New member needing advice

[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.