First time buyer. Help. Have questions about Scut/Cut.

[oosik]

Rutman - I think people are taking your guess of 30 to 35 degrees as fact. Fact is - if a portion of your driveway IS 35 degrees - then you will need something other than a tractor to maintain that portion. Anyhow - one of these days you can accurately measure and know what that portion is.

Personally - I would recommend a 40 hp or larger Kioti with a heavy rear blade and FEL with bucket.

Jeff brings up an excellent point - that I experienced with my new M6040 back in 2009. I should not have tried backing into one of my carport stalls - even with the ROPS folded. The tractor DID go in the stall - I DID replace the broken head board. Fortunately it was only a 1 x 8 facia board - so no damage to anything other than my pride and the board.

Another thing to consider - with proper maintenance your tractor can be expected to last a life time. Tractor purchase is not like purchasing a new pickup in that 25 years from the date of purchase you can still be using the original tractor. Chances are - you might have gone thru two or three new pickups.

I only traded my brand new 1982 tractor in for my current tractor after 27 years of use. And - by the way - I was given every cent that I originally paid in trade-in for my new tractor.

It didn't take me 27 years to realize that I had projects that would require a larger tractor. I just worked around the larger project - taking on and finishing/maintaining the smaller projects until there was little remaining that could be accomplished with the smaller unit.

Plus, I will admit, I like the power, the grunt, the size, the color, the larger implements that go along with my M6040.

So far after nine years with the M6040 the only down side - implements that are the appropriate size for the Kubota are not easily moved by hand. With the Ford 1710 - I could give the implement a pull or a gentile hip thrust and it would be in alignment for connection to the 3-point. Not the case - AT ALL - with these new implements.

Anyhow - sit on as many as you can - test drive what they will allow - do a lot of soul searching. And when you have made your final decision - go one size bigger.

 

[Rutman]

I must致e missed the 30-35 degree claim. I agree that痴 it痴 almost certainly not that steep. I壇 be surprised if the average vehicle would even climb that. This hill is only 17 degrees measured by holding my phone angle app on the roll bar. The phone has since been verified for accuracy and was spot on. The second picture is 48 degrees measured the same way. View attachment 562554View attachment 562555

Ok. Yeah I知 wrong on the 30-35 degrees slope. It痴 closer to your pic on the left. Bad math on my part. I can only afford around 15,000 for a tractor so I will have to stay around 25 hp. That痴 as large as I want to go anyhow.

 

[Tractorable]

If you can squeeze another $2500 into the budget you could get a new Kubota L2501 or a Korean equivalent. Staying at 25hp or below is a big cost savings due to being under the federal regulation for emissions equipment. Get as much weight in the tractor as you can.

 

[4570Man]

15k or less will buy a pretty decent tractor used. Here’s what I found locally. My x neighbor bought a Kioti dk40 which is a pretty big compact tractor with like 800 hours for $12k.

 

[Rutman]

Ok. Think I started out wrong by giving bad information about my driveway. It can稚 be 35 degrees like I thought. And it痴 in ok shape usually. The steeper section just gets rutted over time. I get my buddy to scrape it every so often with his old Ford 2000. It does it easily.
As much as I壇 like a scut, y誕ll have talked me out of it.
Probably going new so to finance for 84 months hoping to pay off early.
Going to stay at 25hp.
My choice will probably be either kioti ck2510, ls 2025 or 3025, yammer sa 324 or 424, mf 15xx, tym xxx. Branson 2400.
Gonna get HST.
Thoughts on these tractors?

 

[Threepoint]

Ok. Think I started out wrong by giving bad information about my driveway. It can稚 be 35 degrees like I thought. And it痴 in ok shape usually. The steeper section just gets rutted over time. I get my buddy to scrape it every so often with his old Ford 2000. It does it easily.
As much as I壇 like a scut, y誕ll have talked me out of it.
Probably going new so to finance for 84 months hoping to pay off early.
Going to stay at 25hp.
My choice will probably be either kioti ck2510, ls 2025 or 3025, yammer sa 324 or 424, mf 15xx, tym xxx. Branson 2400.
Gonna get HST.
Thoughts on these tractors?

