Garden/Compact Tractor Recommendations Please

[DaveRR]

I'm about to close on a new house and I'm looking for some tractor recommendations. I'm finding my choices overwhelming, and I need to narrow my search quickly.

I will be mowing about 1.5-1.75 acres, with one decent slope on the back side (I can't tell for sure whether it can be mowed side-to-side, or only up-and-down). I will also be snow blowing a 60-foot long double-driveway. The property is in a lake-effect belt, so I'll be using the snow blower a lot.

I have a $7k budget, and I am willing to consider both used and new. Any advice on where to start or on specific models would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gladehound]

Given that you will be mowing a "decent slope" and you want to blow snow, you may want to look into a Ventrac but there aren't too many of these around. A high horsepower sub-compact tractor like a Kubota BX may work as well. You also may be able to go with a commercial front mount zero turn mower. Some of these have snow blower attachments available. For the tasks you mention, you don't necessarily "need" a "tractor" and might not be best served by one. I suspect there are a bunch of other things you want to do with it that you didn't mention.

I have always kept my "tractor" and "mower" as separate machines - since I wanted a tractor to be heavy for ground engagement and light construction/forestry type activities and a mower to be lighter for less ground compaction.

 

[jeff9366]

Given that you will be mowing a "decent slope" and you want to blow snow, you may want to look into a Ventrac.

For front mount implements, ie: front snowblower and front mower, there are three brands of rear engine, equal size wheel tractors: Steiner, Ventrac and Power Trac. These brands are considerably more stable on hills than large rear wheel tractors. Ventrac plant is in Ohio. Power Trac plant is in Virginia.

There are dedicated forums here for Ventrac/Steiner and for Power Trac. Hit the FORUMS button in this page header, then cursor down to the Ventrac and Power Trac forums.

Here is a link to MOSS ROAD'S web page. After careful research he selected a Power Trac PT425 for needs identical to yours: PT425 Home Page

PT425 is $11,000 new.

 

[DHD]

I'm about to close on a new house and I'm looking for some tractor recommendations. I'm finding my choices overwhelming, and I need to narrow my search quickly.

I will be mowing about 1.5-1.75 acres, with one decent slope on the back side (I can't tell for sure whether it can be mowed side-to-side, or only up-and-down). I will also be snow blowing a 60-foot long double-driveway. The property is in a lake-effect belt, so I'll be using the snow blower a lot.

I have a $7k budget, and I am willing to consider both used and new. Any advice on where to start or on specific models would be greatly appreciated.

Does the one decent size slope that you refer to, look anything like the hill in the photo on post #74 of the following link ?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/general-lawn-garden/250220-husqvarna-r322t-awd-mower-any-8.html

 

[murphy1244]

A Ventrac will be in the 20k range.

 

[DaveRR]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Wow, no, my slope is nothing like that one!

I looked a little bit into the Kubota BX series, and I think that's a lot more tractor than I need. That isn't to say it wouldn't be nice to have one, but I wasn't able to find one with a blower and a mower in my price range. The Power Tracs look nice too, will have to look more into those...might be tricky to get one though, since they don't have dealers.

 

[jeff9366]

...might be tricky to get one though, since they don't have dealers.

Nah, EASY.

Call Power Trac with your credit card number and tractor will arrive in three days.

 

[coobie]

I would look for new John deere X500 series or a used JD X700 series tractor.Hepled my neighbor friend purchase a new 2015 JD X530 series this past winter $6,000 out the door.

 

[Scooby074]

Another recommendation for a Deere X5xx series. I had a X540 and it was a great, old school garden tractor that had rear diff lock so it handled slopes very well. I didnt have a blower, but the videos Ive seen show it works quite well.

 

[jeff9366]

A Ventrac will be in the 20k range.

I can't believe it is mid-JUNE and you still have snow.

 

[crazyal]

If you can bump that up a little then you could find a used Kubota BX with a mower deck and snow blower. Got to Tractor House and you can see there are a couple under $10k that look reasonable. There's a 2006 BX1850 with 300 hours, front mount blower, and soft cab for $9250. It doesn't come with a mid mower but maybe you could offer them $8500 and buy a deck for it. It's above your $7k range but you would have a tractor with low hours that would last you a lifetime.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

If I ONLY wanted to mow and blow snow, I'd look at a Grasshopper front-mount mower but finding one for $7,000 would be a problem except for a used one.

 

[DHD]

I'm about to close on a new house and I'm looking for some tractor recommendations. I'm finding my choices overwhelming, and I need to narrow my search quickly.

