Tractor Sizing Looking to buy my first Tractor? Size?

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( . . . I currently own a Craftsman 15 horse "tractor" but it seems lately that I have more down-time than up-time. Especially blowing snow. I think ground clearance is the issue when it comes to the TZ or BX series tractors. I am looking at the bigger, more heavy duty frames. . . .)</font>

Well, OK, I have a JD 4110 with a FEL and a Backhoe on less land than you have. JD4110 is a full featured, small CUT (about 7610 size), in case you haven't looked at JD. Personally, I opted for this machine because I had what I thought was about three years worth of work for this type of machine and the idea of continuously going through the rental hasle (and having nothing to show for the investment) just didn't interest me. I figured I could own it for three years and sell it for pretty close to what I bought it for and have a lot of fun and education while I was at it.

Turns out I did most of what I thought would take three years in the first year, but I've got at least another two years worth of work because now I know what a small CUT is capable of.

Note though, that I kept my lawn tractor for mowing. It does that well, and a CUT, even a small one, is relatively clumsey for lawns with lots of obsticles.

So my vote (if I had one) would be for you to keep the craftsmen and give it the easy life of just mowing, and get a small CUT with a snowblower and a FEL and maybe even a backhoe (if you really want to indulge yourself and have fun).

This has worked out wonderfully for me, you millage may vary.

Cliff

 

[jim_wilson]

Speaking as somebody who has just under the amount of land you have (I have 1/2 acre) and having owned a BX23 for just over 190 hours now I would say think hard about whether you want to go up to a small CUT sized tractor instead of the SubCUT size. When I first started looking I had a pretty specific set of projects I wanted to accomplish with the tractor - and once those projects are done even a SubCUT sized tractor will frankly be more than I need for this lot. In my mind getting a CUT sized tractor would in all likelihood mean that at some point the tractor would outlive it's usefulness and I would sell it and then be without a tractor. By getting a SubCUT sized tractor (BX23) I have something that is small enough to still be useful when my only projects are planting the occasional tree, mowing the lawn, clearing snow, and other random tasks. You did not mention what your budget is but one thing I would recommend thinking about is for a little more than the price of a small CUT tractor you could get a SubCUT with a backhoe. Kubota has the BX23, Massey Ferguson has the GC2310, and Woods Equipment makes the Groundbreaker X backhoe that will fit on all of the SubCUT's including the NH TZ, the Deere 2210 , as well as the BX and the GC.

For me the best way to evaluate my actual tractor needs - vs. what I wanted to get , was to write down all the jobs I knew I needed to do right away, and all the jobs I potentially would need to do later and then go point by point on the actual tractor capabilities to see if the BX would handle the work. There have been a few rocks that were too big to lift and a few jobs that would have gone faster with a larger tractor but all in all the BX has done everything I wanted it to.

After seeing the new Kubota B2630/3030 I still WANT one - I know however that I don't NEED one.