How much tractor do I need?

[sandman2234]

I have a 65 hp tractor and it is probably the max you would want for the type of work you described. It is an ag tractor, not a cut, so it isn't a toy sized machine. I use it on my smaller piece of property, and also a larger piece up the street, so it justifies itself. Mine isn't 4x4 so it weighs in just a little less than a fwa machine, but I would think anything close to 50 hp would do everything you need, and in fwa not be too big.
David from jax

 

[patrick_g]

A reasonable estimate is that a 4x4 tractor will mostly do with 40 HP what a 2x4 tractor will do with 60 HP.

I have 160 acres that is mostly gently rolling. I have less than 10 acres that is wooded such that you don't drive through it. Some of it is rugged and requires slow going to mow it and some of it is mowed in top gear (EAH HAAA!!!)

I use a HD (rated for 80 HP) 6 ft brush hog and cut trees up to 3-5 inches (with difficulty) but it can be done. I also use a HD box blade with hydraulic scarifiers that has large capacity and is a chore to drag up a slight incline when full (low gear.)

I have enough hydraulic power to pick up a heavy FEL bucket of wet dirt but have to have an implement on the back for counter weight or the rear tires come up in the air instead of raising the heavy bucket.

I am glad to not have a much larger tractor as I NEED my maneuverability and the ability to get into tight locations. I have some cattle working pens that I can just barely get around inside to do any dirt work and a larger machine would not fit. Of course driveway maint is easy for me. I use the tractor in logging with the largest trees I have skidded out of the woods are in excess of 2 ft in diameter at the big end and are about 30 ft long.

I am glad to have as much power as I have as it is mostly enough. It is rare I can't do what I need. A larger tractor could not dig post holes any better or faster. Likewise road and driveway maint. I think, all things considered, for my needs I have the right size tractor nearly 90% of the time. The rest of the time I either wish it were smaller or more powerful or both.

I really have no choice about what weather to go out in and when to not go out. I have cattle and they must be cared for irrespective of weather. If I didn't have any such responsibilities and could always just wait for better weather and didn't use a spray rig and didn't mind the heat, dust, or cold and wind then there are times in the spring and fall when an open tractor would really be just fine for me. When it is hot and humid I look for tractor work because of the A/C.

I have a Kubota Grand L-4610HSTC. It has 39 HP at the PTO, it has HST transmission, and it has a cab with heat and A/C. The cab was not negotiable, my wife insisted on it over my objections. It was the best argument I ever lost! When I spray ag chemicals I don't get a shower if there is a flaw in the wind. I don't get a dust bath when it is dry. I don't get snowed or rained on. I don't get slapped by thorny vines or leaves around and between trees.

The tractor is about 6 years old and 1000 hours. I work it hard and abuse the heck out of it. The biggest maint on it so far was a broken 3PH lower arm broke in half and had to be welded and reinforced. and the fuel tank started leaking at a seam. Kubota gave me a free tank and it cost $500 labor to R&R. Everything else just works and works well.

Given all that I do with this tractor on 160 acres, I don't see why you would need a larger tractor for your place. If you need a dozer, hire one, don't buy a monster tractor because you have a difficult job to do one time. Don't buy a BIG tractor to fulfill someone else's fantasies. Try to get a firm handle on what sort of jobs you will do on a routine basis and what other jobs might come up once in a while. Decide where a practical limit is in what you need to be able to do routinely and the special cases where it is smart to hire a job done or rent some equipment.

I'm not knocking power. More is usually better, to a point. No one ever complains their tractor is too powerful or gets the work done too easily. Still, there are reasons to not go too big.

Pat

 

[IslandTractor]

Don't buy a BIG tractor to fulfill someone else's fantasies. Pat

Thank you sir. Truer words have never been never posted on TBN!

That statement should be flashed in front of anyone asking the "how much tractor do I need question" as an automatic response or as a sticky.

 

[AchingBack]

Thank you sir. Truer words have never been never posted on TBN!

That statement should be flashed in front of anyone asking the "how much tractor do I need question" as an automatic response or as a sticky.

Amen, then I could spend time posting on another subject, another subject, another subject...

