How much tractor do I need?

[TripleR]

Trouble is that any of us have owned/used tractors of all sizes could probably come up with not only a list of thirty or forty makes/models that "will work" and a few of us who own several tractors, still rent equipment occasionally. Weight, HP, hydraulics have been mentioned and all should be considered. I would add ground clearance into the equation as some tractors that might work great otherwise "can" be hampered by the low ground clearance of 7-8". In my woods, I need a minimum of 12" and have even bent the steps on our L5740 and M8540. On one of our other farms 7-8" is plenty.

Right now we own mostly Kubotas, but would still do as others recommend and look at all different brands, my brother has a Kioti I really like, my neighbor has a NH and one has a John Deere...:licking:

Good luck and try to get as long of a demo as possible; two of the last three tractors I bought pretty much underwhelmed me on the lot. Oh and I don't know how they do it, but they seem to shrink once you get then home, sometimes a good thing and sometimes not.

 

[Schneeky]

Trouble is that any of us have owned/used tractors of all sizes could probably come up with not only a list of thirty or forty makes/models that "will work" and a few of us who own several tractors, still rent equipment occasionally.
Oh and I don't know how they do it, but they seem to shrink once you get then home, sometimes a good thing and sometimes not.

Boats are like that as well. They tend to shrink once in the water.

The rental thing is a good point I hadn't thought about. Was thinking either/or. And the rentals I've seen around here here only come with a standard loader. If a unit is "big enough" to do 90% of the stuff I need/want to get done around here, a day-r-two long rental of a beefier unit using my implements may be the ticket for a) saving money up front, and b) not constantly carting around more "beef" than I need to for the plethora of little jobs around here.
First question being what are my chances of renting a tractor with forward hydraulic controls for that root grapple?

Hmmmmm.. More head-scratching ensues. d:^) Schneeks..

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Every time I think our 60 HP heavy MF 265 is too big I wind up using all it has.

I think small is fine until you own more weight and HP.

 

[Cherokee140]

Every time I think our 60 HP heavy MF 265 is too big I wind up using all it has.

I think small is fine until you own more weight and HP.

And our big tractor has not moved in 3 months....starting to wonder why I still keep it....bet the battery is stone cold dead.

If you don't need something that big you don't need it.

 

[TripleR]

Yeah, you need what you need, we own eleven tractors I think from a 22HP SCUT to 85HP UT and need every one of them at one time or another; used three on one job not long ago. One time I left the house with my lovely wife to buy a Kubota B2920 and came home with a BX2660 and another time I went to buy a 30-35HP open station and came home with a 50HP cab, both were not what I thought I needed, but turned out to be the right choice.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

And our big tractor has not moved in 3 months....starting to wonder why I still keep it....bet the battery is stone cold dead.

If you don't need something that big you don't need it.

Well our 265 MF can go three months without moving and it will need a new battery about every five years to start on demand.

In our case the on the hills and in the swappy areas sometimes we need the weight on the hills and speed and power to keep moving in the soft spots. With it we can drive through a ditch that would hang a red belly ford with nothing hitched to it plus it has a ROPS and a seat belt even being a 1976.

I grew up on 600-800 series Fords. Personally I had prefer one size too large than one size to small. Ground clearance and weight are more important to me than HP because one can always gear down.

If our place was flat ground and there was no reclaiming of land involved I would be more interested in a over size lawn mower like many of the CUTS I see being used I expect. Moving a .5+ yard of dirt or gravel with a 8' heavy box blade takes a heavy tractor for example.

Growing up on the farm we were always short on tractor HP and weight so I may be over compensating.

 

[Schneeky]

Checked with the local rental places. None of them have a FEL equipped tractor with forward hydraulics.
Got a coupla land clearing guys comin by to give estimates on getting it done. Not holding my breath on reasonable quotes, but wanna get the info anyways. If that were to be a viable option, a smaller tractor may meet my needs.
And back on the whole "size matters" meme, checked with the Safeway Mahindra and they said they would do a demo, but no way to try out a root grapple.
Not sure I've seen enough significant difference in prices to warrant going outside the big 3 except for the fact that it looks like you can get a somewhat beefier unit for nearly the same money. Not sure how that plays against resale values on down the line.
Looks like it'll hafta be a best guess. And if the already ludicrous prices on new units wasn't enough, they're saying the Tier4 units coming out now are going to be substantially higher than the Tier3's. And I'll be curious to see what kindof grief comes with that new regulatory BS that never seems to help anything but somebody's bottom line. Don't wanna end up with the "Microsoft Vista" version of a tractor.

The bigger, slightly older used units are starting to look better if the financing isn't too brutal. d:^) Schneeks.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If looking at used, look at the B25 or B 26 TLB. The B25 I have seen for as little as $10K with around 1000 hours on them which isn't that much if it was for personal use and not rental units. These are 25-26 engine HP but will out perform a 30 HP easily due to the weight. My B26TLB weighs 4000 pounds compared to about 1500 for a comparably sized and HP rated B26XX series. The only drawback (if one considers it a drawback) is that the FEL frame doesn't remove, only the QA bucket can be taken off and some wont come with the 3 PH pieces which are rather expensive to buy separately.
Check around, you may find a really nice one cheaper than a new tractor alone. I got my 2009 in 2012 for $20.5K with 3 PH and only 68 hours on the clock, lots of that was using a shredder and it was always stored inside so it looked brand new. NOW with 317 hours on it, it no longer looks new from pushing thru the thickets, briar patches etc but still works great. I just finished up the yearly oil change a couple hours ago.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The bigger, slightly older used units are starting to look better if the financing isn't too brutal. d:^) Schneeks.

For those of us who can eat without owning a tractor to make our living your statement really rings true. If we can find something that will do WITHOUT requiring any financing then tractor ownership can really be a fun thing.

Old iron can have some upkeep costs from time to time but there is typically no asset depreciation.

Paying one to clear the land is a one time expense and can lessen your tractor needs like forever.

It is a best guess thing in the end and no one can make that final best guess for you but Gary makes some good points.

 

[Schneeky]

For those of us who can eat without owning a tractor to make our living your statement really rings true. If we can find something that will do WITHOUT requiring any financing then tractor ownership can really be a fun thing.

Old iron can have some upkeep costs from time to time but there is typically no asset depreciation.

Paying one to clear the land is a one time expense and can lessen your tractor needs like forever.

It is a best guess thing in the end and no one can make that final best guess for you but Gary makes some good points.

There you guys go with that common sense and logic again. Have y'all been talkin to my ol' lady? :laughing:
Got the local guy comin this week sometime to give me an estimate.

The current "old iron" around here is almost certain to make me a few bucks or so when I sell it from what I've seen. "Asset depreciation" has been a real stickler for me on these new rigs. Once the paper's signed, I'm stuck with it for a few years one way or the other. I'd like to think my buying skills are enough that I can get in a decent used unit for what I can get out of it. Making that deal a lot more flexable.

Gary- Will look into those. Not sure how they differ besides HP, but my old B2200 seemed a l'il light in the pants to me even back then with no heavy work. And not sure on the backhoe. But if priced right and capable, definitely a consideration. d:^) Schneeks..