New member needing advice

[awimberley]

I'm a new member and am purchasing five acres. I posted part of this in the introduction section but thought I would also post it here as well as I need assistance.

Five acres. The location is slightly sloped but is fully cleared and perfectly clean. Owner used it only for growing, baling hay. Has a beautiful mountaintop view. Developing it for our retirement homestead. Trees around the perimeter but only two trees on the acreage itself.

So, I need a tractor. Five acres with mostly light work involved.

I know nothing. Grew up on a farm but have been a lifelong educator so my knowledge of tractors isn't just limited.....it's nonexistent.

I plan to use it to grade a long driveway, cut 4 acres of hay annually, store the hay. Maybe even do some terrace work and build a small tank (pond)? Build a fence around the property. Basically, light work. So, attachments for cutting, grading, maybe a trailer, shovel(?), hydraulic.

So, I'm going to be researching and trying to gain whatever I can from the advice I find here. I'll post but not even sure what to post since I'm starting at zero.

My first and most important question is - what size, what models, what attachments, etc? Sorry for my ignorance but I'm a fast learner, hard worker and good researcher. So, I appreciate being able to interact and look forward to learning all I need to know on here. Believe me, I'll take any advice I can get.

 

[dave1949]

Welcome and congrats on your property.

I think it depends on your budget for tractor and equipment. It also depends on having some specific targets about how you want to do things.

If you want to spend more, there are machines that will do the terraces and pond/tank if their size and scope is within reason. If you want to spend less, then a smaller machine will do everything but the heavy dirt moving jobs. The size tractor needed for hay depends on what size bales you want to have. Big bales need a big tractor. But, there are small bale choices out there that would keep your equipment size needs down. Check out the Haying forum, last one under General.

It's usually a better choice in the long run to hire out the one-time big jobs like terracing and tanks. Your tractor will still be useful in the clean-up and finishing of those sorts of things.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Five acres is not going to produce enough hay to pay for your equipment. Just cut it and buy the hay you need. Buy the small tractor and use the money you save to rent some big stuff when you need it for dirt work.

 

[sdef]

Oh boy, you will most likely receive a lot of responses in the next few days as folks are trying to get more information to help you narrow down your options. I have never hayed but have read a lot of posts on TBN and it seems haying equipment moves one up a notch or two on the tractor capability scale. I will start out the conversation by disregarding the haying issue as I have no experience in that and address your basic tractor item.

- Your land does not need clearing of trees or large rocks so your front end loader (FEL) capacity may not need to be in the range of a mid - upper compact utility tractor (CUT), which would be in the 2000# - 3000# capacity area.
- You would probably be in the range of a 25 HP tractor, either a sub-compact (SCUT) or small CUT. For the best bang for the buck, check out LS and Kioti. There are a bunch of fine tractors out there and others will provide more direction as these posts accumulate.
- New or used equipment? Lots of advantages to each. I went all new for my equipment as I was not able to find anything used in the exact equipment I wanted in my area. And the equipment I selected are working out perfectly for my very difficult land needs- which are much heavier than yours.
- Hydrostatic (HST) or geared transmission? Geared is a bit more efficient, a bit less expensive and may be a better choice in open areas. But for a lot of direction changes in confined areas- such as FEL work, HST would be far better.
- 4WD? Absolutely
- Backhoe? Probably not for you.
- FEL? Absolutely

Just remember, for the most part a tractor's weight works to your advantage with more being better- usually, especially when using ground engaging equipment. And a heavier weight tractor with some lower HP may be a more efficient choice than a higher HP tractor that is lighter in weight and will spin its tires more and not be able to use the additional HP when using ground engaging equipment.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[flusher]

Welcome to TBN. Join the fun:thumbsup:

I'd look in the 30-40 hp (pto) range. Hydrostatic transmission. Power steering. Dual rear hydraulic remotes.

Front end loader (FEL) with 5-ft wide bucket and skid steer quick attach (SSQA) option.

All the major brands have models with these specs. Price new: $15-20K.

Mower: 5-ft wide rotary mower (aka brush hog, bush hog, slasher, shredder). $800-1000

This will get you started.

Good luck.

 

[txdon]

Your big projects - haying and pond building will really increase your needed tractor size. Try to contract these jobs out especially the pond building. A bulldozer working a few days will do as much as you can on a tractor in a month and will not tear up a smaller tractor. The FEL is a Front End Loader not a pond digger. Of course you could use it to dig if you get some teeth for the front lip and have the right soil and don't mind wear and tear on your new tractor and need a lot of seat time and an unlimited supply of diesel is good too.

