One tractor, or tractor and rider?

[MossRoad]

How many engines do you want to maintain and how much storage space do you have? I was tired of all that equipment, so I bought a Power Trac PT425. It mows the lawn, brush hogs the trails, plows the snow and moves the dirt. There are about 36 other attachements that I didn't purchase, from post hole digger, to stump grinder. I have a push mower to do a small area that is behind a fence, about 350 square feet, but that is it. And I have gained lots of weight since I bought the tractor!

 

[Cliff_Johns]

I went for the two tractor option too.

Cliff

 

[IslandTractor]

Obviously a lot of people have two. I think that many guys already owned riding lawn mowers and just kept them rather than starting off with the question as you are however. That was my situation. I have two but I'd rather have one. My 42" cut mower is fine but I hate riding it after getting used to the tractor. This year I have added a finish mower for the tractor and once I set that up I may ditch the lawn mower. Two engines are more upkeep. Gas engines are more of a hassle IMO. 60" cut is faster than 42". Easier to store one tractor than two. Of course there are advantages to having two but overall I'd prefer to have one tractor plus the implements rather than two devices to maintain/store/operate.

 

[swampvol]

My 42" cut mower is fine but I hate riding it after getting used to the tractor.

lol...I know exactly what you mean.

 

[GaryE]

In my opinion, "do I go with 1 unit to do everything" is a compromise at best. If you have a good mower for your lawn, keep it. If you need something with more muscle for your other jobs, find the right tool for those jobs.

Would you buy one screwdriver to meet all of your needs? Buy one adjustable wrench to save drawer space?

Just my 2 cents....


Good luck,


Gary

 

[Bob_Young]

With what you're planning, Iowaboy, I think you're aiming just one size too small on both your choices.

If you go the one tractor route, I'd vote for the B7610 with turfs. It's maneuverability will be fine for the lawn work while still being capable of much of the rough work you're looking at. It'll provide much better ground clearance for woods work than the BX, but it might not do quite so neat a job on the lawn. The BX suspended mower would win on that count.

If you keep the current mower for the lawn, you'll be free to go a bit larger for the heavy work. I don't think a B7800 or B3030 would be any too big for what you mentioned. In fact, a TC30, L2800 or L3400 might be an even better match. Since lawn work won't be an issue, you can go with R1 tires for the most traction. You probably should look for something big enough to handle a 5 ft. brush hog for the rough mowing. Plugging along with a 4 footer gets old kinda quick...figure cutting 3 ft. and change each pass with overlap. With a BX or the B7610, a 4 ft. hog is the realistic upper limit.

Aiming too low on your original purchase and then having to upgrade later is the most expensive way of getting what you want/need. As you might expect, I favor the two-tractor solution
FWIW
Bob

 

[Iowa Boy]

In my opinion, "do I go with 1 unit to do everything" is a compromise at best. If you have a good mower for your lawn, keep it. If you need something with more muscle for your other jobs, find the right tool for those jobs.

Would you buy one screwdriver to meet all of your needs? Buy one adjustable wrench to save drawer space?

Just my 2 cents....


Good luck,


Gary

Gary, I tend to agree with you, although a screwdriver does not cost several thousand dollars and an adjustable wrench does not take up half my available garage space.

I think what it boils down to is that if I keep my 42" riding mower, I would probably not get the finish mower with a tractor.

Joe

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Gary, I tend to agree with you, although a screwdriver does not cost several thousand dollars and an adjustable wrench does not take up half my available garage space.

I think what it boils down to is that if I keep my 42" riding mower, I would probably not get the finish mower with a tractor.

Joe

I'm "old school", and what some would describe as "cheap". (I call it prudent with my money!) I'd keep the rider and get your nickels worth from it, buy the tractor you think you need and later on down the line when the rider wears out, buy the finish mower. There is no such thing as having too many tractors, regardless of what size.

Just my opinion and probably worth just about what you paid for it.

 

[GaryE]

Gary, I tend to agree with you, although a screwdriver does not cost several thousand dollars and an adjustable wrench does not take up half my available garage space.

I think what it boils down to is that if I keep my 42" riding mower, I would probably not get the finish mower with a tractor.

Joe

Joe,


I own an old Sears 22" self propelled mower, a Sears GT-5000 lawn mower with a 54" deck and a Kubota L-3710 tractor. The 22" mower gets into places the GT-5000 never could. The GT-5000 cuts my several acres of "lawn" MUCH faster than the 22" ever could. My L-3710 bush hogs my fields, digs my pond, clears my trails, tills my gardens, drags trees out of the woods and moves the dirt my GT-5000 could never do. But my L-3710 leaves ruts in my lawn, can't get into tight areas and has trouble doing very much close the the house without doing some sort of damage. I would never even think of using a finish mower on it, even thought I do have one left over from my old tractor.


Every tool has it's place. Yes my L-3710 with all of it's toys have cost several thousand of dollars, but so far it has been well worth it. I have done so much more with this combination than I could have ever imagined. I have a friend that went with the one tool fits all path... he went with a BX series Kubota to do all of his work. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice machine, but he is so limited in what he can get done.


It boils down to what you really need to get done. If you already have a machine to cut your lawn.. keep it. Find a tool to do the rest of your work.


Hope this is of some help,




Gary

 

[john_bud]

How many engines do you want to maintain and how much storage space do you have? I was tired of all that equipment, so I bought a Power Trac PT425. It mows the lawn, brush hogs the trails, plows the snow and moves the dirt. There are about 36 other attachements that I didn't purchase, from post hole digger, to stump grinder. I have a push mower to do a small area that is behind a fence, about 350 square feet, but that is it. And I have gained lots of weight since I bought the tractor!

Iowa boy,
Actually, for your needs the rig moss road has is about perfect. It's not a traditional tractor, but is more versitile. In my opinion, it is not as robust for lots of field work - but your jobs are not primarily tillage. So that shouldn't be a big deal. Check out the forum for the Power Trac's and visit the web site. It can't hurt.

jb