Buying Advice SUGAR CANE FARM - What tractor?

[cjworks]

Hi Im new, live in Jamaica and need some advice on what tractor to buy for my 10 acre sugar cane farm and would appreciate advice on buying a tractor.

REQUIREMENTS

Terrain
The land can be very muddy in rainy season and extremely dry with cracks at times in the year. It also has alot of terribly tough and invasive tropical grass.
http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/wocat/img/QtAUS03_1.jpg
http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/15588/wm/pd2902745.jpg
http://www.julietrosegallery.net/Images/westmoreland.JPG

Needs
I would need this tractor to plought the land to create furrows and maintain the field. Having the loader and backhoe capability of a TLB would be a plus for rental it when not in use. I would then get attachments for landclearing, creating canals, digging holes for posts and other stuff. The main thing is the ploughing which is done before planting. Also there should be good clearance so not to damage young sugar cane sprouting.
Young cane >>> http://www.johntyman.com/africa/a042.jpg

Note
It also must not exceed 2500 kg, as my pickup cannot tow beyond 3500 kg.I don't know anything about tractors and how much power it would require brake the soil using mouldboards and disc ploughs. I'm consider the a kubota b26, l39 is too heavy.

WHAT IVE LOOKED AT
Kubota b26 - Perfect size but Is 27 hp enough power to plough, not agriculture tires?
Kubota l39/JD 110 - TBL tips the scale with its weight no room for trailor weight
McCormick - no backhoe
New Holland t1500 series not TLBS
MS 1600 series not TLB
Vatra A series too heavy
Iseki Not TBL

Would appreciate any advice and education about tractors.

 

[jinman]

CJ, all the tractors you mentioned are undersized for what I'm seeing in your links. Wagons full of sugarcane are massive and heavy. Of course, if you are just planting and tilling until the cane gets as high as the young plants in your photo, then a small tractor like the ones you mentioned will probably work. How do you intend to build your beds for seed cane? Do you have to bed the cane during the off-season? In Jamaica, the weather may allow you to grow year-round.

What cane we used to grow in Texas had to have the seed-cane bedded during the winter and planted during the spring. We plowed our fields with a turning plow (2-bottom) and then disced. Next. we'd plow furrows for planting with about 36" between rows.

Sorry, I just lost power due to a storm and my backup battery won't last long. I'll edit this post later when my power comes back on with more info.

 

[cjworks]

Appreciate the response. About the cane seed(other way round), we plant our cane and when they reach a certain maturity, we cut the young stalk and plant it, we use it as seed.
what we do is open up a forrow,, cut and drop the cane, then cover.
http://www.southernmatters.com/sugarcane/images/BC-Growing_Cane/3--Laid_Out_in_Furrow.jpg
http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/images/sugar-cane-planting---enlar.jpg
http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/136568/530wm/C0073585-Planting_sugar_cane-SPL.jpg
By the next week it you should have young cane brusting out.

So I could use a Kubota b26 to plough but not tow anything then?
Usually we pay contractors(Appleton Estates Ltd) to do harvest, but I assume we could reduce costs but cutting the cane and getting a grappler attachment?

Also yes we grow all year round and some times harvest twice a year.

 

[bullbreaker]

CJ don't want to get off track from your original question,but here is what I believe to be pics I took from vintage farm museum about 25 miles north of me.

Boone

sugar cane press/boiler ? :confused2:

 

[jinman]

Well, we finally got power back and I'm back online.:thumbsup:

CJ, our planting process here is similar to yours, I believe. We just used to build a big bed of cane that had been stripped and topped. We'd put in layers of cane seed and then layers of tops and stripped leaves so the cane could breath and not turn into a big compost pile over the winter. We covered the stack with cane leaves and a layer of dirt. I can see that is not needed there in Jamaica.

Our planting process is exactly like yours. After laying the furrows, we pulled a wagon full of cane we pulled out of our seed cane beds and dropped it in end-to-end in the furrow. Often, we would leave stubble from the previous year to resprout in the spring and produce a crop with no planting. The stubble cane would not grow as big as freshly planted cane, but it took much less labor and would produce a fair crop.

We found that once the cane is about 18" tall, it will shade the ground and prevent weed growth. Only when the cane was young did we have to plow and chop weeds.

Our method of harvest was to go into the cane rows and strip the leaves off with a machete. After the leaves were stripped and laying between rows, we would top the cane and leave it standing. Finally, we'd pull a wagon down beside the standing rows to cut the cleaned cane and stack it into the trailer for hauling to the mill. My uncle had his own cane crusher mill and cooker where he made cane syrup. We never made sugar, only syrup.

