Looking for my first tractor

Central Maine · Feb 6, 2012

Hi everyone,
I am at the point where I have saved enough to buy my first tractor. Researching it totally consumes my free time. My wife thinks I'm going a bit crazy but I want to make sure I buy the most tractor for my budget. I am posting here to seek expert advice from all of you. Who better to ask but the men and women who love their tractor so much, they spend time with others around the world on this forum giving and getting advice. I hope to be like you all.

Okay, so this is what I need my tractor to do:
1. Mow my lawn ( 1 - 2 acres)
2. Bush hog 1-2 acres
3. Take care of snow (we get our fair share here in the great state of Maine)
Front plow, snowblower, rear plow blade not sure the way to go.
4. Grade driveway 800ft
5. Pull trees for fire wood out of the woods
6. Loader work to support all above

So I am really liking the MF GC 2300 or 2400 Series. The price point, duel pumps, dealer close by is what is leading me in that direction. Oh, and my wife loves the red. That is important. She does the mowing. Do you MF users think this is enough tractor for what I have described above?

Muhammad · Feb 6, 2012

Welcome to TBN.

mguitas · Feb 6, 2012

:welcome: to tractorbynet, an yes i think that would be enough tractor. Unless you want it to go to a 1526 which would be the size tractor in my pictures

Johndeere3720 · Feb 6, 2012

:welcome: to TBN! The GC series tractors are very good machines, however I would look at Deere, Kubota, and Mahindra as well, they all make very good machines. As far as sizing, if you plan to do some serious work in the woods I would steer away from the sub compact tractors, the hydrostatic fan is known to break in these applications due to sticks and undergrowth and can be very difficult to replace on some brands. If you plan to spend some time working in the woods I would look towards the next series up like the 2000 series Deeres and Kubotas, Massey's 1500 series, and Mahindra's new larger Max tractors. Any way you have it, it will be what suits you best. :thumbsup:

Central Maine · Feb 6, 2012

mguitas said:
:welcome: to tractorbynet, an yes i think that would be enough tractor. Unless you want it to go to a 1526 which would be the size tractor in my pictures

Thanks for your feedback. I will be in the woods but mainly on wood trails. I have thought of going bigger on the tractor but my wife is very petite and a bigger tractor makes it hard for her to reach the pedals.

I really love the look of the JD, but have a hard time parting with that much green.

Central Maine · Feb 7, 2012

Johndeere3720,
Thanks for your insight. There are so many SCUTs to choose from. I have also considered the move up to a CUT. There is much to consider. Thanks.

TripleR · Feb 7, 2012

Deciding between a SCUT and CUT is really hard because except in limited situations, you are going to have a compromise tractor especially with woods in the mix.

I don't think the MF has the exposed HST, but I would check to make sure.

Look at what you are going to spend the majority of time doing and get the one most suited for that.

I see nothing in your plans that the MF won't handle as long as you accept you won't be pulling very big trees anywhere. Of course that's one of the reasons they make chain saws.

As to fitting your wife, my wife primarily uses our, oh wait "her" BX2660 or JD2305, but also runs our L5030 and will be learning a bit on our 8540 this year..

Briana03 · Feb 7, 2012

WELCOME to TBN

I moved your thread to the Buying/Pricing/Comparisons Forum.

Mark Page · Feb 8, 2012

IMHO if I were to fool around in the woods I'd want no less than 40 horsepower. 4 wheel drive is a must for snow, a front blower is the deal but pricey. If your only going to mow, anything over 25 hp would do the job.
The issue with horsepower isn't just horsepower but weight, with weight comes traction. I would consider a utility tractor, nothing fancy and plenty of weight. With Massey consider the 2600 series not sure about the others.
My brother-in-law lives in Freeport and gave up trying to handle snow with his 20 hp JD. He hires a guy to get most of it and he cleans up as best he can.
You're gonna' spend more but in the long run I think you'll be happier with the larger machine. I'm pretty happy with my 2615.
Subscribe to Lancaster farming and you'll see hundreds of nice used machine every Saturday.
Getting stuck sucks!!!!

sandman2234 · Feb 8, 2012

I worked for years using a 4x4 Ford 1100 subcompact. It would do almost everything I wanted it to do, but the things I ASKED it to do were at the top end of it's capacity, and I look back on that and realize that I ASKED it to do the things that I realized were within it's limited capacity. I went from a 13hp subcompact to a 70 hp Ag tractor and at that point realized just how much I had limited my abilities due to tractor size. The thing that surprised me the most was just how much time it DIDN'T take with the larger tractor.
As far as pulling logs out of the woods with my little tractor, forget it, not enough weight to get traction to handle anything of any size.
What size tractors are your neighbors using to do the same chores? I don't have snow experience but I can just imagine what it would take to move a mountain of the stuff.
In the used market, little is more expensive than big per horsepower.

David from jax