First tractor ... confused ....advice please!

[greggyy]

On the hoe.. be sure you need it...

Some guys just must have a hoe....

Sorry, you left the gate open for that one

 

[Gary Fowler]

Some folks definitely do not need a TLB, I am not one of those guys. I bought my B26 used with 68 hours on it. I now have close to 500 on it and the back hoe has never been off. I don't mow with it, although the previous owner had a 5 foot shredder that he used and claimed it handled it well (I did see a photo of him cutting some waist high grass with it). I never really thought I would have so much use for my backhoe. I have 11.2 acres with about 6 of it in yard that I mow with my zero turn in about 3-3.5 hours.
I use the TLB to keep rocks dug up that appear every spring (my soil grows a bumper crop every year), dig trenches/ditches for various reasons, dig up leaking water lines, dig graves for animals when needed, dig up unwanted trees, dig holes to plant trees/shrubs in the yard (haven't used a shovel or wheel barrow since I got the TLB), pickup and move limb trimming and storm damage, use the backhoe with thumb to hold up trees for cutting to size, pick up limbs and small trees to pile up on burn pile using the backhoe and lot of other uses.
I would not be without my TLB for general maintenance of my property.
Almost all my usage now would not be done or would be back breaking manual work without my TLB. I sure as heck wouldn't go rent a TLB to dig up a rock that my lawnmower was hitting, instead it would be pickaxe, shovel and manual lift to load it into the FEL for disposal. With my 69 year old bad back that is either not going to happen or is a doctor case waiting to happen. Your use my not match mine and only you can decide if it is worth the extra money.

For my dollars, a TLB would be my choice and when I could afford it, then a commercial grade zero turn mower (lightly used would be better than a new residential grade) for the yard. I would not mess with a finish mower for the tractor to mow with. I get close enough to my trees, shrubs, house walls that I need very little weed eating. About once or twice a year, I weed eat around my trees and once a month or so I do the sidewalks. I am not **** about the large yard so I little bit of grass around a tree doesn't bother me (from 100 feet away it cant be seen anyway until it gets really tall).
I get within 1-2" of my trees etc with my zero turn and I defy anyone with a finish mower to get closer than that. I do keep my trees trimmed up (in all but a couple of cases) so that I can travel under them without hitting limbs. Close mowing is a matter of making the landscape conform to your mowing requirement and not vice versa.

 

[4570Man]

Some folks definitely do not need a TLB, I am not one of those guys. I bought my B26 used with 68 hours on it. I now have close to 500 on it and the back hoe has never been off. I don't mow with it, although the previous owner had a 5 foot shredder that he used and claimed it handled it well (I did see a photo of him cutting some waist high grass with it). I never really thought I would have so much use for my backhoe. I have 11.2 acres with about 6 of it in yard that I mow with my zero turn in about 3-3.5 hours.
I use the TLB to keep rocks dug up that appear every spring (my soil grows a bumper crop every year), dig trenches/ditches for various reasons, dig up leaking water lines, dig graves for animals when needed, dig up unwanted trees, dig holes to plant trees/shrubs in the yard (haven't used a shovel or wheel barrow since I got the TLB), pickup and move limb trimming and storm damage, use the backhoe with thumb to hold up trees for cutting to size, pick up limbs and small trees to pile up on burn pile using the backhoe and lot of other uses.
I would not be without my TLB for general maintenance of my property.
Almost all my usage now would not be done or would be back breaking manual work without my TLB. I sure as heck wouldn't go rent a TLB to dig up a rock that my lawnmower was hitting, instead it would be pickaxe, shovel and manual lift to load it into the FEL for disposal. With my 69 year old bad back that is either not going to happen or is a doctor case waiting to happen. Your use my not match mine and only you can decide if it is worth the extra money.

For my dollars, a TLB would be my choice and when I could afford it, then a commercial grade zero turn mower (lightly used would be better than a new residential grade) for the yard. I would not mess with a finish mower for the tractor to mow with. I get close enough to my trees, shrubs, house walls that I need very little weed eating. About once or twice a year, I weed eat around my trees and once a month or so I do the sidewalks. I am not **** about the large yard so I little bit of grass around a tree doesn't bother me (from 100 feet away it cant be seen anyway until it gets really tall).
I get within 1-2" of my trees etc with my zero turn and I defy anyone with a finish mower to get closer than that. I do keep my trees trimmed up (in all but a couple of cases) so that I can travel under them without hitting limbs. Close mowing is a matter of making the landscape conform to your mowing requirement and not vice versa.

