Clue me in? New user, new to tractors

[HorseFarm]

Hi all! You probably get pretty sick of all the new users posting "tell me what to get". But here I am! Any push in the right direction is sure helpful and appreciated.

I'm living on a 9 acre property with two homes (one occupied by my in-laws, who own the place). We are all in desperate need of a tractor and are considering purchasing one together. Here are our needs:

3 acre blackberry field upkeep. Organic (i.e. No weed control products used, so lots of weeds in the aisles). I believe the aisles are 6 ft wide.

3 acre "cow pasture" full of tree stumps to remove (retired lemon orchard).

Mowing of remaining acreage until we can turn it into pasture

Arena maintenance

Fence Installation

Moving hay bales and other heavy items

Manure spreading

Dirt road maintenance

Running of water and power lines

New or used is being considered, but it needs to be hardy . . . my husband and his dad tend to be hard on things and it will get used a LOT. I prefer American made . . . but price comes first.

I sure appreciate the help! Please let me know what I may have missed including.

 

[frank_f15]

1st of all WELCOME TO THE FORUM /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif AND 2ND you are not going to find anything strickly AMERICAN made. othe than that i think you are looking at at least 25 to 30 hp most definetly a FEL and 4wd. HYDRO would be my prefernce but that is your call. also take into consideration the implements you will need to accomplish all you want to do. did u have a price range in mind?

 

[Bird]

As Frank said, Welcome to Tractorbynet. Now I don't know anything about lemon trees and the stumps they leave, so do you need a backhoe to dig them out or can you pull them? My first tractor experience, over 50 years ago, was when my dad bought what had been a fruit farm that had been neglected for many years. He bought a little John Deere L and we pulled lots of dead plum trees out of the ground. And when you talk of moving hay bales, are you talking about the little "square" bales or the big round bales? If it's the big round bales, personally, I woudn't look at anything smaller than 50hp, but for the other things, 30hp should be adequate. I'm guessing you're talking about the square bales. Running water and power lines can be done with a trencher on the 3-point, but they're so expensive that I think most people would rather have the backhoe because it can be used for so many other things as well, such as those stumps.

So, just for a starting point and wild guess, I'll say about 30hp, 4WD, front end loader, backhoe, post hole digger, box blade, and brush hog. My personal preference is for the hydrostatic transmission, but you and your family may have other preferences. As for brands, there's lots of good ones. Go visiting dealers, try out some tractors, then come back with any specific questions and we've got lots of members who will try to help you. In fact, we're real good at helping other folks spend their money. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Soundguy]

I guess you are right on the edge for a 30hp tractor. Could get by with 25.. but the extra weight will help with moving hay bales.

NH makes an 'economy' 30hp.. TC30.. great tractor.

Other brands have similar models.

Soundguy

 

[KiotiJohn]

I've talked to a few people who tell me that the bottom HP range for moving hay bales is probably 40 HP, but I don't have a clue. Of course, as Bird says, those could only be the small square bales. I don't know anyone who's using less than a 50 to do that, and they complain it's not big enough.
If you're putting small square bales on a trailer and moving many at once, you could get by with 30HP, loader and backhoe. You could do some fine trenches, dig stumps and trees, planting holes etc. with the backhoe. Avoid buying a backhoe that is 3pt. hitch mounted, get one that has a subframe as this is more secure and there's less change of damaging your tractor.
For your uses, I think the Kioti LK3054 Tractor/loader/backhoe (TLB) would be an excellent choice as it's designed a little more to be a dedicated loader and backhoe than some others with a 4pt mounted backhoe that is very sturdy. It's a good puller, and has 10 gpm hydraulic flow which is decent but not fantastic (this determines speed of hydraulic implement movements).
You have pretty much three types of transmissions from which to choose, gear (collar shift), shuttle shift (mechanical and synchronized), or Hydrostatic (HST) which is rather like an automatic automobile. You'll get the cheapest price with gear, mech. shuttle, synchro shuttle then HST low to high.
There are lots of fantastic tractors out there, most of them are good. Just find some you want to know about, and let us help yo with the details. John
EDIT: I recommend that you purchase Muhammed's book about buying a tractor. It will give you a lot of valuable information about the different types of things on tractors.
There is a fourm near the bottom of the main list where the book is discussed if you want to check it out first. John

 

[Egon]

My thinking is that you have two stages of work. For the first a larger tractor would be indicated. For the second a smaller tractor will do fine.

Will there be a futher baling operation in mind as this will really dictate size of tractor.

My thoughts tend to renting a large tractor for pulling the stumps and getting your fields cultivated so a proper pasture can be developed. It is very nice to have a smooth pasture.

The same goes for trenching. A rental trencher is is much quicker than the backhoe.

That said I have not answered any of your questions but just brought up more questions. Perhaps make a list of all the jobs required of the tractor in conjuction with the number of hours that will be spent on each. Prioritize the needs and then base your decision of those facts.

Start looking at [ not for ] tractors as soon as possible. There are many to choose from and in the looking process one may come across some real value for the dollar. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon

 

[Keith_B]

I'd go with a 35-40 HP tractor.