Buying Advice What should I use to mow 5 acres?

[JCCinOhio]

Hello,

We just bought a 10 acre lot, about 5 acres is tall grass and we plan to let the deer & rabbits have that. So that leaves us a maximum of 5 to cut (there's a small pond, the house, a few barns, road). Assuming we are going to cut this 5 acres, what would be the best type to do the job? Terrain is somewhat hilly, maybe a 20-25 degree slope in areas. Would also like to be able to move snow in the winter, maybe light scraping to smooth out the driveway, and eventually some small gardening (say a 300 sqft garden or two). I was looking at the JD x530, but supposedly they only go up to 5 acres so I'd be maxing it out? Under $8000 is my goal.. also would like to minimize seat time.. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks. John

 

[gauthier]

My little 15 year old sears lawnmower will mow 5 acres[just take you awhile],,,so don't think you would be maxing out that super deere lawnmower,[figured one of them cost more than 8 grand].

What you need is a 20-30 hp desil 4wd tractor and a moderately priced lawn mower,but 8 grand won't buy that unless you get used,,,now if it was just mowing,but you want to move snow and till or plow so it gets harder for 8 grand.

 

[sweettractors]

Hello,

We just bought a 10 acre lot, about 5 acres is tall grass and we plan to let the deer & rabbits have that. So that leaves us a maximum of 5 to cut (there's a small pond, the house, a few barns, road). Assuming we are going to cut this 5 acres, what would be the best type to do the job? Terrain is somewhat hilly, maybe a 20-25 degree slope in areas. Would also like to be able to move snow in the winter, maybe light scraping to smooth out the driveway, and eventually some small gardening (say a 300 sqft garden or two). I was looking at the JD x530, but supposedly they only go up to 5 acres so I'd be maxing it out? Under $8000 is my goal.. also would like to minimize seat time.. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks. John

Have you considered a used Grey Market compact tractor with a rear finish mower? Ken Sweet

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:
The Deere X7xx in diesel and All-wheel-steer would be my choice if buying new.

But a used Deere 455 with around 500 hours, AWS for around $5500 give or take would be my ideal choice.

supposedly they only go up to 5 acres...

is only a suggestion and as mentioned a push mower will mow 5 acres (I'm glad those days are over and gone ).

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would say that a used 20-25 hp diesel 4WD with FEL would suit you fine. Something like a JD 750 (19 HP) or similar is plenty big for what you are needing. They can pull a 4 or 5 foot rotary mower or a 72" rear finish mower if you want a smoother cut. I have a larger yard and I bush hog part of it and mow the stuff closer to the house. While sitting on my porch from 100 feet or so out(which is where I start bushhogging ), you cant tell lawnmower yard from bushhogged yard. I dont cut it really close anyway due to those pesky rocks that rise up every winter. Bush hog busts them up pretty good, but I think they would bust the lawnmower instead of the othe way around.
Switch out the RFM for a back scraper blade or box blade and the FEL / blade combo should clear snow pretty well. I just looked at Tractorhouse.com and there are several listed 4 wd with FEL for less than $8000 lots of Kubotas for around $5000

 

[Porkie]

I suggest any small compact tractor of between 15 to 25 HP, with a loader and if possible, 4WD. I believe most are Auto trans (HST) which is great for someone new to tractors.

If you look carefully, you can probably find some in your price range. They may be 10 years old or so but there are a lot of them that are that old but have few hours on them.

Most of them will power a 4 to 5 ft brush cutter also, if you decide to cut the other part of your property.

Sam

 

[Yandaddy1110]

Have you considered a used Grey Market compact tractor with a rear finish mower? Ken Sweet

I 2nd this suggestion. You can find one of these for well under 8k or even under 5k in 2wd or 4wd. Later,getting to know your property and needs, you may "fine tune"your tractor needs and get something bigger or smaller.

 

[LD1]

For starters, where abouts in ohio are ya neighbor???

Second, welcome to TBN.

On to business. A compact tractor like those that have already been mentioned will indeed do what you need them to. But the question is how much time do you want to spend doing it???

The JD x500 series and x700 series that have already been metioned would not be my choice if I had to mow 5 acres. Neither would they be my choice to move snow. But the key is they CAN do both.

However, with an 8k budget, Id be looking for a used commercial grade ZTR. They can be had in the 3-4k range in decient shape and will mow that 5 acres about twice as fast as anything else you will find. Probabally about 1.5-2 hours vs 3-4 hrs for anything else. I know there is no way I would want to mow 5 acres with anything other than a ZTR, but then again I HATE mowing.

For plowing, you have several options. If you have a 4x4 truck, you can throw a used plow on it for 1-1.5K range. And you will be nice and toasty when plowing. And you will still be under budget and can hire someone to grade the drive. Of just let the irst plowing of the winter take care of that.

How familiar are you with tractors and mechanics. Used older tractors line N fords, MF 35 series, etc can be had well under 5K with a backblade. That would solve your plowing and grading issue there. The they are older and WILL reqire some mechanics ffom time to time.

And while it would be nice to have a FEL, you didn't mentioned anything that would require one. And with some pretty good slopes, a novice operator can roll a tractor pretty easily with a load in the FEL.

You will get pleanty of peoples opinions on here, this is just mine. ZTR and a 4x4 truck with plow. After that, get an older peice of iron and have fun.

