Those of you with TWO tractors, which ones?

[chuck172]

I have a new kioti dk40, and a ford 4500tlb. The 4500 is gigantic compared to the kioti, but the kioti is 4wd.

 

[yankeerider]

An excavator is a tractor, right? I've owned my JD 755 since purchasing it new around 1991 or 1992. It served mowing, snow removal. and loader duties all these years on our 5 acre lot, as well as digging out a hillside for a driveway to a new basement-level garage addition. SWMBO wouldn't allow the backhoe I wanted to include in the financing when I bought it. Later she became interested in expanding the agricultural use of our property, including clearing of land and building walking/access trails on the heavily wooded portions of the property. I wanted something to remove the many small stumps, and ended up deciding that a mini-ex would be far superior to a backhoe on the 755, so ended up buying my Cat 303. Cat digs, Deere moves as needed. Wife is afraid to operate either one, so she now has the Gator HPX which she uses constantly for her share of the property maintenance.

We are in the process of purchasing an additional 5 acres of woodlot, and are confident that these machines will serve adequately once that is complete.

 

[Jay4200]

I'm often finding that my tractor (Kubota L series) is a little too big and heavy for some of the "landscaping" jobs I want to do (For the moment, I'm ignoring the fact that it's also too small for a lot of the "woods" work I do.)

I keep looking at those little subcompacts and think how handy it would be to have one. I could never get by with just a subcompact as they just can't do a lot of what I need, but as a second tractor, I think it would fill a huge void that my current one can't fill.

I'm referring to things like small garden tilling, planting trees/shrubs, mowing the lawn, spreading mulch, picking up random debris etc. now that LandPride makes a grapple for the BX, I'm a lot more interested in them



So for those of you who decided that one wasn't enough, what did you start off with? What were you doing that made you want another tractor? And what second tractor did you buy! And what do you use the second one for?

I have an L4200 and BX2200. I had my L4200 for many years - I bought my BX this past year, mostly to mow the grass - I had a vintage garden tractor hobby, but gave up on it when my once-trusty '67 Wheelhorse tractor blew up for the second time in two weeks. I decided to get a 'real' f'n tractor w/ diesel engine to mow the grass. I was hoping for exactly what you are talking about - a little tractor to do little tractor tasks, so I got a BX instead of a zero-turn. Big mistake. I was amazed at how NON-capable the BX was - it is absolutely more a garden tractor on steroids then a shrunken-down farm tractor. The BX is fundamentally useless for most tractor tasks - forget using the loader for anything other than a wheelbarrow. It would probably be fine for tilling, although you'll probably end up getting stuck. Sure, those who only have one think it's the cat's rump, but after running an L-frame tractor, you'll hate it. It does a great job mowing though, but good for little else. Get a 'B-frame' with the big back wheels - not as good for mowing, but I think it will serve your needs much better.

 

[wmonroe]

I am in the two tractor boat, first bought a 1958 ford 961 propane and then a Kubota 5240 fel and backhoe.

Prior to buying either tractor my wife and I bought 17 acres to build a house on. At the time being in our late 20's/early 30's it was an investment since we never plan to move. I had already been itching for an excuse to get a tractor so this was it. About the same time my wife's grandparents decided they needed to downsize and had family come in to help them clean out a barn and one other out building. In the barn was a Farmall A and a ford 961. My wife's uncle wanted the Farmall but no one was interested in the ford. Being a tractor nerd I had already spent lots of time over the last few years drooling over the tractors so they offered the ford to me for a very fair price and I bought it.

The ford worked very well for brush hogging and plowing snow in the driveway but that was all we had for it at the time, about 15 hours the first year. About 18 months later and six months after we built our house we decided that the old ford was not going to be the primary tractor and decided to buy a new tractor with a front end loader and four wheel drive. Three things primarily went into this decision, my wife was not comfortable operating the ford, the two wheel drive was not as useful in the winter with our steep driveway, and being propane it is inconvenient to fill with fuel.

We looked at numerous brands and sizes and ended up with the Kubota 5240. I chose the size just because it is what I wanted even though we could have made due with a much smaller machine. We chose the fel because I missed that so much when I only had the ford, I chose the backhoe because at our previous house we rented a mini-ex quite a few times and with the projects we have planned the hoe will pay for itself. I use the 5240 for just about everything around the place, mowing grass with a rear finish mower, tilling the garden, grading the driveway, plowing snow, brush hogging, hauling wood, and some other things I'm not thinking of now.

I probably shouldn't have bought a second tractor so close in size/power/capability, but the ford was more of a purchase because it was my wife's grandfathers tractor and he really loved it and was happy someone in the family bought it. I use it but even if I had no need for it I still would have bought it. The Kubota on the other hand I bought much bigger than I really "needed" just because I'm hoping some day to do more of the farming on my property and because it's what I wanted. So far it has worked out great.