You mentioned a hill top, might want to get a county agent involved in the placement of the pond to catch the rainfall and to see if the soil will hold water.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

other post are correct in saying 5 acres is not even close enough to own hay equipment. much cheaper to buy hay. you need a tractor it's a must but it mostly comes with a disease that is uncureable you can keep it in check by purchasing equipment but don't jump in to quickly and buy something your not happy with as this will cause the disease to go active again. Take your time shop around talk to everbody you can and be happy happy happy

 

[Gary Fowler]

I agree with all who posted about haying. 5 acres or 50 acres isn't enough to justify spending $40 K on baler, cutter and rake not to mention a 70+ HP tractor to pull it with. You may find used for half that cost but the baler may need 10K in repairs shortly. Best skip the haying or hire someone to cut it (if you can find someone that will cut that small of a pasture. I would just mow it a few times a year to keep the weeds and grass manageable. Might be OK to put a couple or three cows on it to keep the grass down and provide some calves for sale or meat.
For just mowing 5 acres, a 25 HP tractor with 5 foot mower will get the job done, wont cost you an arm and a leg to buy even if new and with a FEL it has enough power to lift small loads of dirt. Maybe even use the tractor to dig a pond if you get some rippers to loosen up the dirt. One TBN member built a pretty nice sized pond with a 25 HP Kioti if I recall correctly, at any rate it was a smaller sized CUT, so it can be done if you have the time to spend on it. The kicker is to have some soft soil to dig in or use rippers to loosen it up. Trying to dig hard dirt with a FEL is hard on both the FEL and the tractor. I prefer to use the ripper rather than tooth bar to dig. Loose dirt loads much easier. I just bought a 5 shank ripper for $300 that I pull with my 70 HP tractor, your needs should be less, maybe 3-4 shank max.

 

[roadhunter]

Welcome to TBN. Join the fun:thumbsup:

I'd look in the 30-40 hp (pto) range. Hydrostatic transmission. Power steering. Dual rear hydraulic remotes.

Front end loader (FEL) with 5-ft wide bucket and skid steer quick attach (SSQA) option.

All the major brands have models with these specs. Price new: $15-20K.

Mower: 5-ft wide rotary mower (aka brush hog, bush hog, slasher, shredder). $800-1000

This will get you started.

Good luck.

You must have some really good deals in your region if 60+ hp major brand tractors with dual remotes and FEL are 15-20k new.

 

[awimberley]

Thanks for the information. I've been doing a lot of personal research but I prefer to trust the guys who are out there in the middle of it and have real information on what to do or buy. So I appreciate the help.

Getting a lot from here and the second post I placed last evening. Pretty much seeing any hay work being hired out. Not going to have but a couple of cows so don't need much but probably best to hire out annually. I know my workload will be light on a small 4 acres but would rather have the tractor with much more capabilities than a large mower. I will have a mower for the yard work when the house is built.

Plus hire out for the tank/pond work as well, though. Those two jobs alone aren't enough to justify the size and cost of the equipment needed to do it right.

Thinking right now.......
25 HP, FEL, SCUT or small CUT, buying new with geared transmission since my property is clean and tree-free, 4 WD, 5 ft bucket and 5 ft mower with SSQA.

So, issues I need some help with......

Weight? What is weight related to tractors? What are weight boxes? Is this an issue related to better traction?

I want to grade a drive myself and level the approximate area where the house will sit. This will not be a lot of leveling work and I know professionals will do it or improve it when the time comes to build. But what equipment do I need for this? Is that the FEL (front end loader) with the five ft bucket?

Just started researching over the weekend but learning a lot. Still ignorant on some things but getting there.

I appreciate it.

 

[charles todd]

Just experience from being raised in the cattle know.

We had 137 acres, two homesteads, barn and shop. We ran about 40-50 head adult cows and cut about 30'ish acres of hay 3x a year. This was fertilized grass in Louisiana. Long warm weather. About 300 4x5 bales.

You are in AR. Also long, warm season. But 5 acres, including homestead and outbuildings is a yard. It is what it is. Enjoy the land. Since its cleared, 30-40 HP tractor to maintain and enjoy.

I'm purchasing a 65hp to maintain my 50 acres. It is replacing 60's era 45hp and 70hp tractors. No hay on my place as of now. Maybe later. Squares at that.

