tractor choice?

[chuck172]

I need help deciding on a tractor. I now have a diesel 71 ford 4500 tlb. An 8n. A rusting out 89' F-250 4wd. with a western plow.
I need to do quite a bit of firewood cutting in my woods. I need to snowplow an 800 foot driveway. A big development is my knees are totally shot and I need a loader to lift grocery bags and things up to my deck. Right now my wife and I are having a ****-of-a-time climbing the steps.
I use the 8n for york raking the tlb for big jobs. I'm thinking 4wd. for the woods and logging, gas powered for easy starting in the winter, and a nice loader for lifting.
Limited budget here, need to buy used. I won't sell what I have, Sentimental value to me.
What should I look for?

 

[Zork]

Hello! Definitely 4wd; however, you may have a problem finding it in gas. IMHO, If your fuel is good and the glow plugs work you should not have a problem starting a diesel in the cold weather, especially with a block heater. There are some reviews that the members from TBN have posted here. I like what I have, and I'm sure you will receive similar opinions. Good luck.

 

[chuck172]

I'll be needing it to start up and run for short periods in the winter. I think gas engines are more suited for that.
I'd like to modify my 8' western plow to work off the loader for snowplowing. My F-250 isn't reliable enough.

 

[flusher]

I need help deciding on a tractor. I now have a diesel 71 ford 4500 tlb. An 8n. A rusting out 89' F-250 4wd. with a western plow.
I need to do quite a bit of firewood cutting in my woods. I need to snowplow an 800 foot driveway. A big development is my knees are totally shot and I need a loader to lift grocery bags and things up to my deck. Right now my wife and I are having a ****-of-a-time climbing the steps.
I use the 8n for york raking the tlb for big jobs. I'm thinking 4wd. for the woods and logging, gas powered for easy starting in the winter, and a nice loader for lifting.
Limited budget here, need to buy used. I won't sell what I have, Sentimental value to me.
What should I look for?

For jobs in the woods, I'd look for a tractor in the 30-40 hp range that has good ground clearance. 5-10 years old. Kubota, Deere, Mahindra are possibilities.

 

[chuck172]

How will they do pushing a heavy snowplow and lifting say 10' with the loader?

 

[flyingcow]

You got to look up the specs of theses tractors. My TN75 will lift just under 10ft, but it's a 75hp machine. this tractor is a taller machine than a 40hp model. i don't know if they would go that high. When you put my FEL up to max height, the bucket is over the hood a little

I'd look at a dumb waiter of some sorts, no need to start a tractor to lift groceries up onto the deck. And, you're going to hit the deck eventually, and have to repair it. You'll use a dumb waiter more than you'd ever realize.

Where do you live and how much snowfall you get yearly. And whats the depth of an average storm?

 

[chuck172]

I'm in N.E. Pa. We can get quite a bit of snow. I did look into a dumb waiter for the deck. I'm leaning towards a loader. I can keep the tractor parked next to the deck when not in use and just load and start it and lift when needed.
My loader on the 4500 goes real high, I'm surprised yours doesn't. Maybe a tractor won't work for me. I'd have to have it lift aprox. 9' high to clear the deck rail.

 

[Gary Fowler]

You are going to need a very large tractor to get your 9 foot lift. My 72 HP LS model P 7010 Ag tractor shows 11.3 feet but in the 38 hP compact you only get 7.5 feet max height and 47 Hp gets you 9.5. You are getting into the maximum HP range for the CUT tractors to get to the 9 feet height you need. NOTE this is all data from the LS website, but I would expect similar lift heights from the other brands also. If you have a regular backhoe with FEL then it will get more lift than a tractor

 

[chuck172]

I didn't realize that, thanks. I could modify my deck and make the rail into a gate. That way 7 feet or so would do it.

 

[bigbull338]

my MX5100 HST will lift the loader 10ft.

 

[TripleR]

Good luck finding what you need for the price you can afford. I would personally check with a local contractor or medical supply house to see about getting something to fit your needs.

I am in somewhat the same situation as you and built my house accordingly. I will still someday have to have a chair lift to get into my basement though as I can't get through the door on my ATV.:laughing:

 

[Zork]

Check the TBN Classifieds and Classified by Private Party. 4WD is a necessity; do they make a 4WD gasser? I guess you could always install a winch.

 

[crazyal]

Have you thought about getting a rear mount snow blower? I've seen used ones go for a reasonable price. Snow blowers are not as fast and you need to remove larger stones or you'll break shear pins but you can get away with a smaller tractor and maybe less expensive.

 

[chuck172]

I'd rather go with a plow, I have a shale driveway.
I didn't realize that most 4wd.s were diesel.

 

[jake98]

A roofers' power ladder is a good light-weight lift, they are rated at about 200#. You can get them w/electric motors. Mine's a Safe-t-hoist, I think.

This is the one I use: http://www.laddersource.com/RoofLadder.html

 

[lucky llama]

4 wheel drive is great. It will also help if you ever decide to sell.Once you become acustomed to diesel you should prefer it to gas. With bad knees a hydrostatic transmission would be nice.

 

[chuck172]

My wife thinks we should get some kind of dumb waiter like that hoist. I'd rather get a tractor with a loader.
I'd go with another diesel if I have to. The only reasons for gas is cold weather starting and short running times. Modern diesels have come a long way. I'm used to my 40 year old ford 4500.

 

[TripleR]

My wife thinks we should get some kind of dumb waiter like that hoist. I'd rather get a tractor with a loader.
I'd go with another diesel if I have to. The only reasons for gas is cold weather starting and short running times. Modern diesels have come a long way. I'm used to my 40 year old ford 4500.

Your wife may well be onto something there as I really don't believe you will get the right size tractor for the right amount of money for that.

Now as far as I can tell, there certainly isn't anything that says you can have a tractor and a lift.

Modern diesels have come a long way and while we have gas and diesels, I much prefer the diesels and it is next to impossible to find a gas engine in a 4WD with a loader anymore anyway.

As someone with knee and other problems, I have had to go over to HST and Hydraulic Shuttle Shift on tractors. It is a real bear to use anything else anymore though I can do it for a short periods of time.

Good luck in your quest.