Want to upgrade tractor; 160 acres in KY

[exiled cheesehead]

Thanks to everyone that have posted their opinions so far. I appreciate the feedback as a few points have been brought up that I hadn't thought of yet. In regards to the hp needed to bushhog, I have been told by 2 dealers (one JD and other Case IH) that if one wants to go to a 15' batwing, one should have 95 hp at the pto, while 75 hp at the pto should be sufficient to run a 10' pull behind (JD MX10 etc.). As I really want to get away from bushhogging for 4-5 straight days at a time with my little 5 ft 3-pt model, I assume I should get at least 75 hp. I do agree with the post that if one gets too big of a tractor, it will be more difficult to use it in the woods. So, I am looking for something more compact than lets say a Farmall 70 (Case IH), which is a nice tractor, but is quite tall and would mean I would have to expand my trails in the woods (which are really logging roads not trails) so it wouldn't be constantly be hitting low overhanging limbs.

I view the purchase of this tractor as something I will do once (maybe twice if I'm lucky or win the lottery) in my lifetime, so I am trying to get it "right" and get one that will cover all my needs.

So, again thanks for the all the posts and keep them coming as I will be spending some time making this decision and the more information I can digest, the better.

 

[Ken45101]

The general rule of thumb is 5 pto hp minimum per foot of rotary cutter. I think 50 pto hp would be okay for most situations with a 10' cutter, and certainly enough for an 8'.

Of course it depends on how thick the stuff is that you are mowing and how fast you want to go, or how far you are willing to gear down. I have a 15' batwing Bush Hog on a Kubota M9540 and it does fine in heavy grass and 8' weeds, but I am down to running in 2nd or 3rd gear for the really heavy stuff. But my plan with the new 15' cutter is to be able to get to the fields before they get 8' high! It zips along as fast as I want to go when the grass is only 1-2' high.

However....just this afternoon I was out with the M9540 and 15' cutter doing some of my trails. I had to cut down a few trees to get through, even with the wings raised. A 3 pt cutter moves to the outside of a turn, letting you get around obstacles more easily. A tow behind cutter wants to cut all the turns short and therefore needs a lot straighter or wider trails.

The batwing is great for taking care of the weeds that hang over a trail. But it's not really a good cutter for in the woods work. I'll be going out with my M5040 and 6' cutter to finish up.

Ken

Thanks to everyone that have posted their opinions so far. I appreciate the feedback as a few points have been brought up that I hadn't thought of yet. In regards to the hp needed to bushhog, I have been told by 2 dealers (one JD and other Case IH) that if one wants to go to a 15' batwing, one should have 95 hp at the pto, while 75 hp at the pto should be sufficient to run a 10' pull behind (JD MX10 etc.). As I really want to get away from bushhogging for 4-5 straight days at a time with my little 5 ft 3-pt model, I assume I should get at least 75 hp. I do agree with the post that if one gets too big of a tractor, it will be more difficult to use it in the woods. So, I am looking for something more compact than lets say a Farmall 70 (Case IH), which is a nice tractor, but is quite tall and would mean I would have to expand my trails in the woods (which are really logging roads not trails) so it wouldn't be constantly be hitting low overhanging limbs.

I view the purchase of this tractor as something I will do once (maybe twice if I'm lucky or win the lottery) in my lifetime, so I am trying to get it "right" and get one that will cover all my needs.

So, again thanks for the all the posts and keep them coming as I will be spending some time making this decision and the more information I can digest, the better.

 

[exiled cheesehead]

Thanks to everyone for their posts on what tractor to buy for my 160 acres.

It took me over 6 months to pull the trigger, but I finally did earlier this month. I now have a new JD 5525 ROPs, 4WD, with 563 loader (with 3rd function mid-mount SCV installed, plumbed, and ready to go) sitting in the shed. I started looking around my area earlier this year and found a dealer with this new 2008 JD sitting on his lot. He was ready to deal as he had been paying interest on this machine for about 2 years. After the dust settled from the negotiations over several days, I purchased the tractor/loader in a cash deal for 75% of MSRP. So, I do believe I got a good price. The tractor now has 14 hours on it after a couple of weeks of use.

I have used the tractor with my heavy bog disk and it pulls it without much effort. The dealer told me that the tractor/loader with the filled reared tires should be around 9,200 lbs, so it has the weight for ground engaging work.

Now, I am getting ready to buy all the other "toys" to go with it: Grapple, bush hog, logging winch.

I am pleased.

Pics will follow.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

That is nice. You are ready to hit the ground running it sounds.

 

[jenkinsph]

Sounds like a good tractor at a good price.:thumbsup:
I would do some looking for good used cat 2 implements as they seem to be a better price point than cat 1 implements. Probably because the demand is high for the smaller stuff. At any rate this tractor is large enough to get some work done, enjoy it.