Tractor Sizing Here's the rub....

   / Here's the rub.... #1  

Mowdyman

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Joined
Mar 12, 2009
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18
Long time looker, first time poster. Purchased 40 acres in E. central Mississippi and the list is:
About 25 acres in pasture, some hilly (terraced), some low and wet. Will bushhog for now, but plan to cut and bale once all my fence is up and horses bought. Plan to clear about 2 acres of 20 yr old pine, which means cutting, pulling logs, eliminating stumps. Some grading of driveways will be necessary as well as possibly cutting a swale through the low pasture to help drainage. No doubt I'll be getting a Kubota and after some research, I'm thinking about the 3240. Guys, enough tractor to deal with my list? Also, a little help in suggesting some worthwhile additions. I'm also going to have to do some kind of song and dance, since the wife believes that only a JD will do. (wish I known that before I married her :))
 
   / Here's the rub.... #2  
mowdyman, i'm in a similar situation but no trees to clear. are you looking to round bale or square? that'll make a big difference, either way i think you may want to up the hp some.
 
   / Here's the rub.... #3  
Decide where you are going to be on the wife's side or get her on your side to make this project work. :laughing:

You are going to need a good 40-60+ HP farm tractor for GP use. The first few years you could use a fair 12K-15K pound backhoe. Hiring this kind of thing done would be cheaper and shave years off of the project but you may want to do it yourself over the next several years if you are still working a day job.

What are your objectives and time line you have given the wife?
 
   / Here's the rub.... #4  
Yeah, I would go with a bigger tractor and always recommend tree/stump removal and major dirt work contracted out unless someone has the right equipment/skill and time. I have tried both ways and either pay someone to do it or rent the equipment required.
 
   / Here's the rub.... #5  
Yeah, I would go with a bigger tractor and always recommend tree/stump removal and major dirt work contracted out unless someone has the right equipment/skill and time. I have tried both ways and either pay someone to do it or rent the equipment required.


Excellent advice!

I have 35 acres and an L3240 hst. Awesome tractor but not for trees over 5" diameter (for the most part) I can't push them over easily (no bh). but for everything else it hasn't let me down. I bushhog a few trails and have done a little clearing for a deer food plot.
 
   / Here's the rub.... #6  
Long time looker, first time poster. Purchased 40 acres in E. central Mississippi and the list is:
About 25 acres in pasture, some hilly (terraced), some low and wet. Will bushhog for now, but plan to cut and bale once all my fence is up and horses bought. Plan to clear about 2 acres of 20 yr old pine, which means cutting, pulling logs, eliminating stumps. Some grading of driveways will be necessary as well as possibly cutting a swale through the low pasture to help drainage. No doubt I'll be getting a Kubota and after some research, I'm thinking about the 3240. Guys, enough tractor to deal with my list? Also, a little help in suggesting some worthwhile additions. I'm also going to have to do some kind of song and dance, since the wife believes that only a JD will do. (wish I known that before I married her :))

the wife believes that only a JD will do.

Your wife is right ! Do what she says always ! :thumbsup:
 
   / Here's the rub.... #7  
the wife believes that only a JD will do.

Your wife is right ! Do what she says always ! :thumbsup:

Well, I just got my JD out of the shop for the third time and my Kubota hasn't been, so...
 
   / Here's the rub.... #8  
Ah yes

Are you in the piney woods owned by the Mississippi Wild Man by chance?


A lot depends on your budget and how serious a gentleman farmer you intend to become and how much tillage you intend on doing if any.

The thing is that you may be better off buying and owning implements and renting power for the big jobs involving tillage and planting.


A Wolagri mini baler will allow you to have a small round baler at lower cost than a conventional baler. The wolagri baler can be purchased with a bale wrapper attachment on the baler or a separate unit can be purchased for the job.

A mini baler making and wrapping small bales will make them weather proof and allow them to be picked up later or you could collect them and wrap them in one location in the field and remove them later.

hay gets heavy in heavy standard bales and having smaller round bales will allow ease in feeding, with less less waste and reducing fatigue as well. And if your sick you still have to feed animals and the lower weights will be a blessing per bale, and a wrapped bale will not go moldy as quickly if you have a preservative injector on the baler.


There are a lot of implements and implement dealers for small farmers with two wheel tractors an d small four wheel tractors and they advertide on the web as well.


A Kubota BX2660 has plenty of power for a Wolagri mini baler and a small disc bine hay cutter ment for small tractors.


A Caroni flail mower wil be of more value in brush cutting and mowing with less effort and little to no residue.
You will want to buy guard plates for the under side of the 2660 to avoid damaging the cooling fan by having branches being fpulled intot eh engine compartment.




The Kubota brand flail mowers are built by LandPride in Kubota orange.

The agrisupply folks offer the Caroni flail mower with a delivered to your door price tag purchasing it via the Agri Supply - Farm Supplies, Tools, Lawn Mower Blades, Cast Iron Cookware home page


There are may posts here discussing flail mowers and the quality of the Caroni Brand of flail mowers.

A Caroni Flail mower with two or four rows of knives has more cutting surface than a bush hog type brush cutters blade.

The more mower knives you have the better and finer the cut with less residue and blades and parts are easy to obtain from agrisupply as they maintain a parts warehouse and have several retail outlets in the southeast.






The twenty year old pine you have is worth some money and contacting a local state forester about logging those two acres will save you time and effort selling the stumpage for a profit and having the logger cut them flush to the ground for you with their harvester.




The logger will build his own road and keep it built up while he is logging.

many logers also do excavating work and its possible they could dig your swale for you too at the same time-the issue is whether you need a swale or a trench with drainage tubing to carry away water for you.

swales are a pain to take care of (I own one) They become channeled with water flow and the water wears away at the base of the swale which makes a lot of silt and run off which is a problem when dealing with creeks that are clean otherwise.

You will be required to install a silt barrrier curtain and straw bales to hold the curtain and silt after curtain lower edge is buiried.


A wide ditching bucket(without teeth) creating a deep invert and 4 inch drainage tubing and connectors along with a tubing cover to prevent silt from plugging the pipe may be all you need once the tubing is buried.


You may wish to lay stone over the tubing toi filter additional water and aid in drainage at the same time



By clear cutting from one end to the other you eliminate any issues of hanging trees and widow makers using a traqked or rubber tires harvester, and the se folks bring all their own equipment and remove the brush-

1. About the trees and brush you may have a wind fall in the making with the pines by selling them for shavings or lumber as there is huge market for softwood shavings.

2. The logger may operate a fuel chip operation as well where the tops and limbs will be used for hog fuel in wood boilers while harvesting your soft wood timber for lumber or shavings.

I want you yo succeed and not fail


leonz
 
   / Here's the rub.... #10  
Relax already...I am just agreeing with the man's wife.:)

Heck, I was born relaxed and been practicing ever since; now always agreeing with my wife may take a little more time:laughing:
 

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