Hey from Appalachia

[old bubblehead]

Morning all,
I posted a question in a different forum before seeing that there's a "Introduce yourself" section, so Hi <Hears Hi Old Bubblehead> I don't have a rig yet, that's why I joined... To get advice before sinking lots of money into something and finding out I was silly.
We have a small farm up in North East TN, just outside Rogersville. It's actually two farms, one owned by my wife and I, the other owned by our best friends, who split 58 acres with us. About 15 or 20 of that is arable, the rest is in trees, and hilly A/F. This is career # 4 for me, retirement just doesn't stick.

 

[Hay Dude]

Check out the “hay farming” forums. Lots of us over there sharing knowledge.

 

[MotorSeven]

Welcome. We are North of you over the Clinch Mtn in Hancock County. So what is your current game plan?

My mistake when we arrived here back in '01 was to buy too small of a tractor(30hp) in'05. Ended up trading it back in on a 40horse in '07.....big difference between the 2.

 

[old bubblehead]

Welcome. We are North of you over the Clinch Mtn in Hancock County. So what is your current game plan?

My mistake when we arrived here back in '01 was to buy too small of a tractor(30hp) in'05. Ended up trading it back in on a 40horse in '07.....big difference between the 2.

looking in the 50-75 HP range. We're going to be raising some hogs, a cow, get her covered every other year, and butcher the offspring at market weight. Going to crop mainly root crops, probably some cabbage, broccoli, and Colliflower, most for home use and pig food, some for a farm stand. The main "cash crop" will be home made bacon, hams, Sausage, and charcutier. I don't need to "make money" if I can just a little over break even, I'm good, the wife and I are both retired, and we're doing OK.

 

[Thomas]

Welcome to TBN...enjoy.

 

[WM75Guy]

Welcome, sounds like a plan.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

 

[old bubblehead]

How Ya doin' Wagtail, I have a good friend out your way, author named Dave Freer, lives on Flinders Island.

 

[Hay Dude]

looking in the 50-75 HP range. We're going to be raising some hogs, a cow, get her covered every other year, and butcher the offspring at market weight. Going to crop mainly root crops, probably some cabbage, broccoli, and Colliflower, most for home use and pig food, some for a farm stand. The main "cash crop" will be home made bacon, hams, Sausage, and charcutier. I don't need to "make money" if I can just a little over break even, I'm good, the wife and I are both retired, and we're doing OK.

I read Deere too spendy for ya….yeah….I can’t argue with that. From a farming prospective, I find that Massey Ferguson makes a VERY good and heavy-built tractor in that range.
This I like about Massey over the Asian brands, is that although the Massey is also Asian built, it is designed by American Ag people. They know a heavier platform means more power to the ground and better stability.
Take special notice of the weight of a tractor which means with even less HP, more gets to the ground in the form of superior traction. Generally, their rear axles will be thicker, and they generally use cast iron pumps & PTO housings rather than aluminum.
The asian designed & built tractors are well powered, but generally lighter built.

When comparing tractors, as long as both models you compare are close in HP, look at weight, axles and castings, pumps and housings.

 

[Wagtail]

How Ya doin' Wagtail, I have a good friend out your way, author named Dave Freer, lives on Flinders Island.

Doing well, Cobber, doing well.

Another 'tool' to comparing tractors is the website TractorData.com - information on all makes and models of tractors

 

[old bubblehead]

yup leaning on them a lot, because when someone lists a NFD5678 for 59,000 I have NO idea what the hell that is, or if it's a good deal without resorting to Tractordata.

 

[1 Old Man]

Welcome to TBN. Ask questions, do research and comparison shop.
Find reputable dealers (if that's possible) close to you and go
take a test drive on each machine before making your final decision.
My only two suggestions are : get a cab, and buy bigger than you think
you'll need (I can't remember anyone ever saying, "omg, my tractor has
too much power, I need to trade it in asap for a less HP tractor"). Good
luck in your search!

 

[Torvy]

Maybe not, but you do have people who need a tractor small enough to go where it needs to be as well. Bigger tractors also mean bigger trailers and bigger trucks to pull them. Also tend to need bigger implements. That's all fine and dandy when it's someone else's money.

My thinking was to figure out what tools (attachments and implements) I needed to do the work on my farm. Figure out the PTO HP to run them, plus 10% for good measure. For some applications more HP just helps you get done faster. That makes sense for an income-generating business looking to maximize throughput. It may not make sense to get a bigger tractor so you can run a 12' mower to mow 3 acres a few times a year.

Get enough weight to handle the pulling and lifting you may need to do. Wide enough to be stable, but not so wide you can't get through your fence gates (or other pinch points). I need to get between rows of trees. The frames on most 75HP tractors are too big to work on my place. They may be perfect for someone else.

 

[1 Old Man]

Agree somewhat, I have both. A smaller open station and a 73HP cab.
If I had to pick one.....I'd keep the bigger cab tractor.
OP wants to be able to do a whole list of projects from hogs, root veggies,
cow/calf opration, woods, & hay on 58ac. Not 3ac. I feel relatively sure
he'll come out with a satisfactory tractor for his needs. He asked for advice.
I'm pretty sure others will continue to chime in to help a bro in his quest for the
Holy Grail of tractors.

 

[Torvy]

He split 58 acres with friends, so he has 20-30 (guess) with roughly 2/3 of it in trees. He said he going to be doing veggies, too. By the time that's all laid out, I'm seeing maybe 5-10 acres for crops/hay/etc. Don't need a big tractor for that, especially with small squares. 50 at the PTO?

The 3 acres was an example of people on here telling people to get more than they need. Even with 60 acres, you aren't likely mowing the whole thing unless it's just a hay operation.

My uncle raised hogs. Don't need much of a tractor for them. Maybe useful butchering and cleaning up, but don't need a big one. A hog maybe 300 lbs. Steer maybe 1500 lbs or so. My little CUT can lift 2700, 9 ft in the air.