Buying a new tractor

[Turner]

I have decided on a John Deere tractor and am unsure which one to buy. I am looking at the 790 and 990. I will be using primarily for brush hogging about 35 acres of rolling pasture in North Lousiana. I do not intend to let the grass get over 2 feet tall. Will also use for general purpose leveling and moving heavy loads. May later add a finishing mower and mow some of the 35 acres. After planting pine trees, less and less will require brush hogging. Any recommendations?

 

[RoyJackson]

The 790 is a great tractor, but too small for that kind of acreage.
Even the 990 is a bit small...

Maybe look at the 5xxx series machines?

But, as much as I love my 790...definitely go bigger!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The 990 will be the very minimum tractor you'd want. You'll wish you had another 10 HP while mowing if your grass is thick. Sure, if you have plenty of time, you can get the job done. But I know it gets hot in Louisiana too.

 

[Turner]

Since you are suggesting another 10 hp, should I get the 990, would you recommend staying with a 60 inch cutter instead of 72 inch?

 

[Dargo]

I just sold a JD 4600 to a guy who bought it for a situation just like you are talking about. It doesn't take nearly as much power to run a bush hog as it does a finish mower when mowing the same area. If you were only going to run a bush hog, you wouldn't need a lot of HP. Since I was moving a bit of dirt, running a 72" tiller and smoothing out more of only a 10 acre plot, I moved up to a 50hp tractor to give me enough power. I would buy as much HP as you can while staying with the tractor you like. I've personally bought 7 new JD tractors and do not regret any of them.

 

[Cook123]

i just bought a 790 owning 19 acres. i probably wont ever buy another tractor. is production work important to you? if i didn t have time to enjoy what i was doing i would just hire it out. young neighbor bush hogs for 25 bucks an hour. had a neighbor who bush hogged with a 10 footer got a deal on a 15 footer now does it in half the time. what do you like and want? i think the 990 would be an excellent choice. just my 2 cents.

 

[tomttomtom]

I was looking for at John Deere's 30 to 40HP range. My salesman told me that for the money the 5103 would be the best tractor. It's got no bells or whistles but has plenty of power, 50HP. I'm really loving it so far. I purchased a package deal, tractor and RD1072 finish mower.

T

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

A 990 with a 6 foot bush hog is a good match. You can figure on cutting as much as 4 acres of groomed pasture per hour with this setup. More time if rough, lots of trees, deep grass, etc...

 

[tough451]

Go bigger in the long run you will be glad you did.

 

[Turner]

I am retired and will be doing most of the work on the property myself. I, like you, enjoy that type of "work". I just want something powerful enough that will get the job done with minimal equipment problems.