Tractor Spec. Question

[Arkie1940]

Right off the bat - I know next to nothing about tractors. I am on an airport commission. We have 4 levels of grounds maintenance, lawn mowing (Woods ZTR), brush hogging, hay making (by others), and uncleared woods. We presently have a Massey-Ferguson 255 (50HP?) that we use with a 10 foot brush hog for the brush hogging level. It is on its last legs. If it was a horse, someone would have already taken it out and put it out of its misery. We are going to be going out for bids to purchase a new tractor. What do we need? Primary application is the 10 foot brush hog. We are also considering getting a power broom/street sweeper attachment and a front loader. The power broom would be for sweeping taxiways and ramp (aircraft parking) areas. The front loader would be for very occasional clearing of drainage ditches and possibly occasional cargo loading assistance (fork lift type use). We are also considering adding an enclosure with air conditioning for the operator (How much HP does the Air Conditioning compressor drag off?). The primary question is what size (Horse Power) tractor should we be looking for. The present tractor has two wheel drive and I'm assuming that that is what we need. Any thoughts on that? Any other thoughts and recommendations?

 

[RoyJackson]

For Deere:
Look at the 4xxx series or the 5xxx series. I'm not sure you can get mid PTO to drive that broom on the 5xxx series machines though. These machines range from 40 to over 50 HP.
May as well stick with 2WD since it worked well with your Massey. The only caveat to that would be if you ever need to plow snow.

 

[Arkie1940]

Snow isn't a worry in our location.

 

[sandman2234]

TractorData.com - information on all makes and models of tractors

For your Massey
TractorData.com - Massey Ferguson 255

I would consider a blower for clearing the runways and parking lots, if you have room to blow it to where it won't be blown into the intakes and the operator has a little common sense.. Probably faster than a broom and less upkeep.
For ocassional work like clearing a ditch, I wouldn't think a loader would be the best choice as a loader usually doesn't dig much below ground level by more than a few inches. I would think renting a back hoe would be better.
Cabs are great if you have one, but don't have one here so I will skip that.
The links should help determining your horsepower uses.
David from jax
I am a former Arkie, SW corner. Where are you at?

 

[GreenWannabe]

Arkie, since the airport commission is presumably a government agency, you might want to talk to your street or road department. They use tractors all the time, and probably have preferences for both tractors and attachments and could give you a lot of information. In addition, you may be eligible for buying through a local or state or even GSA contract that could help reduce your cost. At least it would give you another source of information you could use to come up to speed.

In addition to compact and utility tractors, you might want to consider a utility machine like the Bobcat Toolcat. There is a forun here for that machine as well as tractors.

I've also found Muhammad Chishti's book, "Compact Tractor Buying & Basics" a good source of information that will give you much more familiarization. It is written by the moderator of TractorByNet (TBN) and is available for sale on TBN in pdf format.

 

[Arkie1940]

I am a former Arkie, SW corner. Where are you at?

Arkansas River Valley, Russellville.

 

[Arkie1940]

For your Massey
TractorData.com - Massey Ferguson 255

I had been there. It doesn't give engine horse power. Ratioing up from the PTO-HP and other tractor's specs, I assume the engine must be around 65HP.

The main concern with sweeping is getting rid of gravel. Propellers and gravel don't mix. There is sort of a vortex off of the tip of each prop blade. One blade will suck up a piece of gravel off of the ground and the next blade will hit it. The resulting ding in the prop does not make plane owners happy. We have used a sweeper service that did shopping center parking lots and that sort of thing. It was a vacuum machine and didn't pick up the gravel. A plain powered broom does the job and the combination rotary broom and vacuum rigs do the job. I don't know if a blower would or not. We would have to find one to demo.

We can get a backhoe from the county for heavier digging. I guess what I was thinking of for the front loader was more where the ground has been graded for runoff and that has gradually silted up over the years. They are sort of a broad very shallow ditches that can still be mowed.

 

[Arkie1940]

Arkie, since the airport commission is presumably a government agency, you might want to talk to your street or road department.

In addition to compact and utility tractors, you might want to consider a utility machine like the Bobcat Toolcat. There is a forun here for that machine as well as tractors.

I've also found Muhammad Chishti's book, "Compact Tractor Buying & Basics" a good source of information that will give you much more familiarization. It is written by the moderator of TractorByNet (TBN) and is available for sale on TBN in pdf format.

I am getting in contact with the street department and the Parks and Rec. Dept. We (the airport) belong to the city but are a separate entity. We do try to co-operate and co-ordinate with the city departments as much as we can. I'll be checking our your other suggestions also. Thanks

 

[BTDT]

Welcome to TBN arkie. Just curious. Is the MF shot due to operator abuse (like a piece of rental equipment), or is it worn out due to high hours? Will it be auctioned off? Good luck with your equipment search.

Something that might work would be a construction type air compressor (Leroi 185 or larger) on a truck with piping across front near runway with holes pointed down and forward. These compressors make a lot of air that would blow gravel around. You could angle it to the side (like a snowplow) to blow gravel off to the side.

