Mowing How much tractor for my hog!

[Homeline]

Greetings from southern IL.

Got a question about physical size & HP.

For the last 6 years I've been mowing 1 acre or so of yard with a vintage Kubota G5200 with a 48" deck. This mower is in great condition, does a fine job and I have no desire to replace it. I just bought the 3+ acre plot of land next to me. It's basically a flat piece of ground that gets mowed every 3-4 weeks (in non-drought years). I plan to continue this upkeep. For grins I mowed it with my Kubota in about 3.5 hours or so with the deck at the highest setting. Only issue was the semi-bumpy ride from the wind-rows & ruts from the fields corn & bean days (no crops planted in 15+ years). Continued use like this will tear up my G5200.

The neighbor that I bought the property from is moving and taking his B2400 Kubota with him....that RAT! But I did buy his Landpride 1548 Brush hog for a song. This thing is in great shape...probably less than 100 hours on it. For $425 I could not pass it up!

Now, how much tractor do I need? This hog is a hoss...has to tip the scale a 400+ lbs. Been eyeballing some Yanmars (YM1500,1600,1700,2000, etc) and some Kubotas (L175, L185, etc). Now I will add that I've budgeted about $3K for a tractor. The low cost reason is two-fold. First, it's primary duty is only field mowing, plus possibly some dirt work & snow removal. Second, former neighbor is moving to much less acreage and he's hinted he may be selling his fine, low hour B2400 4X4 w/FEL in a year or so. I smell a hot deal in the future!

I've sort of put the cart before the horse here, but I just don't want to find out until it's too late that a bargain buy tractor won't properly handle this deck.

Will appreciate the input!

 

[smstonypoint]

The rule of thumb of 5HP/foot of cut is often cited here. But that's just a rule of thumb. Many manufacturers sell light, medium, and heavy-duty cutters, so a light-weight unit may require less HP and a heavy-duty cuter may require more. I think your best bet is to check the specifications of the Landpride cutter and the various tractors you are considering.

Steve

 

[LD1]

I am assuming you are mechanically inclined and take care of your own equipment????? Since you are looking at older equipment and yanmars????

If that is right, and you ONLY want a field mowing maching, and it may be temporary, I'd find a good running (but ugly) old ford. I dont really kow much about the models you mentioned, but anything with about 20PTO HP and/or 25 engine HP should do the job just fine. But remember, the larger the tires, the smoother the ride in that bumpy field.

 

[kebo]

I used to have a Land Pride 15-48 bush hog, great piece of equipment and very well made. I used it behind a JD 750, which was a 21hp tractor with about 18hp at the PTO. I always thought that was a great combination, and the tractor handled it quite well, although without extra weights up front it would get light on the front end with the mower raised up (especially going up grades). Imho, I would get a tractor from about 21 to 24 hp to run your 4ft bush hog. Anymore than than that and you could really move up to a 5ft BH. Btw, I bought my Land Pride from a local dealer for $400 used, but had them install new blades for an extra $50 before I picked it up. Of course, that was probably about 15 years ago.

 

[Mark Page]

Got to agree with the others, 20 horses will work OK. If you want to push snow as well you might consider a 25 or 30. My screwball neighbor used to pull a 6 ft BH with a 20 horse Yanmar.
I've gone from 35 hp to 42 hp to 48 hp and each time I've found I could do more with the tractor.

 

[Mark Page]

When you start kicking tires I think your going to find your budget may be a little low.

 

[NHmitch]

I have a 15hp 4wd that had a 4ft woods mower on the back for about 30 years, and it worked flawlessly for mowing in an orchard, and on steep terrain. You can'y go wrong with the 15-30hp range. You might want to look on craigs list for an older 2wd, like a ford 8n. They are usually sold restored in your price range. I am a big fan of the Yanmars that you mentioned too, and they are actually pretty easy to work on, if you ever have to do repairs. I found a few good options in your area, but you would have to see them in person. The first is a 19hp Iseki for $3000, and they are little tanks from Japan, like your Kubota you were using. The second is a Kubota for $2500. The third is a Kubota for $1500. It is only a 12hp, but don't under estimate the power of these smaller Kubotas. That should work fine for a 4ft brush hog/finish mower. It has a class 1 hitch, and pto. The last one is a ford with the finish mower for just under 3K. There are alot out there, just make sure that you check them out well, and have them checked out by a mechanic if you can before you purchase the tractor. Good luck with the search!
4wd tractor
Kubota Diesel Tractor
http://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/3096767029.html
Ford 1500 Tractor W / 5 ft.Mower

 

[Homeline]

Alright...it's good to hear words that echo what my thoughts had already focused on. I'll fill in some info here....

I'm no stranger to a wrench or getting greasy, so finding one that needs some TLC doesn't scare me at all. All I need is parts, manual and advice....these online forums are a blessing for this!

Japanese made diesel powered need only to apply. Even the Fords, JD, International, etc of that origin are just fine as well. Not going to limit my choices to paint color!

Have been told many times don't HP numbers mislead you....It's what and how you go about using it and how hard you ask it to perform. I'm shooting for an 18-24HP range. Landpride specs call it out as 15-50HP...heck of a range! I was close on the weight at 425lbs. A little more mass (weight) in the tractor wouldn't hurt either...thinking 1200lbs on the low side.

Agreed the budget is low, but not set in stone. If the right deal comes along I can throw an extra grand or two at it. The thing is, by that point I may be better off looking at one from Fredricks. Their website shows YM1500 for $4000, YM1700 for $4300 and the YM2000 at $4700.

The up side to all this is looking and tire kicking. I love the sound of that 2-popper diesel.

Hope to actually mow some more this year...great excuse to light up a stogie, put it in gear and put everything else on hold for a while.

Keep the thoughts coming....

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

IMHO bigger is alsways better. Especially if you hit a year of heavy rains and thick/fast growth.

25HP plus but given the windrow comments for operator comfort on a piece of land that size I would look for the biggest tires possible versus maximizing HP.

I am in a forest area that has been harvested / replanted many times over. This is an area of 100's of thousands of acreas of uninhabitaed crown lands around me tat at one time were logged and replanted or burnt out and replanted.

Driving anything including ATV for hunting, tractor for wood (i burn only wood for heat) the bloody sore backs and kidneys from boucning windrows is no fun ever. Bigger wheels sure help.

 

[Carl_NH]

I would keep looking to find maybe one with a loader - that would counterbalance the BH on the back, but not huge deal for you since its flat there.

heres one an L185 with a blade and a disc - the disc would be good for leveling out your field too KUBOTA L185 The L185 is a tough machine - I had a similar one 10 years ago and they will do a lot of work and the price is right!

Then a nice B2150 HST here - a little higher and no loader but appears to be a nice 4wd machine - maybe a tad high in $ for your budget tho.