Buying Advice Cheapest option for sub compact or compact

[jeff9366]

Rough 3.5 acre pasture cutting a few times a year. All areas are on a hillside.

MOWING CALCULATOR: Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

At 3 mph a 48" mower will cut 1.31 acres per hour. >>>>>>> 3.5 acres / 1.31 = 2.67 hours, each mow. (subcompact tractor)

At 3 mph a 60" mower will cut 1.64 acres per hour. >>>>>>> 3.5 acres / 1.64 = 2.13 hours each mow. (compact tractor)

About 1/2 hour shorter mowing time with a 60" mower, relative to a 48" mower.



Roto-tilling will proceed no faster than 1 mph, so 48" roto-tiller will till .43 acre per hour; 60" roto-tiller will till .54 acre per hour.


I know WV fairly well. Pretty tough soil. ATV is not your solution.

The small wheels on a subcompact tractor make mowing uneven pasture a "bucking bronco" job. You need a compact tractor with larger wheels/tires than a subcompact tractor. A roto-tiller + tractor/loader bucket, in combination, will allow you to smooth the rough pasture over several years.

 

[Thomas]

:welcome: to TBN.
If your land somewhat flat you might consider good 2WD tractor around 30hp.

 

[check 6]

As others have said, look at your current needs and any future needs you might think of. The second point that I have learned is get enough tractor. Over the last 20 years I have gone from a Kubota BX series to a "B" series to a cabbed "B", back to a BX and finally settled on an open B2601. The "B" series while not that much larger (especially B 2601) than the BX has better ground clearance, larger hydraulic system and stronger frame. I can get into 99 percent of the tight places I could with the BX and does more than the BX was capable of. One "B" I would not recommend unless you are only going to work on flat ground is the cabbed "B". Great little tractor but the cab combined with the narrow footprint makes it top heavy and the high center of gravity makes it "tippy" on any unlovely ground. If you need a factory cab upgrade to the "L".

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I went cheap and found a 48hp mahindra for $5k with loader and rotary cutter. Granted its 30 years old and 2wd, but on my 6 acres it's perfect

Gear tractor and tiller tho are meh. 1st is not quite low enough but for a plow or disc it would be great

 

[mikester]

Hi, ya値l
New member here.
Need some advice on first time tractor purchase.
Looking for cheapest options to mow 3.5 acre field and plowing/tilling about an acre.
Was looking at atv implements, but really don稚 wanna drop the money and not be totally satisfied, then end up buying a tractor anyways lol.
Newbie...thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Mowing 3.5 acres is a First World problem.

If your lifestyle goal is to maintain a parody of the english country estate then it is going to cost you more money and take more of your time. Enjoy the process of buying and maintaining expensive equipment. You should buy a brand new SCUT with backhoe attachment. You've earned the right to spend your money and brag to your neighbours and friends on your ability to spend money on non-essentials. When that doesn't work out you can buy a brand new JD cab CUT. Make the story entertaining for your friends and neighbours with your trials and tribulations of maintaining your country estate. Remember that you are independently wealthy and can afford the lifestyle...or at least you can maintain the payments and give off the perception of wealth driving your leased SUV.

If you are trying to live the granola eating, self sustaining, live off the land, off the grid lifestyle then you should probably be plowing 4.5 acres, or fencing and getting sheep, or planting an agreement forest of 3.5 acres. Look for an old used Ford 8N or 9N. Raise lots of kids to help out on the farm. Read Mother Earth magazines.

If you can't afford the rural lifestyle or don't want to make the lifestyle changes then your cheapest option is to move to the city and live in an apartment with no property maintenance to worry about.

Remember, the choices are yours. Be happy! You will be satisfied with whatever you choose!

 

[art]

Plowing and tilling once every year.

Rough pasture cutting a few times a year.

All areas are on a hillside, but relative smooth ground, 5 or 6 trees

A good used BX Kubota..

 

[jjp8182]

Biggest thing is to just identify what you want/need to do as thoroughly as possible, and identify any hard limits you have for performance (e.g. time spent doing a task, overall size limitations, heaviest object that might have to be moved as a single load when looking at loaders, minimum PTO power required for some implements). After that it's basically just finding the tractor that best fits your criteria and budget.

Some additional considerations are:
- a heavy functional (i.e. not just ballast) weight is your friend when it comes to dragging things through the dirt as it's pretty hard/rare to generate more pulling force than the tractor/vehicle weighs, and it'll frequently be less which is something that directly influences the size of draft implements (like plows) that you'll be able to effectively use
- newer tractors offer more user-friendly features and usually more HP for a given size (all at an increased cost), but older tractors are generally cheaper and are more mechanical (hydraulic systems will also be lower pressure)
- overall height needs to be compared to overall width and weight location (e.g. are rear wheel fluid filled?) in order to get an idea of overall stability on slopes
- most tasks can be completed with any size of tractor it just may take longer with a smaller tractor than a larger one (flip side of that is larger tractors may not fit in all places, and may even take a longer time to warm up than it would to complete the task)
- when it comes to tillage there's about as many different options as there are opinions on method, frequency, and overall approach so that's an area that's pretty much a learning opportunity for everyone since different soils, climates and conditions can favor/require different approaches

The site jeff9366 linked to is also handy to estimate the time it'd take for other area covering tasks......

Edit: other thing to consider is availability of parts and quality of dealerships supporting whichever tractor you buy.

 

[Buggs67]

Plowing and tilling once every year.

Rough pasture cutting a few times a year.

All areas are on a hillside, but relative smooth ground, 5 or 6 trees

Sounds like you need at a minimum a CUT. I'm happy with my CK2510 and it would do what you need. But be aware that slopes are difficult mowing. And if you use a finish mower/3 pt mower
there is a lot of maneuvering.

An important consideration is what dealers are reasonably close; some dealers service what they sold. First question they ask "Did you buy it here?" And many of them sell trade-in. used equipment.

I had difficulty finding good used equipment and went with new.

Good Luck.

 

[fried1765]

One thing I learned when spending taxpayer's money a few decades back, 'cheapest option' isn't always the best value.

There are a number of brands out there, but at least some are made by the same companies with different color paint and names.

Mowing with a SCUT isn't all it's cracked up to be. They're heavy, don't always turn well around obstacles and aren't real fast. Plowing or tilling an acre can be done, but again, not real fast.

Expect to be in the $15,000.00 range at a minimum for a new machine and implements.

Why "new machine" ???
Don't they sell used stuff in Lower Uncton?

 

[MF RED in MT]

I think you might need to measure your property slope/grade in degrees or whatever.

Then I would visit different local tractor dealers and see if they have a similar slope that you could drive different size tractors back and forth on the slope like you would be doing on your property.

This doesn't mean you need to purchase a new tractor, but you would be gaining valuable information for your goal to purchase a tractor.

Good luck, KC