Buying Advice New farmer

[Tkgerlach]

I am looking for some general advise. I'm not set on a specific brand or tractor, just looking for general advise but would sure look at specifics that you may recommend. We are new to farming and have recently purchased 80 acres that is a mix of woods and soon to be pastures. I don't plan on field work but more for brush hogging, snow clearing and general hauling, pushing and moving things. Our farm is going to be based on pasture raised animals like cattle, sheep and pigs.

I was originally looking at older 2wd tractors with a loader, but have had people tell me I will regret not having 4wd with the snow and hills on the propery. I should mention that we live in Minneota so we do have winters and the occasional good snow. Any advise on 2wd v 4wd and size/horsepower would be great.

Thanks for any help and advise.

Todd

 

[MHarryE]

Having grown up in Minnesota on a farm with a 2wd tractor as our loader tractor, it is possible. After 42 years away from the farm I returned and now have 3 - 4wd loader tractors. Work is a lot easier. In fact I would never have retired to partner with my cousin in my old age if I had to use the tractors on which I was raised. As far as size, a lot depends on your terrain. I did okay keeping my home area taken care of (3 miles from the main farm) with a 37 HP CUT but once I retired I felt the need to up that to a 57 HP with cab, also a CUT. Still I always had the larger tractors to fall back on for heavier lifting, more ground clearance, etc.

 

[dave1949]

Tending to and feeding the animals over the winter will be a significant use of your tractor, besides the usual things around the house like snow removal.

Think about moving hay bales and bulk feed, or processing grain for feed, barn cleaning and what is needed for those sorts of jobs.

If you can keep it out of the woods for the most part, I think a cab tractor would be a good thing for the extremes of MINN summer and winter weather. 4wd can make life a lot easier in mud, muck, snow and on hills.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Biggest thing to consider is your budget...
How much can you spend?
Are you going to bale hay?
What are your primary purposes???

 

[wolftree]

When you start talking about livestock, you start talking about hay and bedding. Whether you are baling your own hay or buying it and what size bales will largely determine your tractor needs.

 

[jenkinsph]

:welcome:

Just for a starting point I would look at a Deere 5075E with cab, as a good size for alot of what you need to do. There are lots of good brands out there to consider besides Deere too but I am more familiar with their sizes and configurations. Recognize that whatever you do the livestock has to be fed regardless of weather conditions through the winter. I would also recommend you get hay and hay storage, fences and containment in general done BEFORE you get the animals.

 

[mud23609]

Four wheel drive is really nice to have and I doubt I would be willing to go back to just using two wheel drive tractors. That being said I ran a lot of cows for a lot of years with two wheel drive tractors in the clay country by lake superior. It can be done but it's not nearly as nice.

Go for something in a utility sized frame. Your going to want the better traction and heavier weight for handling hay in the snow and mud. Your not going to be doing tillage and it will never pencil out to do hay for that small of an operation so Hp is less of a concern than weight.

 

[jenkinsph]

Four wheel drive is really nice to have and I doubt I would be willing to go back to just using two wheel drive tractors. That being said I ran a lot of cows for a lot of years with two wheel drive tractors in the clay country by lake superior. It can be done but it's not nearly as nice.

Go for something in a utility sized frame. Your going to want the better traction and heavier weight for handling hay in the snow and mud. Your not going to be doing tillage and it will never pencil out to do hay for that small of an operation so Hp is less of a concern than weight.

I agree with this, I suggested a 5075E for size and cab option with power reverser tranny. Mowing can make good use of the extra hp too.

 

[bigbull338]

yu need a 4wd drive tractor with fel in the 50 to 60hp range.an itll fitt nicely on your 80ac farm.

 

[Tkgerlach]

Thanks for all the input. Here is my dilema, I have a neighbor looking to sell a 1999 John Deere 4300 with a loader. It appears to be around 32hp and weight of only 3000#, but it is a 4wd. Would I be better off passing on this for a larger tractor or trying it and hopefully not losing too much money if I need to sell it.

I anticipate using the tractor mainly around the homestead (snow, mowing, general moving stuff) and trails through the woods as I won't be doing any haying. I will need to use it to move purchased hay which would probably be big square or round bales. Ideally I would like to stay around 20k as I need to get other things for the farm as well.

Thanks for all your help and input as I am a complete newbie.

Todd

 

[NICKB304]

i don't know what loader is on that tractor but it is probably rated to lift around 1000#ish. you would have a hard time moving big square or round bales if it would do it at all.

 

[wolftree]

I think your neighbor's John Deere would only be able to lift a large bale by a three point hitch mounted spear. I would try it first before buying it. It is more awkward that way, but it does the job. Whether that tractor could do it well I do not know.

 

[jenkinsph]

Thanks for all the input. Here is my dilema, I have a neighbor looking to sell a 1999 John Deere 4300 with a loader. It appears to be around 32hp and weight of only 3000#, but it is a 4wd. Would I be better off passing on this for a larger tractor or trying it and hopefully not losing too much money if I need to sell it.

I anticipate using the tractor mainly around the homestead (snow, mowing, general moving stuff) and trails through the woods as I won't be doing any haying. I will need to use it to move purchased hay which would probably be big square or round bales. Ideally I would like to stay around 20k as I need to get other things for the farm as well.