 

[JerryG]

You have to be careful using Tractordata.com. I have found a lot of mistakes on that site. You can't ever tell which numbers are right and which ones are wrong. I still use it from time to time.

 

[JerryG]

I went and checked 6 or 7 tractors on Tractordata which I knew had mistakes before. They have corrected most of them. There was just 2 of the 5 or 6 mistakes still there. Someone has sure been working to get things updated correctly. Good for them.

 

[sandman2234]

Those little ditches aren't like those "little mountains" you have around that area, are they? I went up to Harrison to pick up a bandsaw and missed the exit for Hwy 65 out of Conway, so I just kept going and took Hwy 7 out of Russellville. Sure glad it was daylight and I was empty cause that is one winding road with no room for error.
Back to the topic at hand.
I have a Steiner with the smaller of the two blowers offered and it will move pretty much any item that a large backpack type of leaf blower will move, except I get to sit down while doing it. ( allowing for more ground to be covered comfortably)I have seen but never used the larger pto blowers for tractors and figured one of them would move as much or more air than my Steiner (however RPM is lower on the tractor model). Might be worth investigating. If the volume of air is there, but not the pressure to move the gravel, a simple slit type of reduction nosecone would probably "aim" the air and allow for it to move larger rocks and such.
I know there are some pretty good sized rocks out there, which is the reason for my concern, as my Steiner moves everything in it's path here.
David from jax

 

[Arkie1940]

Welcome to TBN arkie. Just curious. Is the MF shot due to operator abuse (like a piece of rental equipment), or is it worn out due to high hours? Will it be auctioned off?

It was bought used several years ago with no time history (new hour meter). In my opinion, it wasn't a good deal even then. The front end fell out from under it shortly after it was bought. I just had leaks in the fuel tank repaired (crack and pitting) . The tank mounting bracket was broken due to vibration. Steering is very sloppy. Some previous repairs have been crude band aids. It gets used a lot during the grass growing season but only for brush hogging on fairly smooth ground. We haven't dealt with how to dispose of it. Possibly as trade in on the new one.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The TL series from New Holland would do what you want. They can be had in 2wd or FWA, cab or open station and plenty of options to set it up the way you want. The front broom would most likely be hydraulic if you are going with a similar setup the road crews have here. If you don't want to remove the loader (if you get the loader) you should be able to get a skid steer style of front broom to mount on the quick attach loader as well as forks also to make changing loader implements a breeze.

Hp wise, the pto hp is the main number you want to look at. Brush choppers and such list how much PTO hp is required to operate them. Either way, the TL series would easily run a 10' brush chopper and do everything you want.

New Holland also has the TD-D series which is a little more basic then the TL but is a solid tractor and considerably more affordable then the TL if price is a concern.

The largest TN is about the same as the 255 you currently have and will do the job also but the TL would be better suited for it.

I would stay away from a compact though for your use, they can not take the heavy use as well as the utility class machines can. I do know of an airport that uses New Holland TC's to taxi planes around but that is basically all they do.

Case-IH has the same models of tractors as New Holland does but in red paint so it gives you some options as far as dealers go.

Deere has the 5000 series which is the same size roughly as your massey but I think the 6000 series John Deere would be a better choice over the 5000 because of the extra chores you are planning for this machine.

If you do go with a loader, the larger frame tractors will allow you to stay with a 2wd while a smaller tractor would want FWA to work the loader easily.

 

[Arkie1940]

Those little ditches aren't like those "little mountains" you have around that area, are they? I went up to Harrison to pick up a bandsaw and missed the exit for Hwy 65 out of Conway, so I just kept going and took Hwy 7 out of Russellville. Sure glad it was daylight and I was empty cause that is one winding road with no room for error.

Highway 7 between Hot Spriings and Harrison is "interesting" to say the least. Our "mountains" aren't very tall (highest point in the state is only around 2700ft) but they can make for some pretty challenging roads.

 

[Bird]

Highway 7 between Hot Spriings and Harrison is "interesting" to say the least. Our "mountains" aren't very tall (highest point in the state is only around 2700ft) but they can make for some pretty challenging roads.

Last month was 32 years since I drove that road in a little Winnebago Brave pulling an Opel Cadet. Sure was some pretty country. Too bad Dogpatch USA isn't there anymore. Is the trout farm still there?

 

[sandman2234]

Anyone have any experience with those big pto blowers? My Steiner works great but the drive that powers it is running a lot faster than 540 which might make a difference.
I learned to drive in the Ozarks, so those roads aren't new to me, just been hanging around Florida too much to be used to them anymore.
David from jax

 

[Arkie1940]

Winner of the bid process was John Deere. We are getting a 5325 with cab, FEL and economizer PTO.

One local dealer turned in the bid paper work but forgot to put a price on it. Another showed up a couple of days after bids were due in to pick up the bid specs and find out when they were due back.

In a separate parallel bidding process, John Deere also won out bidding a 997 ZTrak ZTR mower.

 

[john_bud]

Good machines, you will have many years of trouble free work out of them.

jb

 

[sandman2234]

How did you decide to go, with a broom or a blower? Just wondering how it all works out.
David from jax