Rutman, lots of good advice in this thread. Even with your clarification on your driveway, I think you've still underestimated your needs. With 20 acres, you're going to find a lifetime of projects for your tractor, and with a SCUT I guarantee you'll be saying "wudda, cudda, shudda" in no time. All the brands you're considering would be fine for your purposes, IMO, but if this will be your only tractor, I'd steer you toward something with 35 hp or more. Probably in the frame size of the Kioti CK series. BTW, don't be afraid of Tier IV. I think you'd regret sacrificing utility just to stay under the Tier IV threshold.

You didn't say how you plan to mow your 3 acres of yard, or how it's configured. My suggestion is to get dedicated zero-turn if flat enough for it. Or a small finish mower, rather, say, than a belly mower.

 

[rScotty]

Ok. Yeah I was wrong on the 30-35 degrees slope. It's closer to your pic on the left. Bad math on my part. I can only afford around 15,000 for a tractor so I will have to stay around 25 hp. That's as large as I want to go anyhow.

Welcome to TBN. Yes, the slope vs degree thing is something we've all seen before on TBN. Basically "slope" is expressed in percent rather than degrees, and it turns out that slope is roughly twice whatever the degrees are.
So your hill might measure 17 or 18 degrees and that would be a approximently a 35% slope. (45 degrees is 100 %).
No problem; us tractor guys on hilly land deal with that definition, and with that much slope, most every day.

Everyone is saying the same thing to your initial post: 25HP sure beats no tractor at all, so it that is what the budget will afford, then do it. But we also know that for what you are describing you'd be better off with a larger tractor - something in the 3500 to 4000 lb range. You can save money by getting a gear drive rather than hydrostat. You'll definitely need a loader, and the lower cost of the gear drive transmission just might pay for one. As far as implements that fit on the 3pt hitch - like a back blade or/or box blade, mower, post hole drill....etc. There's no need to buy those new. Used 3pt implements work as good as new ones, they just look used.

Tractors last a lifetime and you can sometimes find good ones used. Read through back threads on TBN and you'll probably find that the normal reason a tractor is for sale is that the owner wants a similar tractor in the next larger size and maybe some specialized options. Quality used tractors can give you a lot of machine for your money. Is there any reason not to consider used?
rScotty

 

[cphilip]

Well.. the Kioti CK2610 is one of the heaviest 25hp tractors I know of. Which is one of the major reasons I bought one. But if you've ruled that out as too big then I don't really know what else to say.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

I don稚 think you値l be able to do anything besides drag some loose gravel around. My L3800 with loaded tires runs out of traction with my 5 box blade with the rippers down. If you only intend on smoothing over some loose gravel every few weeks you might be alright. For road building or repairing neglected road you don稚 have enough machine.

I regraded and ditched 1/2 mile of steep road/driveway with a *garden tractor* pulling a 36" box blade. Scarifiers down, loosened up all of the hard-packed gravel. Then created ditches and a crown. Changed the grade to throw rainwater off to one side. Then smoothed out all the gravel again. Only rarely lost traction, then I would just lift the BB a little to take a smaller bite. The result was so good I didn't have to touch it for two years through multiple torrential rainstorms.

Am now doing some further improvements with my Max 26XL 4WD and a 5' BB (520#), much faster and easier of course. It never loses traction, even uphill with scarifiers down, or when blading a big slice of dirt off.

Of course things do take longer with a smaller tractor.

4WD and filled tires are critical with slopes.

 

[Rutman]

Well.. the Kioti CK2610 is one of the heaviest 25hp tractors I know of. Which is one of the major reasons I bought one. But if you've ruled that out as too big then I don't really know what else to say.

I hear you. I drove that one to. Just can稚 justify 17000 on cost versus use. If I spend that much I would look hard at RK24 with backhoe.