RVivian
New member
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2024
- Messages
- 10
- Tractor
- none yet
I have been reading for weeks, but the bottom line is that my husband and I are newbies, totally not educated in any of this and don't want to be guided wrongly by a salesperson. I figured asking people that actually use such machinery would be a good place to get feedback.
We own 13.5 acres in Michigan. 4-5 of those acres are swampy lower level creek lands. The remainder is high, mostly field and a tiny bit wooded. Sadly this property was neglected and ignored for easily 10-20 years. Think overgrown, weedy fields, dead trees here & there, overgrown everything really. After a couple of years, we are getting the feel of what we would love to do around here. We have goats and would like to expand that pasture area, have started a small garden that we now realize needs expanding and loads of underbrush/growth to begin to tame. We do have a 40x60 barn for storage of any machine we buy.
Tasks to be done with the help of a machine:
clearing overgrown fields
clearing some underbrush areas
moving dead/cut trees
maintaining gravel drive
snow removal as needed (a handful of storms, nothing too horrible)
organization/movement of hay bales (sometimes up high)
tilling for planting
movement of barn pen/goat bedding (this is the hardest one)
As I've been researching and reading, I'm seeing that horsepower is probably #1 on the list followed by the weight of the machine as #2. My husband tends to focus on the cost of something even if it cannot do a job perfectly - he would rather save money. Funny bit on that is that he isn't the one that does about 90% of the tasks (think city slicker). I'm more concerned with the ability to take care of those tasks listed above but cost is also a factor in my world too. I want the best of both worlds - affordable but enough machine to do the tasks needed. But again we don't have a dang clue so he's not wanting to go overboard when the needs aren't big time farming and I'm afraid of paying for a machine that won't do what we need. We do have access to a very old tractor that would need significant work to get it running and likely new tires. It's a 1949 Ford 4N but I don't think a loader can be used with this.
So all of that in mind - please help narrow down what we should be looking at. Here are some that seemed to possibly be options. I feel like I could spend a lifetime researching and never make a decision without info from people who have handled tractors...I'd so appreciate your input. Also to consider that we would likely be looking at needing a tractor with a loader and the ability to use attachments: snow plow, angled blade for driveway, forks, possibly conveyor for hay storage, tiller the width of tractor, bush hog.
John Deere 430 (used 2002 model, no cab, 1600 hours, fork blades, snow plow included)
Kioti CS2520
Yanmar SA series
Mahindra emax 20S
John Deere - something newer like a 2025R
John Deere 1026R (used 2012 model)
Kubota BX2380 or BX2680
We own 13.5 acres in Michigan. 4-5 of those acres are swampy lower level creek lands. The remainder is high, mostly field and a tiny bit wooded. Sadly this property was neglected and ignored for easily 10-20 years. Think overgrown, weedy fields, dead trees here & there, overgrown everything really. After a couple of years, we are getting the feel of what we would love to do around here. We have goats and would like to expand that pasture area, have started a small garden that we now realize needs expanding and loads of underbrush/growth to begin to tame. We do have a 40x60 barn for storage of any machine we buy.
Tasks to be done with the help of a machine:
clearing overgrown fields
clearing some underbrush areas
moving dead/cut trees
maintaining gravel drive
snow removal as needed (a handful of storms, nothing too horrible)
organization/movement of hay bales (sometimes up high)
tilling for planting
movement of barn pen/goat bedding (this is the hardest one)
As I've been researching and reading, I'm seeing that horsepower is probably #1 on the list followed by the weight of the machine as #2. My husband tends to focus on the cost of something even if it cannot do a job perfectly - he would rather save money. Funny bit on that is that he isn't the one that does about 90% of the tasks (think city slicker). I'm more concerned with the ability to take care of those tasks listed above but cost is also a factor in my world too. I want the best of both worlds - affordable but enough machine to do the tasks needed. But again we don't have a dang clue so he's not wanting to go overboard when the needs aren't big time farming and I'm afraid of paying for a machine that won't do what we need. We do have access to a very old tractor that would need significant work to get it running and likely new tires. It's a 1949 Ford 4N but I don't think a loader can be used with this.
So all of that in mind - please help narrow down what we should be looking at. Here are some that seemed to possibly be options. I feel like I could spend a lifetime researching and never make a decision without info from people who have handled tractors...I'd so appreciate your input. Also to consider that we would likely be looking at needing a tractor with a loader and the ability to use attachments: snow plow, angled blade for driveway, forks, possibly conveyor for hay storage, tiller the width of tractor, bush hog.
John Deere 430 (used 2002 model, no cab, 1600 hours, fork blades, snow plow included)
Kioti CS2520
Yanmar SA series
Mahindra emax 20S
John Deere - something newer like a 2025R
John Deere 1026R (used 2012 model)
Kubota BX2380 or BX2680