Buying Advice Need Advice on Tractor Purchase

[mmoore58]

I have 6 acres and a 500 ft. driveway. Looking for a tractor that will be used mainly for tilling, grading, landscaping and moving dirt. In the fall I will be tilling up and leveling the majority of this property. I had 46,000 feet of timber cut down and stumps ground so I have a lot of ruts and uneven places. I went to the dealer and he tried to sell me BX2660 saying he felt like that is all I needed. I just think I need something in the 30 hp range. I have a Kubota ZD21 mower that I will be cutting grass with so I will not need a belly mower. I appreciate any advice you guys have.

 

[TripleR]

I have 6 acres and a 500 ft. driveway. Looking for a tractor that will be used mainly for tilling, grading, landscaping and moving dirt. In the fall I will be tilling up and leveling the majority of this property. I had 46,000 feet of timber cut down and stumps ground so I have a lot of ruts and uneven places. I went to the dealer and he tried to sell me BX2660 saying he felt like that is all I needed. I just think I need something in the 30 hp range. I have a Kubota ZD21 mower that I will be cutting grass with so I will not need a belly mower. I appreciate any advice you guys have.

I agree, now the hard part is picking which one. As others have mentioned HP is only one consideration.

I love my BX2660, but would never recommend one for your needs.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Guess I'm seeing two approaches to this.
A big L sized tractor with a big tiller and/or plow and disc and boxblade for you doing all the work over the next few years. Then maybe sell the L and get a BX or B for maintenance,
Second is hire specialized equipment to come in and do the bigger major jobs in a day or two and then buy a BX or B for maintaining the property and doing the smaller jobs yourself.
Moving a lot of dirt with a tractor alone is a very time consuming and fuel using job. Bigger machines and trucks can do in hours what will take a tractor weeks or months.
Just wanting to do everything yourself is a different story but if time is limited at all some jobs are better hired out and then buy the size tractor you need to do ongoing jobs and maintaining the spread. I think a BX or B will probably do the routine landscaping and maintaining but not the major overhaul..

 

[big bubba]

i ditto JT on this. his comment separates wheat from the chafe.
but after the initial big leveling event, ask yourself what possible unwritten jobs you might have in the future & and don't sell yourself short. sorry can't be more specific other than choose carefully.
i sometimes kick myself for buying equip not quite up to the task, but very rarely regret an "overkill" purchase. tough call during these tough econ times. bb

 

[TripleR]

As usual, John brings up some really good points. "Moving dirt" can mean a lot of different things from just leveling ruts to a few truck loads. It would help to see some pictures of your property as you really can't just go by acreage. An anticipated or preferred time frame would also be helpful.

Moving dirt with a, L3200, L3240, B3030/B3000 can be done with the only difference in the amount of time spent.

My sons and I have worked on our shooting range for two years with an 80 HP and 72HP tractor then the 85 and 50 HP machines and still have one side to finish as it will be three sided for tactical training. We have put in a lot of time and spent a lot of money on fuel. With their work schedule, we have just about decided to get a dozer to finish the third side as we have many other tasks to do on our farms and just not enough time. So you can see even pretty good size tractors take time on many things.

One of my constant recommendations is to consider renting bigger equipment for specific jobs and/or paying someone to do it. Trust me, even on small acreage, even when the major tasks are finished, there will always be something to do.

My son in law has five acres and in spite of having access to tractors is bringing in a dozer to do in two days what would take us weeks.

Having said all that, if you just want an ongoing project then go with John's first option and enjoy.

Just before my dad got sick, he was within days of finishing up a six year land clearing project and had no idea what he was going to do to occupy his time. He had owned dozers and such, but was using his old Ford 600 and a chain saw as time was of no importance to him.

 

[mmoore58]

My property is not real bad. I was basically thinking of just using a box tiller as I feel this would do the job. As far as the dirt moving, I would just be hauling dirt into low places and leveling it out. Then hopefully everything else would be basic landscaping and driveway grading. I appreciate the response and advice thus far.

 

[Localmotion]

I have 6 acres and a 500 ft. driveway. Looking for a tractor that will be used mainly for tilling, grading, landscaping and moving dirt. In the fall I will be tilling up and leveling the majority of this property. I had 46,000 feet of timber cut down and stumps ground so I have a lot of ruts and uneven places. I went to the dealer and he tried to sell me BX2660 saying he felt like that is all I needed. I just think I need something in the 30 hp range. I have a Kubota ZD21 mower that I will be cutting grass with so I will not need a belly mower. I appreciate any advice you guys have.

TripleR makes a very good point regarding fuel - the bigger your tractor, the greater your fuel consumption. Given that you have a relatively small amount of land, albeit a lot of work to do, I think you are on right lines considering the 30HP bracket.

Depending upon budget, there are a lot of good tractors in the 30-40hp range, but I would urge you not to buy based on machine colour or badge! I am bias (being an importer of Siromer tractors into Spain), but I think it is hard to beat many of the Chinese tractors for value for money. We use a Siromer 204S (an enhanced version of the Jinma 204) everyday for our contracting work. It spends most of its time on a 2m grader blade, averages about 800hrs per year and to date (it is 3 years old) we have had no major problems. We also operate a 50hp New Holland - but I must say that the Siromer is my tractor of choice for grading and despite its much lower horsepower, it's weighted wheels and 4wd enables it to move nearly twice as much on a single pass.

The other consideration (as has already been mentioned) is to hire in machinery to do the rough work, and then invest in a smaller tractor to maintain the property - although if it was me I would enjoy the challenge of getting my land into shape. Which ever tractor you choose, enjoy the project and be sure to stay safe... :thumbsup:

 

[crazyal]

You didn't really say if you had a budget to stick to or a time frame. I think I would look hard at a 3240 or a 3540 with the larger loader. It'll be on the small side for some of the bigger tasks but not too small. If you get it with HST it'll not be too big for working around the house afterwards.

If time is a factor then you may even want to move up to an M and then sell it if you feel it's too big after the hard work is done. If money is a factor then one of the standard L models or one of the large B series would get the job done, albeit not as fast. The bigger GLs are nice and would provide the extra power for future but the cost does start getting up there.

 

[mmoore58]

I've just been hesitant to go the 4 cylinder route because of all the vibration issues that I have read about. That is one reason that I am having such a difficult decision.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I've just been hesitant to go the 4 cylinder route because of all the vibration issues that I have read about. That is one reason that I am having such a difficult decision.

Your not a perfectionist, are you? Of all the concerns/issues to be worried about you pick the vibration issue? Most four cylinders do not have vibration issues. Reading this Kubota forum for a few years and the only one that comes to mind being mentioned is the B3200 and I had one of them and it didn't, to me and most other owners, have any vibration issue at most owners normal operating ranges/rpm's.
Swallow an elephant and gage on a gnat. Try whatever you decide on yourself after making a decision of what size you need to do the jobs you forsee doing with your tractor. Don't get bogged down with the immaterial stuff.