 

[Soundguy]

In fairness.. I think that needs to be edited to say don't buy 'TOO big' of a tractor..... etc.. VS just saying 'don't buy a big tractor'

I wouldn't want to run a 15' batwing on an undersized tractor... IE.. fit your tractor to your application...

I think the same could be equally true for 'too small' a tractor.. IE, don't buy a 'too small' tractor to allay somebody else's fear that you are getting too big a tractor...

Too big for your projects and land will make it like a bull in a china shop.. too small for the land and application, and you may overtax the tractor / spend way more time than available or needed to complete a project.

Get whet you need / want, that will do most of your tasks, plus a few possible tasks down the road.

soundguy

 

[patrick_g]

I wouldn't want to run a 15' batwing on an undersized tractor... IE.. fit your tractor to your application...


soundguy

I was addressing the topic at hand. Is a 15 foot batwing an appropriate sized implement for the size of the land the guy wants to maintain?

I'm sorry if I touched on a sore spot with you but I was not intending to make a world encompassing comment but one directed to the needs of the OP. I, for one, don't think a 15 ft batwing and a tractor sized to handle it is a good recommendation to satisfy his requirements. Keep in mind there is a difference between "could do the job" and best for the job.

Of course I agree that excessive undersizing is at least as bad if not worse than oversizing. Right sizing solutions requires either luck or an analytical-engineering knack that is not gained by everyone just because of the years they have spent gaining experience. I have seen people do the same thing wrong for 30 years so the experience didn't help make them smarter.

Most folks don't appreciate the work that goes into making a good tractor buying decision, much of which is requirements analysis and refinement. Too many prospective buyers, especially first timers (and the guys who don't learn anything after doing it for 30 years) work the problem bassackwards starting with tractors, their features, and prices. This is 180 degrees backwards and wrong headed.

First decide what you need to do, how often and how fast. These are the requirements. Then look for the tractor that can do those things as fast as you need them done with the implements required to pursue your tasks.

Don't buy a tool no matter how cool and then run around looking for a job it can do. First decide what you need to do and then find the tool to do the job. You can always trade off cost of tractor against the time you will spend doing a job, within reason. If $ are tight but you want to do a lot of different things you may need to buy the Swiss Army tractor that can do it all but in a smaller less powerful form that will require you to take longer to get a job done.

If you don't need versatility and lots of hydraulics a straight gear tractor in 2wd with BIG HP can be had cheaper in good used condition than a CUT. But what can it do? Is it what yo need done?

I have hydraulic Top & Tilt, 4x4, hydrostat, remote hydraulic plug ins, FEL and personally would not give up any of those features. Likewise cab with heat and air.I would not give up a single one of those features for an additional 50% PTO HP. I need versatility more than brute force. I didn't want to spend enough $ to get both. So any particular job I do might be done better with a different tractor but I need to do many different jobs and having a stable of 6-10 tractors was not the answer.

The right answer to the RIGHT SIZE tractor is not one size fits all. I do not recommend anyone just copy my tractor and implement stable. Do your requirements analysis and then buy a tractor that best fits your requirements.

Pat

 

[Soundguy]

Nope.. no nerve striking..Actually.. sounds like we are in agreement.

My comment was application specific.. not 'post' specific. i said to match the tractor to the application.. If a guy has 1ac he needs a differnt tractor than a guy with 100 ac etc.

I also agree.. grossly undersizing a tractor can be just as detrimental as grossly oversizing it.

As you point out 'right-sizing' is difficult.. and generally requires some pre-cognition.

Also agree with you that plain experience sometimes don't count for much... My neighbor has a 3ac parcel. He buys a riding lawn mower to mow it. I've lived there since 2000 and owned the property since 98.. He has been thru 4 rider lawn mowers in that time. Same with the guy in front of me.. except he finally learned.. his last 'mower' was actually a SCUT JD tractor and it is holding fine... A scut for 3a mowing is a much better fit than a rider lawn mower.

soundguy

I was addressing the topic at hand. Is a 15 foot batwing an appropriate sized implement for the size of the land the guy wants to maintain?

I'm sorry if I touched on a sore spot with you but I was not intending to make a world encompassing comment but one directed to the needs of the OP. I, for one, don't think a 15 ft batwing and a tractor sized to handle it is a good recommendation to satisfy his requirements. Keep in mind there is a difference between "could do the job" and best for the job.