I agree with the backhoe part. Digging up a water line leak, digging up a few rocks, digging a hole for whatever reason isn’t working spending the better part of a day and a couple hundred dollars in a rental. Those projects will either not get done or with a shovel. My backhoe was great. I’d really hate to be without one. I got most of the 5-6k investment on my tractor backhoe back when I sold it. And I got enough use for just the backhoe to pay for the whole machine. I don’t see very many people that actually own a backhoe saying not to buy them. I wouldn’t trade my well used 2200 hour commercial ZTR for a new homeowner grade one.

 

[rgr33]

Two thoughts from me

That Ford 1920 is a real decent tractor that will do the work you are needing it for in the future. If your budget allows it, it would be a good first tractor for you.

I say first tractor, because as time goes by, and finances improve, you are going to see that a hydrostatic is the way to go, and maybe a bit more power.
This is a story told by many of us here, our first tractor, was a just a test flight on our way to a better tractor.

 

[woolyAcres]

Two thoughts from me
I say first tractor, because as time goes by, and finances improve, you are going to see that a hydrostatic is the way to go, and maybe a bit more power.
This is a story told by many of us here, our first tractor, was a just a test flight on our way to a better tractor.

This has been my experience too. My first real tractor was what I could afford- YM240D great machine; easy to work on and affordable. It lacked power steering and didn't have the HP I really wanted but it got a number of things done around here. Finances improved a bit, jobs I really needed to perform came into better focus, and a good deal came along. I was able to sell that machine for more than I paid for it- after having done a number of improvements to it), and put that money toward a newer/larger/more appropriate-for-me machine.

In my case, first tractor was never going to be my last tractor.

 

[JasperFrank]

My Grandfather had a farm in Maryland and all sorts of tractors from a little Farm-all to a, now called "Mid-sized," John Deer. All of these were '50's to early '70's model tractors and all of them were geared. Greared worked on the farm as it was relatively flat, well cleared, as in old, farm land. You picked your gear, and then its a long run till you have to turn around back to doing another long run. The learning curve was steep, as each had different HPs, meaning different gearings for different tasks. And I even learned the fine art of double clutching, when switching gears on the road pulling hay wagons. When I moved out to the Pacific Northwest and got my own 20 ac tree farm, I looked long and hard for a suitable tractor. At first I looked at geared tractors cause that was what I was used to. Looked at a lot of now considered, "antique" tractors. People wanted way too much money for these, as they had become, Collectable," and most were not even three point hitch and and only two wheel drive. A neighbor friend said I should be looking for a
used modern, standardized, FWD, compact tractor with Hydrostatic Transmission. So I started looking at those, and it was my first experience with Hydrostatic. There was no going back. My land has many small hills, slops and narrow areas between trees. So lots of turning and forward and back and if on a geared tractor, lots of thinking about not stalling. These Hydrostaic tractors also seemed over priced in the used market, and crazy expensive if bought new, and crazy expensive to have serviced by a dealership. But I lucked out, as I found a 14 HP at PTO, compact tractor, hydrostatic, modern three point with a FEL and, box scrapper, and brush hog for $6500. What it needed was a fix to its front wheel drive, as that pinion gear was all chewed up due to lack of lubrication maintenance. And easy fix, though the dealership must have scared the **** out of the seller for the repair. I did the repair myself for about $300, and have used it for over 20 years, with the only other fix was having to re-core the radiator. For about $400. I did think that I needed a back-hoe for work on my property as I was building a new house on raw land. But the sub-contractors supplied their own equipment for that, for far less than if I had rented a back hoe to do the work my self. Since I do have the FEL, power steering is a must when that bucket is loaded with over 800 lbs of rocks. The property is fractured basalt with a three inch covering of clay. Can't even imagine what that would be like without power steering. I have a 1220 Ford and it is the last tractor I think I will ever need.

 

[nwut05]

Just my 2 cents worth but stay away from the chineese farm pro junk....just look at the reviews on northern tools site and service nightmares. i started with a mitsubishi 19 hp sold it and went o a new holland 24 hp sold it and went to a new holland t1510 geared tractor with loader...still own it just bought a bigger new holland for haying....i would look around a little bit and find a good used name brand tractor in the 24-35 hp range with loader and backhoe it would do all you ever need gears or not...at least until you get financially able to afford more. you could pick up a bush hog or a finish mower as money allows also. Another thing to look at is what dealers do you have close? is parts available by driving or would you have to order everything by the net? sounds like you have the skills necessary to work on the machine if you need to.... just be sure you don't buy a machine that needs a lot of work out of the gate because tractor parts are expensive. and it's easier to buy something working and fix as needed than buy something broke and not knowing where to start this is experience for you...if you do find a dealer make some friends there... because when you find a tractor... before you pull the trigger it may be worth going by and asking one of the mechanics or even a salesman to go with you and give it a once over.....what can it hurt a cup of coffee and slice of pie may just save you a lot of hard earned savings and foster a good future relationship....... but also on that note you may look at a tractor online and pay shipping on a name brand used unit cheaper than you find one up in the northeast but thats also buying blind and sometimes that can bite you big time.......whatever you come out with just listen to previous current and future advice no chineese makes allowed......another note and just fyi anything under say 35 hp needs to be 4wd especially with a loader and backhoe....

