Looking for All-In one tractor

[piller]

I'm not far from you, we have a 120 acre farm in East TN, I've got a Kubota M8540HD open station.

I chose the 8540, for just a little more than the price of the 7040 I moved up to a larger frame tractor, more power, better hydraulics, more 3 point lift, transmission parking brake, stronger loader, bigger tires, etc. The 8540 is the same tractor as the 9540 except the engine makes about 10 HP less and the standard tires are different.

If I had the budget or was a full time farmer or was going to get a cab I would probably go with the 9540 and get radial tires. Then I would pick up a smaller second tractor.

Since you are 6' 7" tall you need to make sure that the tractor/cab will fit you well.

 

[BruceWard]

When I was a kid we farmed 540 acres with close to 400 cattle often harvesting hay from hundreds of other farmers acres with a MF-35 and and Ford 4100. Only the 4100 had a loader. A M7040 seems like a great tractor to me. No matter how fast you can cut and rake the hay with a bigger tractor you are still going to be bailing them one at a time and picking them up one at a time. I would rather have 40HP tractors than one giant one.

 

[D7E]

Yes my family farmed 300 acres with 3 fordson majors "once upon a time" but weather was a little more predictable then and the round bale had never been heard of...I would'nt want to lift 1600lb bales with a 50hp tractor and they would'nt reach high enough to load a truck anyway...You don't need new.. a pair of 1980's tractors in the 100-120hp mark would be fine.

 

[Soundguy]

When I was a kid we farmed 540 acres with close to 400 cattle often harvesting hay from hundreds of other farmers acres with a MF-35 and and Ford 4100. Only the 4100 had a loader. A M7040 seems like a great tractor to me. No matter how fast you can cut and rake the hay with a bigger tractor you are still going to be bailing them one at a time and picking them up one at a time. I would rather have 40HP tractors than one giant one.

I wouldn't want to be stuck with a single 40hp tractor on 200 ac with hay making duties.. for one.. you will wear it out lifting huge round bales on that machine.. plus it will take forever with only 1 mid sized machine... I use a 45hp tractor to move round bales at my place.. and it is not what i would call ideal.. it is 'satisfactory' at most..... I'd move the bales with the 70 or 95 hp machine.. but they don't have loaders so I'd be using a 3pt spear.. and i much prefer a loader so I can dump hay over fences .. etc..

soundguy

 

[flusher]

When I was a kid we farmed 540 acres with close to 400 cattle often harvesting hay from hundreds of other farmers acres with a MF-35 and and Ford 4100. Only the 4100 had a loader. A M7040 seems like a great tractor to me. No matter how fast you can cut and rake the hay with a bigger tractor you are still going to be bailing them one at a time and picking them up one at a time. I would rather have 40HP tractors than one giant one.

I agree. That M7040 is a nice machine for the many of the haying tasks-planting with a grain drill, mowing, raking, baling. The neighbor with the Steiger that I mentioned earlier in this thread in fact uses a large Kubota cab tractor for these chores.

I mentioned my neighbor's Steiger only in relation to tilling tasks since the OP didn't specify whether he intends to plant a hay crop or just harvest the native grass. Tilling 200 acres, IMHO, is better done with really big iron, especially if, like the OP, you already have another 40-hour/week job.

 

[Aqualize]

The thread starter now have a Ford 3000 (signature) and want to buy a tractor that by todays standard is a small agricultral tractor and he calls himself (signature) small farmer. On top of this he expect having time to do baling work for others. While having 200 acres?
Is it just me or does it sound very strange? Perhaps a typo, not 200 but 20 acres?

 

[ovrszd]

There's a lot of variation in "hay operations". I would think these variations would need clarity before anyone could offer a suggestion to what tractor is needed. In my neck of the woods a 200 acre hay operation is small and wouldn't require much.

Secondly the OP already has a very useful light duty tractor that sips fuel.