Tractor Sizing Four (4) Considerations in Tractor Selection

[IndyJay]

The devil in the details... one of the reasons the spreadsheet was useful to me was that there were 3-4 tractors that i really liked, all pretty much did what I need to do based on "feel" and other factors like reputation and distance to dealer, brand reviews, etc. It started out with me looking to replace my aging MF1250, so I was initially looking at the 1740M. As I drove it on the lot I was reminded of the times that the 1250 just didn't have enough weight or power to do certain tasks, so I started looking at the 1840M, bigger but same HP. Then it occurred to me that I had been pulling a 60" rotary with the 1250 pretty well but the 1840 seemed sized better for at least a 72" cutter but maybe wouldn't be enough PTO HP to do it well. I went from a "impulse buy" of an exact replacement to a search for what the best replacement might be. I did a lot of browsing on the internet and visits to dealers to decide what my needs were for a new tractor. I have a lot of experience with Excel and was able to very quickly throw together a spreadsheet from the stack of brochures that I had. Viewing the specs and costs side by side made it easier for me to make the "final cut" from several very similar machines. I never meant it to mean that this was the best or only way to choose a tractor. Only that it can be a useful tool to help narrow down the choices.

 

[jeff9366]

Looking to buy my first Kioti tractor for my 26 acre farm. The tasks are bush-hogging 20 acres once per year that includes steep hills, tilling my vegetable garden, 1000 foot gravel driveway maintenance, cutting and hauling wood for winter and just general tractor and loader work.

I think the ck2610 would suit most of my needs except bush hogging.

Subcompact and compact tractors under 3,000 pounds bare weight operate in landscape, kitchen/commercial garden or hobby farm applications on one to ten flat acres.

~~ BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR ~~​

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.

Bare tractor weight first

Looking to buy my first tractor for my 26 acre farm that includes steep hills.

CK2610 is too light/narrow/unstable for your topography and tractor applications.

Every tractor producer has at least an economy and deluxe model in the 4,000 pound bare weight category, with a 66" width and 40 to 60 horsepower. These are the mid-weights in the compact tractor category and sell in high unit volumes.

tractor horsepower second

I am assuming I can run a 6ft BH and might get away with a 7ft.

Mowing once per year you will need a heavy duty Rotary Cutter weighing 1,100 to 1,500 pounds and at least 50 engine horsepower to spin it cutting 5' to 7' tall grass and a year's production of brush.

If contemplating a cab tractor, 60 engine horsepower would be better. The cab weighs ~ 700 pounds ~ and the air conditioning requires several horsepower.

rear axle width third

Tractors are inherently unstable operating on sloped ground. Tractor rear wheel/tire spread, sometimes adjustable, is a critical factor increasing compact tractor stability working sloped or uneven ground. A 6" to 10" increase in rear axle width substantially decreases tractor rollover potential. Tractor width is an approximation of rear axle width.

Small tractor wheels drop into holes, disrupting traction. Larger wheels and tires supplied on heavier tractors bridge holes and ruts, increasing traction. Larger wheels and tires permit higher operating speed over uneven ground by reducing implement bounce and operator perturbation.


rear wheel/tire ballast fourth

To apply 60-horsepower to the ground with an open station tractor you will probably want rear tires filled 50% or 75% with liquid to lower tractor center-of-gravity and bolt-on wheel weights.

If you are considering a cab tractor the cab weight substitutes for wheel weights.

Tasks include hauling wood for winter and just general tractor and loader work.

With this ballast on the rear wheels you will be able to lift 65% (+/-) of Loader capacity without a Three Point Hitch implement mounted.

 

[IndyJay]

The name of this sub is Buying/Pricing/Comparisons. It is primarily for people shopping for a new tractor and is one of the first places I came to when I was looking to buy earlier this year. The information here helped me to rethink my initial choice to replace my old tractor. Originally I was going to basically just buy a newer version of the same tractor. With the information I got here I wound up buying a much heavier tractor with a moderate increase in size and HP.

I am amazed at how many people post on here asking advice on what to buy, but seem to have already decided on a ~25HP sub or some other small CUT. You then read the same advice over several pages and dozens of posts that you've already read in similar threads, and it seems most of the time they go ahead and buy that tractor that is likely too small to do what they said they wanted to use it for. Occasionally you actually see someone take good advice to heart and buy the "right" tractor.

For a novice tractor buyer, the advice that Jeff has compiled from previous posts by members and from other sources is often the best single post that they will come across to give them the basic information for choosing what is best for them. Not sure why so many on this forum deride Jeff for regularly bringing this information to the top, but to me that is what the purpose of this sub is for. This "List of Criteria" is not just "Jeff's opinion". It is a compilation of over 14,000 posts on this sub. A new buyer can read through 13 pages of 87 posts on any single thread and eventually come to the same conclusion that first thing you need to determine is what you will be using the tractor for, then use these requirements to decide which tractor is best for you. Once you get past the basic minimum requirements, then you are in a better position to decide what specific brand and model. That is potentially where the the best discussions come in. In any case, one of the first things a novice tractor buyer should see on this sub is that list of criteria as a starting point.

