New to tractors, did a lot of reading, still need advice :)

[2ndhalf]

Still way way too small. Tractor needs to weigh 3500-4000 lbs or bare.

Need at least 40 HP, and weight with chains for moving snow. A snowblower works if you have space to blow the snow, so does a plow.

You want a CAB. I really freeze my butt plowing snow for 5-6 hours during a major storm. New to tractors, probably best to stay with HST, but a used shuttle shift with cab beats a shiny new HST.

Your telling him he wants a 3500 - 4000 lb machine for mowing 6 acres. He would be cutting his yard to shreds in the spring. He wants to mow and move snow with it; all of which I have done with much lighter equipment. I realize he is in Canada and will get a lot of snow but I still wouldn't recommend that heavy of a tractor for mowing. I would go with a front mount Blower on a Kubota B before doing that. Yes it would be slower but you would never have to worry about snow amount.

 

[2ndhalf]

On another note. I have had a 350' drive and often after getting home from work would have to park at the end and go get my rig to plow out the drive before i could drive up to the house. Get used to that if you plan to go into work when they are calling for lots of snow that day! Mabye you already are.

 

[fishheadbob]

Interesting thread. Living in Buffalo's snow belt I've plowed a lot of snow. My opinion to fit your needs is a 4wd front end loader with R4 tires, but nothing too heavy since you're also mowing your lawn. Look for an angling snowplow attachment that you can switch out with the bucket; buckets fill with snow reducing their effectiveness and spilling snow off both sides. 750 feet of drive really calls for angling like the pickup plows have, lighter snows you should be able to run the entire length without stopping. The only versions I've seen of this are homemade but somebody must be selling them new. The more weight the better for tough pushing jobs, but doubling as a mower limits what you can weigh. Another often seen homemade job is a 55 gallon drum filled with whatever (usually concrete) with three point hitch fittings. Quick on and off, instant weight, lots less cost than the dealer weight box. I don't know how you can size how wide a blade your tractor can push in how much snow. An experienced salesman might know that. If you overmatch the blade to the tractor results will be poor, as in a 12 foot snow pusher on a 25 HP tractor isn't going to fly.
For the lawn there are many options: belly mount, 3 pt hitch, or whatever. There are tons of threads on this site about that.

 

[Huskerfan]

Granted, I'm biased. But, the jobs described can all be handled with the Kubota B2650, and get the cab.

 

[Jeff F.]

I'm in agreement with the Kubota B series with HST. The tractor is still small enough to do the lawn cutting with out tearing it up. It will still be able to do your snow removal easily with a front mount blower. It may just take a bit longer.

 

[Rocky J]

After listening to all of us he is probably thinking about stopping the check on the new house and buying a motor home to park in the parking lot at work. With the moving and everything that goes with it it is to bad he cant wait a year on his tractor, maybe go meet his new neighbors and ask what they use ,maybe how much to dig me out if it needs it this year. I know my snow is different then 50 miles north of me, theirs is Lake effect and mine is freeze dried powder most of the time, I can see corn stalks in the field with some dirt and it be 4 foot deep in the road. I feel this tractor is just one more decision he has to make on the fly and the sticker shock he must be going through on a house has to be unsettling at the least. A first tractor purchase should be special like the first green light you got from your high school sweet heart.You cant sleep,you sit in the lawn chair starring at it,your wife says things like do you love me as much as that tractor, yell at the whether man when he says all clear this week. I was so bad I was going to load my snowblower up and haul it to Michigan just so I did not have to wait to use it. Steve two years from now everything they are telling you will make sense, right now all the talk about weight ,horse power cab or not, cutting ruts in the yard probably has you spinning . Living in the country has a price, I would not move back to town for anything,

 

[Grandad4]

Conflicting needs here. Need enough size to do serious snow work on 750 ft drive, but same machine needs to do general property care work on 5-6 acres. That's two different machines, all within a limited budget. No one ideal solution, I think, so compromise will be required. I'd probably get the B size machine, and locate a used 4x4 plow truck, realizing that heavy storms could require multiple passes to keep the drive open. Adding a 3 point blower would allow the snowbanks from the truck to be removed after the snow event had passed. That's a workable, reasonably frugal approach until the budget allows for heavier equipment.

 

[Tompet]

We have 5 to 6 acres of lawn and a 750 gravel drive.
Needs:

Clearing snow is #1 priority in winter. We're up north of the GTA about an hour (that's north of the Greater Toronto Area to those from elsewhere) so I expect a lot of snowfall. I am commuting to my job in downtown Toronto so digging myself out is a top priority. I can't miss work, though I am resolved that some days will just have to be "work from home" days. I'm not risking my vehicle and my neck to make it into work when the conditions are TERRIBLE. However, within reason, I need to get there so the first order of business is keeping that 750' long drive cleared.