I see your method of harvest may be done with a special machine or your fields are burned to remove the leaves instead of stripping them off. Burning is surely less labor than stripping. The one photo you posted showed some charring on the cane which is no big deal. We would probably have done something like that if we were not afraid of getting a wild fire started.

Anyhow, a small utility tractor like the T1500 series New Holland would be fine, but I'm not sure you would be happy with the performance of a backhoe on that tractor. I would say if you want a small tractor with a backhoe, I'd lean more toward Kubota than New Holland. I may get into trouble for saying that in the New Holland forums, but that's my recommendation. The New Holland would be a good loader and plowing tractor because they are a little heavier than the Kubotas, but I just think the Kubota backhoes on small tractors are superior.

 

[MarkV]

Given your weight restrictions for a tractor I don't think you will be happy with the results you get when doing field work. I can't imagine plowing 10 acres with a small tractor like the B26 and without ag tires. I would be looking at 50 hp tractors and bigger but that is unlikely going to work with your towing needs.

MarkV

 

[jinman]

Given your weight restrictions for a tractor I don't think you will be happy with the results you get when doing field work.

I agree Mark. 5500 lb is going to limit the size, especially if that weight has to include a backhoe. Where a 2 wd tractor with no loader and no backhoe could meet the weight requirements and be a good plowing tractor, it will be hard to find a tractor that does everything including 4wd, FEL, and backhoe that will also be useful for tillage. I think CJ will be making some tradeoffs, but only he can decide what is most important to him.

 

[cjworks]

Well, we finally got power back and I'm back online.:thumbsup:

CJ, our planting process here is similar to yours, I believe. We just used to build a big bed of cane that had been stripped and topped. We'd put in layers of cane seed and then layers of tops and stripped leaves so the cane could breath and not turn into a big compost pile over the winter. We covered the stack with cane leaves and a layer of dirt. I can see that is not needed there in Jamaica.

Our planting process is exactly like yours. After laying the furrows, we pulled a wagon full of cane we pulled out of our seed cane beds and dropped it in end-to-end in the furrow. Often, we would leave stubble from the previous year to resprout in the spring and produce a crop with no planting. The stubble cane would not grow as big as freshly planted cane, but it took much less labor and would produce a fair crop.

We found that once the cane is about 18" tall, it will shade the ground and prevent weed growth. Only when the cane was young did we have to plow and chop weeds.

Our method of harvest was to go into the cane rows and strip the leaves off with a machete. After the leaves were stripped and laying between rows, we would top the cane and leave it standing. Finally, we'd pull a wagon down beside the standing rows to cut the cleaned cane and stack it into the trailer for hauling to the mill. My uncle had his own cane crusher mill and cooker where he made cane syrup. We never made sugar, only syrup.

I see your method of harvest may be done with a special machine or your fields are burned to remove the leaves instead of stripping them off. Burning is surely less labor than stripping. The one photo you posted showed some charring on the cane which is no big deal. We would probably have done something like that if we were not afraid of getting a wild fire started.

Anyhow, a small utility tractor like the T1500 series New Holland would be fine, but I'm not sure you would be happy with the performance of a backhoe on that tractor. I would say if you want a small tractor with a backhoe, I'd lean more toward Kubota than New Holland. I may get into trouble for saying that in the New Holland forums, but that's my recommendation. The New Holland would be a good loader and plowing tractor because they are a little heavier than the Kubotas, but I just think the Kubota backhoes on small tractors are superior.

pretty much same process. Originally they bruned canes in the tropics to kill snake(and other things that bite) and remove trash from the stalk. But the only big snake we have in Ja is the Jamaican and its endangered and new breeds of cane shed the trash by them selves, have higher sugar levels, disease resistant and other desirable qualities.

But hey could you educate me on brake out force(backhoe and loader) as relates to my needs and how is the b26 bachkoe compared to Massey 1600 series and the New Holland T1500 series.

I love this forum btw

 

[cjworks]

Given your weight restrictions for a tractor I don't think you will be happy with the results you get when doing field work. I can't imagine plowing 10 acres with a small tractor like the B26 and without ag tires. I would be looking at 50 hp tractors and bigger but that is unlikely going to work with your towing needs.

MarkV

where could a get a light enough trailer for a 2200 kg payload and not go over 3500 kg when loaded?

 

[jinman]

You might be able to get a T1520 and get both loader and backhoe to meet your weight requirments. The T1530 would probably push the limit. You might have to remove the backhoe or FEL to be able to transport legally. The real problem I think you will find is that New Holland is going through a change in OEMs from Shibaura in Japan to the Korean built LS tractors. I'm just not sure what you might be able to get delivered in Jamaica. That's the real reason I suggested Kubota. Kubota's website is full of all the info you need or you could post in the Kubota forums to get more expert advice than I can give to you. Here is a link to New Hollands Website.