Too much Tractor?

[boda1968]

First I would like to say thans to the creators of this fourm and to all the members who unselfishly donate their time and experience to "rookies" like me. This site is a wealth of information and I have really enjoyed reading the past post.
Here is my scenario....I own six acres in Lafayette, Louisiana. I presently keep an acre of it mowed around the house with a 42" cut riding lawnmower. I have contracted with a site clearing company (D6 bulldozer and a large excavator) to clear approx. 4 acres of the remaining 5. This company will remove a majority of the trees via the bull dozer. The cleared trees will be buried and some will be piled up to be burned at a later date. They will also construct about a 1/2 acre pond. Once these guys are finished there will be plenty of work to get this land in shape to be mowed with a grooming mower. But once this is done the tractor is done will be used mostly (95% of the time) as a mower around the house and in the back 4 acres. I initially looked at the sub compacts (new holland, kubota, JD) but I have been led to believe that if your going to spend 12K to 13K on a sub compact with a FEL and grooming deck I would be better off moving up to the New Holland Tc 24 series or the Kubota BT 2410 for approx. 3K more with the above mentioned acessories. After saying all that I would like to get someone's opinion on the idea of using any one of these tractors a majority of time as lawnmowers on approx 5 acres. I know the Kubota 2710 is a bit bigger tractor but is it a another option?
First time I have posted anywhere at anytime so I hope It makes sense!

TIA
Roy

 

[Poppa]

Boda1968

If you truly believe that youare going to use that tractor for 95 percent mowing then I would sure be inclined to look at a dedicated mower. I don't have any expertise or experience with them but there is a thread on this site about a Ventrac mower. Read it and think about your needs. Good luck, sound like you are going to have a beautiful place when you are done

Here, I found it VENTRAC

Mike

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Roy . . . I believe many people buy tractors that are too big for maintaining their small "estates." As an owner of a TC24D I can tell you that I love my tractor, and I use it for mowing about 80% of the time. It is not my primary mower, but I use it for some of the open field areas that we have.

So let me tell you the downsides of mowing with that size tractor . . . and those downsides get worst as tractor size goes up on small properties. First is that your tractor won't fit under the branches of many small trees, so if you have, or plan to plan small trees, then you will be using the lawn tractor to get up close and personal to those. Second, you will find that if you have lots of landscaping to mow around then that size tractor is not very fast at mowing because you are following lots of curves. Mowing speed has a lot more to due with manuverability than it does with actual ground speed traveled IF you have a lot of landscaping.

However, there are some good points, a TC24 size tractor can easily handle a 60" mower deck and the better quality decks provide a very nice finish cut. The TC24 size units sit a bit higher and give better ground clearance for the small % of the time that you might use it for "tractoring" duties beyond mowing. I find the TC24 size tractors very comfortable to operate and a bit easier to ride than the small units -but that is obviously a personal observation. For FEL work, I like the ground clearance of the this class of tractor over the Sub-CUTs and consider it a big advantage.

The Sub-CUTs are also nice units, they might fit better under the small trees (BUT they still have a ROPS system that MAY hit the branches too), they will likely use the same size mower decks as a slightly larger tractor, and some of them offer slightly more manuverability but not by too much. The FELs on the Sub-CUTs are pretty strong, but the ground clearance of the units is often what limits their use.

Personally I would NOT go up in frame size over the TC24 size tractor for a tractor that will primarily mow. You might want to consider a dedicated mower. IF your land is flat enough, you cannot beat a ZTR.

 

[Poppa]

So Bob,

Since you have both. If you were in his position, looking to mow 4 plus acres for 95 percent of the tractor use, would you still go with the TC24 or equivalent or would you take your Ventrac or equivalent?

Curious

Mike

 

[boda1968]

Poppa,

Thanks for your response, it is appreciated.

Roy

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Poppa, assuming I was not doing too much "tractoring" and assuming my wife really put the screws to me and limited the number of toys I could have, then I would pick the Ventrac (or equivalent) as the hands down winner without any hesitation.

I have lots of implements for the NH and only 2 things for the Ventrac: I have a 52" mower and a 48" slip scoop. The 52" mower is vastly superior for mowing the "lawn" areas, and it is as good or better at mowing the fairly rough reclaimed pasture areas. Further, it mows much faster. Not as fast as a ZTR, but then my ground is not smooth enough and has slopes way to steep to even consider a ZTR. The little 48" slip scoop has been used a few times and it amazed me in how powerful its digging force is. Just last night the lovely Misses asked for some dirt to finish doing some transplating of her flowers so I pulled the Ventrac out, slipped the mower deck off (a 30 second job) installed the slip scoop (took about 5 minutes including moving aside some bikes and other toys that were in the way) drove down the hill to a dirt pile with 3 years of weed growth and dug out a buckful of black dirt, ran it up to the house, all in about 3 minutes! Swapped the implements, another 3 minutes, and plopped my rear end down in the big easy chair just as a rain storm began to pelt the house. The little scoop is great for moving mulch around, and I've used it for hauling concrete landscape stones. I've got about 14 hours on the Ventrac and it impresses me more every time I try something new. It is not the best "tractor" on the market, but for what it is, it is pretty darn amazing, very high quality, and ugly enough to have a special charm that makes momma love it.

 

[BigMike]

I can't really help you in your choice of tractors, but what I would like to know is what kind of trees are you taking out? Seems like a waste to bury and burn them. They might have some value in the hardwood market...but I don't really know much about the business of trees in that part of the country...don't have many where I come from. Might not be financially viable to harvest those trees.

 

[KubotaSteve]

If 95% of it's use is mowing, I would be looking for a more dedicated mower type of machine. I have a B-7800 which is about the same size as the 2710 and it mows very nice but will cost you some time mowing around things such as landscaping and structures such as your house and sheds. I chose the 7800 because I am using it alot for moving dirt, stone, and snow. If I was mainly mowing, I would have went with something on the smaller side if not a dedicated mowing machine (next on the wish list)

 

[boda1968]

Bob,

I just spent twenty minutes responding to you but lost it trying to so a spell check. Don't know what happen!!!!!!

Short version:
Buy tractor and keep lawnmower for around landscaping, no trees to worry about. Could use tractor a lot initially trying to get the acreage level and smooth after the bulldozer and excavator leaves.
or
I could buy the ZTR for around $8K and then hire someone to do the finishing work on the cleared acreage.

But I do like the idea of having a tractor in my shop for odd and end jobs.

Bob thanks for your time.

Roy

 

[RobS]

I'll relate my situation...

We have ten acres, mostly open fields. Built a house so we're now in the process of landscaping. Don't plan on ever having much finished lawn, mostly just around the house. Other areas will be prairie or just trimmed "pasture" look.

I'm the type of person who will use a tool once I've aquired it. For example, having a backhoe, everything now looks like a backhoe project to me. Not everyone shares this outlook.

So what I have is my trusty little 790 which will probably never carry a finish mower. I use it for brush hogging the pasture like areas, landscape projects, snow removal and such. For our current finish lawn needs we use the old Craftsman lawn tractor. If I ever need to upgrade the lawn mowing equipment I'd look at a dedicated lawn mowing machine (right now would be a Dixie Chopper).

If your needs are truly 95% lawn mowing, I'd stick with a lawn mowing machine. If you are like me and will more utilize the non-lawn mowing capabilities of a tractor once you own it I'd go that route /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif