Smoothing rough pasture w/deep wheel-ruts

[Anonymous Poster]

I'm new to the world of tractors - but have just purchased a home (new construction) out in the countryside. My problem - when I bought the home there was snow on the ground. Now that the snow has gone I see that a small section around the house was nicely levelled and seeded, but the rest is rough pasture complete with deep ruts from construction vehicles.

I'm currently looking at garden tractors (20hp and up) and implements. The lot is only 3 acres, so I can't justify a compact. Any ideas on what would be a good combination of garden tractor and implement(s)?

 

[Leef]

RPM,

Congratulations on your new home. I hope to be in a similiar situation when we build our home on 15 acres (see Learning how / field preparation for some of my ideas - in this forum). Last summer we had a bulldozer level off our home site, build up and smooth the drive, and take out some fences. When he was done, I got to experiment with some borrowed tractors as I smoothed out the bdozer track marks. I really got it pretty smooth and then seeded in the fall.

IMHO, I think you'd be pretty happy with the Kubota BX series. If your property is flat, you could probably manage with a larger garden tractor (I've used a JD 430 with no complaints), but if there are hills or inclines or if you have much snow to move then you'll be very happy you have 4wd (BX's also allow front end loaders which are invaluable).

To take out the ruts - a rototiller would sure work well followed by dragging and seeding. Remember, most garden tractors don't have 3 pt hitches which also favors a small compact. Tillers are kinda expensive if you don't have any other uses so maybe a rental would suffice. If the ruts aren't too deep, then you could just try dragging something heavy like an " I " beam back and forth. Also a box scraper on a 3ph would probably smooth them out well. (Perhaps a back blade would work well also). I think there are lots of ways to do it - it kinda depends on what tractor you have, what other uses you'll have for implements, and what the budget allows.

Most people on this forum will say - "figure out what you need then buy something a little bigger".

Enjoy yourself,

Leef

 

[RobS]

RPM, I had a similar situation as well as a friend of mine. I used a disc behind my compact and went in two different directions, then winter came. This spring I'll pull a drag across it to get it nice and smooth. My friend has a garden tractor and he had success pulling a spring tooth harrow section (4 feet wide). He had some tire spinning (turf tires), but said it worked OK overall. Had to make a lot of passes and it took longer than a bigger tractor but that'll always be the case. You can pick up all sorts of old drags and harrows at used farm stores and auctions. I got mine from another friend who found it in an old fencerow. It's pretty rusty, and may have originally been pulled by horses, but the price was perfect /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[WVBill]

RPM:

I have exactly the same situation as you. 3.75 Acres ex-pasture land. We moved in to our new home 2 years ago and I found the construction vehicle ruts when out mowing on the garden tractor.

This year, I got the Kubota (14HP B6100). When I was clearing some areas of sod for gardens, I took the sod with the FEL and dumped it in the ruts. Initially, I cut the sod to the width of the ruts and layered it in 'til it was level. But that was a lot of non-tractor work. So I then just dumped the sod into the ruts then ran the rototiller over it in multiple passes along the length of the ruts. This broke up the sod and worked it in to the soil around the ruts. That was in the fall. I'll see if/how this worked in the spring when the ground un-frezes.

I know you say "The lot is only 3 acres, so I can't justify a compact." But if think of the things you WILL want to do (clearing/tilling a garden, landscaping, etc. etc.). I found out that although they're advertised to handle "ground-engaging implements", Garden tractors just don't have the weight necessary to translate their horsepower into traction. And the biggest drawback is that a garden tractor doesn't have a FEL - the most useful tractor tool on the planet (IMHO).

I encourage you to take the $2000 - $3000 you would put into a garden "tractor" and put it instead into a compact tractor.

 

[cowboydoc]

Bill,
2-3k? Try 4-8k for a garden tractor! I just bought a new one last year and mine is an LX279, not even the big one and it was $4200 and I got a big discount from list.

 

[WVBill]

Richard,

Whew! Prices have really gone up in the three years since I bought my garden tractor!

- Even more justifcation for a compact /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

Plus the fact that the compact will hold much of it's value. I don't think the same can be said for the re-sale or trade-in value of a garden tractor.

