Used tractor buying?

[smittyinsc]

Bought a little over ten acres of land two years ago from Westvaco. It was cut and replanted with pine trees. It now has lots of underbrush and pines that are about 5-8 feet tall, and lots of deep ruts from the skid loaders. I want to clear the land and get it ready to build on; my question is (are) looking at a used tractor (30-40 hp) to do this with, 4 WD, and was wondering if this would be sufficient enough. My used question is, do tractors have an estimated amount of hours that they should have on any given year (cars they say 15,000 miles a year)? Just would like to get something to go by when I am looking. Thanks, smittyinsc.

 

[kevincook]

smittyinsc,

I'm not really sure I understand the question. 15,000miles per year for a car? Don't tell anyone, I must be abusing mine then, I've cut back to 30,000 per year /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

The best estimate that I have heard is that you should expect about 5,000 hours on a well maintained tractor before a major overhaul. Some people manage to ruin their tractor in half that and some people manage to get double that out of their machine.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[robison]

Residential tractors often see very little use, you you may see a 10-year-old unit with 2-300 hours.

Farm and commercial tractors often have much higher usage, sometimes upwards of 1,000 hours per year.

A commercial units that was well cared for may be in good shape at 5,000 hours. A residential unit may have been seriously neglected and be badly damaged at 150 hours.

So you need to look carefully at what you're buying.

 

[SWB]

I would look into hiring someone to clear the land since you not only have to cut the trees but also remove stumps and level and possibly add fill. Once that is done, you may be able to get by with a totally different tractor or get a smaller, newer model. Where are you in SC?

 

[kevincook]

SWB,

Good point. If I had that much land to clear I would hire a bulldozer for a few days or a week. It is the right tool for the job.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[tjkadar]

An track hoe often does a better job with less soil disturbance when it comes to clearing land. With trees that small, a bigger tractor with a heavy duty brush cutter might be able to knock the trees down to size fairly easily. Or maybe even a chipper type device (they are built in Charleston and I think there is one in Blythewood).

What kind of time frame are you looking at in which to accomplish your project. The faster you want to do it, the bigger the machine needed.

 

[flusher]

My neighbor takes care of his 6 acres with a 50HP (42HP PTO) New Holland 3010, 1996 vintage, that he picked up earlier this year for around $11K.

He bought a wicked John Deere 3pt soil ripper about 6 ft wide and cleared the brush from his parcel in less than a day. He didn't need a rotary cutter (brush hog) since there were no saplings on his place.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

30 to 40 HP, especially being 4WD would be more than adaquate for 10 acres. USed being a relative term, used HOW?

My father farmed over 300 acres with a 32 HP tractor. Never needed more. Today, HP equates to speed. speed = time. Time = money. People THINK they need mega-power tractors for small acreage.

I've seen 1 year old tractors with 2000 hours. I've seen 30 year old ones with 250. I've worked on tractors with 100 hours that were trashed. The 32 HP tractor that dad farmed with? It's 51 years old, has 17,000 hours, and is still working for a living. (With only minor repairs so far) Each tractor needs to be judged on a one-at-a-time basis.

The "standard" for farm tractors I've always gone by is 400 hours per year average. Seems to still work OK.

I'd rather buy a good USED tractor, and avoid the big price hit. THEN spend the difference on implements to make that tractor PRODUCTIVE.

JMHO---------------

 

[DrewL]

I'd rather buy a good USED tractor, and avoid the big price hit. THEN spend the difference on implements to make that tractor PRODUCTIVE.



if you can find one. . Buying a used tractor is a good plan but patience is required . Good used tractors seem to be few and far between. I'm all for a used machine but gave up on a search because they were too far away, too many hours, to close to the price of a new one ect ect ect.

 

[SteveM]

keep in mind that the 51 yr old 32hp tractor mentioned early has little in common with a modern 32hp compact. Old tractors had big bore gas engines, with lots of torque; and the tractor had a lot of weight to get work done. Many of these new compacts are very light, and the hp is achieved at high rpm which doesnt deliver the torque. My 9n and a Massey diesel compact had the same hp on paper, but the 9n had twice the displacement and could pull way more in terms of plowing soil.

 

[DrewL]

Many are lightweights but not all. You are right though, weight does need to be considered and matched to the tasks when buying

 

[Farmwithjunk]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( keep in mind that the 51 yr old 32hp tractor mentioned early has little in common with a modern 32hp compact. Old tractors had big bore gas engines, with lots of torque; and the tractor had a lot of weight to get work done. Many of these new compacts are very light, and the hp is achieved at high rpm which doesnt deliver the torque. My 9n and a Massey diesel compact had the same hp on paper, but the 9n had twice the displacement and could pull way more in terms of plowing soil. )</font>

Exactly my point. To me, "new" represents anything less than 20 years old. The 50 year old tractor that are around now will STILL be plugging away 25 years on down the road. TODAYS new generation of tractors will be lucky to see another 10 years IMHO.

Also, those tractors of yesteryear were models that stayed in production for 10-15-even 20 years. Todays crop will change designs every few months. What about parts availability in 20 years. With little commonality in parts, who's to say they won't be deadlined over a $.20 gasket that isn't available anymore.

 

[DrewL]

TODAYS new generation of tractors will be lucky to see another 10 years IMHO.



I wouldn't go that far but do use the attributes of an older tractor when looking for your machine