saying hello

[ucfd070]

Hi everyone, new here and thought I say hi. Im new to this farming thing having bought a 38 acre horse farm about 3 years ago. Been doing everything the hard way. No looking for my first real tractor and that's what brought me here. Seems there are a lot of helpful folks on here and some really knowledgeable folks too. Hope I can put my 2 cents worth in sometime.
In Ga. Newnan area south of Atlanta.

 

[jeff9366]

What is your soil like?

How much of your land is horse related?

How much are you going to farm? Crop? Hay?

How much is forest and / or food plots?

Do you have any first hand experience operating a tractor?

What 3-4 tractor dealers are closest to you?

 

[ucfd070]

Mostly hard clay in the pasture, loamy in the trees. Big creek on the property. About 6 acres for barn (8 stall), pasture, paddocks. 1-2 around the house and rest in timber, mix of oaks some 30+ inches in diameter(Swamp chestnut oaks).
Im working on clearing about another 5+- for pasture and food plots and then I need to reclaim the trails through the woods.
Im very limited with tractor work, I have an old yanmar thats not worth much.
Not many dealers close by. The closest is in Carrollton (Kubota) about 30 miles and then JD in Newnan (10 miles) and then MF in Roopville (30 miles) Branson is in Cumming (80 miles). Kind of in between everybody but nobody close.

 

[murphy1244]

Talk to your neighbors about what they use and why. What jobs do you intend to do?

 

[ucfd070]

Mostly just playing. Moving round bales, light bush hogging and light plowing. Just wanting to buy something big enough that I wont be looking again in a few years. All my neighbors use older tractors, I want newer. Seems you can almost buy new for what you can get 2-3 year old for.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

I've got a similar (but smaller) set up to you and only got my first tractor in Feb. I received great advice from neighbours, especially regarding dealership/service reputation. Where I live, that steered me to JD. Your circumstances regarding this may be different so don't be all that biased towards a particular 'colour'.

A high 30hp to 40+hp HST (no gears/clutch to worry about) with a good Front End Loader (FEL) should satisfy your needs for what work you've described. I've included the FEL because you can't stack round bales without it... plus, once you've got one, there's no going back! A 'must have' because after you get your rig you'll find heaps of other jobs to do with it.

In my (limited) experience, a tractor salesman is not like a car salesman in that they will usually sell you a tractor that you need... extra 'goodies' & implements are your decision.

We're here to help, Mate.

 

[Larro Darro]

Welcome from NW Florida. A 30-40 HP tractor will do what you need, and still have the staying power as your workload for it increases. If your tractor is heavy enough, you can do the same with a 2WD as a lighter 4WD. If you are not in a big hurry, you can still find good deals on used tractors. But you have to put a lot of time into it and still have luck on your side.

Larro

 

[ucfd070]

Thats what Im seeing. Good used ones are out there but it seems like they are only 2 thousand or so less than new. And new (with Kubota) I can get 0% and not have to empty my bank account. Thanks for the comments and Ill let everyone know when I buy.