 

[Scaper]

The Kubota BX 22 series is a nice piece and so is the new I believe B7500(Power Steering) unit. I owned a B7100 for six years and I have a Landscape company in Delaware. The compact tractor served me very well with a 42 inch Befco tiller. I did the finish work for a local builder and never had a problem using the B7100. I also had a Woods DuAll loader, york rake and box scraper to help with the jobs. Do yourself a favor and don't build up your arms like Popeye turning the non power steering tractors with a load in the bucket. The New Holland 21 hp Boomer is a good unit as is the B2400 Kubota. You will be happy in the long run if you get the compact believe me. You may also want to rent a implement called a pacer box to level your property after you get the ground worked up with a tiller. These work very well for their intended use, but you need a bit of ass to your tractor to pull a full load of dirt with the teeth in the ground. So look at the compacts they are worth the investment. Check your local papers and bargin papers these can produce many a nice sale. We just had a Cub Cadet with loader and 60" belly mower around 27 H.P for around $8.500. You should be able to get a good unit this time of year for a good dollar amount. By the way where are you in P.A.? If your local to my area I would be happy to help you in your quest, I do have alot of great contacts in the P.A. Delaware and N.J. areas and I could even help you pick it up if your close. Just thought you might need the help getting a unit home if you buy used. Good luck and you won't find a better bunch of people then the ones on this board, always ask for help there's nothing wrong with learning a new subject. And just by chance you'll become as crazy for equipment as we are. You didn't say if you are married but try to involve the little woman if you can, makes future buys alittle easier for them to handle. We all know how far power steering goes in getting the grass cut when your busy doing HoneyDo work. By the way I now own a TC33D Boomer (New Holland) with a whole new set of equipment to use in my business and it seems to be a great tractor no problems at all in almost two years. Good luck! Scaper

 

[Scaper]

I ment to say one more thing. I had a friend named Robert Paul Malloy "RPM" that used to or still does as far as I know race motorcycles. So if it's you reds call big Mark thats who Scaper is.

 

[mrolson]

I have four acres and purchased a JD 345. It is a garden tractor. They call it that because all you can do with it is drive by your garden while doing the lawn. Don't ge me wrong, I love it... for cutting grass, blowing snow and pulling a trailer. Thats it. Go for the compact.

<font color=green>Mark</font color=green>

 

[jima1]

RPM,

At first I thought a compact was overkill on my 2 acres, but at ~$6k total investment for a used B7200HST 4WD w/ FEL, rear blade and rake, now it seems like a far better value than a garden tractor would have been. Has paid for itself doing jobs that would have been tough or impossible with a garden tractor. IMHO the 17HP diesel will both outwork and outlast a 20+HP gas engine, too.

Best regards, Jim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks to all for the posts! I have spent some time reading the rest of the boards and it appears that the compact tractor is the way to go ... I'm going to have to figure out a way to justify the cost though.

Question - how long could I expect a garden tractor to last if I abused it with some serious re-levelling of the yard, a sizeable garden (1/2 acre) and general tasks such as grass-cutting, snow-plowing etc.?

What I'm trying to get at is - would a compact (like a diesel Kubota) last better than twice as long as a garden tractor?

Any anecdotes on short garden tractor life vs long compact tractor life?

 

[WVBill]

RPM:

This past summer, my Father in law gave me his 1978 Kubota B6100DT (4wd, gear drive, 14HP diesel w/ FEL, tiller and box blade). He used it for 22 years doing landscaping (yard leveling, garden tilling) and light construction and it's still running fine and working hard. 22 years is young in tractor land. It's just my guess but I'd say that a decent diesel compact would easily outlast a garden tractor by twice.

The real point is you can abuse it all you want but I don't think you'll be able to get a garden tractor to do "serious" re-leveling of the yard.

 

[Bird]

I agree with WVBill. There are lots of tractors around that are over 30 years old and still going, but not many "garden tractors".

Bird

 

[RobS]

RPM, my friend who used his garden tractor to drag some land came away concerned about the affects on the tractor. He has a Deere with HST and he said the hydro fluid got really hot and he could smell some overheating (whatever that means). It still works fine, but who knows what that did to the lifespan of the machine.

On the other hand, I pulled a 7 1/2 foot disc with my compact and it loved it. If you can swing the $$$ you won't regret a compact.