 

[cathy liebchen]

The devil in the details... one of the reasons the spreadsheet was useful to me was that there were 3-4 tractors that i really liked, all pretty much did what I need to do based on "feel" and other factors like reputation and distance to dealer, brand reviews, etc. It started out with me looking to replace my aging MF1250, so I was initially looking at the 1740M. As I drove it on the lot I was reminded of the times that the 1250 just didn't have enough weight or power to do certain tasks, so I started looking at the 1840M, bigger but same HP. Then it occurred to me that I had been pulling a 60" rotary with the 1250 pretty well but the 1840 seemed sized better for at least a 72" cutter but maybe wouldn't be enough PTO HP to do it well. I went from a "impulse buy" of an exact replacement to a search for what the best replacement might be. I did a lot of browsing on the internet and visits to dealers to decide what my needs were for a new tractor. I have a lot of experience with Excel and was able to very quickly throw together a spreadsheet from the stack of brochures that I had. Viewing the specs and costs side by side made it easier for me to make the "final cut" from several very similar machines. I never meant it to mean that this was the best or only way to choose a tractor. Only that it can be a useful tool to help narrow down the choices.

There isn’t a Kioti dealer within 100 miles of here, but 4 Kubota dealers. 2 are 20 minutes drive each direction , so I just bought what everyone around here uses

 

[rScotty]

SPREADSHEETS. I was just reading through these posts and a few things stood out.
One was the homemade spreadsheet for comparing different tractors. That's real nice especially for someone just getting started and not yet used to comparing tractors. And fun for everyone else to read. I am more struck by the similarities in all the tractors than by the differences in different models.

WEIGHT. You have to own a tractor to understand the importance of weight. There are sort of two kinds of weight....one is a function of how heavily built that the tractor is. Big frame, heavy engine & transmission castings, solid wheels, heavy 3pt arms, big FEL parts...things like that. You can't add that stuff and it is golden.
The other type is additional weight & can always be added with wheel weights, ballast, and tire fluid - and that's better than nothing, but sure not as good as the other type.

A LOCAL DEALER....well, I don't know. YMMV. We just turned over 1000 hours in 15 years of ownership and I've been to the dealer twice - both times just because I was out that way so stopped in to buy special lubes. The tractor hasn't needed repairs - and I think that is typical and not at all unusual. That type of reliability is exactly why I bought a top of the line model. Yes, it has needed some parts like maintenance items, cables, hoses, gaskets, valves.... those I ordered online (Messicks) which is exactly what the dealer would have done.

Dealer avoidance only works for me because I have mechanical knowlege plus tools and like to use them both. If that isn't you, please take some advice from my years of having a repair shop:

Look for a dealer that has the best repair facility (ask to see it), and especially check that they have a mobile service truck and offer tractor pickup and delivery. If they don't have those things, they simply are not serious about service. If they don't have mobile service, and having dealer service is that important to you, definitely find another dealer - even if it means a different brand.

FEL LIFT. About the same across the board but often measured differently.
What does make a difference is not often mentioned: Visibility and quality of parts and hydraulics. Especially the influence of geometry and the quality of the hydraulic valves. Here's a test. Working against a load, can you move the FEL valve lever just a slightest bit and reliably get a controllable tiny movement of the front edge of the bucket? Or does it jump and shudder? You may not think so now, but in use that ability to feather the valve is huge.

HORSEPOWER: Get enough so that you don't have to always run wide open to pull the load. You may choose to run high RPM for emissions, but at least you have the option.
GEARS & RANGES: More is better. Always.
3PT Hitch: You want hand crank adjusters and telescoping arms.
ROPS: Get an insulated factory canopy to fit that ROPS.
EXTRA HYDRAULICS: Get at least one. Either front or back. You can then add more valves & long hoses as long as you have one extra outlet somewhere.
SEATING: However you do it, upgrade the seat. Your back will benefit.
EAR PROTECTION: I bought several headsets, and found that so far my $30 basic Swiss shooter's headset works better in most ways than the Bose, JD, and Sony noise-cancelling headsets that cost 10x as much. It's not as comfortable though.
TOOLBOX & LUNCHBOX: You have to make your own.
Good Luck in your tractor search,
rScotty

 

[jeff9366]

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.

TYM T494​

The TYM T494 is 3,900 pounds bare weight with 48-horsepower gross. A good balance of weight and power. Chassis is 63" wide, which makes it a stable platform on moderate slopes. With 63" chassis width, probably ~ 69" ~ tire width, you will use at least 72" operating width implements. With 48-horsepower you can power a 72" Rotary Cutter through high grass and thick brush. This weight/power tractor is suitable for working five to twenty acres of crop land. Fuel use will average ~.6 to .7 gallons~ per hour.

This is the mid-weight in compact tractors, a high unit volume segment. Every tractor manufacturer offers at least two models in this approximate weight. Horsepower ranges from forty to sixty in tractors in this weight.

Before you order evaluate critically the staying power of your TYM dealer through a recession.

A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most new tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction. My Kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after nine years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

 

[RalphVa]

You guys are all talking about Ag tractors and their jobs.

For me, there are places a big tractor cannot go, and I know from experience that I only need 18-19 hp and about 1400 # bare tractor weight to get all the jobs I need done.

People tend to overbuy tractor and pickup size.

 

[Wobblin-Goblin]

My opinion is most people buy off of specs without demoing/testing the machine they want "in the setting they will use it in"...

Every tractor and vehicle I've ever purchased was tested with seat time beforehand. There really is no other way, IMO.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Local dealer is a strange one. You can go from long established, good dealer, to a new dealer in the stroke in the stroke of a pen. You can also go from a good dealer to no dealer at all.

 

[hornett22]

MossRoad - June 2021:

There's a balance between bare weight, additional weight, weight distribution, traction, flotation, soil conditions, etc.

Too much emphasis on bare weight, in my opinion.

OK:

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.

I consider those things and more. There are also things that a spread sheet won't tell you. That's why I don't use them.