Tractor Recommendations 41 acres of bottom land?

H20Buffalo4Sale · Aug 10, 2004

I recently purchased 41 acres of bottom land and I want to buy a used tractor to work it. I am not sure what size tractor to get. I know that because it is bottom land (floods) that I want a 4WD. 14 acres of the property is wooded with wetlands and a 600 foot long raised driveway topped with concrete washout that leads to my new home on a nearly 10 foot high housepad. The other 27 acres is weed infested rows that up until this year grew crops. Primarily I want to have a tractor to maintain the driveway and a 27 acre pasture, but it would also be nice to be able to use it to work dirt to add to my housepad. I am thinking 35 to 50HP with FEL, box blade, and bush hog. Is ~35HP way too small? Is 50HP even big enough? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I have limited funds. My wife has suggested that we go to some auctions to find a tractor. Suggestions?

froggy · Aug 10, 2004

For auctions, you might want to try this site:
http://www.mitchell-bourland.com/auction.html

Mitchell & Bourland have auctions in Abbott, Texas. The website shows the schedule.

You might want to look at Washington County Tractor in Brenham. www.wctractor.com They seem to have a lot of used equipment.

Also Lansdowne Moody in Houston. www.lansdowne-moody.com

It would help to know your budget.

grandad · Aug 10, 2004

I'm thinking your biggest challenge is finding the right tractor to cut that 27 acres several times a year. The bigger the brush cutter, the more horsepower you need. A 35 hp tractor is sufficient for a 6' cutter; you'd want something with 50 hp and up if you want a larger mower (say 7' or more).

If it is overgrown, the first couple of mowings will be a real chore until you knock it back, but after that it becomes a matter of how much time you want to spend each time you mow. With a 6' bush hog, for example, you can usually mow up to 2 acres per hour, depending on conditions, so you'd have maybe 13-15 hours of mowing each time.

A used 2 WD ag tractor would give you the hp to run a bigger mower, but used MFWD (4-wheel drive) tractors in the 75-100 hp range are not cheap. You might find a used 2 WD with duals on the rear for a more reasonable price.

If you go the used route, it helps if you have some mechanical ability so you don't have to rely on the local dealer for any and all repairs.

One more idea... if you can find out who farmed the land previously, they would know something about what kind of equipment was needed to operate on it (4 WD, etc.)

texbaylea · Aug 10, 2004

Go to www.countryworldnews.com. They publish 3 weekly editions that cover east Texas north to south. Good source of ads for equipment dealers, auction and animal sales. You can also get on an auction alert e-mail list that may be useful to you. Good luck in your search for the right tractor.

Vernon

froggy · Aug 11, 2004

Interesting site. Thanks for posting it.

Degree · Aug 11, 2004

A little diesel horsepower goes a long way. I suggest checking out a Kubota espcially from Lansdowne-Moody, nothing but great service. Take a look at the Grand L series from Kubota model 3430 and 3830 with the glideshift transmission(This is an awesome transmission, no clutching required for gear changes! 8 forward and reverse.). Another good model is the B7800 and is 30hp and can handle a 7 foot mower. This last option is a little more expensive but its the L35 landscape loader from Kubota, own one and love it.

ByronBob · Aug 11, 2004

When you say limited what are you talking about? 10,000 or 20,000. It will make it easier to offer options up to you. The problem is 5,000 for a 40-50hp tractor is a needle in the haystack so limited really limits the comments.

texbaylea · Aug 11, 2004

degree

My new L3130HST came from Lansdowne-Moody and so far I have nothing but good words for them. I ordered 3 remotes to support a bucket grapple and a tree shear unit and they did a great job in setting up the hydraulic plumbing.

Vernon

MFL · Aug 11, 2004

I own a Kubota B7800, and while I will be the first to say what a great tractor it is, I have to respectfully disagree with your assertion that it would run a 7 ft. bush hog. I have a 6 ft. and have mowed my in-laws 50 acres 4 times since I've had the tractor. I'm sure that I wouldn't want to get into some of the terrain I've been on with anything larger hanging back there. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Technically it would work, but after some of my real-world experiences, I wouldn't advise it. I think it's a good rule-of-thumb to size your equipment so that it works most of the time in the middle or upper-middle range of it's capacity. Saves the equipment and cuts down on the pucker factor. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That said, I would look at the used market for a tractor in the 40-60 hp range. Here in GA there is a pretty big choice of late model used tractors from the big three (four, five, etc) to chose from. As always, do your homework, use this (TBN) tremendous resource, and make an INFORMED decision.

Last thing. Be careful at auctions. I'm not knocking them, but depending on the seller and the situation, they can be a real pig-in-a-poke sort of thing. I've always been partial to hunting out individual sellers who have owned and used the equipment they're selling.

Good luck with your choice and keep us posted! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

frank_f15 · Aug 11, 2004

i will agree with grandad, 27 acres is a lot of cutting so u want the biggest cutter u can handel. Being a notherener /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif what actually is weed infested rows?