I'm still lost on what size tractor I need.

[wemsit]

Hey, I have just recently taken up farming and am currently growing some hemp on about a 1/4 acre. Everything was planted by hand, but I am fortunate enough to have some land in my family that no one in the family uses. They lease it out to a guy for pennies on the dollar and he is getting a little too old to lease it anymore so I have an opportunity to take over and basically care for 130 acres of mostly flat land. Probably 100 acres are tillable and good. Next year I would like to care for the land and I am undecided if I should find someone to mow the native grass hay for us or if I should do it myself, but I do want to plow and disc about 8-10 acres of land and use a water wheel transplanter and possibly a plastic mulch laying machine. At first, I was looking at the L2501 and figured it would be enough but after some reading, I am getting the impression that 25hp will not be enough at all. So, I come here looking for some advice on what kind of tractor I need and also maybe some necessary implements I will need to manage and till some of this land. I live near a popular metropolitan so I am assuming most brands are within 100 miles with Kubota and John Deere being the two most common dealers I have been able to google. I honestly don't care if I get new or used as long as I can find something that is reliable and trustworthy and that I can get a loan from my bank and I was hoping to spend no more than 20k, but I might be able to push to 30k, but most of that depends on what the bank will loan me. All of this farming stuff is new to me so any useful information or trips is always going to be appreciated


Thanks for reading and have a good day!

 

[Carl_NH]

Welcome to TBN Wemsit!

You will find a lot of good info on here and get a lot of advice on spending your $ for a machine. First though, 100 tillable acres is a lot of land to maintain, and presume this is grass land or is it farmed / planted with some crop now by the leaseholder?

If its grass / hay / crops I would continue to lease it until you have the machines and financial position to farm this yourself. Also this is a "family owned" property so consider the long term investment unless you can get a 99 year lease - you don't want to buy $20-50K of machinery then not have a crop to sell.

The business side, what will you plant/grow to make $? Hemp is a growing market but the big farms will catch on and what sort of machines will you need to plant and harvest this on this land?

IMO, you need at minimum of 40-60 HP tractor - look at used Kubota MX or L series - those with 800-1000 hours are in your price range or a similar JD, Kioti "farm" or utility tractor.

Good luck in your new adventure!

 

[Leejohn]

Lease it out. For what you are wanting to do is going to be way over 30k I would guess a min of a 50hp tractor and maybe a smaller one for raking. It just cost a lot of money to get set up. Then you have to fight the weather.

 

[nwut05]

Welcome to TBN. :thumbsup: Now for my 2 cents worth. What size Tractor do you need?? I really wouldn't consider that my first question in your situation. What would you feed your Native grass hay to? or would you just try to sell it! What would you grow, and do you have a market in your area for that crop? If you are worried about getting a loan for a tractor, wait til you see the price of fuel, fertilize, seed, maintenance, insurance, and all the other related costs. The advice above was unfortunately quite possibly the Cold Hard Truth! Work out a LOOONG term lease as cheap as you can and then turn around and do a short term lease with someone you trust who farms and may just be willing to show you a thing or two about tractors, equipment and general farming practices in your area. You can learn a whole lot more by helping a good experienced farmer in the field than you can from a website sitting in the air conditioning all day and night. AND don't rush out and buy a brand new tractor of any size just because the dealer says you need it or the 0 percent financing or any other sales crap until you research, talk, listen and learn a few things about farming. Just because you can grow hemp and it sells high right now, don't expect it to be the same next year, as stated above the big farms will pick it up, and then it will be just like tobacco was and your 1/4 acre or 10 acres will be just another roadside flower garden compared to the next 1000 acre field just down the road, that belongs to that 6th generation farmer who has the contract in your area for the next 20 years. Good Luck

ALSO the 25 horse tractor will do a lot of gardening and general work, but, in your situation it would be like taking a fly swatter to a bald faced hornets nest. You can kill em with it, but they gonna wear your &^% out before you get done and fast!!!!

 

[DMW]

Buying equipment to farm only 130 acres is a quick way to bankruptcy.

 

[oosik]

DMW speaks the cold hard facts. I would work out some type of lease with a local farmer. You just can not make it with only 130 acres. The cost of equipment alone to do most any type of farming will never be recovered on just 130 acres.

 

[BRMyers]

My grandpa farmed with MF383 (80HP) and MF275 (60HP) on 80 acres, about 60 of it tillable. A 25HP tractor could do it, but it would be SLOW and the attachments would be small (which adds to the slowness). As others have pointed out 50HP or greater would be the range you would be looking in.

If you have more time than money, then yes, you can use a small tractor, just realize it will be a BIG investment in your time. Dad has chosen to share crop out the farm, but if we would ever decide to go back to farming, I would be looking at M7060 or something in that range for the size of farm we have.

The only reason we would go back to farming it ourselves is because dad gets bored. Farming on a small scale is not a money maker.

 

[skipperbrown]

You will want a min 50 hp tractor and a 100 hp will be much, much better. Go big or go home. I had a 40 hp and my FIL has a 85 hp. He could work circles around me. You can get manufacturer financing on most new tractors at 0 % or very low interest rates.

 

[atsah]

Hey, I have just recently taken up farming and am currently growing some hemp on about a 1/4 acre. Everything was planted by hand, but I am fortunate enough to have some land in my family that no one in the family uses. They lease it out to a guy for pennies on the dollar and he is getting a little too old to lease it anymore so I have an opportunity to take over and basically care for 130 acres of mostly flat land. Probably 100 acres are tillable and good. Next year I would like to care for the land and I am undecided if I should find someone to mow the native grass hay for us or if I should do it myself, but I do want to plow and disc about 8-10 acres of land and use a water wheel transplanter and possibly a plastic mulch laying machine. At first, I was looking at the L2501 and figured it would be enough but after some reading, I am getting the impression that 25hp will not be enough at all. So, I come here looking for some advice on what kind of tractor I need and also maybe some necessary implements I will need to manage and till some of this land. I live near a popular metropolitan so I am assuming most brands are within 100 miles with Kubota and John Deere being the two most common dealers I have been able to google. I honestly don't care if I get new or used as long as I can find something that is reliable and trustworthy and that I can get a loan from my bank and I was hoping to spend no more than 20k, but I might be able to push to 30k, but most of that depends on what the bank will loan me. All of this farming stuff is new to me so any useful information or trips is always going to be appreciated


Thanks for reading and have a good day!

25hp and 10 acres tilling on 130 acre farm, none of that should be in the same sentence.. 50-70hp, a good size disc, a tiller rated for the higher hp and then you may have time to do something else.. Used in good condition equipment is what I would be looking for in you're case..

 

[CobyRupert]

Seems like OP needs to decide if he needs tractor for 8-10 acres of hemp, or for the whole 100 acres tillable.

What does OP plan to do with the native grass hay? Just mow it? Bale it and sell the bales? Till and reseed, fertilize? That's a BIG equipment investment, a lot of work, weather and labor dependent, and a lot of learning curve. And probably would never won't pay out.

If OP is just doing the 8-10 acres, I'd think <50HP would be fine and could keep budget down, though there's good deals to be found in old larger tractors. However, being a beginner, having a newer model that he doesn't have to fix may be benficial (then again (again) old can be reliable, new can require fixes too).
A smaller (<~50 hp) newer tractor may also be hydrostatic and easier for a beginner to operate.