Buying suitable towing tractor

tonykiwi · Aug 18, 2011

Greetings. Last year I bought a pastural drainage business. If you want you can see my trailer doing its thing on Youtube. The title is farmdrainage1. My question to you all is 'What tractor is the most suitable for my operation and budget?' I don't need anything flashy, just able to pull 10ton at around .6 klm/hr with the revs at a minimum of 1100, so I can operate the hydraulics on the back. My budget is 30,000NZ and the most popular NZ website is Buy New & Used Farming Equipment, Sell New & Used Farming Equipment - Farm Trader New Zealand
I nearly bought an old fendt(can't remember model) but was nervous about the Turbomatic transmission system. Experts; Some say I need creeper, yet others say they are not up to pulling heavy loads. I love the work and the concept. Basically, injecting stones in the ground to a depth of around 850mm. No piping, no tiles. just stones, creating natural watewrways. farmers love the concept as it is often under 1/3rd the cost of piping. Also it is easy for me to connect to their existing drainage systems. Hope this helps.
thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Tony nankivell
Northland, New Zealand

Muhammad · Aug 18, 2011

Welcome to TBN.

slowzuki · Aug 18, 2011

Neat concept. Around here tile work is done by escavators (track hoes). In less rocky areas it is done using tile plows mounted to big bulldozer chassis.

That speed is pretty low, I think you're getting to creeper range. You're right, most creeper gears are limited in strength, I think its mostly a warning so you don't overload a small tractor and shear axles. Are you pulling just the dead weight of the trailer or is there an additional load? (can't watch the video here)

There are big old cheap articulated tractors around here that are simple to put another reduction gearbox in. They don't usually have pto's though.

Not familiar with the NZ market. I'm guessing around 100-150hp is about right in a 5-8 ton machine. My MF5455 is rated to tow that weight but I see they are pricy over there.