What 4 wheel drive tractor do we need?

[nwngunner]

Your going to want to go big or go home. A 12foot cutter takes alot of power. You might be able to get away with an older farm tractor with a good set of duels. I know i have a good size 6foot round baler and it is all my 806 wants to do to tug it around all day. I run a 9foot sickle bar cutter and that isnt so bad to pull, how ever on the side hills it does like to pull me down hill.

 

[AKfish]

A 1070 isn't going to pull a 12' disc mower....

They need a tractor that size based on the equipment they are pulling with it. The disc mower they are using is pretty big center pivot model which needs a substantial tractor. We are making about 100ac of hay and use 45hp, 65hp and 95hp tractors, but our equipment is smaller too (8' disc mower, 4x4' round baler)

To the OP, you should be looking for something with a minimum of 100 PTO hp. I'd personally want 120-150hp to really handle that mower well.

the 8000 series Allis Chalmers were great tractors and could be had at a reasonable price. Something like an 8010, 8030 or 8050 would give plenty of power and weight, and most of them had a 12spd powershift transmission, which is really nice for field work.

Come on... a 1070 Case would do it!! :laughing:

No experience with the 8000 series AC's. Hope they solved the rear end problems like AC had with the old XT's!

Agree with your overall assessment. Their sights are set way too low and the money committed is not nearly enough for the kinds of work they've outlined.

AKfish

 

[RoyJackson]

Come on... a 1070 Case would do it!! :laughing:

No experience with the 8000 series AC's. Hope they solved the rear end problems like AC had with the old XT's!

Agree with your overall assessment. Their sights are set way too low and the money committed is not nearly enough for the kinds of work they've outlined.

AKfish

He's right about the Deere 1070 though...I didn't realize how mch power that mower requires. I based my suggestion strictly upon the dollar amount they have to spend...

 

[Verticaltrx]

Come on... a 1070 Case would do it!! :laughing:

No experience with the 8000 series AC's. Hope they solved the rear end problems like AC had with the old XT's!

Agree with your overall assessment. Their sights are set way too low and the money committed is not nearly enough for the kinds of work they've outlined.

AKfish

The 8000 series AC's were a pretty good package. My Uncle who farmed several hundred acres in IL used an 8030 2wd, 8050 4wd, and 8070 4wd, all with the 12sp power shift. All of them had close to 10,000hrs by the time he retired and no major problems with any of them. He kept the 8030 which he still uses today for hay making. It's probably getting close to 12,000hrs now I'd guess. I have run all three of those extensively during the five summers I worked there. Great tractors for the money IMO.


I agree on the budget. If I were in their shoes I'd sell the 12' disc mower for a few thousand, and put that money towards a nice 60-80hp tractor. With the proper sized mower that would be plenty for the size operation they are running.

 

[AKfish]

He's right about the Deere 1070 though...I didn't realize how mch power that mower requires. I based my suggestion strictly upon the dollar amount they have to spend...

Yep.. they can't get where they wanna go with either the money or the present equipment. Gonna have to make a readjustment - somewhere.

As Verticaltrx offered - sell that big disc mower and downsize to a smaller mower and mid-sized tractor would be a better approach.

AKfish

 

[PapaPerk]

We/re looking for a 4 wheel drive tractor. It will be primarily used for mowing & bailing hay. Our mower is a GEHL 2412 which weighs around 3 ton's. We have some pretty pitchy hillsides and when the ground is wet it's "slimy" because there is soooo much clay in our soil. Eventually we would like to get a front loader for the tractor because we're overworking our Farmall Super "M" to move and feed our round bales. The bales weigh between 600 & 800/lbs. We would like to stay RED but a John Deere would work for us just as well. The big issue is we have a budget of only $13,000. We're a very small (80 acres) family farm and obviously on a tight budget. Any suggestions?

What are you pulling that big mower with now?! Certainly something bigger than the Farmall. :laughing:

At your budget you may need to loose the 6,000 lbs mower and buy something sized for the $13,000 tractor. That also seems to be the general consensus on here. You should be able to get a nice tractor for that price... but buying a tractor at that price that can handle that big hoss mower might be difficult.

 

[rambler]

You can find the power you need in your price range, but finding something that big with 4wd is not very realistic in this farm ecconomy. Used farm tractors are selling at a premium the past year or 2.

Oliver/White had some good series that sell for bargin prices, I wouldn't be afraid of them for a budget operation. But for hay making, you need something that can get serviced and parts quickly, so that might limit you back to the Red machines if you have a good dealer there.

Normally I'd say you don't need 4wd for what you are doing these are not compact tractors they are well balasted farm tractors, but if you want a loader to move bales & manure, and have squirrely hills, then you might well need the 4wd. But - that 4wd adds a good $5000 to your base machine, think you need to work out a new budget of $18-20,000 for the tractor, or as suggested trade in the mower for a smaller one to fix your dollar needs.

--->Paul

 

[tessiers]

A friend of mine tried a 13 foot disc mower behind an 85 hp 4x4 tractor and was sadly let down. I would stick with a 100 hp+. A 100 hp tractor, even 2 wheel drive will move all the round bales you can make. I like the International 1086, he has a White 2-110 that works pretty good when she starts, JD 4440 was a good tractor. Currently he is using a JD 7400 2 wheel drive and that is about maxed out on hills. As far as I am concerned your mower is going to dictate your tractor.

 

[D7E]

Tractors are out there at the right money ..i bought this last year for $9'000 on consignment in a MF dealer .

 

[AKfish]

Tractors are out there at the right money ..i bought this last year for $9'000 on consignment in a MF dealer .

Nice lookin' rig! And for $9K; that's a d@mn beautiful rig! :laughing: Just curious, how many hours?

AKfish