Thanks for all your help and input as I am a complete newbie.

Todd

A 4300 is way too small for your needs, it would be a good size for a second tractor for smaller jobs. Budgets can be tough, for most of us it takes time to build up a variety of equipment, join the club. One solution is to hold off on having the livestock till you are prepared for them, you could use a smaller tractor such as the 4300 for fence repair and work around the house. Get as many things done as you can do with what you have. There are a lot of things you can do with a small tractor and there is no end to the work that needs to be done.

If you keep livestock over the winter they absolutely have to be fed no matter what the weather conditions are. A larger tractor and implements are invaluable for making improvements on a farm but understandably they aren't cheap either. When you need to move a large bale and the snow is deep you will need a medium sized utility tractor to do it.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Sound advice from all round (with the proviso that I do not use a front end loader - and I have farmed a lot of ground in several countries) but I would particularly recomend that you imprint on your mind the advice in Posts 6 and 13. Buying livestock should be well down your list of priorities. Despite my lifetime's experience I was three years on my present property before I felt I was in a position to be "prepared for them" as jenkinsph posted above.

 

[Tkgerlach]

A 4300 is way too small for your needs, it would be a good size for a second tractor for smaller jobs. Budgets can be tough, for most of us it takes time to build up a variety of equipment, join the club. One solution is to hold off on having the livestock till you are prepared for them, you could use a smaller tractor such as the 4300 for fence repair and work around the house. Get as many things done as you can do with what you have. There are a lot of things you can do with a small tractor and there is no end to the work that needs to be done.

If you keep livestock over the winter they absolutely have to be fed no matter what the weather conditions are. A larger tractor and implements are invaluable for making improvements on a farm but understandably they aren't cheap either. When you need to move a large bale and the snow is deep you will need a medium sized utility tractor to do it.

Thanks for your help. I don't plan to have large animals for 2 to 3 years as I need to convert old crop land to pastures next spring. I am hearing that I will probably need a larger utility tractor at some point, but that something like a 4300 would work around the homestead with things like moving snow, fencing, and general projects. My neighbor is asking 14,500 for the 1999 4300 with a 430 loader and 45 rear blade. I know every situation is different, but opinions on buying this v. older 2wd for homestead work that I could probably get for 8 to 10k.

Thanks again for all your help.

Todd

 

[jenkinsph]

Todd,
Curious about the conversion of the crop land to pasture, do you plan on hiring this done or doing it yourself? How many acres do you need to convert?

A larger tractor such as the 5075E can do this work and be there to move the large round or square bales. If you can start out with the right tractor from square one you will be much better off. I see lots of people come on this forum and buy too small only to trade up within a couple of years, this cost even more money. While I think you could get some work done with the 4300 I can tell you from my experience that a larger tractor would be a much better choice for the work you have outlined.

The issue besides the small size of the 4300 is that you will need to buy lots of small attachments for it and that is costly. Most of the attachments and implements you would buy for the 4300 are too small for the larger projects and won't be useful with a larger tractor. I would much prefer to buy the larger tractor and add the larger implements and attachments as they can be afforded. I am a firm believer in buy it right and buy it once.

 

[Tkgerlach]

Todd,
Curious about the conversion of the crop land to pasture, do you plan on hiring this done or doing it yourself? How many acres do you need to convert?


This is the exciting part for me. There is about 50 acres that have been row cropped for years, but was originally part of an oak savannah. My plan is to plant native grasses and legumes that can ge used for the pasture. I am planning on hiring this out as I don't have the tractor yet and the native grasses also require a special drill to plant them with that I don't have.

I looked at a few John Deere tractors today at a dealership and am now more confused if a 3000, 4000 , or 5000 series type tractor would be the best choice. I will need to do some more research.

Thanks, Todd

 

[OldMcDonald]

I too was interested in your move to pasture. I am a firm believer that all croppable land should go through a pasture phase and back to cropping, then back to pasture and so on. My preferred timing for this is four years pasture and four years cropping. I know it can be difficult for some people to achieve this, but it is for the long-term benefit of the whole property.

Anyone interested can start reading more about it in a book written a wee bit over 100 years ago by Robert H. Elliott called "The Clifton Park System of Farming". It is available on line and so far as I have been able to ascertain I believe he at least pioneered, if not inveneted, this particular rotation. I have not farmed in the US but it works in several other countries. I have found a great increase in soil organic matter - a rise from 1.3% to 4.5% in one field on my present property with the first pasture phase. Check you soil OM content in those fields you intend to sow down and then do a re-check a few years later.

 

[Beltman60]

I think your neighbor is over priced
I bought my JD 3032E with fel and 2 rear remotes for $16900 delivered to the house
that was 2 years and 280 hrs ago
I think it would do the job around the house just don't think your going to do much in the field with it other than bush hog
I personally like the smaller frame around and in the barns
4wd is a almost must if you'er new to tractor work on hills

 

[Wagtail]

Check out the website TractorData.com. You'll be able to find a lot of information on the JD 4300 (+ what implements it can handle). This also applies to darn near every other tractor out there, past & present.

TBN contributors advised me to add this site to my 'favourites' and it's a very handy site! :thumbsup: