First Time Buyer: Scoping Questions for Tractor Buy

[scaredychicken]

Congratulations on your purchase.

For what you describe, I think that you need two machines.

1) a Ventrac 4500 tractor (or similar brand) - for the brush maintenance, and slope management. Lots of available attachments / implements. My NEXT equipment purchase will be one of those articulating units. 4500 Tractor

2) a good tractor with suitable HP and features, ... for everything else.

 

[fishheadbob]

Check the reputation of your local Deere dealer; I've never heard of a stinker in that line, but check them out to be certain. Then buy the 5 series in adequate horsepower, use it hard, and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.
Will you pay a little more? Yes, just like if you bought a BMW or a Mercedes instead of a Chevy. Will you get a little more quality and - god forbid you ever need it - dealer service, yes.
Lots of posters will say "consider whatever brand I just bought...great tractors at a better price." Maybe, maybe not. We all like to tell ourselves that our last purchase proves how smart we are by getting a better product at a better price. Go for the proven quality, cross your fingers, hope for great results.

 

[nrosario]

Morning All,

My wife and I have just closed on 135 acres in Nelson County, Virginia. Land is about 60% wooded land at a healthy slope that'll never be much more than select cut timber land with some ATV tracks running through. The remaining 40% is split between existing pretty well maintained bottomland pasture and a good chunk that has been abandoned for about 7 / 10 years. Much of this is at a gradual slope great for grazing and was covered in apple orchards 40 years back.

I clearly need a tractor for tasks like:
- Bushhogging and deadfall clearing on the overgrown pastures
- Post hole digging for restoring fences
- Restoring old timber roads
- Select cutting timber and then moving around the debris to proper disposal / burn sites
- Returning the bottom land to crop cultivation is a future goal bit I'd expect thats 4/6 years out at this

I think I need a tractor between 50 & 75 HP with an upgraded brush cutter, a bucket with toothbar and a rear blade. A lot of my work will be along and in the treelines so I don't want a cab. My ability to go beyond basic preventative maintenance is limited at best. This will be my first tractor so there's a real fear of buying something that's too much machine for me to handle but I've got some great neighbors that have agreed to provide some mentoring.

At this point I think I've pretty much talked myself into a JD 5075e but I'd love feedback from the community regarding size, brand, config, attachments... This is the biggest non- real estate purchase I've ever made and I just feel a little overwhelmed so all thoughts are welcome.

Congratulations on the land purchase.
Your needs, I think you got good information already.
The Deere 5075e is a decent machine, if you search enough you will find people having issues with that particular model. But it seems is a hit or miss type of thing.
Here is a list of machines that might work for your listed requirements, I will be listing only the series, get as much tractor as you can.
I also agree on the small + big machine combination, like having an small compact 25hp tractor and a big 75hp machine.
There are numerous reasons for this, but here is what I recommend in terms of compact utility tractors:
Kioti CX2510 + RX series
Mahindra Max + 6000 Series
LS MT225S + MT5 Series
Kubota B2601 + M7060 or M4 Series (you might want to also check the M5660)
Deere 2025r + 5E or 5M series, the 5M is a more refined tractor is quite different from the economy series.

Hope this helps.

Good luck with your search and make sure you try every tractor before you make your decision.

 

[m1garand762]

Shop for the best dealer. In my area green support sucks, at best but other big names have great service. We hardly se anything Deere under 100 hp or newer than 20 years old but tons of new Holland kubota and Massey

 

[MechanicalGuy]

I do exactly all of that on an mx5200.

8' blade
6' hog&grapple
Pirahna tootbar on 6' bucket

54hp

HYDROSTATIC

 

[Williy]

For the small tractor I would try out the Yanmar's
Yanmar has a YT359 thats 59 hp

willy

 

[mo1]

Morning All,

My wife and I have just closed on 135 acres in Nelson County, Virginia. Land is about 60% wooded land at a healthy slope that'll never be much more than select cut timber land with some ATV tracks running through. The remaining 40% is split between existing pretty well maintained bottomland pasture and a good chunk that has been abandoned for about 7 / 10 years. Much of this is at a gradual slope great for grazing and was covered in apple orchards 40 years back.

I clearly need a tractor for tasks like:
- Bushhogging and deadfall clearing on the overgrown pastures
- Post hole digging for restoring fences
- Restoring old timber roads
- Select cutting timber and then moving around the debris to proper disposal / burn sites
- Returning the bottom land to crop cultivation is a future goal bit I'd expect thats 4/6 years out at this

I think I need a tractor between 50 & 75 HP with an upgraded brush cutter, a bucket with toothbar and a rear blade. A lot of my work will be along and in the treelines so I don't want a cab. My ability to go beyond basic preventative maintenance is limited at best. This will be my first tractor so there's a real fear of buying something that's too much machine for me to handle but I've got some great neighbors that have agreed to provide some mentoring.

