Do I really need a tractor on 1.5 acres?

[TDNelin]

Hi everyone, forum newbie here. Recently I moved to a new property, much bigger than my last. However after seeing our neighbors down the street playing with their bx, I'm questioning if we need one (a subcompact)


We're only on 1.5 acres, it's mostly flat. There are some big dips and ruts down the rear end of the property, but nothing extrodinary. We do have a large garden just above that, and a rocky driveway that I'm considering levelling.

We do use a cub cadet xt2 46in, and this is more than adequate for mowing. However I've found it hard to turn with (seriously who in their right mind decided permanent difflock is good for a lawn mower???) And during the rainy season often times the mower will get stuck,or slide around tearing up the grass. Or most likely just bog down due to the water. Meaning mowing is a chore that will take 2+ hours


I'm planning to start a 120M x 20M garden, however this all clay soil so it's necessary to use a large tiller, of which is extremely expensive.


Preferably something to mow with during the wet, so 4wd is very much preffered.

And planning to modify the garden bed/generally move dirt ect.

I'm thinking of a sub compact but would this be the best choice? I have a Massey furgeson gc1705 with a midmount in mind, that's at a very nice price,and a loader is the cost of a new mower. Therefore I'll end up buying the loader for certain with the machine, and thankfully they are cross compatible.or should I just save my money and rent one when necessary? Hopefully with the tractor I'll sell the lawn mower, but I'm not certain yet

An actual tractor rather than a glorified mower will do so much work for you. The initial expanse might be a struggle, but the resulting performance will be well worth it. Look into something compact in size. Maybe check out the local dealers and buy-and-sell ads for a used unit rather than brand new. Our compact Kubota, an oldy but a goody, has helped us so much that we cannot even consider being without it!

 

[lman]

One tractor per acre is my goal. Counting riding mowers I have 5 for 5 acres.

My barn isn't big enough for 25 tractors.

 

[Williy]

My dad lived to be 100 yrs 6 months was put
in hospital after 3 days they said they had to
put a feeding tube in and he said you said the
meds would take care of every thing! 2 days
later he died. He greased and changed oil at
the Chevy Cadillac garage and when he cam
home all he did was watch soaps with his wife.
For me I can't stand the soaps and I cut 5 acres
of grass with a push mower until my wife complained
that I was taking too long and needed to get a
riding mower and that took 6 1/2 hours and back
in 2021 she told me I needed to get a tractor with
a cab. You can listen to all the advice here on the
TBN but what it boils down to is what is it that you
want?????

willy

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My barn isn't big enough for 25 tractors.

but what a fun challenge.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Glad to see this thread is still going!!!
Given the amount of work a small tractor can do vs manual labor. In my case the ratio of tractor vs manual labor was at least 12 to one, that was when I was tracking it to show my wife how much time it freed up!
Initially I didn't get a lot of free time, because just getting to operate the tractor put a smile on my face! So put a lot of hours on it the first year. After the second year all our projects were done, so I had a lot of free time.
Free time that got spent using my tractor for things I wanted to get done.
Did I say I like operating a tractor, and the self gratafication it brings in the amount of work completed? Well it did work for me, your mileage may very.

I'm a firm believer, that everyone should have a tractor at least once in thier life. LOL

 

[JasperFrank]

Though it works on only 4, of the 20 acres, our '87 1220 Ford has paid for itself, at least 5X.

I bought it used for 7,600 dollars with a FEL, and bush hog in 1995, and have since had to put another 5K into it, in repairs.

I bought it for making the house, where it instantly paid for its self just moving materials around.

This is used mostly now, for moving and digging out rocks, and pulling out trash trees to a burn pile. And used to maintain our 1.2 mile easement road. But it is also the emergency response machine if a car goes in a ditch, or if there is too much snow on the road for folks to get up or down off the hill.

This is not a big tractor. Its a 14 HP small tractor. But it can lift a small modern car out of a ditch.

And in Oregon, the springtime can be a bear to deal with. It rains and there is sun, so things grow in a crazy fast way, but everything is always still wet. The tractor can run the bush hog to get this down so I can later just use the Cub Cadet for a later finish cut.

You haven't given us a pic of your environment. Google Earth would give us a better insight.

 

[MoArk Willy]

I must be missing something. I looked at the owner's manual for the tractor you just posted a link to and it shows a differential lock pedal (marked as P in the diagram). That would indicate you can select if it's on or off.

What am I missing?

On my B2320 it is a pedal....and it is only engaged when you are stepping on the pedal.

 

[MossRoad]

On my B2320 it is a pedal....and it is only engaged when you are stepping on the pedal.

Yes, my IH2500B was heel activated with my right heel. The directional pedals were on the left. The split brakes and a throttle pedal were on the right as well.