CT

 

[sdef]

I will try and respond later but am tied up most of today. As a reference point, look at a Kioti CK27 tractor. A lot of folks on TBN have one. You will also need a box blade, with the heavier the better. But it depends upon your soil type, how much weight it will need. A landscape rake is also very handy. With these two attachment items you should be able to do the work you do not have planned to hire out. I have a good 45 HP tractor with fluid filled tires for added weight and first class implements and I am still hiring out some work to get tree stumps dug up by a mini excavator. It is all a balance about what you are willing to invest and bang-for-the-buck.

Do a lot of searches on TBN for box blades, landscape rakes, etc. Most forum searches are difficult to use. So use the following format from your INTERNET search engine (IE, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc.). As an example, say you are looking for articles on box blades. Use the following format to search: box blade site:tractorbynet.com This is a screen shot of the results:



On TBN you can find quite a few posts about folks not having enough tractor for their stated purpose. I started my search expecting to purchase a 35 HP 3000 pound tractor and ended up (with a lot of TBN guidance) with my 45 HP 5000 pound tractor. Plus 1000 pounds for fluid filled rear tires, and the 710 pound rollover box blade and 525 pounds for the rock grapple bucket, my running weight is ~ 7200 pounds. But this is NOT something to use in ones yard as the weight will make tire depressions. So it is all a balance. And it may better to go one step higher in tractor than what you think you will need.

Just do a lot of TBN searches using the method above. I spent many hundreds of hours searching and posting to get where I was comfortable with what to purchase. And I ended up with NO buyers regret.

 

[k0ua]

Pretty good advice given so far. Yes you will need a tractor with some weight in it and a boxblade. 4wd goes without mentioning and of course a FEL. Get a heavy duty boxblade with some steel in it, the heavier for the size you can pull that is matched to your tractor choice.

Here below is a link to a great place to learn about using implements like a box blade, and also a good bunch of folks to deal with. I have ordered several implements from them and they have free shipping within 1000 miles of their base in NC. You can also just call and ask questions about an implement. Everything Attachments are a good bunch, and they are advertisers and supporters here on this forum. Besides that their videos are entertaining and informative.

Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos

 

[dave1949]

The methods of weighting a tractor include:
front suitcase weights that hang on a bracket made for the purpose
bolt on wheel weights
fluid in tires, usually just rears on small tractors
a weight box or chunk of cast concrete held by the three point hitch to counterbalance FEL loads mostly

Some people use a heavy 3pt implement instead of a weight box to counterbalance FEL loads--either desirably takes some weight off the front axle when doing heavy FEL work like a bucket full of gravel. Manure in straw bedding is some heavy crap too. :laughing:

FEL buckets are usually sized to be just a bit wider than the outside to outside wheel track of the tractor. 4', 5', 6' and 7' are common bucket sizes.

The hay situation bugs me. There has to be an economical method of putting up small hay homestead acreages. It's something I would like to do maybe. I know new hay baling equipment for any size bale is high dollars. Maybe there is an easy and economical way to stack it like the old days.

For the hay experts: Compared to stacked hay, how much does baling contribute to the shelf life and nutrition retention of hay--assuming both are kept under roof? Or is baling mostly useful to get huge amounts of plant matter in a small form factor? Where does crimping/conditioning fit in that?

 

[k0ua]

We highly recommend and I use a weight box. Mine is homemade, and it stays on a lot of time. It helps counterbalance the loads in the FEL and keeps your rear tires planted on the ground. Thats a good thing. Many users do not have one, and rely on a good heavy box blade as their counterbalance. This can work too, if you work in more open areas where the swing of the box blade sticking out further is not a problem. I work in the woods a lot and it is an issue for me. But for open areas, it can work well, plus you have an actual useful implement on the back that you may need at the same time. Here are some photo's of my home made barrel showing my built in tool storage.

 

[sdef]

Really nice works as always, James K. Rolling that slotted edge up front for the top link access is a first class touch. OP: I am one of the folks who use a heavy implement- 710# rollover box blade (ROBB) and a 100# tool box. And at times it is just BARELY enough counterweight, along with the 1000# weight in my rear tires. But I need the ROBB for what I am doing so it is a compromise. Examples others have seen on TBN:

 

[k0ua]

I was thinking that edge guard on the top link access slot might save some bloodletting in the future, and so far I have been right!

 

[awimberley]

I've been on a lot of forum sites in the past(non-tractor) but have yet to find one as quick and informative as this one. It helps. The information I'm getting leads to more personal research. That's great for me.

I genuinely appreciate the answers and am now looking more intelligently at the stuff I'm searching for.

As I continue, I'll most likely have more questions. Again, thanks.