Howdy from Central Indiana!

[mickeyd682]

I grew up on the edges of a small town. ¾ acre, surrounded by corn. 25 yrs later, I'm starting a try at homesteading. It's all new to me, my dad passed when I was a kid. Learned how to handle most home maintenance over the years, fairly handy with limitations.

We just bought 8 acres, it's pretty wooded. Knocked an acre down with a walk-behind 26" brushcutter. Think longterm I'll need better equipment.

Leaning toward a compact tractor or maybe something a little meatier. We should finish construction in a year. Anticipate I'll need to cut the brush 2-3x per year, and something to clear a path in the winter. I'll likely add chores as we go. Any tips on getting started appreciated.

 

[ArlyA]

Nice to have you here with us Mikey. We are looking to buy an acreage for the past year.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We are in Central IN too. Welcome

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Welcome aboard. Lots of good info to be found on here and asked abroad too. Many situations are unique so don't be afraid to ask.

When looking at a tractor you should consider the implements you plan to use with it. Many are rated at min/max HP. Other things to consider are the terrain. If its hilly some tractors are better than others with stability. There are things you can do to improve stability like ballast and fluid filled tires.

Sounds like a bush hog would be in your immediate needs or consider a flail mower. I own both but the flail mower has an option to shift the cutting path 18" to help get closer to trees fence lines etc.

Another good thing to do it sit in a few different models as they ergonomics will feel different. Kinda like cars they all have some differences that appeal/repel our tastes.

While not all homesteaded plots need a front end loader I can't imagine life without one now. Grew up without one on the farm but now I use mine almost daily.

When starting out pick your own farm I try/tried to make it a one person show. Where I don't need to get help. My wife is not a fan of driving the tractor (oh darn... ) so I try and figured out what attachments can make it easier/faster to do the chores around here.

There is NEVER not anything to do on a farm, at least around here on this farm.

Wishing you the best on your endeavor.

 

[kenmbz]

Welcome to TBN and your new acreage.
How much do you want to clear?
How much to plant and what.
Make a list to start before you buy.
I have had lots of help from people here, so you're in a good place.

 

[gstrom99]

Welcome! Lots of advice/opinions on this site, for sure. Buy one you can afford (no weird off-brands and w/o taking a loan preferably). Be sure to get one with a loader and cat 1 three point.

 

[mickeyd682]

Nice to have you here with us Mikey. We are looking to buy an acreage for the past year.

Pure luck. Been telling my wife for years we should do it. But, y'know, land doesn't come up for sale often (or if it does it's 100+ acres and who can afford that). Happened to catch sight of it and jumped in with both feet. My eyes may have been bigger than my stomach, but I think it's going to be really nice. GL to you, never been to Michigan. I hear southern Indiana has a lot of available land (downside is, it's southern Indiana so you get a lot of pretty land but everything closes at 7 and Amazon man can't find your house).

 

[mickeyd682]

Welcome! Lots of advice/opinions on this site, for sure. Buy one you can afford (no weird off-brands and w/o taking a loan preferably). Be sure to get one with a loader and cat 1 three point.

Q: 7.8-ish acres more or less. It's Indiana so while locally it's got a hill, in reality for most of the world that's barely enough slope to move water. How much tractor do I really need? Found this place reading about compact tractors. Upfront, I think at little SCUT with 16 PTO would be enough to knock down brush, move trees if i cut them up, and maybe do some small work moving soil. But I have no idea how wild I should be when I look to buy. Prefer not to buy something too small for what I need, but just as bad buying something too big (mostly because of cost, if I can do it for $8-10k, but spend $20--that's money I could have put towards kids or other things). They say the journey of a million miles starts with one step.

If I had to choose between having too much money and it was hard to store and maintain all the things I bought that would be a helluva problem. More likely, I'm going to be addressing the problems that NEED machines to handle and using elbow grease and manpower more than I'd prefer for the jobs too small for a machine. (If you happen to know anyone handing out 7-figure jobs, send them my way).

 

[gstrom99]

There's lots of threads here about "what tractor should I buy?". Read up and search FB (my fav) for what's out there, near you. You could also check out the local tractor dealers (more $). Do you have a trailer to tote it home, (and lots of other property uses)? I had 11 acres of hunting land in northwest Indiana, before I retired and moved to Iowa. I started off with an old (but restored) Ford 9N, and made that work for quite awhile.

Personally, I'd say look for a decent 20-24 hp unit, 4 wheel drive/assist, with loader and hydrostatic drive. Post your findings here - we LOVE to tell members how to spend their money.

 

[MossRoad]

I grew up on the edges of a small town. ¾ acre, surrounded by corn. 25 yrs later, I'm starting a try at homesteading. It's all new to me, my dad passed when I was a kid. Learned how to handle most home maintenance over the years, fairly handy with limitations.

We just bought 8 acres, it's pretty wooded. Knocked an acre down with a walk-behind 26" brushcutter. Think longterm I'll need better equipment.

Leaning toward a compact tractor or maybe something a little meatier. We should finish construction in a year. Anticipate I'll need to cut the brush 2-3x per year, and something to clear a path in the winter. I'll likely add chores as we go. Any tips on getting started appreciated.

Welcome to TBN!