I will be mowing about 1.5-1.75 acres, with one decent slope on the back side (I can't tell for sure whether it can be mowed side-to-side, or only up-and-down). I will also be snow blowing a 60-foot long double-driveway. The property is in a lake-effect belt, so I'll be using the snow blower a lot.

I have a $7k budget, and I am willing to consider both used and new. Any advice on where to start or on specific models would be greatly appreciated.

I noticed you posted the following almost a year ago.......
Mower Recommendations Please ........06-24-2014
I'm purchasing a new home and will be going from mowing about a half acre to mowing 2-2.5 acres, so my trusty Snapper RER has to go. I've been looking at new mowers online and I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'm looking for some recommendations to get me started.

I will have to mow three big and open areas, two of which are hilly, as well as around a bunch of obstacles - flower beds, trees, split-rail fence posts, and a pond.

Important considerations for me are time, reliability, and ease of maintenance. Brand is not important. I have a budget of about $3k, any suggestions? Thanks!


Are you discribing the same property in the old post and the new post ?

I'm just wondering because in the new post you didn't mention being able to maneuver around a bunch of obstacles---flower beds, trees, split-rail fence posts, and a pond.
Is getting something nimble to mow around obstacles still an important requirement ?

 

[DaveRR]

If you can bump that up a little then you could find a used Kubota BX with a mower deck and snow blower. Got to Tractor House and you can see there are a couple under $10k that look reasonable. There's a 2006 BX1850 with 300 hours, front mount blower, and soft cab for $9250. It doesn't come with a mid mower but maybe you could offer them $8500 and buy a deck for it. It's above your $7k range but you would have a tractor with low hours that would last you a lifetime.

I found a couple BX1850s that were in the same ballpark. It's a tough call because we're spending a lot on the house, and we have a couple projects we really want to do right away.

Where in Northern VT are you? I had the pleasure of living in Enosburg Falls for a few years as a teenager.

 

[DaveRR]

I noticed you posted the following almost a year ago.......
Mower Recommendations Please ........06-24-2014
I'm purchasing a new home and will be going from mowing about a half acre to mowing 2-2.5 acres, so my trusty Snapper RER has to go. I've been looking at new mowers online and I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'm looking for some recommendations to get me started.

I will have to mow three big and open areas, two of which are hilly, as well as around a bunch of obstacles - flower beds, trees, split-rail fence posts, and a pond.

Important considerations for me are time, reliability, and ease of maintenance. Brand is not important. I have a budget of about $3k, any suggestions? Thanks!


Are you discribing the same property in the old post and the new post ?

I'm just wondering because in the new post you didn't mention being able to maneuver around a bunch of obstacles---flower beds, trees, split-rail fence posts, and a pond.
Is getting something nimble to mow around obstacles still an important requirement ?

It's a new property. We're still a little bitter about losing out on that one from last summer, but during the home inspection we discovered an old buried oil tank on the property, and we couldn't reach an agreement on what to do about it (there was some soil contamination).

The new place is pretty wide open. We are going to put up a fence and plant some trees, but even so I don't think it will be too bad.

I stopped on the way home and looked at a new Simplicity Conquest and a new JD x540. I also have a lead on a used x540 with the 54" deck, 47" blower, a cab and weights, with 300 hours, so I may look at that one this weekend.

 

[crazyal]

I found a couple BX1850s that were in the same ballpark. It's a tough call because we're spending a lot on the house, and we have a couple projects we really want to do right away.

Where in Northern VT are you? I had the pleasure of living in Enosburg Falls for a few years as a teenager.

We're a little south down near Smuggler's notch. Been there, done that with the whole house thing. It can be tough trying to balance all of the needs/ wants with a budget.

 

[TJP89]

I found a couple BX1850s that were in the same ballpark. It's a tough call because we're spending a lot on the house, and we have a couple projects we really want to do right away.

Where in Northern VT are you? I had the pleasure of living in Enosburg Falls for a few years as a teenager.

I will say this. If you get a used BX with just MMM and SB, you will be able to do everything you need now, and have the option of adding more attachments and implements (FEL, backhoe, 3pt implements) very easily at a later date if so desired. If you plan on having on going projects, this a great plus, and well worth a few extra dollars now IMO. You should be able to find a good BX with those attachments for about 7K. The BX is a great tractor too. Also, you could look at other brand SCUTs, though the used market will be smaller.

 

[DaveRR]

Here's what I've found as far as available Kubotas in my price range:

BX2200 w/mower and loader, $6500: Kabota BX2200
BX2230D w/mower, $6000: Kubota BX2230D - HOWARD'S INC.
BX1500 w/mower, $6400: Kubota BX 1500 - HOWARD'S INC
B7300 w/mower, $6500: Kubota B7300 compact tractor

Opinions? Thanks!