 

[alexcocco]

Re:garden tractor vs compact

i had a bolens 17 hp tractor when i first moved to the country, these are well built comercial mowers, lasted about 12 years, first of all the gasoline motors have no where near the life expectancy of the diesels. a thousand hours on a garden tractor andyou will be spending major money on overhaul and a new motor or buying a new one, a thousand hours on a diesel motor is break in. the drive trains in the bolens is heavy but not like that of a compact, it could not plow snow any where near what my NH 1520 can. no front end loader, if you live in a rural setting, i dont know how you get by without a loader, very usefull, would not buy a tractor without one, moving mulch, dirt, limestone, and snow just great.
this new holland will easily outlive me, and might outlive my children, the only reason that i would get another tractor is because i want more power than the 23 hp this one has. although this one runs a 5 ft bush hog, rototiller, post hole digger, pto generator just fine. loader is rated at 800 lbs, which is ok for me also.

the attachments are endless and they are all standard, i dont have to worry about buying a special attachment that will only fit the one brand of garden tractor. i can even rent attachments or borrow my friends attachments if i need them.

a lot of the posters on this site have been the route you are talking about, buy a garden tractor then eventually got a compact, the only thing i wish i would have done is get the compact sooner if not first. this i think would be the sentiment that most of us have. if you cant float a new tractor, go with a used one , there is a lot of old iron out there looking for a good home. in the long run you will be happier with the machine.

good luck
alex

 

[caddison]

RPM,

I struggled with the decision to buy a compact tractor for quite some time. My last garden tractor was a White 1855 w/cat.0 3pt. Well it worked great for mowing the yard and that was the extent of it. I was also trying to prepare a new yard for seeding and it was quite frustrating. Here in the sticks we don't have the option of renting a compact tractor to do such task. Well to make a loong story short I finally came across a guy who had a <font color=blue>NH 1320</font color=blue> w/14 hrs. on it and he was willing to take my White in on trade. Well I have never regreted that move. Although it is a little large frame wise for what I do, I looked hard at the BX2200, it still was the way to go. I have done things that were only a pipe dream with a garden tractor.

If you stop and figure that a "good" garden tractor will run slightly under $10,000.00, the choice to spend a little more and have something you can really use shouldn't be hard. Actually for what I "really" do with my tractor, a BX2200 would have been the trick, just couldn't find as good a deal /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif! You'll never regret going with the compact.

 

[cowboydoc]

Re:garden tractor vs compact

Just a question to you guys with the bigger compacts, any brand and in the size range of the 4500-4700 john deere. Do you use these to mow your lawns too? I know my 4600 would just tear up my lawn. I could have gotten turf tires but it would have been useless for what I really needed it for then. I need both my riding mower and my regular tractors. I realize the smaller compacts would be fine for mowing with a belly mower but I don't see how my 4600 could mow my lawn. For one I'd never get it around the landscaping and I would think it would make alot of rough spots.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re:garden tractor vs compact

I even found the Kubota BX (imagine a JD 445 garden tractor with 4WD and a titch bigger) too big for my lawn mowing. The BX will be great for some hills and crummy areas and the big "pasture" type mowing, but even as quick as the mower goes on and off and the loader comes on a off and the implements come on and off, it's just too much of hassle. I decided on a JD garden tractor to go along with my BX (or the wife's BX) and my L35 TLB 6100lbs (about JD 4400 size?).

The wheelbase on the GT is shorter and it's lighter and taking all that stuff off the BX so I could fit around the trees and landscaping EVERY WEEK just didn't make sense. A friend came over, saw my collection and said SxxT MAN, YOUR HOGGING ALL THE GOOD TOYS!

I also found the turfs on the BX lacking for loader work and put a set of baby AGs on the BX, I could have switched them back and forth, but when you get close to the big FIVE-OH you start looking at time the way you used to look at money!

Don't want my obit to read...He was a good guy but no one saw him much he spent all of his time taking implements on and off etc.!

mow on!

 

[cowboydoc]

Re:garden tractor vs compact

Thanks for the info. Del. I thought I was missing something with using the compacts to mow my lawn.

 

[Bird]

Re:garden tractor vs compact

del, I can understand about changing implements, but have found I'd rather spend the time changing implements than spend that time, and more money, maintaining additional engines, tires, batteries, transmissions, etc./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird