New Purchase

[blue9steel]

I've recently purchased a six acre horse property. Previously we were at boarding facilities but now with our own land I'm going to need equipment in order to take care of the numerous other property maintenance tasks. Definitely not something I want to try and handle with a push mower, wheelbarrow and a shovel, heh. The property is on a hillside with about a 200' elevation change from bottom to top, so there is some slope to work with though it's nothing too serious. Rough guess and an online calculator says 17 Degrees but I'm not sure it's actually quite that bad, that's likely worst case. I'm a first time tractor buyer and it looks like the only close tractor dealer is Kubota. I've done some preliminary research online as well as talking to the contractor who put in our perimeter fence about what kind of equipment to buy but I'd like to get opinions from you folks. Deciding between a BX, B, LX or L series tractor isn't an easy choice. I've tried to lay out everything in terms of capabilities:

NEEDS
1. Mowing all the non-pasture areas, maybe 2 Acres worth. Possibly also some pasture mowing if they sit too long unused.
2. Moving gravel. We have decent drainage since we're on a hill but it's Western Oregon and we get a lot of rain. Add in big horses and you get mud.
3. Maintaining the steep gravel driveway. Need to smooth out ruts and keep it drivable.
4. Some ability to deal with snow so we can get in and out of here in the winter. We don't get a ton of it, but it's enough I need at least some capability.

WANTS
5. Ability to level areas and maintain walkways for the horses.
6. Some digging capability would be nice for drainage work, planting trees, etc.
7. Ability to deal with stumps or large rocks

OPTIONAL
8. Ability to drag the Outdoor Arena
9. Likely need to be able to drag a horse shelter to a new spot, though we could rent / pay someone as that is an infrequent task.
10. No woodlot but we do have fruit trees so there are maintenance tasks in terms of planting, pruning, etc.
11. Digging post holes for fencing. Our current setup is good and I could hire this out, but it would be handy.
12. A wood chipper to deal with tree limbs and other wood waste.

Hopefully that's enough info to get the conversation started.

 

[Will S]

Congrats on the new place.... sounds like a beautiful setting. Where are you located? Lots of snow, or very little?

 

[newbury]

A big B at least.
You failed to mention $$$$$ and new or used.
Digging almost requires a backhoe, a 5 to 15 K option.

Right now even used are expensive. Pre pandemic used could be bought for a little less, now even older tractors are expensive.

 

[kenmac]

I have had dealers call wanting to buy my 2008 CX105 and say they'll pay more than I paid for it two years ago. I'm keeping it !

 

[2manyrocks]

If you don't have much prior personal experience operating a tractor, it makes it that much more difficult to figure out what you really need.

I'd think you'd want a loader to move gravel and manure. Would you be moving large round bales? There may be a certain amount of weight to what you plan to move that steers you towards certain models and away from others. Look at the weight of what you plan to move and then look at the loader capacity of the models that interest you to narrow your choices.

4 wheel drive/Ag tires for the mud, IMO.

Landscape box (some call it a box blade) for the driveway maintenance.

PHD for fencing.

Land plane/drag-but I will leave it to others to say if you can maintain your drive with the same attachment used for your arena. I would tend to think the box blade would be better for rougher work.

Backhoe for trenching and stump removal or consider renting a unit from time to time.

Cab for the snow? Snow blade or blower? Suggest you use the search tool here and start reading the snow removal threads.

Kubota has a nice equine discount for Kubota branded equipment for members of the National Cutting Horse Association. Your dealer may or may not be familiar with it, and you may have to educate your dealer to get the discount. Kubota financing might sway you in a different direction. It depends on your own situation which is best.

New prices are a lot especially if you buy all new attachments.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Kubota has a nice equine discount for Kubota branded equipment for members of the National Cutting Horse Association.

After my recent experience with Kubota I can tell him he will need that discount. Forget about the financing.

Your dealer may or may not be familiar with it, and you may have to educate your dealer to get the discount.

That is the most backwards, pathetic thing I have ever heard someone say in regards to doing business with someone who's business it is to know that in the first place. I thought the auto industry took the cake for being substandard but this is hitting new lows.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

I've recently purchased a six acre horse property.

Deciding between a BX, B, LX or L series tractor isn't an easy choice.

I would say you wouldn't want anything less then an L series. Reason being is you need adequate weight to maintain gravel driveways. I had a conversation with my local dealer last year and he told me that if I wanted to get real work done don't waste my time with anything less than an L series tractor.

I'm a first time tractor buyer and it looks like the only close tractor dealer is Kubota.

Then that is who and what you need to go with unless he gives you reason not to.

I've tried to lay out everything in terms of capabilities:

NEEDS
1. Mowing all the non-pasture areas, maybe 2 Acres worth. Possibly also some pasture mowing if they sit too long unused.
2. Moving gravel. We have decent drainage since we're on a hill but it's Western Oregon and we get a lot of rain. Add in big horses and you get mud.
3. Maintaining the steep gravel driveway. Need to smooth out ruts and keep it drivable.
4. Some ability to deal with snow so we can get in and out of here in the winter. We don't get a ton of it, but it's enough I need at least some capability.

