Re: New member ?.. Looking to learn about tractor with bush hog
We have a bit over 42 acres (brother in law and myself) and the first year of ownership, we mowed the whole thing with a JD 750 2 WD with a a 4 foot bushhog. We could have used a much larger tractor as it was highly overgrown with weeds, saplings and tall grass and many places were wet from spring feed areas that limited access with the 2 wd tractor with turf tires. We later added a 4 WD 50 HP tractor with 6 foot hog and really reduced the time mowing plus were able to access the swampy areas. It is all relative as to how long you have to do the work. We were both working still at the time and only had a couple days per week to work on it but it eventually got the whole 42 acres done. Years later now we have sold the 750, bought a New Holland 2310, an LS P7010 and a Kubota
B26 TLB. The
B26 gets more hours than the other two combined. We have about 30 cows on it now and they pretty well keep it mowed for us so it is just moving hay, digging rocks, cleaning ditches etc for maintenance other than the yearly garden prep. We could get by with just the NH for the pastures but the TLB is needed for maintenance of ditches, digging holes to bury dead animals, plant trees etc. Since everything is paid for, it doesn't cost anything to have the rarely used stuff just sit under a shed till needed AND they are all handy to have at times, like when BIL got his New Holland buried in a spring feed area, the LS came to the rescue. I don't know if the Kubota would have pulled him out or not, maybe!! That is the beauty of having multiple tractors. Prior to getting our second tractor, I had to use my 4 WD truck a couple of times to pull the JD 750 out of the mud which we were just lucky to have enough chains to get the truck on some firm ground.
For 20 acres including some pasture and plans for a garden (likely need a tiller to prep it) I would look for at least a 40 engine HP tractor which can pull a 6 foot bushhog, a 72" tiller or 6-7 foot disc. Get it with Ag R1 type tires if you have any notion of ever working in any muddy conditions as the R4 industrial tires don't do well in mud which is one reason I had to pull the NH out of the bog as it has industrial tires. They do well on dry ground and have more rubber to not leave as much track on a lawn but don't do well at ground engaging tasks. I hear they work better than R1's with chains on ice but since I don't do snow removal, I cant speak to that.
Also a front end loader is really nice to have and to get good use of one, you need 4 WD on your tractor. Larger HP (like 90HP +) tractor can perform ok without 4 WD but it is a necessity on a CUT or smaller old iron tractor. I was rather skeptical of needing an FEL when I bought my first one (Yanmar 4220D) as I spent 25 years on a farm and never had 4 WD or a FEL, but after getting the first one and seeing what they can do, all others have an FEL AND 4 WD even my 70 HP utility tractor needs 4 WD to perform any ground engaging tasks.
