Little Red Tractor
Gold Member
Excellent, and often overlooked advice for a 1st time buyer.7. I also believe, if you don't like the dealer, you probably soon won't like the tractor.
Excellent, and often overlooked advice for a 1st time buyer.7. I also believe, if you don't like the dealer, you probably soon won't like the tractor.
Thanks for the feedback.Once again I will be contrarian and advocate for a smaller, lighter tractor. I will assume that that since the OP is getting his first tractor he is neither a mechanic nor familiar with small diesel engines. He thus will need to rely on his dealer for maintenance and repair. Hauling a "heavy" tractor is thus an expense that needs to be considered. Most dealers charge exorbitantly for an 80 mile round trip. Hauling more than the typical 25 horse CUT requires a heavy duty truck and trailer, both expensive. I have farmed 80 acres of livestock and tree farm part time with 25 horse power tractors for 40 years. They have always been sufficient. I can easily haul any one of them the 80 miles to the dealers with my ten year old half ton Chev pickup and $2000 12 foot trailer. (And a back-hole is pointless for what he describes his needs as - rent a little track hoe when you need to dig a ditch).
What's the Member's name that added a turbo to his Kubota??? Remember?? He actually posted a LOT of very valuable information about that modification.
Thanks for the feedback.
while I do have a 24ft 14k trailer I do see appeal in running a CUT vs something larger.
my intent was always to get the largest/heaviest CUT that I could.
I guess where I could have elaborated more, but alluded to later in the thread is what will a 40hp cut do that a 25hp one won’t (considering I won’t snow blow/plow, won’t rotary cut, won’t bush hog, and won’t wood chip)
it’s really great to hear of your success with a low HP tractor on so much property. I was beginning to get concerned that I was just stubborn and that it was really ill advised to proceed with a 25hp unit. I will fully admit. I AM stubborn about DPF. It’s great to hear so many success stories but i WILL NOT own anything that contains DPF or DEF. It’s just a personal decision
I can definitely turn a wrench, but I would most definitely prefer something with minimal downtime and required wrenching as I have enough side projects to keep me busy with that.
Anyways. Thanks again for the insight. Everyone that has replied has definitely given me plenty to mull over
SNIP
am I being unrealistic in the expectations of a 25hp tractor on 20 acres? The land is flat.
I’m not against a larger pre-emission tractor. I just hesitate on that as I don’t really know what to look for and don’t want to buy a junker
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Except one of the most important which is mowing.There's not a lot of tasks that are limited by engine power alone.
Except one of the most important which is mowing.
Like you I'm a new member to this forum and have learnt so much from this crew though I'm coming to you from my rural stronghold of 30 acres in New Zealand.Greetings! I’ve been perusing this forum for the past few months as a guest and finally decided to create an account and dive right in.
First things first. I’ve never owned a tractor before
I’ve been reading and reading on what type of machine would be most suitable for my family
We are looking for something to help us with developing and maintaining 20 acres homestead
primary uses would be post hole digging, light road cutting, garden prep, pallet lifting of up to roughly 36” high to load onto my trailer, ground cleanup, building dirt bike trails and jumps, etc.
so id likely mostly use a loader, forks, backhoe, rake, blade, post hole (and maybe a tiller if it’s capable of doing such)
It seems I’ve cornered myself into two options.
the heaviest/largest 25hp tractor I can find OR a higher HP pre emission tractor. I have absolutely zero interest in owning a machine with modern diesel emissions. I understand that more power may help me work quicker. But I’m not a commercial operation seeking to maximize revenue. I have time. I think I’d rather be a bit under powered than undersized
I thought I had my mind set on the Kubota L2501 HST but I also sometimes do a bit of analysis paralysis and fortunately that let me to a handful of other options (initially I thought it was only the kubota vs the JD 3025)
it appears that the Kioti CK2610 might in fact be a bit larger/heavier than the Kubota with a larger hydraulic and lift capacity. The motor appears to be a larger detuned one as well. I’ve seen some talk about being able to open them up a bit to reach 33hp (I’m a gear head haha). I also like the location of the loader controls compared to the more forward controls of the Kubota.
we have both a Kubota and a kioti dealer within 40 miles of us. Not much else within that radius.
I don’t intend to make this a kioti vs Kubota thread. Just trying to provide as much info as I can.
am I being unrealistic in the expectations of a 25hp tractor on 20 acres? The land is flat.
I’m not against a larger pre-emission tractor. I just hesitate on that as I don’t really know what to look for and don’t want to buy a junker
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated!