyhow.

I was prejudiced toward Kubota when I started looking. I liked their reputation, the dealer is a HS classmate and less than a mile from me and a good friend had one he loved. I went and did what I advised and found them uncomfortable for me (I'm tall). I ended up with a Deere because it was comfortable and the modifications I wanted to make were doable whereas on the Kubota they were not. New Holland fell from the running as the local dealer was having problems. They've since lost their franchise for NH, Woods and, I believe, Grasshopper.

Lots of people here have done well with some of the other brands and even gray market tractors. Do your own checking around and see what you like best and go with it. Good luck with whatever you choose. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

neilw · Jul 25, 2002

I can't tell you whats best for you. However I can tell you I love my JD 790. Does everything I need done.

Ledgemere Farm · Jul 25, 2002

What are you going to do with it? I have 6 acres and have a 26 horsepower tractor and mow 3/4 acre with a JD rider with a 30" deck and a JD 20" walk behind.

tractornewbie · Jul 25, 2002

Here's my original post...

We're soon to be in our new house on 5 flat, unwooded acres. It's in pretty rough shape now, very sandy(Florida), it's been bushhogged, but we'll be disking/leveling it and planting grass. What would be the best tractor for mowing, and doing some light work, landscaping type stuff? I know I'll be clearing a pad to build a extra building on the lot, and moving dirt/gravel to build a driveway to it, fencing the land, other than that, just keeping the grass cut. Any suggestions recomendation? I'd rather get some unbiased advice about my needs before talking to a dealer trying to sell what he happens to have in stock.

Thanks,
DH

Gunfighter · Jul 25, 2002

If I was buying a tractor, I'd look at the long haul. If the landscaping is a one time thing, then I'd consider hiring someone an having it done... For mowing and light work you can get by with a 18 to 20 hp tractor. This size will do a fair days work but are small/light enough not to tear the sod up... I highly recommend turff tires, HST transmission & front end loader.. Just about all the tractor companies MF, JD, C/IH, NH & Kubota make a tractor in this size... When you go out shopping I suggest you take a magnet with you. This way you can determine how much plastic, fiberglass or pot metal (aluminum alloy) your willing to live with. I've found some difference between tractors and tractor brands.

Kodiak · Jul 25, 2002

For your pre-post construction excavating and landscaping needs, I would suggest going no smaller than a 29/30 horsepower tractor with 4wd. You won't be pulling a disk or boxblade,etc, biggest enough to accomplish enough work per area, per time involved with any tractor smaller than that. same with loader capacities. Any tractor smaller than that will also have a limited max lift height and weight capacity. A smaller tractor would probably accomplish your mowing needs, but would limit you in so many other uses.

Therefore I would recomend maybe a New Holland TC29, TC30 or TC33. For Kubota It would probably be a B2910 or a L3010 and for John Deere it would be a 4310 or 4410. If you think that you could get by with a clutch and shuttle shift there are some other good alternatives such as a Long Landtrac 360 or Kioti DK35 and even the Mahindras, that are getting some good reveiws.

Well just my opinions. As I'm sure your beginning to see the selection process can cause lots of heart burn, so keep the Alka-Seltzer handy.