Buying land, Need Tractor

[Southbound]

It has always been my dream to own a piece of land and now with land prices dropping here in Kentucky I am taking the plunge. The land is 40 acres, 30 pasture land, 10 woods. Some on the land as a little roll but most of it is flat. The parcel is nearly square with a small creek running through the middle of it.
I am a city slicker and have no idea what all i will need but it has always been my dream so here i go. I want to raise some of my food (cattle) and i love horses and I will be planting about a 1ac garden.

Most of the post I have seen here people are getting advice on 6-10 ac of land so I am very in the dark of what size tractor I will need for maintenance on 40 ac. The land has perimeter fencing but I would need to put up interior fencing, there is some brush/debris that would need to be moved, the fields are fairly well groomed, there is 7 head of cattle on the property now. Most of the land is dry and firm there is a very small bog on one end of the property.

So what advice can anyone give me on tractor needs,
size?
Power?
2wd/4wd?
brand? (I want it to last and i want to be able to work on it)
implements?
new/used?
I have been to a couple of dealers and they seem more interested in selling lots of expensive stuff than giving sound advise.

Money is always an issue but i am willing to spend now so that i do not have to spend latter.

Thanks

 

[hilld]

Southbound,

welcome to the club "rural club" that is. As far as recommendations, it is pretty hard to give you something, without knowing what you want to do. Do you plan on mowing the 30 acres of pasture or let the animals take care of that? With that being said, there are lots of questions that need to be asked such as what implements do you plan on having, such as loader, forks, mowers, tillers, backhoe, rakes, etc.....the list goes on and on.

I would recommend a 4WD tractor, with the size of your land something that could easily pull a 7 or 8' brush hog type mower, so you are looking at probably for something in the high 40's to low 50's in the horsepower range.

While I don't have a tractor that large, I have a JD 3320 and I am very happy with it, sometimes I wish I had the next size up for better stability and a higher lift capacity for the loader and not quite so tippy when fully loaded and traversing the terrain.

I would recommend you visit all of your local dealers with your list of requirements and let the sales people recommend some models. Once you have a good idea, you can bounce those recommendations with others that have similar sized land/conditions, even ask your potential future neighbors and of course us members on the forum here.

Happy tractor shopping, just remember this is a disease to which there is no cure.

Derek

 

[Southbound]

I will need something to mow the land with I had thought brush hog or flail mower. A fel would be very nice but I guess not an absolute necessity. I would not be looking at a backhoe (just too expensive) but i would need a post hole digger.

thanks

 

[flusher]

It has always been my dream to own a piece of land and now with land prices dropping here in Kentucky I am taking the plunge. The land is 40 acres, 30 pasture land, 10 woods. Some on the land as a little roll but most of it is flat. The parcel is nearly square with a small creek running through the middle of it.
I am a city slicker and have no idea what all i will need but it has always been my dream so here i go. I want to raise some of my food (cattle) and i love horses and I will be planting about a 1ac garden.

Most of the post I have seen here people are getting advice on 6-10 ac of land so I am very in the dark of what size tractor I will need for maintenance on 40 ac. The land has perimeter fencing but I would need to put up interior fencing, there is some brush/debris that would need to be moved, the fields are fairly well groomed, there is 7 head of cattle on the property now. Most of the land is dry and firm there is a very small bog on one end of the property.

So what advice can anyone give me on tractor needs,
size?
Power?
2wd/4wd?
brand? (I want it to last and i want to be able to work on it)
implements?
new/used?
I have been to a couple of dealers and they seem more interested in selling lots of expensive stuff than giving sound advise.

Money is always an issue but i am willing to spend now so that i do not have to spend latter.

Thanks

Assuming you're looking for a new diesel power tractor, I'd look for CUTs in the 30-50 hp (engine) range with 4WD, HST, FEL with 6-ft wide bucket and a skid steer quick attach fixture, power steering.

