Deciding which tractor/what attachments

[john_bud]

Many folks get some amazing things accomplished with the BX machines. But, I agree with the other posters that they are a bit on the small side. Have you looked at the L3400 and L4400 ? They are economy versions of the L. Less bells,etc.

Since you have some steep slopes, you should make dern sure that the rear wheels can be adjusted to widen the stance. Some of the lower prices models have a fixed welded wheel. You will want to have the tires moved out to the widest they go and have them filled. CaCl2 with inner tubes or the more expensive "beet juice". Or the mid price windshield washer fluid with no tube.


On trail length, you can pretty easily get a mile trail. Depends on the lay of the land, but follow the perimeter and the high ridges then make a low pass.

 

[jbrumberg]

I agree with JB. If you can "figure 8" a path on your property you can most probably get a mile path out of your property. I have been able to get 1+miles out of my 12.5A's with subtrails, etc. I checked my trails against multiple pedometer and GPS (where able) readings. Jay

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've found the best time to shop tractors to be November/December. Many states tax dealers inventory sitting on the lot on Jan. 1. Rather than pay tax AND still have a tractor to sell, many will be willing to mark down the price and move a unit. Typically, most tractor buyers are out looking just as the "season" is starting in early spring, then on through the summer. Once upon a time. most tractors were sold to farmers. With the proceeds of a good harvest, fall and early winter was commonly a time to buy equipment for the upcoming year. With the advent of the "ranchette" market, the huge market for "homeowner"/acreage owner equipment, and the popularity of compact tractors in general, AG sales are an ever decreasing factor in total sales. Over the last 35 years or so, I've bought and re-sold nearly 100 used tractors as a suppliment to my income. MOst of what I've dealt with were small to mid-sized utility tractors, generally the type sought after by hobby farmers, acreage owners, and the like. I've found that I can sell darn near anything at "full price" during the months of March through June. From October through Feb., They usually sit unless I'm willing to sell at a cheap price. I'd suspect new tractor sales these days aren't too terribly far off that pattern. All things being equal though, dealers aren't really making fantastic profit margins on new tractors like some might think. All said and done, they can't afford to give 'em away at any time of the year. A "good deal", no matter what time of the year, might just be a SLIGHT discount. Don't look for a huge price slash at any time, no matter what month.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have done a lot of brush clearing and reclaimation of abandoned farm land over the past three years. At first I was working on a 5 acre plot and I found a 20hp tractor with a strong loader plus grapple and bush hog were adequate for the task. When I took on another 15 acres or so it became clear that I'd be spending the rest of my life doing it with the otherwise very capable 20hp machine so I upgraded to 40hp. I can clear land about 4 or 5 times faster now not because I can run a massively larger mower but because I can simply power through some things that I would need to fight with before. In particular having a loader that is strong enough to simply pop a bush or small tree out of the ground and having tractor mass sufficient to push over a 6 inch tree rather than having to cut it down are examples of why it is so much more efficient to have a larger machine. If your tractor is strong enough to pull out a tree/bush/stump whole then you don't need to come back every year to bush hog it again and you don't need to spend time grinding or digging out as many stumps.

If you are limited by budget (who isn't?) then I would suggest spending some of the budget to get a bulldozer to do some of the clearing and use a small tractor to haul the dozed stuff away and cleanup. A day of a bulldozer could equal months of work by a small tractor in heavy brush and small/medium sized trees.

A Kubota B series tractor is simply not going to have the loader strength to be an efficient clearing tool for 16 acres. I believe the most powerful loader is on the B7800 or B3030 and those are limited to just a bit more than 1000lbs of lift at the pivot points. I'd suggest you look at models with at least double that for serious land clearing. It would be a good idea to get a tractor FEL with quick attach so you could easily mount and dismount a grapple too. A grapple will save you hundreds of hours of work and is almost a requirement for serious brush clearing. You can get a very decent grapple for under a $1000 delivered these days so I'd put that into the budget without question regardless of what size tractor you finally get.