Don't even know where to start

[texasjohn]

start with a list of what you will want to do to the place over the next 10 yrs

close eyes and watch yourself do these tasks using tractor and imagining you have exactly the proper implement for each job.

Write all this down... really....too many details to remember all at once...things like chain hooks, top, tilt, toothbar, toolbox, chain holders, carryall... it's the details that make the difference between a functional implement and one you simply LOVE.

this will define implements needed, tractor or otherwise. Remember that the height of a shed/door is critical.. and EVERYBODY wishes they had sufficient shed space for all their stuff... both enclosed and/or open shed.

rent/borrow equipment for experience...or help neighbor using their equipment

read lots on tbn..to hear / learn from others

save your $$

buy all the attachments you are going to need at the same time you get your tractor.

find a way to get the largest tractor and all attachments you need at same time... even if this means purchasing used

remember, a tractor is simply an engine... it is the implements you use to get work done...and the more implements the more enjoyment you have and the less effort you have personally to put out to get a task completed.

 

[dave1949]

All good questions/suggestions Dave.

The local minister has been cutting around the house and the driveway for us for a reasonable hourly price. I can call him a week in advance and it's done. He has a Ford 1500 with a five foot brush hog. It's kind of like having one of those fireplaces where you push the button and it lights up for you.

There're plenty of unhealthy and downed trees that are accessible to me with the pickup. I also have a small utility trailer. I'll likely be getting a bigger chainsaw and that walk behind weed whacker mower looks like a handy item.

I'm 52, Za-Za's got two years on me. It'll likely be 10 years before we retire. We've been vacationing in Maine for over twenty five years now, almost all of that on the coast. Neither of us is committing but there's certainly a chance we could wind up there.

Between now and then I'd like to learn more about taking care of the property, to find out more about the local wildlife, continue to meet the neighbors.....

Sure is nice to have the mowing covered. The items I listed before are all handy tools/toys to have whether you own a tractor or not.

You might be able to put them all inside a cargo trailer and park it with a neighbor for the winter. That would save you the garage and long distance trailering, yet have a reasonably safe place for your tools. You don't pay real estate tax on a trailer If you change your mind down the road, it's all easy to sell.

The timothy hay field ought to pay your taxes if it is kept healthy. 60 acres is a big field by Maine standards around this part of the state. I don't see how you could manage that yourself unless you lived there fulltime all summer. Get rain at the wrong time and you will be stirring hay for a week or watch it rot. You are probably ahead to have somebody do that who needs hay or sells it. If you have somebody interested, work out a 5-10 yr. cost/profit sharing arrangement where it is in everybody's best interest to keep the field in good shape. Weed control, fertilizer, etc. Quality hay gets a premium. Besides that, your rural neighbors will be impressed You may find they judge you by your hayfield more than you suspect.

I am going to shut up now.
Dave.

 

[keegs]

If you have somebody interested, work out a 5-10 yr. cost/profit sharing arrangement where it is in everybody's best interest to keep the field in good shape. Weed control, fertilizer, etc. Quality hay gets a premium.

Sounds very interesting.

 

[flusher]

The hay fields are for the most part flat but the forested area abuts a stream and the elevation drops off to the stream precipitously in some areas.

I致e never been on a tractor and so I thought I should rent one a few times to get familiar with how they operate and how the attachments work.

Can anyone offer some details about the kinds of equipment I need for this?

Thank you.

I won't repeat the good advice you've already received in this thread.

Just a reminder--tractors can be pretty tippy at times, especially around streams and ditches (i.e. dropoffs). Be careful on that rental tractor that you don't get the tractor and yourself in an unstable situation. I assume you'll rent a late model tractor with a rollover protection system (ROPS). Just be sure to wear the seatbelt if that tractor has a ROPS. If it doesn't have a ROPS, don't use a seatbelt--just be ready to jump off the tractor if it starts to tip over.

Spend some time in the TBN Safety forum for more advice that might save your a trip to the ER or worse.

 

[o2batsea]

I will unashamedly put in a vote for a Kioti DK 45 Cab with Shuttle Shift. It has air conditioning, heat and tunes. Mine is equipped with a front end loader and a backhoe and I have some oddball attachments like a brush hog, post hole auger, and scraper blade. This is small enough to move well in the woods and has enough power to do the mowing, lifting and whatever else I need. Kioti is a well made tractor and, like most Korean manufacturers these days, puts out a highly competitive product at a price most others can't touch.
Thing is, once you have a tractor available, you begin to use it for things you didn't envision. I found mine is great for simply moving stuff around using the bucket, jockeying trailers, lifting the Range Rover when I need to put it on jackstands, engine removal on the boat....I'm even gonna try using the backhoe as a press to get some rubber bushings out of the trailing arms on the old Range Rover parts truck...

 

[keegs]

Thanks all for taking time to answer this thread. I've been reading through the forums here and on other sites to get familiar with what is out there.

 

[keegs]

Well, I guess it's been a few years since I posted this. A neighbor had been cutting the hay for a while for his cows but he's cut back on his herd and isn't interested in harvesting anymore. I've been advertising in Craig's list and I have a sign out by the road but so far anyway.. no takers.

To cut around the house and the pond I bought a Craftsman high wheel walk behind string trimmer with a 22 inch cut. The thing cuts through tall grass and anything < 3/8" no problem...but it's a 22" cut and I'm spending an entire day cutting the grass. I don't mind it so much but I have other things to do when I'm up there.

So I decided to get a tractor. This summer I hired someone to work with me to build a garage for it. http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz215/keegsbucket/Bridgewater-20120724-00399.jpg

And now I'm back to figuring out what kind of tractor I need. I'm not sure at this point whether to go compact or just get an old farm tractor. If cut both fields entirely it won't be very often but I may expand the area that I'm maintaining currently. I may want to do more than just cut hay too.. e.g. trenching for a garage sub-panel, grading the driveway, keeping the culvert that runs down to the pond clear, hauling firewood.....

I could pick up an old Ferguson or an 8n for around $2500. Or I could go for something that I can build on ...maybe something also used but with low hours, a 4x4, in the 40hp range, diesel with a bush hog.

How am I doing so far? If I go with a compact, what's a good make and model to consider? How much should service be a part of my brand choice?

 

[nybirdman]

You would be disappointed with a 8N/9N..non live PTO.If buying used buy something newer with a live PTO and power steering.If going new...check with local dealers and your neighbors(see what they are useing).Also local dealers may have some good trade-ins.Lots of tractors for sale on Craigs List also.

 

[bigbull338]

the smallest tractor id suggest to you is a 50hp 4x4 with a fel.that should handle your hills as long as you watch what your doing.

 

[boggen]

go up to some local neighbors. that are farmers. and ask if they are interested and if they would be willing to give a bid for a contract, X amount of years, etc... to cash crop the tillable land out.

you will most likely want something with a FEL (front end loader)