Of course I agree that excessive undersizing is at least as bad if not worse than oversizing. Right sizing solutions requires either luck or an analytical-engineering knack that is not gained by everyone just because of the years they have spent gaining experience. I have seen people do the same thing wrong for 30 years so the experience didn't help make them smarter.

Most folks don't appreciate the work that goes into making a good tractor buying decision, much of which is requirements analysis and refinement. Too many prospective buyers, especially first timers (and the guys who don't learn anything after doing it for 30 years) work the problem bassackwards starting with tractors, their features, and prices. This is 180 degrees backwards and wrong headed.

First decide what you need to do, how often and how fast. These are the requirements. Then look for the tractor that can do those things as fast as you need them done with the implements required to pursue your tasks.

Don't buy a tool no matter how cool and then run around looking for a job it can do. First decide what you need to do and then find the tool to do the job. You can always trade off cost of tractor against the time you will spend doing a job, within reason. If $ are tight but you want to do a lot of different things you may need to buy the Swiss Army tractor that can do it all but in a smaller less powerful form that will require you to take longer to get a job done.

If you don't need versatility and lots of hydraulics a straight gear tractor in 2wd with BIG HP can be had cheaper in good used condition than a CUT. But what can it do? Is it what yo need done?

I have hydraulic Top & Tilt, 4x4, hydrostat, remote hydraulic plug ins, FEL and personally would not give up any of those features. Likewise cab with heat and air.I would not give up a single one of those features for an additional 50% PTO HP. I need versatility more than brute force. I didn't want to spend enough $ to get both. So any particular job I do might be done better with a different tractor but I need to do many different jobs and having a stable of 6-10 tractors was not the answer.

The right answer to the RIGHT SIZE tractor is not one size fits all. I do not recommend anyone just copy my tractor and implement stable. Do your requirements analysis and then buy a tractor that best fits your requirements.

Pat

 

[Charlesaf3]

As per the above. I bought a b3030 to do a lot of landscaping on 7.5 acres with - turning forest into gardens, park, meadow etc. Its a great tractor, I love it, I should have bought bigger. So now I'm getting a kubota L4740. (and thinking I'll keep the 3030 as well - it's an addiction!)

What some have alluded to above is that pure size is not necessarily the most important thing. Once you have a rough size, things that seem like options are more important.

For example, I think you'd be crazy NOT to get a FEL (front end loader) with a toothbar, and ideally quick attach. Trust me, they should be mandatory.

If you are doing a fair bit of ground work, top and tilt would be great. I don't have it. I wish I did.

For the rest, it's about the attachments. Attachments are what really do the work, and I bet its not unusual here to have as much in attachments as we do in the tractor.

 

[Soundguy]

Found a post that ties in nicely to this one..:

This fellow noticed how much better / easier his mowing was by getting a hp increase... but not so big he couldn't turn around.. just a reasonable increase to better match his tractor to his implement to his task..

soundguy

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/120563-cutting-pasture-rotary-mower.html

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A reasonable estimate is that a 4x4 tractor will mostly do with 40 HP what a 2x4 tractor will do with 60 HP.

Pat

While that may be the case in a few isolated instances, it's far from being an accurate across the board statement.

There are far too many jobs that a person would do with a tractor that primarily require HP with traction as an absolute minimal consideration. If it takes 60 HP, it wouldn't matter if the 40 hp tractor was TEN wheel drive. You simply don't have the power. That'd be the case with most PTO chores. It's all about having adaquate HP.

If traction is an issue, MFWD will (somewhat) level the playing field. In my mowing business we have 3 MFWD tractors, one 95HP and two 80 HP. They don't perform any different in 4WD OR 2WD with a 15' batwing behind them UNLESS they're in mud or a very steep, slick hillside. Power is power. Traction has ZERO effect of a tractors ability to turn a PTO load.

And, using the same 40 for 60 concept, my 95 HP Deere 6430 WILL NOT replicate the performance of a 135/140 HP 2WD in drawbar pulling. Simply not that extreme of a difference. MFWD has an advantage, but let's be realistic about it.