New Member from Tenaha TX (I hope)

[jimandjo]

We are preparing to settle (7/7) on some land up in Tenaha Texas and we are just trying to figure out how much tractor for the job. It is a 50 acre timber property with a mix of hardwoods and pine plantation, along with a small cabin and 5 feeder/feed plot/deer blind meadows, all running pretty much parallel, with a small lake (2 acres or so) in the middle.

We have been looking at some of the Deere ag packages that the local distributor put together, vs. just buying used on the net, and wanted to try and get a feel for the different tractors.

Thanks for putting this site together.

Jim and Jo T.

 

[Bigfoot62]

:welcome: from just across the river!! (I live on the East side of Toledo Bend)

On the tractor purchase, I would just suggest that you get "enough" tractor the first time.
You can use the search function (on the menu bar at the top of the page) and read for days where people have asked this same question.

 

[jimandjo]

Thanks!

JT

 

[jeff9366]

Is the land a resource for income?

Will you be planting a crop or have stock?

Do you have a gravel or dirt road to maintain? How long? Sloped?

Is the land flat or do you have to deal with slopes? This makes a big difference in tractor selection.

Do you and yours have tractor operating experience?

Who will do tractor maintenance and repairs; dealer or yourself?

Shooting from the hip, for 50 acres, I guesstimate you need a 35 - 45 horsepower tractor with a Category 1, Three Point Hitch; Front End Loader, R4 tires, Four Wheel Drive and weight of 4,000 - 5,000 pounds without wheel ballast.

Implements: Ratchet Rake for the FEL and Disc Harrow with 20"- 24" diameter pans for food plots.

 

[HEC]

Welcome to the forum JT, and all the best in selecting your tractor, as there are so many choices . Find a good dealer as that can be important also in your search .

 

[jimandjo]

It does have a significant cash capable crop on it with all the pine and hardwoods, but the pine is young, and the hardwoods old. The main reason I wanted it was so that a) I have a place to go if things ever got ugly in the Housotn area (think Katrina); b) that I have something to give my sons that could stay in the family forever (taxes on it with ag exemption are only $200/yr); and 3) it gives me a place to go deer and hog hunting.

I will be doing some planting in the food plots, and probably a small garden for us up by the cabin.

The land has minor sloping. It is a total of about 60' of change throughout. Not huge, and very little sudden changes, but they are there.

The "Roads" are brush hogged paths to the cabin, and then to various points on the property. I defintely want to get a good gravel base all the way to the cabin so that it won't require a 4x4 in the wet seasons. All told there are probably 2 miles of trails to be maintained to some extent throughout. However, about half of that is power line right of way, so I expect they will be maintaining that.

My only tractor experience has been running a John Deere 3 series around the dealer parking lot.

I am relatively mechanically inclined. I own a large sailboat right now, and pretty much rebuilt her from the ground up. However, I try like heck never to get to the inside of engines. I always have one or two bolts left over after reassembly.... :mur:

I appreciate the advice on the selection. Is it possible to make do with the smaller 25 hp versions. The reason I say that is that I see a lot of the work as keeping the trails out to the blinds and down to the lake clear, and the trails really aren't that large. I am afraid that if I buy too large of a frame, that it will be stuck maintaining only the biggest ones and I will still have to get something to do the rest. It seems that the Deere in the 25 HP at the PTO, adn the kubota w/ 25 hp at the PTO all seem to be a relatively good size for trail work.

I am not familiar with ratchet rakes for the loader. Is that like a grapple?

Thank you for the thought you obviously put into your reply. I am most grateful.

 

[jimandjo]

Thanks. Given how far I am out in the boondocks, not sure how far I will have to go.....

 

[Bigfoot62]

. . . Given how far I am out in the boondocks, not sure how far I will have to go.....

Jim,
You mentioned JD, so I'll share this.
There will be a few JD dealers a bit closer to you, but I recommend that you visit Jasper Co Tractor. They're located just north of Jasper on Hwy 96. Shouldn't be but about an hour's drive from Teneha. Mr. James Dean and his son Kevin own and operate it. These are good country folks that not only sell tractors, but use them. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Not high-pressure salesmen.
Even though I live in La, I still go by there a good bit. I was in there yesterday.

 

[jimandjo]

Jim,
You mentioned JD, so I'll share this.
There will be a few JD dealers a bit closer to you, but I recommend that you visit Jasper Co Tractor. They're located just north of Jasper on Hwy 96. Shouldn't be but about an hour's drive from Teneha. Mr. James Dean and his son Kevin own and operate it. These are good country folks that not only sell tractors, but use them. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Not high-pressure salesmen.
Even though I live in La, I still go by there a good bit. I was in there yesterday.

Thanks for the help. I have been looking, but Google searches aren;t very helpful in that regard. They usually take you to who pays the highest ad price regardless of how far away they are.

 

[jeff9366]

I appreciate the advice on the selection. Is it possible to make do with the smaller 25 hp versions. I see a lot of the work as keeping the trails out to the blinds and down to the lake clear, and the trails really aren't that large. I am afraid that if I buy too large of a frame, that it will be stuck maintaining only the biggest ones and I will still have to get something to do the rest. It seems that the Deere in the 25 HP at the PTO, adn the kubota w/ 25 hp at the PTO all seem to be a relatively good size for trail work.

I am on my third tractor, second new tractor, in five years. An experience shared by many authors on T-B-N.

I started on a borrowed John Deere/Yanmar 750 - 20hp, then I bought a new Kubota B3300SU light frame tractor-loader - 33hp/25hp PTO. After 420 enjoyable hours decided that I needed more tractor and now have my dream machine, a new Kubota L3560 heavy frame tractor-loader - 37hp/28hp PTO.

The L3560 is hardly any larger than the B3300SU, it has hardly any more horsepower, but it is 2,000+ pounds heavier than the B3300SU, much more capable and much safer due to the weight and wider stance. For fifty acres you will get a heavy frame tractor-loader sooner or later. It is cheaper to start out with the right frame from the beginning, besides being safer.

The L3560 is quieter, vibrates less, and has standard features that make it much easier to connect implements to the Three Point Hitch.

You do not want to operate a tractor at the margin often. At the margin tractors are unstable and the law of averages will catch up to you sooner or later as your operating hours increase. Light tractors are always unstable on slopes. Operating close to the margin stresses the machine, which will require more maintenance and repair.

Keep an open mind as you continue to research.


LINK:

http://www.kubota.com/product/L60/lineup.aspx