Out of our 17 acres my neighbor farms about 12-13 acres so that gives a little better perspective to my actual tractor needs. I do help him out some since it's an excuse to use my tractors for some real farm work but not really a need.

Anyway that was the extremely long reply to your simple question.

 

[wmonroe]

I almost forgot the pictures.

 

[ETD66SS]

Hmm, well I have a Ford 1620 4WD HST (mowing & snow removal), a Ford 4610SU (brushhog & landscaping), a Ford 575D TLB (super handy for many tasks), a CAT D6C Dozer (land clearing and rough landscaping) and a CAT 225 Excavator (logging, large stump removal, pond digging, construction etc). I find it hard to live without any of them at the moment.

I would hope at some point I can part with the D6C and 225, but I can't imagine being able to live without the other 3...

 

[wolc123]

I am not into compromise, which is what you have to do with only one tractor. Sure you can get one that can handle almost any job, but it will never be very good at any of them. The more tractors you have, the better you can accomplish a bunch of different jobs. I also experience less breakdowns overall with multiple tractors as no one is trying to work outside its designed capacity or too many hours. I get by with 6 tractors on 40 acres and that allows me an almost perfect fit for any job. My lawn is about 1 acre and my little 15 hp, JD LT-150 hydro is perfect for mowing that when its not too thick in the summer. In the spring and fall rainy seasons, when it grows real fast and thick, my 15 hp, Poulan, gear-transmission mower-tractor does a little better without the power-robbing hydro. On the other 39 acres a 10 hp Farmall Cub, 20 hp "tricycle front" Allis Chalmers C, 28 hp Ford 8n, and 43 hp JD 4120 4x4 loader tractor cover all the bigger jobs with a near perfect match to every one. Nothing runs a one-row cultivator on rows of corn or beans like the Farmall Cub, and nothing is better on a 2-row corn-planter or 3-point carry-all for hauling firewood than the Ford 8n. That tractor is also great on a 2-bottom plow, which it was literally designed around. The trike-front AC C has a lighter footprint in the woods and causes less forest floor damage in soft conditions than a team of horses making it the ultimate tractor for skidding logs. The JD 4x4 with R1 tires and loaded rears is great for any loader work and clearing snow. I have not had that one stuck on my mucky-bottom land farm in the 11 years that I had it, which I cant say for the rest of the fleet (all 2 wheel drives). The 4-wheel drive also makes it an awesome tractor on a disk where there are no energy losses pushing a "dead" front axle thru the soft ground. My fuel savings alone, over using a 2 wheel drive gas tractor for that job, will probably pay for that tractor in a couple more years.

 

[terryknight]

always been fascinated with equipment and tractors started driving the lawn mowers when i was 6 maybe 7. i was in big trouble and so was my father when i was caught on the big tractor cutting the horse pastures i was 10. we had old fords, JDs, cub high boys and low boys growing up. there are pictures of me on lawnmowers i don't even remember. dad had always had several tractors until he bought his MF1045 in 89, thinking he only needed one. then he bought a MF135 gas just so he didn't need to swap implements as often. he then had other tractors but always kept those two. (in addition to a JD 318 and JD 430 lawnmower) later on he bought a JD 750 it was a great deal. i didn't understand why. we almost never used it. after having some issues with the 1045 I decided we needed a bigger tractor so i bought a JD5055E, then bought a small bx1850. i was quite disappointed with that little thing. it was not a tractor it was less of a lawnmower than the JD430. it's gone. but i have discovered that that 750 we never used is a prefect size for the things i wanted the bx to do. cut grass, run a 52" tiller, handle a 5 ft rear blade. when we settle on our new house in july the 750 will be coming with me and if i need a loader or more tractor the 5055 is only a few miles away. and somewhere in there dad bought a case 580 it's been great, it's nice to have a backhoe when you need one and including the purchase price a new starter a complete hydraulic fluid swap, rebuilding some cylinders and replacing some hoses he has less than $8000 in it. anyway some pics

 

[lutt]

Well Piston, I am in the same boat you're in, just needing to go in a opposite direction. My little 4200 john Deere is awesome for property maintenance, such as landscaping and driveway up keep. The back hoe has been one of the best purchases I have made, cleaned up a lot of the property and dug water lines and buried wood debris such as stumps with it. It will even move 4 x 5 hay bales for feeding the cows. I like it because it's fast with the hydrostat when I clean out the barn and compact size is useful there and in the woods. But it's just a little short in the weight and size department far as width and stability. I don't plan on getting rid of it cause of the setup with the back hoe. I looking for a fifty to sixty horse tractor for square baling and general small farm work. LUTT

 

[Jay4200]

This picture is great!! Strong machine alright...tires, not so much.