Recommendations for Small Horse Ranch

[mikehethcote]

What tractor and attachments would you recommend for operating a three horse ranch on 6.5 acres, which includes 3 acres of pasture, an 80 by 140 arena, large dry lot, and using square hay bales? We have a 500 ft long concrete driveway entering the property.

 

[bota7800]

You will get a variety of opinions on this question. Here are my 2 cents.

Driveway: I had a similar length asphalt drive in CO. My 30 hp Kubota did OK with a backblade and loader. My blade could rotate along the longitudinal axis (tilt). I left the pin out allowing the blade to follow the crown of the road.
If I still had that property though, I would probably put a plow on my truck, it is faster, you have better control, and you are looking forward.

Arena: We use a harrow on our gravel arena. It works good but does not get deep. I am considering a groomer. Try the harrow first, it is less expensive and you will probably want one anyway.

Pastures: Are you going to mow? My current pastures are pretty undulating. I am constantly raising and lowering the 3PH. A flail mower would work better but they are more expensive and generally require more PTO horsepower.

Bales: We use small bales in our loft but others on the site recommend a quick-attach loader so you can replace the bucket with the spear. I wish I had quick-attach anyway. Make sure your loader lift capacity is up to the task.

 

[bota7800]

Oh, and as to horsepower, my 30 hp Kubota was undersized for my 35 acres but seems just right on 5 acres here. Pay attention to PTO horsepower too.

In addition to horsepower, look at the hydraulic pump. My B7800 has 9.3 gallons per minute (if I remember correctly) for the loader, other hydraulics and the hydrostatic transmission. That limits me to a low-flow hydraulic posthole digger. If I had it to do over again I would scrutinize GPM available.

Everyone here is glad to spend your money and suggest bigger bigger bigger ;-)

 

[Gizmo2]

We have approximately 8 acres and have had as many as 5 horse at one time but mostly 4, now only one (I'm getting too old, LOL!). We have an outdoor riding ring roughly 100ft by 70ft, dug down with added sand of about 10 inches, we used a landscape rake for grooming and it did really well with every other tooth removed. We have about 3.4 acres of pasture divided into 2 pastures although this seems small, and it is, we alternate the pastures every two weeks and then mow the used pasture with a 52 inch zero turn commercial mower. We also use the zero turn mower to mow our yard which is approximately 2 acres of mowing.

In 1988 we purchased a JD 650 (17hp) with front-end loader and backhoe. The 650 did everything we needed it to. We used the tractor in the beginning to mow the pastures with a 5 ft rear mounted mower, this my friend was a big PITA. The rear mower was too cumbersome and the constant hooking up and unhooking got old real quick. I soon came to the conclusion that the tractor was not the best suited for mowing at least for me. Our zero turn mower will run circles around any compact tractor when it comes to mowing.

A front-end loader is a must have, IMO. Shoveling horse manure gets old real quick also. You may want to look into a small manure spreader also. The backhoe came in handy for a lot of stuff and also came in handy when I bury a horse.

With all this said I will now say our JD 2320 tractor is the perfect tractor for our needs. Bigger is not at all always better.

 

[whistlepig]

What tractor and attachments would you recommend for operating a three horse ranch on 6.5 acres, which includes 3 acres of pasture, an 80 by 140 arena, large dry lot, and using square hay bales? We have a 500 ft long concrete driveway entering the property.

We have 4 horses on twenty acres with ten acres of pasture. Our driveway is 800' long. I use a 30HP tractor with a 5 foot rotary cutter to maintain the pasture. A tine harrow would be good to drag your arena. Post hole digger is handy. A front end loader to maintain the manure pile and move snow. We have a seven acre yard and use a 6' RFM and a riding tractor to mow it.