Suggestions please.......What do I need?

[02_powerstroke]

Mr. Sweet,
I haven't actually gotten any other bids yet, I have been talking to some friends and getting their opinions on what to buy as well as checking out info on this site. At this point, I think that I'm going to visit a couple of local dealerships and get their opinions and prices.

By the way, thanks for responding so quickly to my questions regarding the Kioti tractors!

Matt Sullivan

 

[RalphVa]

Check out the weights of tractors when going from mentioned 17 hp @ PTO up to 30 hp. In JD, for instance, when you go from 17 hp @ PTO up to nearly 30 hp, the tractor weight doubles. To me this is a recipe for gouging up your lawn.

My JD 4010 with very large rear turf tires @ 12.5" wide puts deeper tracks in the lawn than my dual-tired Gravely tractor which is near about 400 #. I'd hate to see what tracks a 2900 # tractor (next frame size weight to get approx. 30 hp) would make.

My neighbor bought a JD 4310 with 5' brush hog, FEL and rear blade for his 5 acres and to maintain their approx. 400 long gravel road. As I mentioned, his tractor is more than twice the weight of my JD 4010. He didn't know anything about tractors. Think they talked him into the big hp model. You're talking about another $5,000 for going up that one frame size.

I don't mow with the 4010. A 2210 would be better for this (it comes with basically the same attachments available as the 4010, including a rear blade but has a better mower height adjustment, but no cruise control that's on the 4010). I bought the 4010 with a 4' brush hog (LX4) and FEL and plan to get a carryall for the 3pt and will use the FEL, carryall and Gravely cart on it to tote stuff down to my veggie garden 100' down hill. For mowing, my Gravely and Lawn Boy do the approx. 1/2 acre in front and behind the house.

I question the need for folks to maintain and mow more than a 1/2 acre or so of grass. Wouldn't it be better as a meadow or an orchard or almost anything else but just grass? I'm disappearing grass with more trees and shrubs. Presence of these make it difficult to use a big tractor to mow around them.

Ralph

 

[ALBALD1]

Generally, when you talk about hp. are you talking tractor hp or pto hp.

 

[btolle]

Consider how much of the land you are going to mow regularly.

In my case I have a Craftsman 42", 21 HP, riding mower ($1,700) I use in the yard and a Kubota B7510 ($12,000 with front end loader + 4' bush hog for $800) I use to clear and bush hog the rest of approximately 3 acres with. I also have a box blade (about $400) to level with. For 7 acres you may want something a little bigger than the B7510 (21 HP) and a 5' bush hog. Depend on how often you are going to mow the entire acreage. I mow sporadically but never more than once a month.

I doubt you really want to mow 7 acres of lawn every week or 10 days unless you are retired and really bored! If you do you will need a zero turn diesel mower.

Bill Tolle