Mowing the lawn is #1 priority in summer. The current owner has maintained the property very nicely and I'de like to continue to do the same. He's using a JD compact with a 60" mid mount mower. He won't sell it to me though! (I asked, he has a friend that wants it)

In regards to "all the rest" of the things I might get up to:
- digging out post holes for fences and decks
- moving firewood and material around
- grading the drive
- gravel loads and grading for concrete pours (patios, walkways)
- demolition of old wooden walkways, patios, gazebo, etc. All rotten.

I like to "buy once and buy it right". However, tractors are expensive! (hah!)

I'm concerned the BX series will be too small. I would like a snowblower, rear mount, with front end loader for pushing snow when needed. The BX price tag is more manageable however.
The B series comes in basic and premium and the premium stuff is too much money, not to mention that none of them come with any implements standard. More money. the B2320 is priced nicely on the kubota canada website. Will I need more power however?

We plan to live here a long time, maybe forever, so buying the right tractor is an important decision. We can probably get by contracting out the snow removal the first year but to be honest, I'm stingy and would prefer that money go to paying for my tractor and not some other guys'. I am practical though, so if the advice is "wait and see" then perhaps that's the correct course of action.

I'm not opposed to buying used but I've discovered that tractors really hold their value, so not sure it's a good value to buy used factoring in zero percent financing and the nice warranty that is offered on new units. I'm handy and work on all my cars, motorcycles, snowblowers, boat engine, etc. However at this stage in my life (we are planning on kids) time is the real commodity rather than my willingness to do work.

As you can tell, I'm primarily interested in the Kubotas, but this is only because their website is the most "newb friendly" and there is a lot of youtube videos etc about the kubotas. Their warranty and financing are very appealing too. I like name brands for most things because I like support should anything go wrong and I like good resale. I really like the JD 2520, but they are expensive used. The new JDs don't look like a good value when comparing to new Kubotas. Before I even knew what a John Deere was however, green and yellow was my favourite color combo, and still is. I know it's childish but there's a part of me that really wants a green tractor.


Steve

So what model compact JD was the previous owner managing the property nicely as you stated? If you are already concerned a scut is too small follow your instincts. Btw, welcome to the forum.

 

[KennyG]

Since there are a lot of opinions here, I'll throw mine in. Mowing 5 or 6 acres is not bad with a tractor, especially if you don't have a lot of trees, etc to mow around. If it's mostly straight passes, the tractor is almost as fast a zero turn. With mowing as a major use, you don't want to go too heavy. Look to stay around 2000 to 2500 bare tractor weight. You can still push a lot of snow with that size of tractor as long as you don't have major slopes to deal with.

Plowing is a lot quicker than snowblowing, if you can do it. I have a 3 point snowblower but with 3 or 4 inches of snow, I just push it off with the loader. A snowplow is in my long term plans.

With winter maintenance as a major use, you need a cab. If the price is a problem (they are always overpriced) consider budgeting for a soft cab. It's less than $1000. No heat but a lot better than being out in the wind. I went one year with a snowblower and no cab and that was more than enough.

 

[DieselBound]

I think KennyG's reply pretty much covers things.

I'm a bit biased in my support for folks suggesting a Kubota "B" series tractor. I've got an older B7800 (30hp; stock just shy of 2,000 lbs w/o loader) and it's an incredible workhorse. With ballasted rears (R4s) it is a completely different tractor than before ballasting: I can, with a box blade on the back, fill the loader to the point of hitting relief and the rear end of the tractor stays put. No idea how well it would push snow because I don't get much in the way of snow here; but, I'd think that, based on everything else I have made it do, hold its own. Are there cabs for these? Don't know. I would agree with others who say that a cab is a must for wintry conditions (I've read enough of others comments about living in those conditions that I think I understand). For mowing, my B7800 runs a 5' rotary just fine: I run in medium [HST] range; of course, one's mileage depends on type of grass and how tall. The last piece of equipment I'd ever let of of is my B7800.

Until the purchase of my Kioti I've NEVER bought any new vehicle. I've never regretted buying used.

Can't recall (hey, I'm old! :laughing whether I noted in this thread that there's no real reason to limit one's selection to just new machines, OR, to expect that you will have to live with this decision for the rest of your life. Sometimes things change and we decide to go another route. Sometimes what we get doesn't work out. In these cases one is best off selling and then buying something that's more suitable: the decision to buy my Kioti holds today, but perhaps tomorrow it won't (I won't beat myself should I decide my decision is no longer appropriate; and, I wouldn't force myself to live with that decision); in the meantime I'll have work to do.