At this point I think I've pretty much talked myself into a JD 5075e but I'd love feedback from the community regarding size, brand, config, attachments... This is the biggest non- real estate purchase I've ever made and I just feel a little overwhelmed so all thoughts are welcome.

You have about 80 acres of woods and 55 acres of fields/abandoned fields. Anything from a medium sized 35-40 HP compact to a smaller full-sized utility tractor such as a 5075E would work for keeping logging roads cleared and have a loader that can pick up and move brush. How large of a tractor you need mainly depends on what you want to do on those 55 acres that aren't wooded. If all you intend to do is maybe knock it down once per year and don't mind taking a few days to do it, all you really need is the same 5-6' rotary cutter that you'd use to knock down the weeds on the logging roads in the woods and that doesn't take all that much tractor to run, the 35-40 HP compact would do it just fine. If you want to keep the fields knocked down several times per year and want to run a larger cutter such as a batwing to speed it up, you will want to get a utility tractor of probably at least 75 HP. If you want to plant crops, I would recommend a full-sized utility tractor such as one of the 5Es at a minimum as while the compacts can till up soil and run planting equipment, they are pretty light in weight and will take a whole lot longer to do the work. If you want to make hay, you will also need something at least the size of a 5E to handle a standard square baler, and one with at least 65-75 HP to run an average round baler or any sort of disc mower conditioner.

My family and I reclaimed about 50 acres of fields similar to yours a couple decades ago, they had been left fallow for about 10 years and had trees up to about 3" in diameter growing up in them. We cut down and grubbed out the trees larger than about an inch around, used a 5' Bush Hog (a Razorback, which was their lightest duty one) to cut the <1" saplings, weeds, and brambles, a 4x16 semi-mount plow to plow it up, and then an 11' tandem disc to smooth out the soil before planting with an end wheel drill. Subsequent years we used a 7 shank mounted chisel plow and a 10' mounted field cultivator for tillage before drilling a beans and wheat rotation. Later on we got out of crops and hayed the area with a (sickle) Haybine and a 4x6 round baler as well as putting up some small squares. The rest of the property was 150 acres of woods and we used the tractor and the 5' Bush Hog to maintain the logging roads. We used an open station 80 HP tractor that would be somewhere in between the 5075E and the 5085E to do the work and it was fine for all of that. We wouldn't have wanted a smaller tractor in the fields but wouldn't have wanted a larger tractor or one with a cab in the woods.

The 5075E is a nice tractor, I have one and it is a pretty handy machine. These machines are thousands less expensive for the same power compared to a larger compact such as a Deere 4 series and its competitors. If what I see come on and off the lot at the local Deere dealerships is an indication, 5Es are probably their second largest selling line behind 1 series subcompacts.

 

[Gee Ray]

Since this is your first tractor I think you should look for a 2 tractor approach. First thing is a smaller tractor for everyday working around the farm. I favor a new tractor for this with a hydrostatic transmission. I own a Kubota L2501 that would be big enough for most of the chores that you are talking about. The FEL, 5 foot bush hog, a 5 foot box blade for the road maintenance. Precision Manufacturing makes a grapple that fits onto your bucket. I have found this to be a most effective tool. This is a simple machine that has no computer nor DPF to give you problems. Hydraulics for the front of the tractor called a 3rd function and at least one rear remote to to operate a hydraulic top link would make a very useful machine. Do go for the R1 or ag tires. Include wheel weights and load your tires.

A second older tractor that is pre-emission to do the heavy work. A large bat wing mower or ground engaging (crop work) or even hay work would warrant a 75 plus HP tractor. Plan ahead as a good cab tractor for bush hogging or hay work would be nice.

Often it is to your advantage to have more then one tractor.

 

[fried1765]

Since this is your first tractor I think you should look for a 2 tractor approach. First thing is a smaller tractor for everyday working around the farm. I favor a new tractor for this with a hydrostatic transmission. I own a Kubota L2501 that would be big enough for most of the chores that you are talking about. The FEL, 5 foot bush hog, a 5 foot box blade for the road maintenance. Precision Manufacturing makes a grapple that fits onto your bucket. I have found this to be a most effective tool. This is a simple machine that has no computer nor DPF to give you problems. Hydraulics for the front of the tractor called a 3rd function and at least one rear remote to to operate a hydraulic top link would make a very useful machine. Do go for the R1 or ag tires. Include wheel weights and load your tires.

A second older tractor that is pre-emission to do the heavy work. A large bat wing mower or ground engaging (crop work) or even hay work would warrant a 75 plus HP tractor. Plan ahead as a good cab tractor for bush hogging or hay work would be nice.

"Often it is to your advantage to have more than one tractor"
SO TRUE !!!!

 

[scaredychicken]

Often it is to your advantage to have more then one tractor.

"Often it is to your advantage to have more than one tractor"
SO TRUE !!!!

I agree. I have 7.5 acres ... a John Deere 160 lawn tractor, and a Kubota BX23S for the work