Buying Advice Howdy

[native northtexas]

Just recently bought 10 acres in North Texas and I'm in need of a tractor. Mostly shredding although its mostly grass fairly high but easy enough to cut, no brush etc...I will also need to maintain a gravel driveway and some clearing as well. I'm a country boy, but not a farmer and would like advice on new vs used, what size tractor, horsepower, is 4 wheel drive really necessary, and any other useful information. I was thinking a 5' bush hog and was told 5hp per foot of bush hog is this enough? Thanks!

 

[davesl708]

Hi. Welcome.
Congrats on the 10 acres.
I opted for used. Bought a nine year old Kubota with 1170hrs on it. Absolutely no regrets and saved thousands over new price.
At 1325 hrs still no issues or concerns.
My BX2200 runs a 5ft tiller just fine and clears brush and snow with ease. Mows my lawn too.

 

[native northtexas]

Thanks I appreciate it! Is that a belly mower? Or bush hog

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Welcome neighbor. Two tips for you:

1. The HP referenced in the 5HP-Per-Foot rule is PTO horsepower, not gross horsepower. For example, my tractor is 49 gross horsepower and 37.5 PTO horsepower. For a 5 foot rotary cutter, you will need a minimum of 25 PTO horsepower. Tractors in the gross horsepower range of 30 - 35 probably are somewhere around the 25 PTO hp mark.

2. There is a big farm equipment auction up in Howe. Buy from them at your own risk. I have a friend who had terrible luck buying tractors there. Maybe it was just luck of the draw, but he bought 4 or 5 of them up there and had trouble with all but one.

 

[native northtexas]

Thanks for the advice, and information. I actually considered going to the May 15th auction in Howe, but didn't. That's why I'm leaning towards new, or something in very good condition used.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

If I was the kind of guy that had no conscience and could pawn off a problem tractor on an unsuspecting buyer, and if I didn't want to have to look the buyer in the eye and lie to him, I'd probably use a tractor auction as my sales method. I couldn't do that and be able to sleep at night, but there are plenty of people who can and still sleep like babies.

 

[Walt 2002]

Welcome,

Walt Conner

 

[NativeSon]

Native--A Big East Texas Howdy to you. This is a great place for tractor stuff and a lot of other things.

Charlie

 

[Citydude]

Welcome! Of those 10 acres, how many of them are you going to be mowing? You would want a tractor big enough to mow your target acreage in a timeframe you want instead of what an undersized tractor would give you. Spending weekends just mowing would be a buzz killer... Have fun with your new adventure.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[native northtexas]

Welcome! Of those 10 acres, how many of them are you going to be mowing? You would want a tractor big enough to mow your target acreage in a timeframe you want instead of what an undersized tractor would give you. Spending weekends just mowing would be a buzz killer... Have fun with your new adventure.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

Thanks everyone. The house and barn take about 2 acres, but it's actually about 11 so 9 acres to be mowed. Definitely want something big enough to do it in a few hours, so I appreciate that info! So if you have 25 hp pto, the engine horsepower would normally be in the 32-40 hp range? Thanks again!