If you just want to maintain your pasture and have no desire to grow and bale hay, then I'd concentrate on the 30-40 hp range and get yourself a 6-ft rotary mower (aka bush hog, brush hog, shredder).

If you want to grow/bale hay, then 40-50 hp would be a better choice.

Get a 5-6 ft rototiller for your gardening.

All of the major manufacturers offer tractors in this size range. JD and NH tend to be high priced. Kioti, Mahindra, Branson, TYM, MF generally are less expensive. Check dealer incentives (financing, "free" implements, etc) before buying.

 

[BarryinMN]

Welcome aboard.

I have about 40ac and eventually bought a utility class 55 pto hp tractor. My concern was stability on slopes so weight and width was more important than max horsepower.

Think thru your tasks a little more. How are you going to feed 4 legged crutters? What about manure?

Haying is another subject altogether; New eq. = $100k + tractor. Old stuff is less reliable requiring repairs, transport, etc. Small scale stuff gets the job done just takes much longer. Weather, labor and product quality becomes a concern.

Spend some time (early) at a local coffee shop, tire shop, etc. You'll find neighbors and sources of info/services to about everything.

Dealers especially ones that don't have time to listen to you are not the center of the universe when it comes to good advise and deals.

In any case you have found an excellent place here to ask questions!

 

[Avondale]

Welcome

On a side note to your wish to mow, I would suggest that whatever mower you get, let it be as wide as your tractor can handle. I have a 5 foot wide Bush Hog, which takes a very long time to mow any appreciable sized lot. I also have a haybine, more than double the width which equates to roughly half the time and fuel as the bush hog on the same size plot. The bush hog is for trails, tight & awkward spots and the rough stuff but not really a good "mower".

Bob

 

[Southbound]

Thanks for all the fast and informative replies.

Question on the HST is this something you guys consider great??? how does it compare in dependability and cost with the traditional clutch layout? I don't mind shifting gears but i have never had to do it all day or all week so any feedback on how much you love your HST might help sway me one way or the other.

 

[Southbound]

also what are your opinions on the brands outside of the big two or three? Mahindra, kioti, bobcat, and on and on. What is the drop off in quality if any??

 

[MarkV]

Thanks for all the fast and informative replies.

Question on the HST is this something you guys consider great??? how does it compare in dependability and cost with the traditional clutch layout? I don't mind shifting gears but i have never had to do it all day or all week so any feedback on how much you love your HST might help sway me one way or the other.

Southbound, welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new property.

Your above question is much like "which is better, chevy or ford", it is a heated subject on the forum. A search and a bunch of hours will give you all the information you will ever want to hear about gear vs. HST. Both are proven systems and both will do the job. You should test both and see which you prefer.

I would also be looking at the 50 hp range if you plan to mow that much ground. Think seriously about a front end loader (FEL). You will use it much more than you think right now. As an example, when you are putting in that new fence how are you going to carry the posts?

MarkV

 

[RWolf]

Here's my 2cents worth. After defining your tasks a bit more you will be able to get what you need. Unless your're going to do a lot of FEL work I think HST would be a waste. A shuttle tranny is very smooth and will reduce your cost. For 40 acres I'd be looking at about 45 to 65 HP as you said you want to maybe do hay. Get the largest rotary cutter that you can. Figure 5HP per foot. You'll probably end up with a disk. Figure about 7HP per foot depending on your soil. FEL is almost a must to maintain a ranch of any size but it won't necessarily be used all the time. Box Blade a must. As you said post hole digger. Personally I'd be looking at the big 3 but go look at what your neighbors are using as that will probably get you the most support. You don't necessasarily need to buy new on anything but when buying your tractor you will probably be paying as much or close to a new machine for anything less than 10years old so you might as well get a new tractor. You might be lucky and find a gem from a ranch sale. I say that as I was at a ranch sale this last weekend and an individual walked away with a 2002 JD 4600, 500hrs with a 460 FEL for $10.500. And this tractor looked very clean. Even the tires were barely worn in.

Good luck on your search.