WANTS
5. Ability to level areas and maintain walkways for the horses.
6. Some digging capability would be nice for drainage work, planting trees, etc.
7. Ability to deal with stumps or large rocks

OPTIONAL
8. Ability to drag the Outdoor Arena
9. Likely need to be able to drag a horse shelter to a new spot, though we could rent / pay someone as that is an infrequent task.
10. No woodlot but we do have fruit trees so there are maintenance tasks in terms of planting, pruning, etc.
11. Digging post holes for fencing. Our current setup is good and I could hire this out, but it would be handy.
12. A wood chipper to deal with tree limbs and other wood waste.

Hopefully that's enough info to get the conversation started.

I have to hand it to you, you did a good job of thinking this through so far. Keep up the good work and research you're doing and if you haven't come across this thread then I recommend you read it:

Please Read If You Are A Newbie Tractor Buyer

Hello to all of you out there that are new to the tractor world. I imagine many of you have either just purchased some land or inherited some land and have many big plans on the horizon for your property. You have come here because you are looking to get information about purchasing a tractor...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[mred2]

If you are going to handle roll hay, you have to be able to lift and stack them. So the loader lift height and weight is needed. List the attachments that you will need and then match them with the tractor hp and size. Most small tractors will do most work, but the ability to stack hay is only for the larger one. Also, the size of the mower. Take you time and do your test drives. I run an LS XR4150, with back hoe, loader, and a lot of attachments. I have 6 horses, 4 ponies, and feed round bales, 4x5. The size of the rolls also make a difference. More weight, more power. Local dealer support is something, that you may or never need. For new owners, I think it is important. My son's 26hp Mahindra tractor can do a lot of things that I can, but can not move the hay and due to size his tractor can only mow about half as fast.

 

[blue9steel]

Ok, tried to address all of the above comments. I appreciate the feedback.

Location is Saint Helens Oregon. Elevation is around 350' but we get some wind coming up the valley from the coast so snow is more than normal for Western Oregon. Still, even with that, It'll likely be less than a foot at any one time. I need a small capability just to clear the steep gravel driveway enough so our 4WD vehicles can make up and down safely. Not sure if that means a snow blower or just a blade.

Money is flexible. I can afford whatever I decide on, but it's only six acres, no need to go crazy. I'd prefer to finance rather than pay cash for such a large purchase. My day job is incredibly busy so I'm planning to buy all new. I don't have a lot of time to spend wrenching on something used, at least not right away.

So far I think I need for sure an FEL, a mid-mount mower and a grader. I think a backhoe would be very useful, but not mandatory. PHD can probably wait. Given the amount of work I plan for what is essentially a hobby farm I think I can do without the cab and just get a canopy, rain being the most common weather issue. Not sure if I need a front blade, back blade or both.

I'm sure I could sign up for one or more horse associations in order to get the discount, not sure if that's the right approach or not given that it seems to impact the financing and warranty. Still, online reports seem to suggest a possible savings of 5%-10% over standard dealer incentive.

If I had a bigger place I'd probably get an L series, but I do need mower capability and it seems silly to go with a rotary cutter just for my 2 acres worth that aren't horse pature. I'm not sure I really need something that large. Frankly, if I didn't need to move a ton of gravel and grade the road I might try and get by with just a riding lawn mower, even though all the other tractor features will be handy for sure.

The local Kubota dealer is in town, so just down the road 10min or so. There are other dealers 45min-1hour away but it doesn't seem like it's worth that drive unless it turns out I don't like the dealer.

No need to work with roll hay, honestly I wasn't even aware they had any horse grade hay that came in rolls, the only roll hay I've seen is for cattle. We work exclusively with bales, preferably the 60lb granny bales so my Wife can move them around. We get about 350 bales a year for our two warmbloods, but will get more than that this year as we're going to be doing boarding for one other horse. Still, that's usually delivered and sitting in the barn, not a huge need to move it around much. That said, with the driveway we may not be able to get delivery as easily as both and may need to transport it here on a flatbed ourselves. I don't think I'll be buying anything big enough to move fully stacked pallets.

Local dealer apparently has some B2601s and an LX2610 in stock so I'm going to be looking at those likely this weekend to see if either would meet my needs. I suspect the bx23s is probably too small given the hilly terrain and the L series is likely more tractor than I need though I'll look at it while I'm there if he has any. Originally I was thinking an LX3310 might be a good choice but I'm sure if I need that or not.

 

[azbinder]

Question for you. Is your wife going to be operating the tractor? If so, take her when you go shopping. I had a couple come in one Saturday looking for one for their horse setup north of Flagstaff. After taking with them, I suggested either a B series or an L series Kubota. I had them both operate each in the demo area. He on the L as her on the B. They then switched tractors. After a bit of time on each, the brought them back into the yard. I walked up to them and asked what they thought. The wife pointed to the L series and said "that one". I asked why and she said that she could see in front better and since she would probably be using it more to feed with she wanted it. I delivered it that afternoon.