Mowing How much tractor for my hog!

Homeline · Jul 22, 2012

Yep..those are two I've been wanting to go look at...along with this one:Compact Diesel Tractor

Might take a drive next weekend to investigate.

Carl_NH · Jul 22, 2012

I would call on the L185 - the disc and blade are worth nearly $1K alone - if the seller indicates it runs decent and doesnt make any strange noises I would put a deposit (send a dated check) to the seller subject to inspection and operation. You will be able to sell the tractor alone for $1500 most anytime in the future.

Unless it has "issues" wont last at that price. And its an "L" with 18.5 hp but I can tell you my L175DT with the FEL and backhoe could lift a lot and it was a tough tractor - Kubota made the L175-185-245 all on the same frame, just longer engine blocks and frame pieces.

Jerry/MT · Jul 22, 2012

Homeline said:
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!

5 pto hp per foot of mower width is a good rule of thumb and it is conservative ( i.e. 3.5 to 4 will probably work if you are not trying to cut stuff that's thick and 4 ft high).

Weight doesn't influence the mower power requirement to any significant degree but it's important for handling and stability when you use the three point to lift the mower. I have a 6 ft KingKutter mower that weighs 725 lbs and when I mount it on my TO-30 and carry it with the three point, the steering gets pretty light and when you acelerate from a stop, the front end wants to lift up. Front ballast can help this problem.

SO pay attention to the weigt of the mower. Make sure the lift capacity of the three point (measureed @ 2 ft from the lift pins) is capable of lifting the mower and make sure that when you do it that the front end doesn't get too light.