City Boy Needs help

[Maury]

I feel fortunate to have found this site. I am about to buy my first tractor and I would definitely appreciate the help and suggestions of some experienced “veterans”. After some preliminary visits to dealers, I believe I am interested in a John Deere, Kubota or New Holland. Because of that, I will place this request on all three boards.

I have 4 acres in the Texas hill country. About a third of it is flat and the remainder is hilly and has some gullies (arroyos) for water run off. There are a number of trees but most of the land has natural grasses, which I hope to cut infrequently with a rear mower. The land has its share of rocks and some small cedar stumps (about 6 in. hi and 6 in. in diameter). I would like to have a front-end loader, to use basically as a power wheelbarrow.

Besides my own ignorance, I am concerned about ground clearance in general but particularly stability on the hilly sections.

What model and size would you recommend?

Another question is should I get attachments like the FEL, rear mower and rake, etc from the dealer or can I get a better value from Tractor Supply or similar non-OEM?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Maury

 

[Maury]

Looks like I need help with typing too! Don't know what happened to veterans.
Maury

 

[GregJ]

Maury,
With 4 acres and the uses you describe, it sounds like you don't need a very large tractor. My suggestion would be to make a list of all the different types of work you want to do, and then study the specs of the tractors you are interested in. Be sure to buy a tractor that will do everything on your list, and then some. Very few people will admit that they bought too big of a tractor. As far as Kubota, the BX22xx has a lower center of gravity and would be more stable on the hills. If ground clearance is an issue, you can double it by going to a B series, at the expense of some stability. I have a B7500 and it has 12 inches of clearance vs. 6 on the BX2200. The B7500 also has stronger hydraulics and about 50% more lift on the FEL. Both of these models are incredible machines. I chose the B7500 because I did need the clearance and I also felt I would need the additional lift capabilities. If you don't need the lift and can get by with 6 inches of ground clearance, the BX22xx is a great machine. I would suggest that you go to a dealer and spend some time looking between the BX and B series to really get a feel for it. Take your time and eventually one of these models will just feel right. Have fun shopping.

Greg