Need Advice have 5 acres (Looking for first tractor)

[VRF201]

Great site!
Lots of nice people and thanks again!

I lean towards kubota (close to home), looking now at one of the following:

BX2350, B2630, B3030

I need tilt, I'm tall with short arms. Price is an issue. One dealer has quoted the following:

BX2350 FEL, 60 MMM $12,700
B2630 FEL, rear mower 72" $16900
B3030 FEL, rear mower 72" $18100

B7800 FEL, rear mower 72" $15900 (no tilt - may work)

Good or bad prices?
Just looking to get a good tractor that I will have for years to come.

Thanks again for all the input!

VRF201 (Roy)

P.S. Most of my grass is lawn no brush type.

 

[davitk]

Good tractors, good prices. BX duplicates the MMM on your GS1800, the rear finish mower can be backed under trees and such. Much more loader capacity on the B series. The 2630 and 3030 have niceties such as position control, cruise control and independant PTO.

 

[DmansPadge]

I would stick with one of the B series instead of the BX. Any of the B's should be fine... the 2630 and 3030 have a few more options and stronger hydraulics.... but also have the higher price tag to match.

 

[Z-Michigan]

You really cannot say 30HP is just about right for five acres. Five acres of fine lawn is different from five acres of brambles is different from 5 acres on the side of a hill, etc...

You need to first define the jobs that you want to do, define your budget, then try to find a machine that will do those jobs in the time that you have to do them while keeping within your budget.

For instance, we have 20 acres and a 25HP tractor. All we need it for is mowing 1 acre of lawn, brush hogging a couple miles of trails a few times a year, dragging firewood out of the forest and plowing the driveway. It is more than large enough to maintain our 20 acres.

I strongly agree. We have 20 acres and a 50hp tractor. For just our mowing tasks we could easily get by on 30hp (I would go down to a 5' mower from my 6', though many here would say a 6' would be ok on 30hp). But I use round bales, and I stack them 2-high for storage and when we sell them; you can barely move round bales with a larger CUT (at least on the FEL), and I personally would stick with my utility size to move them, even if I was on 3 acres. We also sized with the possibility of buying hay equipment in the future in mind, which again requires the size we have. I would say that there is no rule of thumb for hp to acreage. Maybe there is for row-crop tillage, but not for homeowner type use.

I would say don't go too big. It sounds like you basically want a super lawnmower. The B series Kubotas, or a JD 2305 or 2320, would work for you. Try to figure out if there are future larger tasks, like buying more property that will also require mowing, or limits on practical size, like wanting to store it in a small shed or clean out stalls inside a barn.

 

[Hootie]

I lean towards kubota (close to home), looking now at one of the following:


There you go!

 

[RussMan]

the Kubota 3030 is what I have and it is excellent. Definitely go w/ FEL. I think yu would be very satisfied with a B3030. There are others that have less in bells/whistles but this is a great little tractor, and if your wife is like mine, she will say it is easier to drive than a car. the 3030 w/ a FEL and MMD will likely run you at least 19,500 so will be close to your budget if not a little over.

 

[daTeacha]

Welcome. I didn't there was 5 acres of flat ground near Winchester. When I was there it seemed to be mountainsides and caverns.

Seriously, I had a B7100 gear model Kubota (16 hp) for several years on my hillside of woods -- 7 1/2 acres -- and it was fine. I mowed a little of it with a old 109 Cadet, but used the 'bota and loader for firewood, snow plowing, clean-up after some selective logging, and with a 4' bush hog to make a pretty nice perimeter trail.

I think the B7800 or 3030 would be just fine for your 5 acres unless you plan to plant most of it to crops or something.

I traded up to my DX29 at the new place for stability reasons. The 'bota just had too many episodes of 3 wheeling it on this slightly steeper ground for me to feel comfortable. The extra width, weight, and wheelbase of the DX makes it a lot more stable.

 

[RalphVa]

My neighbor with 5 acres bought a JD 4310, about 30 hp.

I bought a 4010 (18.5 hp) for my 8.5 acres. Am completely happy with it. Could possibly use a back hoe from time to time. Think you can get this with a JD 2320. It also has position control for the 3 ph that my 4010 doesn't have.

My bend is to buy just as much tractor as you need. More hp uses more fuel.

Ralph

 

[davitk]

Of course, five acres of lawn is a lot of, well, grass. With a larger framed tractor you might be able to dig a pond......

 

[zzvyb6]

I easily took care of 25 acres of grass, garden, fence posts, even ran hay equippment on a 22 hp Yanmar. Moderately hilly in the back. A front end loader will be your best friend. If the mower blades are sharp, the power factor is way overblown. What's amusing to me is the outfits with 50 - 75 hp tractors mowing at crawl speeds. As far as mower width is concerned, make sure it fits thru any gates you have and is wider that the tractor wheel spacing. I put up 12' gates so you can guess how wide my mower is (and 38 hp).