Gardening and grass cutting

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I feel like this is sort of like an AA meeting on TV.. Hi I'm Joey and I'm addicted to researching tractors...

My family and I are about to be moving to 11 acres. Most of the land is slightly rolling pasture Just bought a used mobile home and will be building a house when building materials come back down. Probably later this summer or early next year at the latest I will end up with some sort of tractor. Whether that be finding something "cheaper" that we can pay cash for, in the 10-15k range, or financing what I think I may want for my forever machine.

We have a Kubota, JD, MF, LS and Kioti dealer nearby. Kioti dealer is only a year or 2 old and does not sell the RX models.

I like running tractors and would prefer a larger frame tractor just for the fun factor. Also my wish list includes hydro shuttle because I just prefer gears, it's more... tractory to me...

I am leaning toward Kubota just because their model names are easier for me to decode and the dealer is reputable. Next would be JD, still a good long standing dealer but they seem more expensive and I don't know as much about them. MF, LS and Kioti have either what I would consider dealers with either unproven or bad reputation.

My probable uses:
1. Making grass shorter: Rotary cutter 6'+ would be preferable, and eventually a 7' finish mower.
2. Garden: I enjoy growing a garden and would like to maintain 1/4 to 1/2 acre-ish.
3. Random chores and possibly eventually moving the occasional round bail of hay.
4. House building general site chores.

If I finance one I'm looking at the MX line of Kubota or the M5660SUHD. But I'm afraid of them being too large in the garden. I would like to run a hipper-bedder and it might make for some WIDE rows. Not to mention having to spend more on a 7' tiller. But I don't want to spend forever bush hogging 7-8 acres regularly so I want to be able to run at least a 6' rotary cutter.

If I just get something to get by I don't know if it would be better to get something smaller in the 25-33 hp range or an older bigger one... Seems like you can get a L3300 or something like an older JD 2440 for about the same money.

 

[jeff9366]

My family and I are about to move on 11 acres. Most of the land is slightly rolling pasture.

My probable tractor uses:
1. Making grass shorter: Rotary cutter 6'+ would be preferable, and eventually a 7' finish mower.
2. Garden: I enjoy growing a garden and would like to maintain 1/4 to 1/2 acre-ish.
3. Random chores and possibly eventually moving the occasional round bail of hay.
4. House building general site chores.

MX line of Kubota or the M5660SUHD. But I'm afraid of them being too large in the garden.

A Kubota MX or a Kubota 'Grand L' is perfect for you.
The M5660 is too physically large and heavy.

With eleven acres available do not worry about the rows being too wide in a large kitchen garden. A 1/4 acre kitchen garden will demand every weekend during the growing season. A 1/2 acre kitchen garden requires 24 man-hours of labor each week during the growing season.

Many here cultivate kitchen gardens to 1/2 acre with a two-wheeled tractor, such as commercial brands Grillo and BCS. Small, proprietary versions of four wheel tractor implements fit the Grillo and BCS.

If you buy a Rotary Cutter too light it will visit the dealer yearly for $600 repair.
NEW Rotary Cutters cut everything at first. As the light blades dull a light cutter undergoes increasing stress.

60" - 72" Rotary Cutters​

400 pounds = light duty = grass only.

700 pounds = medium duty = grass and ocasional light brush, perhaps to 1"

1,000 pounds = heavy duty = mostly brush, even dense brush and saplings to 2".

Heavy brush inevitably dulls the heavy blades so does not cut grass as nice as a Rotary Cutter used only for grass but will continue to chop brush. Splayed brush cut by rounded blades dies more surely than evenly cut brush cut by sharp blades. Most who cut considerable brush sharpen heavy blades at two to three year intervals.

I cut 3" hardwood saplings like Hickory with a chain saw. I knock down softwood 3" saplings with a Ratchet Rake on the bucket, before mulching them on the ground with a 1,000 pound Land Pride RCR2660 Rotary Cutter.

25 horsepower will amply power a Light Duty 5' Rotary Mower - grass only
35 horsepower will amply power a Heavy Duty 5' Rotary Mower

35 horsepower will amply power a Light Duty 6' Rotary Mower - grass only
45 horsepower will amply power a Heavy Duty 6' Rotary Mower


An open station tractor with a bare weight of 3,700 to 4,000 pounds can lift and move 1,200 pound round bales using a bale spear on the Front End Loader and stack them at least two bales high. However, the tractor will feel very tippy to a new operator lifting bales to stack.

