help a damsel in distress

[cj7]

The only person who wished they had a smaller tractor was the person who got their tractor jammed between two trees, or knocked the tail light off their car cutting to close, or broke the gate going through.


Or the fellow that needed an FEL and wanted to use his current trailer to to his tractor with him and wanted to get into tight places but will miss the larger mower.

If I could I would own one for every chore!

 

[cj7]

Yes the wheels can be widened on most tractors. It will help with stability. Just be careful going across slopes. Look out for ground-hog holes and such. Make your turns to the down side of the slope. If it does not feel safe it probably is not.

 

[cowboydoc]

Some tractors but not all Bunny. That's why I had said to go with a little bigger tractor and the 6' mower. With that you can widen the wheels out to the 6' of your mower and you will have more than enough stability. With alot of the 20 hp and even some of the 30 hp tractors it is NOT an option to widen the wheels. Keep that in mind when you are buying one.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>Can I widen the wheel base of all tractors?</font color=blue>

No. Richard (cowboydoc) is right, of course. You can adjust the width of the wheels on a lot of tractors, but there are also a lot of them that cannot be changed (such as the Kubotas I owned).

 

[RichZ]

OK, Bunny, here's another difference of opinion. I would NOT go with turf tires as Chris suggested. (Sorry Chris/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif) Since your property is sloping, you'll probably need the traction of agricultural tires (R-1's). I use R-1's on my Ferguson which I use for finish mowing, and they never damage the lawn.

And now prepare for the great tire debate. Don't worry we debate this all the time!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TresCrows]

Actually the smaller Kubotas seem to have the ability to widen the wheels more than the larger Kubotas, for their size, because the 7500 has a spindle type axle. You can push the wheels way out for such a small machine which would greatly increase stability while using a rear mount mower. With over 20 acres you could certainly use a large tractor like has been suggested. With no pictures or real info on your property I still think a 7500 with a King Kutter 60 inch RMM would do your property. Is your brush hogging slashing through 2 inch oaks or is it just mowing an overgrown field? You could pay someone to mow the whole property once or twice with a large machine and then maintain it with a more practical "estate" size machine.
Sure lot's of people own smaller tractors and love them, that is why Kubota and JD make them and most who buy them are quite satisfied as you would be moving up from a riding mower. I give these guys a bad time on their "big" tractors but a Kubota L3010 with turf tires and a 5 or 6 foot estate type cutter (faster blade speed than a hog and a smoother cut) would be awfully nice but do you really need that--probably not most of the time. Another advantage to larger machine is that tractors are expensive and it does seem that once you reach a certain price point it only takes a little more money to get a larger machine if you really could use one. J

 

[mbsil]

Short form answer

=> 27 HP to use a 5' deck. I have a B7500 and 5 acres and would go bigger considering your property's size.

IMHO buy Kubota..all others....AXIS of EVIL! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[PondKeeper]

Bunny

Any yet another opinion. I have a second home and had to decide about taking a second job and cutting a 5ac lawn weekly that was landscaped like a park with ponds, slopes, trees, etc. It took far too long to cut every weekend so I decided to take the 48 inch NH Garden mower home and pay $75 a week to a local landscaper. It takes them 1 hour to do the lawn with two men on a 72" and a 60" zero turn ExMarks. With me on a BX.. with a 60" it would still take three/four times that. I have decided to keep the landscaper and buy a smaller tractor, hoping for the BX22 soon.
When I either retire (again) to there or start making every weekend 3/4 days I will add the MMM or most likely look for a zero turn to just mow the finish lawn.
The idea of two machines works for me, only exception is I would opt for a smaller tractor and a FASTER mowing machine instead of getting a larger tractor because of the lawn size.
I also have 5ac of hay, I let the neighbor mow and bale it two or three times a year. He gets the hay and I get it mowed, works for both of us, a good trade.

There are only so few hours in a weekend, after golf and some fishing the mowing is boring, it is the same every week. Moving dirt is more fun and a change of senery.

 

[bunny]

BOYS BOYS BOYS--you guys are all over the place. I may own a ford explorer, love my ford explorer, but my ford explorer is certainly no range rover. I could give you the pros and cons. Are the 3 brands the same? (basically) JD isn't known for metal parts and Kubota known for plastic? (I'm just asking a general question) Volvo is known for reliability, right? It seems you guys bleed blue green or orange blood, and don't really compare one to the other. (do blue and orange make green?) anyways, thank you all so very much for your input, but I guess my original question was never answered, perhaps because there is no answer--what's the minimum hp to mow 8 acres and brush hog (99% tall grass) 15 acres. Some say a 16 hp kubota will do the trick. Others of you say if I want to cut my mowing time, go bigger. So tractors are all basically the same, and whatever color tractor appeals to me, and fits me, on any particular day, is the route I should travel. okay, okay. i'll be toiling in the summer sun, whilst you boys type at your keyboards, assisting other damsels in distress. I only wish this were easier. Thanks again to all of you.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"okay, okay. i'll be toiling in the summer sun, whilst you boys type at your keyboards..."</font color=blue>

You can always add a canopy to whatever tractor you buy! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif