New member tractor advice

CloverKnollFarms · Sep 6, 2023

TractorTYMe said:
I have a TYM T474 HST with a cab (48.3Hp), I now have 405h on it, never had a regen request. When you work them hard enough they will do passive regen. Here I got it with my 6' JD LX 6 rotary brush cutter.

LX6View attachment 819872

The Kukje engines are amazing. Numerous folks with these engines have hundreds of hours and no regen.

DaBear3428 · Sep 7, 2023

RHanna said:
Just joined the forum.

Quick summary of my situation.
Dad just passed about 1 month ago.
He owned about 60-80 acres of fields. I know the land like the back of my hand just riding around on 4 wheelers and hunting. I know most of the fields are pretty "clean" (doesn't have a huge stump or random fence)
Some of it in CRP.
He owned a John Deere over 20 years ago, which I was able to drive and use a little bit. I'm not super mechanically inclined but would expect to be able to do most of the maintenance just not something like a full engine rebuild.

I would like to be able to brush hog all the fields and get them back to the way they used to look. Currently a couple of the fields have a lot of saplings while most haven't been cut in maybe 2 years.
I'm thinking about purchasing a tractor and brush hog to do these items. I don't expect to ever plant the fields or cut hay. My main job with the tractor will be cutting the fields but the more I look at the ones with the FEL I think I could need that attachment at some point. Cab would be nice but I wouldn't want to ignore a good deal.

I don't really want to drop a ton of money given the low amount of work required but it seems like I would need 50hp but I'm not sure. Seems like new could get pricey but I don't know if a 30 year old tractor would be reliable enough. Not really brand loyal, I know John Deere is a good brand but they seem to think a lot of their tractors.

Any advice welcome.

you do not mention where you are so take everything with a grain of salt, and i have not read all the responses so maybe someone else has stated this but.
if you just want the fields to look good and not interested in working them i would suggest no tractor for now is a good option.
look around for a local hay farmer or rancher and lease the grazing / hay fields to them collect some money and no need to own a tractor maybe take some of the fees for the lease and invest into a tractor later if you really want. if needed hire a mowing contractor to get the fields set up as needed, also this gives you time to hunt for a bargain tractor/ equipment.

I love my tractor and use it daily but from your write up i get the feeling that you think because you have land/fields you have to have a tractor, you do not. this approach also gives you the opportunity to learn what is needed to manage the property and observe a professional do it that by itself is valuable.

anyway good luck

paulsharvey · Sep 7, 2023

For arguments sake; cause I do like to argue both sides;

You would probably spend between $1,000-4,000 per mowing cycle, or I would think a min of $2,000-8,000 per year, with just two mowing. That's a lot of money, but at the same time; let's look at a TYM 574, at $35,000 (or so), a 8 foot bush hog at $4500 (or so); fuel for 16 hours per mowing cycle; you Might be able to hire it mowed for between 5-20 years, before you reach break even point on the purchase.

Now, the other side; I would look at your budget, and if you can swing it, get the tractor and bush hog. I would expect, for $650/month, you can build a heck of a brand new cab tractor, with large mower, and loader. Now, that's $7800 per year, plus fuel, and you are within the range of what you might be paying to someone else to do it. You mentioned hunting, so a couple 2 acre food plots; possible fence work; ect, and you have something to show for your money. You can decide when to mow, what areas you want to mow, ect, on your schedule.

Also, maybe you can find a guy to mow for $50/hr now; don't think that rate isn't going to be x3 that in 5 years. Heck, right now, I would expect to pay atleast $80/hr, if not $120/hr.

RHanna · Sep 7, 2023

DaBear3428 said:
you do not mention where you are so take everything with a grain of salt, and i have not read all the responses so maybe someone else has stated this but.
if you just want the fields to look good and not interested in working them i would suggest no tractor for now is a good option.
look around for a local hay farmer or rancher and lease the grazing / hay fields to them collect some money and no need to own a tractor maybe take some of the fees for the lease and invest into a tractor later if you really want. if needed hire a mowing contractor to get the fields set up as needed, also this gives you time to hunt for a bargain tractor/ equipment.

I love my tractor and use it daily but from your write up i get the feeling that you think because you have land/fields you have to have a tractor, you do not. this approach also gives you the opportunity to learn what is needed to manage the property and observe a professional do it that by itself is valuable.

anyway good luck

I’m in Tennessee.
How long to go from a bunch of crap to baling hay?
Also with CRP I’m not sure I could do it. Just now learning about that program.

RHanna · Sep 7, 2023

paulsharvey said:
For arguments sake; cause I do like to argue both sides;

You would probably spend between $1,000-4,000 per mowing cycle, or I would think a min of $2,000-8,000 per year, with just two mowing. That's a lot of money, but at the same time; let's look at a TYM 574, at $35,000 (or so), a 8 foot bush hog at $4500 (or so); fuel for 16 hours per mowing cycle; you Might be able to hire it mowed for between 5-20 years, before you reach break even point on the purchase.

Now, the other side; I would look at your budget, and if you can swing it, get the tractor and bush hog. I would expect, for $650/month, you can build a heck of a brand new cab tractor, with large mower, and loader. Now, that's $7800 per year, plus fuel, and you are within the range of what you might be paying to someone else to do it. You mentioned hunting, so a couple 2 acre food plots; possible fence work; ect, and you have something to show for your money. You can decide when to mow, what areas you want to mow, ect, on your schedule.

Also, maybe you can find a guy to mow for $50/hr now; don't think that rate isn't going to be x3 that in 5 years. Heck, right now, I would expect to pay atleast $80/hr, if not $120/hr.

Financially speaking it’s probably better to hire but it also leaves me venerable to relying on other people. And like you said, what will be the rate in a few years.

I’m keeping an eye on auctions just to get a feel for it. Just wondering how much of a deal you can get from auctions.

airbiscuit · Sep 7, 2023

We're getting a better idea about your situation.

What is your budget?
Where do you plan to keep the tractor?
What happened to your Father's tractor?
Is any of the land wooded?
What do you plan to do for fun on the land?

wolc123 · Sep 7, 2023

I’d be inclined to take half of your budgeted money and use it to put up a pole barn. Use the other half for a tractor and Bush hog. A used 75ish hp, 2wd, cabless, loaderless tractor will likely give you the most bang for the buck.

Sunlight is very destructive on tractors, especially on the tires and hydraulic hoses. I would not recommend keeping one outside.

RHanna · Sep 7, 2023

airbiscuit said:
We're getting a better idea about your situation.

What is your budget?
Where do you plan to keep the tractor?
What happened to your Father's tractor?
Is any of the land wooded?
What do you plan to do for fun on the land?

Budget is kind of open, when I buy something I try to get good value out of it. Buying brand new probably isn’t the route I would go since I’m not going to use it every day or week. I also don’t like going cheap only to have to buy again. I was hoping to stay under 20 but that may not be possible.

Where is would keep it would either be under an open shed or inside if I could swing it. Just really depends on what I eventually do with living quarters.

He sold his tractor when he moved 20 years ago. I wasn’t real clear about that in the start.

There is more woods than fields but didn’t mention it because I was only concerned about the tractor.

For fun, hunting, riding around on the four wheeler, might get a side by side eventually. Using the living space to just enjoy the peace and quite.

RHanna · Sep 7, 2023

wolc123 said:
A used 75ish hp, 2wd, cabless, loaderless tractor will likely give you the most bang for the buck.

I do keep drifting more towards the older higher HP tractors while browsing. Then I think, how much diesel is that thing going to suck down, but then it’s pulling a wider mower so it will go faster.

I think a loader would be nice but I’d probably use it infrequently.