Buying Advice Small tractor needed for mowing help needed

[SimonT]

I am a city boy who moved to the country and never wants to leave. but I need some help and think I need to start looking at a tractor sooner or later

I have recently moved to house on 7 acres that sits in the middle of a 35 acre plot of land.The house is on the top of a small hilltop that is quite flat on the top and then flows down hill to a small stream. It can be a little steep in places but its a area that I would not have to mow as I would only be mowing and working on the top of the hill. The drive is not that steep as it flows down the hill.

I am needing advise on what to buy I will need to mow about 2 to 3 acres, and then also maintain the near half mile drive way. Its a gravel drive and will need to be graded once or twice a year and to move snow.

Things that would be nice to have sooner or later

Blade
brushhog /finish mower
Front loader.


I have seen a nice Yanmar 2000 24hp that comes with a brushhog and blade for about $3300 low hours but no loader.

And a JD 750 4x4 20hp with loader for $3600

Are these the size of tractor I should be looking at do I need some thing bigger is the 4x4 so important to have ?

All your ideas are most welcome to help this city boy out.

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:
I'd suggest over 30 hp, and for sure a FEL.
But be patient, and you should get some good reading here on TBN as well as get some good responses from the TBN members.
Important (I think) to pick a dealer local to work with and lean on them for help with the decisions. They will be your friend when in need of help.

 

[flusher]

I am a city boy who moved to the country and never wants to leave. but I need some help and think I need to start looking at a tractor sooner or later

I have recently moved to house on 7 acres that sits in the middle of a 35 acre plot of land.The house is on the top of a small hilltop that is quite flat on the top and then flows down hill to a small stream. It can be a little steep in places but its a area that I would not have to mow as I would only be mowing and working on the top of the hill. The drive is not that steep as it flows down the hill.

I am needing advise on what to buy I will need to mow about 2 to 3 acres, and then also maintain the near half mile drive way. Its a gravel drive and will need to be graded once or twice a year and to move snow.

Things that would be nice to have sooner or later

Blade
brushhog /finish mower
Front loader.


I have seen a nice Yanmar 2000 24hp that comes with a brushhog and blade for about $3300 low hours but no loader.

And a JD 750 4x4 20hp with loader for $3600

Are these the size of tractor I should be looking at do I need some thing bigger is the 4x4 so important to have ?

All your ideas are most welcome to help this city boy out.

Sure, you can maintain 3 acres with those tractors. My first tractor was a new 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, 4WD, hydrostatic tranny, power steering) with the LA302 FEL (4-ft wide bucket, 800 lb lift). Cost: $12,600 plus tax. I used it with a 4-ft King Kutter brush hog to mow my 10 acre place.
A loader for that Yanmar would run about $4K (Koyker model 80).

 

[Grandad4]

Welcome here... you'll find lots of good advice from knowledgeable people, but don't be surprised if there is some diversity of opinion in what people recommend. There will indeed be a variety of choices and you will have to sort through them to find something that works for you.

You're going to find new equipment is quite a bit more costly than those used ones you mentioned... easily north of $20k for medium sized, name-brand models. If you want maximum reliability and convenience or if you really want to avoid maintenance/repair worries, there are many really nice new models to choose from. And there are some really good financing deals being offered also.

You can also find something more affordable in the used market that will do your mowing and road maintenance work very well, but I think you'll find most of what you can get for under maybe $5k will often be really used and may not have the reliability you would like. That Yanmar, for example, is probably well priced - a 2wd, I'd guess - without loader, and may be in OK condition, but it's not going to be the strongest tractor around. They are good tractors, and it would do your mowing and driveway maintenance, but it may not be up to snow removal.

On the other hand, a JD750 4x4 with loader should be selling for way more than $3600 if it's in any decent condition, so beware of that one.

I'd recommend you take some time and climb the learning curve before getting out your checkbook. Read up here on TBN about the brands and different features, sizes, attachments and capabilities. Visit some dealers and test drive some new ones just to get a sense of what these things are like. Ask lots of questions as you go. Do this whether you decide to buy new or used. Particularly with used equipment, because you need to learn how to tell a beater from a well-maintained unit.

Good luck!

 

[mjncad]

Welcome Simon.

It would help if you told us where you're located; but since you mention snow, long gravel drive, ground engaging work, and loader work; then 4x4 should be a must have for whatever you buy.

 

[TripleR]

Good posts so far, in complete agreement with Grandad4 and as mentioned by mjncad, more detail will be very helpful as there are more makes/models than you can shake a stick at that will do the work. Choosing the right one is the tricky part.

 

[SimonT]

Thank you all for your comments and a very good post by Grandad4 at the moment I don't think I can spend much over 7k so I think new is out of the question until I can get some more funds.

To answer your question about location I am in southwestern corner of the Missouri. So TripleR you would know what type of weather we get here.

 

[Soundguy]

4x4 would sure be nice.

try to find a smallish CUT in 4wd.. and hydro.. perhaps Maybee look for a used 1630 NH probably find one inthe 6000$ range.

soundguy

 

[TripleR]

Thank you all for your comments and a very good post by Grandad4 at the moment I don't think I can spend much over 7k so I think new is out of the question until I can get some more funds.

To answer your question about location I am in southwestern corner of the Missouri. So TripleR you would know what type of weather we get here.

I sure do, you guys get hit worse over there than we do here for some reason.

I don't know where you found any flat ground though.:laughing:

A good used 25-30 HP SCUT/CUT will serve you well, we used a BX2200 for similar use for many years and now use a BX2660, but we have other tractors if needed, so I would "probably" recommend a CUT along the lines of a Bxx20 Kubota or its equivalent in any of the other brands. Yanmar makes really good tractors if you can find one in good shape. Sticking with Kubota, John Deere, MF etc., you will get a good machine. When buying used, I have a mechanic, my brother, check it out unless it is from a reputable dealer.

Good luck, lots of very knowledgeable people on here have helped me pick a couple of good tractors.

 

[SimonT]

We had tornadoes last week and this week 4 days of rain the water in the slue had over run and I had to wade though it as it was up to my knees.

I have been looking at under 25HP due lack of experience and did not want to get some thing too big but understand the need for a little extra HP.