Buying Advice Kubot 3130 or NH TC33D adequate?

EB160 · Feb 25, 2012

I have a horse business I run on 160 acres. With no fricking tractor! The time has come for a purchase. I need one for (1) moving round bales (2) cleaning out muddy muck from the pens, and (3) mowing the huge weeds (including 10 ft. tall wild marijuana plants) on my 30 acres of sacrifice pasture. The rest of the land is prairie that pretty much takes care of itself with annual burning.

I talked to a Kubota dealer, and he said I could do fine with a 32 HP compact tractor with a belly mower and front loader, and lift the bales with a spear on the 3 pt. on the back. (has well over 2,000 lb. lift capacity)

Can I get input--do you agree? If so, can I get by with a NH TC33D, which specs say has an 1600 lb rear lift capacity?

I want hydro-type transmission for sure. I want it to run dependably. I am no mechanic, I'm a semi-broke horse breeder/trainer.

I want to buy used and hope I can do so without regretting it. My local dealers don't have anything suitable used so I will probably buy off the internet.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I don't want to buy more tractor than I have to.

RickB · Feb 25, 2012

I can't imagine why a mid-mount mower fits any of your stated needs. If you are going to buy used, buy something in the Class III (NH) size or comparable. The ability to lift a round bale with the 3PT doesn't mean that the front end will stay on the ground.

WM75Guy · Feb 25, 2012

The 16LA FEL on my wife's TC40DA is rated for 2000# at the pins and 1500# 24" forward. I can lift 1500 pound pallets with a set of pallet forks. I buy shavings and sawdust pellets on pallets, lift them off the trailer with the tractor and use a Northern Tool $199 pallet jack to move them around the stables and barn to store them. The TC33 used a 14LA which is rated for 1200# at the pins. You may consider stepping up just a bit in size to the TC35 or TC40 which both use the 16LA FEL to gain considerably more capacity.

I use my TC40DA FEL to move round bales with a SSQA hay spear. Makes it easy to sit it down, back up and then flip it on it's end. I use it to empty muck buckets after cleaning stalls into the dumpster. I would get a medium duty rotary cutter to mow pasture, a belly mower is a finish mower and will tear up quickly or not work at all in heavy grass. The TC33DA is rated 29HP PTO, mine is 33HP PTO. I ran my 6' Bush Hog without any problems.

No matter what size you buy, the task will come up where you will wish for a little more HP or capacity.

EB160 · Feb 25, 2012

Thanks for your responses. I did wonder how a belly mower could work. Maybe he misunderstood me or vice versa.

REpowell, I appreciate your specific advice/info. Very helpful.

Grandad4 · Feb 25, 2012

Looks to me that your biggest single chore is going to be mowing that 30 acres, but if you only need to mow it a few times a year, you can deal with it. You'll absolutely want a bush hog type cutter and not a mid-mount finish mower. A common rule of thumb says a brush cutter wants around 5 horsepower from the tractor's pto for every foot of mowing width. Brush cutters are most common and affordable in 5 ft and 6 ft widths, which translate into 25 and 30 pto hp, respectively, meaning you would probably aim for tractors having at least 30-35 engine hp. Going a notch larger than that would give you some "spare" power that would be handy if your place has hilly terrain or very heavy vegetation, and I'd definitely go for a 6 ft cutter for your acreage. You'd typically cover 2+ acres/hr when mowing on reasonably open, smooth ground.

Bale handling introduces another couple of factors: size and weight. Tractors come in different sizes, even if they have similar horsepower, even within a single brand. You need a tractor large enough to handle those bales, at least with a bale spear on the back. When you get into the 50hp+ size, the tractors will also transport bales with the loader, although the narrower width and shorter wheelbase of a "compact" type tractor can make stacking the largest bales very tricky.

If your mowing and bale handling needs seem to call for a larger tractor, your stall mucking duty may push you toward a smaller one for better maneuverability.

I'm not going to tell you what brand to buy. I've had good luck with Kubota equipment (and own other makes also), but there are many good makes and machines to choose from. Check them all out. Hopefully the brand you like will be available from a knowledgeable, honest dealer who has good service.

EB160 · Feb 25, 2012

Thank you for your comments. The mowing will be a big job, but I won't be doing it more than 2-3 times a year. The bale handling concerns me the most, I guess. I'm going around and around about it. I thought the best would be to haul them behind on a spear and that I could do it with a 35 HP tractor, but then someone implied it would lift the front end off the ground. I don't need to lift the bales up to load them, just move them so I can carry them pretty low to the ground.

I don't have stalls--just pasture and run-ins. But I do have an arena to drag, though I've been managing with a 4 wheeler. But I think I need something maneuverable for my pens, which get pretty messy and need to have to top layer removed.

I found a 2003 JD 4310 35 HP tractor near me that is in very good shape. It has a 5' front loader. If I thought it could handle the bales on the back, I'd be tempted to get it. But now I'm kind of paralyzed b/c I'm afraid of going too small and regretting it. On the other hand, I have to work within a budget.

Grandad4 · Feb 26, 2012

The issue with both the TC33 and the Deere 4310 is they are medium-sized compacts with fairly short wheelbases and weighing around 2,500 lbs (just the bare tractor). The Deere has the lift capacity (2,200 lbs) for a large round bale on the 3 pt, but the dimensions and weights for both suggest your concern about carrying a 1,500 lb bale is very valid. Having a loader on the front would add maybe 1,000 lbs, and you could ballast another 500 lbs into the rear tires, which would help, but I would still want a larger tractor for those round bales.

The best choice seems to be one of the larger compact machines (40 hp and up), but it's hard finding a good used one and the new ones are indeed spendy. It's worth noting that a number of the brands have some attractive financing (including 0%) on new equipment.

If you didn't mind a little occasional tinkering, a big old 2wd farm tractor would do the mowing and bale handling very nicely, and you might be able to find a decent one at a good price. It may not be the best in the world at cleaning your run-in's, but plenty of them are still doing loader work.

bigbull338 · Feb 28, 2012

1 thing you have to know is that the compact and new farm tractors are lighter than the tractors of old.the new tractors either have to have frontend loaders or suitcase wights on them to hold the front end down.yes you can move bales on the 3pt of a 35hp tractor,but you need weight on the frontend.to me you need an all around tractor with a loader on it.heres what i have an heres what we do with it.i have a MX5100 HST ROPS 4x4 w/LA844 quicktatch loader.itll do everything you want an more,from moving an feeding round bales to mucking out your run ins to shredding your whole place.an you can even plant grass with it.

Gittyup · Feb 28, 2012

I think you want 40 - 50 HP with enough lift to use the loader to move bales. You'll be glad you did. Also, the extra hp lets you run a bigger bush hog for that 30 acres. And if you are working in the barn, you'll probably prefer HST. Search for a kioti CK40 or CK45. They've got the loader lift and should be reasonably prices. Mahindra is another "heavy" brand to look at that won't break the bank.