An open station tractor weighing 3,700 to 4,000 pounds can transport 1,200+ pound round bales safely with a Three Point Hitch mounted (rear) bale spear but can only lift bales a few inches. Transport but no stacking. The tractor is stable because the bale weight is low and bale weight is carried on the large, rear tractor tires, which do not pivot/steer.

A tractor with a bare weight of 3,700 to 4,000 pounds is suitable for actually working 10 to 25 acres of farm acreage. Working acres, not total acres.



Brand? Models to look at or avoid? Buy new or used?

The design of the Three Point Hitch tractor has been marketed in the USA since 1939 -- 82 years in 2021.

The basic design is generic.

Kubota and Deere have most of the market through 6,000 pound bare weight tractors. But this Kubota/Deere predominance is regional.

The up and coming compact tractor brands are Korean: Kioti, LS and Branson. There are other Korean brands. You have to critically assess dealer stability while shopping minor brands.

Korean manufacturing labor is paid 50% of what Deere pays its union work force. Japanese manufacturing labor is paid 70% of what Deere pays its union work force. Labor costs strongly influence tractor prices.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I just updated it. Central AR

 

[bcp]

11 acres = 1/4 acre lawn and home, 1/4 acre garden, 10 1/2 acres field or forest.

Don't try for all lawn.



Bruce

 

[Williy]

Perhaps you would like to test drive one
of these tractors

willy

 

[jaxs]

I wouldn't worry about the tractor being too large for a half acre garden. You won't be able to do much with a tractor of any size once it has been planted. A 2 bottom bedder that can have plows moved narrower and wider is about the only empliment needed. Put ground in tall beds during winter then bust them out as planting time nears. From then till hearvest a rear tine tiller is better than a tractor. A pto tiller is a waste. You can till rows as needed with a rear tine and save switching impliments on tractor. Buy a 40 to 60 horse with fel because it's difficult to find loaders for sale later. While comparing tractors with loaders give those with Universal quick attach skid steer system extra value. If you know a good one when you see it or can inlist someone that does,$10k to $20k will buy a used tractor that should last 30-40 years with normal maintenance. Surffing the net for advice is not a substitution for hands on appraisal. If you shop for used without benifit of a sharp eye stick with gasoline. Diesel engines are built to work hard and last longer but they are expensive to repair once worn. What often happens is a commercial user buys a new tractor then works it 5 days a week until it has high hours on it. The engine,hydraulics,steering and gear train have alot of wear but paint still shines. Buy one of those and you might be spending several thousand dollars on each system as they go bad.

 

[5030]

Our garden is an acre and it gets fitted with a rear tine rototiller, never a tractor. I have a hiller-furrower attachment (Ardisam) on the back of the tiller for setting potatoes and other root crops.

Actually have 2 tillers. a bigger Cub Cadet rear tine with the hiller-furrower attachment on it and a smaller Troy Bilt for controlling the ever present weeds in the garden.

Lawns (4 acres get mowed with a 0 turn) and I also have a bat wing chopper to keep the fields under control between hay cuttings.

 

[MossyDell]

I tend to agree with Jeff on sizing. For 10 years I farmed part time, raising sheep on 50+ acres and eventually 20 in SE OH. Ran a 33 hp 4wd and it was fine unless the 20-acre field needed mowed and then it was slow with our 6' King Kutter. Took it down over a few days, got the neighbor to help . . . Most pastures were smaller and grazed by the sheep so mowing was easy, faster, light.

Be sure and get a loader! At purchase. I did not and then that $4,000 to add one was always too much. Dumb. Did have a neat post pounder, a nice auger with 12" and 9" bits, a sturdy 6' disk. Plus rear finish mower, rear bale spear/forks/carryall, 5' HD box blade, boom pole, HD 16' trailer.

Bigger tractors are faster, but smaller can be more handy.

 

[5030]

Any new tractor today will involve wait time. Supply chain economics are screwed up so no dealers have an abundance of new tractors.

Far as used, I'd like for a pre 4 tractor and not deal with the emissions issues like regeneration.

 

[KennyG]

You are getting a lot of good information. Don't make a decision until you actually try the tractors and get real prices. Delivery time will probably be an issue. The Korean tractors are good machines but dealer quality varies significantly. You will see lots of information that says John Deere is a lot more expensive, but when when I bought, the JD was cheaper than an equivalent Kubota. Others have the same experience. A tractor is a long term investment. It's not worth it to save money and get a tractor that's almost what you want.