How Many Have More Than One Tractor?

[TimCNY]

I have 3. An old farmer once told me when I was a kid working for him, "If you have one, you have NONE. See how much work gets done while your ONE piece of equipment breaks down." Great advice!

 

[Doug Vee]

From what I see, the majority of tractor owners here and everywhere else have only one tractor.

I mean more than one that runs, you maintain, and use regularly... (Don't count the old broke down one behind the barn with 2 flats. )

Surprisingly, after replacing my 2 previous tractors with newer, more improved ones, I find I have have about the same hours on both new ones.

I'd hate to have to choose between them, if I had to pick only one. I really have a use for both.


How many of you are multiple machine owners? Could you get by with just one? Which one would you pick if you had to?

I am somewhat embarrassed to say, I have three.

The old standby is the John Deere 855, that I have owned for nearly twenty years. I use it mainly doing yard work, due to its relatively light footprint. It also runs the 5' brush mower a couple of times per year. It has the number 7 backhoe if I need to do some light digging. Also the rototiller for lawn restoration projects, and box blade for driveway maintenance. In the spring it drags the 8'x4' chain harrow.

The next is the beefy Kubota L48. I bought a 60" EA grapple and forks for it. It can get heavy work done out in the. wooded areas. The 11' foot backhoe is a strong stump digger. If they have any size to them, I usually. let the stumps age in the ground before I go after them.

The 3rd one is a Kubota F3060, with a 72" rear discharge deck. It is a mowing machine. A dedicated lawnmower, but can do more if needed. I tow a lawn sweeper behind it and strap a leaf blower to the deck for driveway cleaning this time of year. I would like to have a front blade for it, as it has the hydraulic remote for one, but that is probably a needle in a haystack to find the attaching hardware AND the blade. That probably won't happen.

Again, a little embarrassed...but not much.
Doug

 

[HayFarmer]

I have 3. An old farmer once told me when I was a kid working for him, "If you have one, you have NONE. See how much work gets done while your ONE piece of equipment breaks down." Great advice!

I agree with that. I have 3, and they have their particular jobs, based mostly on HP. But they do have overlapping capabilities, which covers the above!

 

[Tashiverde]

I have five, want more whether I need them or not…;-)

 

[1M05]

I only have two tractors, a 2013 John Deere 4105 and a 1979 Yanmar YM2000D. Plus two zero turns and a John Deere 245 lawn mower. Considering I live on a one acre lot inside the village, that should be enough.

 

[janottinc]

I live on the farm I grew up on. I have quite a few tractors my large Case for hay, Farmtrac 435 rebranded Ford 3000, CAT 226 loader, International 3600A backhoe, Yanmat 1401d, Yanmar 146, John Deere 440 dozer, International Super H. All of these run and operate well. This doesn't include my mowers and trencher.

 

[EddieWalker]

Fun thread to read what everyone has. I'm home sick today, so I've enjoyed this.

When I bought my land, I didn't want a bunch of tractors, but I really didn't know what I was getting into 20 years ago. I just thought I would live out in the country, and have a tractor to mow fields and make trails through the woods.

I've bought them one at a time, and thought that each one would be the last, but now I'm thinking that I need another backhoe. If I buy anything else, it will be a 4x4 cabbed backhoe with a 4 in 1 front bucket that does not use DEF.

Century 2535 that's 4x4 and has 37HP. It's been a great mowing tractor, but really too small for maintaining my 68 acres. My current plan is to use it for pulling the sprayer.



The Deere 5065E is for moving round bales and drilling fence posts. I used to use the Century for post holes, but having 65 HP over 37 has proven to be significant when pulling the auger out of the hole. The smaller tractor would bury the auger in the ground way too often. The Deer always has plenty of power to pull the auger out.



Last year I bought a brand new 2022 Massey Ferguson 4707 with the Deluxe Cab. I had been looking for a used cabbed tractor for awhile that didn't use DEF, but the prices where more then I was comfortable with considering the hours on those tractors. Thanks to TBN, I learned about Massey and decided to look at buying brand new. It's the biggest tractor that I could buy without having DEF. I use it for my 12 foot batwing all summer long, and then I take off the batwing when mowing season is over and I use it for moving dirt, or whatever I need to do where a cab is needed.



I also have a few construction type tractors. The 1998 Ford/New Holland 555E is 2WD and open to the elements. It was pretty cheap at the time, and it's proven to be super useful, but I wish I has 4x4 and a cab. I modified the bucket so it could take Quick Attachments, and bought a grapple, pallet forks and hay spear. The bucket holds a yard of dirt, which is probably twice what the Deere and Massey can hold in their buckets. I use the backhoe for taking out trees, carrying the trees to the burn pile, and just about all my dirt work. I also use it for fencing. I put my hay spear at the end of my pallet forks and use it to unroll the fencing, then anchor off of it to tighten up the fencing with my come alongs. At 14,000 pounds, you would think that it would stay in place when tightening fencing, but if I don't put down the outriggers, the come alongs will pull the tractor towards the fencing!!!!



I rarely use the 1988 Case 1550 Dozer, but when I do, it's a beast at 170hp and 40,000 pounds. It's one of those things that I should sell, but I still have a few things that I want to do with it, so it just sits there for now. I used it almost daily for the two years that I dug my 4 1/2 acre pond. I also used it for clearing a bunch of my land, but eventually realized that the backhoe was a lot faster at taking out trees then the dozer.



The Ditch Witch 3700 Trencher was a good deal at a local auction that has paid for itself over the years, but it's waiting on one more really big job before I sell it. I want to run power and water lines from my house down to my big pond to irrigate my vegetable gardens. I'm on city water and my wife is killing me with watering her plants all summer long



What I really need now is a bigger truck and trailer to haul my stuff around. I'm not ready to buy anything until I pay off a few bills, but when I do, I think that I want a Dodge 5.9 4x4 manual transmission truck with a flatbed that I can register as a Farm Truck. I hate the idea of wrenching on anything, but even worse, is buying something that I can't afford to wrench on when I have to.

 

[Torvy]

This type of thread often opens up the 'definition' of tractor. I suppose others have their own definitions, but mine is something like this:

Must have at least one seat and steering wheel/yoke for driver.
Must have an operable 3 pt hitch
Must have 4 wheels (or equivalent tracks)
Must have a rear PTO
Must have its own power plant
Must NOT have a (semi) permanent belly mower
Must not have a (semi) permanent loader
Must not have a (semi) permanent backhoe

This means, for me, most lawn mowers are not tractors, despite the marketing terminology. A few are.

Some of the construction style backhoe/loader vehicles are not really tractors either (though some are).

Those two wheel mules are not tractors to me, either.

 

[jwd621]

I have a Deere 5525 MFW that has an enclosed cab for summer and winter mowing with an MX8 Shredder and box blade for road maint. Also have a John Deere 310 G FWD Backhoe that I use most of the time moving heavy stuff like timber and rocks. I have a D6H Cat Dozer, enclosed cab to clear trees and maintain roads and hills across the ranch. Could not do what I need to without all three. 900 acres of hills and pastures to keep up with.

 

[EddieWalker]

Your list of what a tractor is or isn't, reminds of of a discussion of what is a pond or a lake? Does a pond become a lake when it's over an acre is size, or can only God make lakes and everything man made is a pond?

In my opinion, a tractor is any piece of equipment used for working the land with it's own power plant. I'm hesitant to call a riding mower a tractor, but I would not argue that it isn't.