 

[flusher]

Hello,

We just bought a 10 acre lot, about 5 acres is tall grass and we plan to let the deer & rabbits have that. So that leaves us a maximum of 5 to cut (there's a small pond, the house, a few barns, road). Assuming we are going to cut this 5 acres, what would be the best type to do the job? Terrain is somewhat hilly, maybe a 20-25 degree slope in areas. Would also like to be able to move snow in the winter, maybe light scraping to smooth out the driveway, and eventually some small gardening (say a 300 sqft garden or two). I was looking at the JD x530, but supposedly they only go up to 5 acres so I'd be maxing it out? Under $8000 is my goal.. also would like to minimize seat time.. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks. John

How do you want to move snow--rear scraper blade? Front end loader (FEL)? Snow blower?

If you want the FEL, then an $8K budget gets you into the grey market tractor with FEL market (Yanmar, Iseki, Bolens, etc). You can find these tractors with Koyker FELs for $8K. Check the TBN forum on these tractors to get some idea of what's out there.

Then get yourself a $600 4-ft wide brush hog for mowing.

Just be very careful with these little tractors on slopes--they're pretty tippy.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

A serviceable old 2WD tractor (Massey Ferguson 35) with live power take off will do 90% of the work you need to do, and for a little money. I have put 600 hours on one over the last seven years with no major repairs. It originally cost $3400 CDN.

Buy a decent riding lawn mower for the rest of the work.

 

[houston burt]

If all your mowing and tending to is five acres there are still alot of older gas tractors out there that can get the job done easily for under your budget. i had a 76 ford 5000 gas burner that i put a back hoe on and dug the foundation and septic for my house plus removed may stumps with to

 

[567234ta]

This is what i used for 3 acres of field so im sure she could handle 5 acres.

LOL just joking, she did mow about 1.5 acres like that though with the pushmower.

 

[JCCinOhio]

I did forget to mention that my wife would be doing most of the mowing.. I'd do the other stuff ;-)..

LD-1 - Just outside of Wilmington around Ceasar Creek..

Thanks all for the suggestions. Nobody really said the x530 was a good choice, so have to rethink that.. Not sure I want to deal with a used tractor, just don't know what to look out for. I do have a 4WD Jeep, so maybe the snow removal can be done by that.. will keep looking..

 

[KU Gator]

When we bought our current home on 3 acres, I bought a JD GT245 from the previous owner. It has a 54" deck plus came with a snow blade. Frankly it did a pretty good job and generally met my needs for that property which is essentially a big yard with a 400' drive. I was able to clear the snow with the blade and chains on the tires. It takes about 2 hours to mow the 3 acres. I would say it is similar in size to the X530.

We then bought 11 acres that is about 1/2 grass and the rest woods and a small pond as recreational property. We mowed the areas that had previously been baled a few times with the little JD until we researched and bought the Kubota we now have. While able to mow what was already pretty tame, the JD245 would have been out matched if I got behind and would not have been able to tackle any of the rougher areas.

It will be difficult for you to see all the advantages of having one of the small CUTs until you have one, but they will be significant. And they are easy to drive, so your wife would have no problem operating one. While I understand the desire to stay in the budget of $8K, there are older used tractors out there and it is worth considering going ahead and getting a new tractor with the 0% financing. With resonable care, it is going to last a long time and hold its value. It will give you the versatility to add attachments later to maintain a drive such as a box blade, spray weeds, etc. As an example of the difference, taking the mower off the GT245 and putting the front blade on it was a couple of hours sitting in the garage with the manual and a bunch of tools. Taking the mower deck off the Kubota I have and putting the rear blade on it is no more than 10 minutes and no tools. If I used a rear mower instead of a MMM it would be less than that.

 

[cubcadet69]

keep it cheap.a good 50"lawn tractor and a 60"swisher tow behind is the hot set up

 

[jenkinsph]

If the lawn is mostly open I would recommend an X748 with 60" 7 iron deck from Deere. I would be very careful with any of the higher tractor profiles on the slopes you have mentioned. If the lawn is more congested the X749 may be a better alternative with AWS.

 

[doall]

I would suggest a commercial zero turn and a tractor later. No substitute.

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

I would suggest a commercial zero turn and a tractor later. No substitute.

I'd have to agree with you. Though you could buy them used to get to that goal quicker. I wouldn't want to mow that much without a ZTR.

 

[Carykong]

You have 10 acres but will leave 5 acres in tall grass for deer and game,right with little attention? I think you would still want to hog that patch,at least,once a year to keep it accessible and attractive. So we are talking 10 acres of attention not really 5. I managed nearly 40 acres with my old 1952 CASE tricycle and a 5' Howse brush cutter for several years before buying new CUT. Total cost of my CASE VAC and brush cutter was less than $2k.

 

[jenkinsph]

You have 10 acres but will leave 5 acres in tall grass for deer and game,right with little attention? I think you would still want to hog that patch,at least,once a year to keep it accessible and attractive. So we are talking 10 acres of attention not really 5. I managed nearly 40 acres with my old 1952 CASE tricycle and a 5' Howse brush cutter for several years before buying new CUT. Total cost of my CASE VAC and brush cutter was less than $2k.

Cary,
I started out with a Case SC tricycle with a 5' Mohawk pull behind to mow 170 acres, I agree we all have to start somewhere.