Tractor Sizing HP Advice

[HEC]

My flat 35 acres of use to be pasture land isn't real smooth either and believe me my 57 hp Kubota is the only one for me for mowing each summer . I have a mower for the 26 hp also , but the ride would break my back before I got 35 acres mowed . Tire size makes all the difference in the world . I have r4 tires on both , ag tires would give an even better ride on either one I suppose .

 

[MESSMAKER]

Mowing 17 acres is not that big of a job. A 35hp tractor with a 6 foot mower will do it in a couple short days (maybe 10-12 hours total) Loader will be great and you will use it a lot but I don't think you will have enough jobs on 20 acres to justify the purchase of a backhoe. You can rent an excavator 2-3 times a year for quite a few years and be money ahead. I have seen it done and removing a backhoe that is frame mounted is about the most difficult attachment to work with. I saw a cab recommended and that is fine, but I think that is just a nice to have option. You can get by for about 20 grand or spend 40+. The choice is yours.

 

[TomIre]

Thanks. Pretty much agree with you. Settled on Mahindra 2638. Would love a cab but won't go that route. Will probably get the backhoe only because I have one big job to do and like to nibble away at it rather than rent and grind it out in a day or two

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks. Pretty much agree with you. Settled on Mahindra 2638. Would love a cab but won't go that route. Will probably get the backhoe only because I have one big job to do and like to nibble away at it rather than rent and grind it out in a day or two

You can rent a mini-excavator for a weekend for less than $300. How much is that backhoe going to cost you? Several thousand dollars! It boggles my mind that someone would spend 10 times the money for a two day job. :confused3:

 

[TomIre]

I agree makes no sense for a two day job.

 

[paulfun9]

Mowing 17 acres is not that big of a job. A 35hp tractor with a 6 foot mower will do it in a couple short days (maybe 10-12 hours total) Loader will be great and you will use it a lot but I don't think you will have enough jobs on 20 acres to justify the purchase of a backhoe. You can rent an excavator 2-3 times a year for quite a few years and be money ahead. I have seen it done and removing a backhoe that is frame mounted is about the most difficult attachment to work with. I saw a cab recommended and that is fine, but I think that is just a nice to have option. You can get by for about 20 grand or spend 40+. The choice is yours.

What particular tractor have you watched someone remove a backhoe from?

I question this because watching others with tractors and knowing my own machines very well I would have to say its harder to attach and detach my snow blower or finish mower from my tractor than it is to remove or attach the hoe.
My friends with other brands built within the last decade are all just about as easy with only one exception but that's probably more due to the fact that he built his own sub-frame so he could use his old backhoe from a much older tractor.

 

[DK35vince]

Removing my frame mounted backhoe is easy. 3-4 minutes.
Installing my backhoe is a little more difficult. 5-10 minutes.

 

[LouNY]

Proper procedure for any Tractor no matter the type of trans would be to stop turn around and back down the hill when you have a load in the front bucket!

I would never recommend anyone back down a hill with a load, most people have a hard enough time backing up, get a load pushing you drop a tire in a hole or hit a rock, or the front end starts to come around. Just gear down start down with the load low and be ready to put your bucket down into the dirt if need be, you are much more in control driving forward then backing up. And if it gets out of control backing you have lost it, forward you may ride it out.

 

[terryknight]

I would never recommend anyone back down a hill with a load, most people have a hard enough time backing up, get a load pushing you drop a tire in a hole or hit a rock, or the front end starts to come around. Just gear down start down with the load low and be ready to put your bucket down into the dirt if need be, you are much more in control driving forward then backing up. And if it gets out of control backing you have lost it, forward you may ride it out.

i'm with paul on the one. i was taught to back down if you get in trouble you can drop the loader and it will straighten you out if need be. i had a large poplar limb in my grapple and i felt very much in control backing down the hill. i don't feel very in control driving down the same hill empty

 

[Gale Hawkins]

40hp at the PTO minimum, so 50-ish HP total.

Sounds good to me. We have older heavy stuff like the Ford 3000 and 3600 (47 engine HP but more like 40 at PTO) and MF 265 60/50 HP.

Any heavy demands at the PTO begs for the most HP possible. In hobby usage taking time to use a low HP tractor is OK but I find 20% oversize is better than 20% below the hardest tasks is 100% better.