Please help -how to maintain 20 -30 acres?

[donn12]

I dont have the land yet so I don't know if it will be rough or smooth. From what I have read a 45hp tractor with a 12ft pull behind mower may be just what I need. Any ideas on cost?

 

[warhammer]

I have 38 acres that is ~23 acres row crop, 5-6 acres hay field and 9 acres terraced land with 2 stock tanks that has been left to grow back wild for about 30 years. I am trying to improve the 9 acres enough to use as pasture.
I bought a new 45HP tractor with an FEL as that was the largest I could afford and I wanted a unit with a warranty while I learned about AG.
It has done everything I have thrown at it from digging post holes, pushing t- posts into the ground, clearing field drainage channels, moving dirt, mowing most of the whole place a few times a year, spreading fertilizer etc. That being said If I had it to do over I'd get at least one size up tractor. Things would get done faster and the heavy work would be easier on the tractor.
I have a 3 point rotary bushhog and have never used a pull behind mower so I cannot comment how that would work out.

Warhammer

I dont have the land yet so I don't know if it will be rough or smooth. From what I have read a 45hp tractor with a 12ft pull behind mower may be just what I need. Any ideas on cost?

 

[SideHillBill]

I also work ful time so I only have a couple of days a week to attend to the land. So the question is how do you take care of this much property?

I would be thinking in terms of something that lets you be flexible with your time. Horses and other critters needing daily care would be quit a burden. Haying and crops would require you to schedule yourself around the weather. Something you can work at on your schedule, such as growing Christmas trees, raising nursery stock, or tree farming might be a feasible choice.

Maybe it would be best to decide on what you would like to do and purchase the land and machinery to fit. I thought of worm ranching but I don't know how to build a fence that low.

 

[radioman]

I dont have the land yet so I don't know if it will be rough or smooth. From what I have read a 45hp tractor with a 12ft pull behind mower may be just what I need. Any ideas on cost?

Hmm - I am very confused here. Whats the purpose of getting more land and the "need" to maintain it? I understand you want to get horses eventually and do some haying too. are you hunting? camping? new home? something to do ? retirement place? Some would just get 100 acres and just use a small scut and maintain 1-5 acres and the rest for atving/snowmobiling/skiiing/horse riding/etc with zero maintaince. buying land just for horses and make your own hay may not be cost effective. sometimes its just cheaper to use what you got and buy hay from others. ZERO equipment to maintain and no breakdown worries at the last minute.

even if you do move to another place with 20-30 acres, I still dont see why you need to maintain all of it. just get what you need for handling your own horses. probably a 45 hp is a good start so you have a way to handle your own hay or buying as you need a way to load/unload it no matter how you look at it. what are you long term and short term goals?

 

[N80]

Most 45 hp tractors will not have adequate PTO HP for a 12 foot mower. I have a 45 hp tractor. It handles a 7 foot heavy duty pull behind just fine, but it would not handle much more.

As others have said, you really don't need to be thinking about what equipment you need until you know exactly what you want to do and how much of the land you'll be doing it on. If all of the acres are in pasture and you want to do hay, you will need more than 45hp and probably more than one tractor, not to mention expensive implements. If all you need to do is keep the pasture mowed, then a 45 hp tractor with a 6 foot mower will be fine, but it will take all day. I've done it, its not all that fun but its not all that hard either. It is much easier to do all that in rotation rather than all at once. If you need to mow it all at one time, every time, think 55-65 hp with a 10 foot mower.

It all just depends. I have about 250 acres. I'd say less than 20 of it need mowing, including the roads. Forty five hp is all I've needed. Would love to go with something like a Kubota 6040, but just can't justify the need and in the end, my smaller tractor is easier to handle in the woods and on the trails.

 

[donn12]

sorry for the delay in respondig - been out of town.

I want to buy a place on 30 acres or so for the privacy and to have the space. The land would be our dream come true but I want to make sure I can maintain a place like this before we put an offer on one. I also want to make sure I can afford whatever equipment I might need.
In a perfect scenario I could buy a tractor and attachment to cut 10 acres in 2 hours or so for around 30k. I am thinking I could cut a third of the land every week. I could also look into a 72" ZTR but I am thinking I will be better of pulling a 10 ft mower behind a tractor ( I will get a bigger tractor anyway with more land).
Thanks

 

[txdon]

"I want to make sure I can maintain a place like this before we put an offer on one."

Just because you have the land does not mean you have to keep it looking like a park. Do some research on the native plants you have and the wildlife that depend on them. Sometimes wild with trails is beautiful.

 

[8934]

How long it takes to cut will vary depending on several things.

Size of equipment as mentioned... I agree a 45 hp tractor and 12' mower is pushing things.

How often you mow it and how short you keep it mowed.

How many trees, fences, rocks, ponds, swamps you have to mow around will all affect your mow time as well.

If you are really serious you need to rent/demo some equipment from your local dealer before you drop $30K and find out you made a mistake.

 

[BASSIN20]

I started out with 45 acres and a 50 hp tractor with an FEL (a must have). cutting it is done twice a year with a 6 ft cutter. It takes me 18 hours to cut the whole thing, but I break it up into a three day project. I get up early (5:30) and cut for six hours, stop and go do something else. You will wear your self out if you try to do it all in one day. If you have any idea that one day you might want to cut and bail hay you will need a 65 hp tractor or larger to do it. Here recently I have been approached by my area land owners wanting to bail my field for hay. So I let them bail it and pay me $10-$15 a round bail, that gives me money for things I need for up keep such as weed killer for fence rows, fertilizer, other toys ( attachments). It is down right nice to sit back in a comfortable lawn chair and watch some else cut your field and pay you to do it. One place to look at equipment prices is a web site called tractor house. You can find some decent used tractors with low hours for resonable prices. At least there you can compare and learn the different brands. As far as attachments I have never bought new ones as there are to many good used ones out there at a lot less money. As everyone has said in response to you, you need to figure out what your going to do with the land and equip your self accordingly. There is a wealth of information out here on the internet you just have to do a little home work and you will find what you are looking for.

 

[MossRoad]

"I want to make sure I can maintain a place like this before we put an offer on one."

Just because you have the land does not mean you have to keep it looking like a park. Do some research on the native plants you have and the wildlife that depend on them. Sometimes wild with trails is beautiful.

I agree. We bought 20 acres 20 years ago. It had a 4 acre field and a 6 acre field with 10 acres of established woods. We had the 6 acres reforested with alternating rows of pines and mixed hardwoods. We let the 4 acres go and it has produced a nice crop of firewood for us. The established woods gets trimmed of firewood sized locusts that keep re-growing. We will also take out a large cherry each year now. I keep a 400' road mowed on it and over a mile of trails mowed down. I can maintain it the way we want it with my little 25hp Power Trac and only spend about an hour or two mowing 3 times a year. Firewood hauling takes a few weekends a year since we started heating with wood last year. It all depends how much and for what purposes you want to maintain it.