 

[mike69440]

Think used tractor. You could find something like a 2 or 3 year old Kubota B7510HST tractor with hydrostatic transmission, 4-ft wide FEL bucket, power steering that would cost $8-9K. Add $600 for a 4-ft brush hog rotary mower. If you're just mowing not-too-thick weeds, you can sharpen the mower blades (like you do for your riding mowers) and get a cut that makes your 3 acres look like a large lawn.

Good luck.

"You could find something like a 2 or 3 year old Kubota B7510HST tractor with hydrostatic transmission, 4-ft wide FEL bucket, power steering that would cost $8-9K."
If you can, buy it!
B7510 is a lot older than 3 years old.
And around New England, Kubotas brings a lot more unless it does not have a loader.
Looks at a late model private sale Kioti or a Mitsubishi built Mahindra (gear versions are nice), Bransen, etc if you want ok. quality at lower price. Estate sales, divorce forced sales etc. on Craig's list a good place to look. Good deals go very fast.
You seem handy and ought to be able to fix theses basically sound machines.

 

[AndyMA]

I started this post under "new holland" but then realized from a post that my question may be way more basic then if a model is good or not.

After reading a post, maybe I should be asking a more basic question ... do I want a geared tractor?

Honestly ... didn't even think about this!

Having never had a tractor, I didn't even think about shifting gears!

I know I would need to do this when I use the loader but do you shift while cutting grass or just leave it in one gear and go?

I have 3 acres .... longest run is say 250 ft .... then turn ... 250 ft ... turn .....

Is it like a truck .. would I need to downshift ... turn ... up shift?

I understand that you set the engine RPM's to get the PTO to 540 for the mower then it says there ... then do you just pick a gear (say 8th to set tractor speed to ???? mph) and cut at that speed?

Maybe I should be asking can you (or is it practical) to use the same tractor for a lawn mower and a bucket / back hoe tractor?

Backstory ....

Money is tight for us. My wife was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a diving accident when she was 12. I moved from SC to VT about 10 years ago when I met her as she has a job her and her health insurance is up here. I was originally from Canada but moved to SC in the 90's when I met a woman there. She passed way after 13 years of marriage.

Housing prices are very high here in Vermont. After looking at buying an old house and modifying it (wide doors, roll in shower, ...), we decided to build and are just finishing up building an accessible house. It took me 5 years ... I did much of the work myself even building my own elevator ($40K to buy one ... I got an old electric forklift and put it together for $2K). We even lived in an old RV onsite (froze when winter temps hit -30) for three years to save from paying rent.

My wife needs care every 4 hours so I work out of the house. I am a machinist by trade. With luck by next year I will have a shop to do work out of ... already poured the pad and will build next summer (my machines .. lathe, mill, welder, etc ... are in storage in a tractor trailer next to the house). Right now I do small repair work on just about anything (last week I repaired an electric drier and a tractor) and I build electrical control panels. Here is a link to my facebook page:

Vermont Country Workshop - Home | Facebook

Anyway ... lots of work still to do ... obviously I cut grass once a week (using a 12 year, 22 hp kohler, old 54" cub cadet I bought for $800 three years ago), I have two large piles of dirt still around the house ... lots of landscaping ... I need drainage ditches put in around the workshop, driveway is rough and I want to move it over a bit, even building the workshop I would use it to stand up the walls, ....

I had been hoping to stay around the $10,000 mark. With this tractor I would be say $12,000 ... a bit more then I wanted but I could just pull it off. All the other tractors I see are around $15K ... now we are definitely out of my budget.

So do I go for a geared tractor can I not use one tractor for everything or ????

I originally posted in the new holland area because I found a 1920 in good shape (picture below) ... bucket and backhoe (would need to buy a finish mower) .... 700 hours ... 1994 ... $11,500. I also saw a chinese made Farm Pro 2425 ... 2005 ... 2K hours ... bucket and backhoe (still would need to buy a finish mower) ... $8,500.

These are both gear units.

Thanks so much !!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

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The 1920 is a great tractor. I had a 1710 & now have a 2120. The only think I'd be concerned would be prts availability. I had a back hoe on both tractors and wouldn't be without one

Andy