Tractor Sizing What size of older Yanmar do I need?

[cpy911]

I am realizing that the 16 hp (13 pto) old Mitsubishi Beaver that I purchased will not be enough horse power to do what I need and it has no ROPS (I have hills) with no aftermarket ROPS available. I wanted to reach out to this forum for advice on what old Yanmar (probably a refurbished model) I would need. We have a total of 18 acres, with some very hilly and rugged areas. There is a two acre pasture that is flat and easy to work on. We also have a three acre pasture (now with cows) that has several 15ｰ slopes but does flatten out for the majority of it to rolling hills. There is another acre or so around the house that I mow with riding mowers. The remaining 11 or so acres are woods. Of the woods area, the majority of it is very sloped and rugged and dangerous for machinery. However, of that wooded area, there is a two acre "marsh" area that is flat with lots of tall grasses, but we don't do much with it. It is too boggy almost all year round.

Tasks: "Clip" or mow the two pastures about twice per year, depending on needs. Drag a harrow to spread out manure from the animals, take care of pastures via fertilizing, spraying...still figuring out how to manage pastures...I am new to this! General scooping of manure tasks around barn and cleaning up the area using the FEL to lift heavy things. Do some landscaping by spreading wood chips. Pulling a trailer to haul out some cut wood every once in a while. (Note, only a few areas are safe enough to haul out wood, so won't be doing this a lot.)

I really like the smaller tractors with lower impact in smashing down the yard/land. Would a 1810D or even a 1610D give me enough horsepower to rotary clip my pastures in a reasonable amount of time? I was looking at a 4' rotary cutter, but maybe I should go for a 5'? How much PTO HP would I need for a 5' light duty cutter for the pastures?

What machines do you have? Any suggestions? Don't want to overbuy a huge powerful machine and not need it, but don't want to go on the low end and make the same mistake.

I have been looking at subcompacts like the Kubota BX, but I like the big tires to smooth out the ride with the Yanmars. Plus, I like old stuff and my Dad had a JD 1050 growing up. (I think it is a Yanmar!). That machine was a beast and we even did hay with it! Don't need something that big!

Thank you kindly!

 

[fried1765]

I am realizing that the 16 hp (13 pto) old Mitsubishi Beaver that I purchased will not be enough horse power to do what I need and it has no ROPS (I have hills) with no aftermarket ROPS available. I wanted to reach out to this forum for advice on what old Yanmar (probably a refurbished model) I would need. We have a total of 18 acres, with some very hilly and rugged areas. There is a two acre pasture that is flat and easy to work on. We also have a three acre pasture (now with cows) that has several 15ｰ slopes but does flatten out for the majority of it to rolling hills. There is another acre or so around the house that I mow with riding mowers. The remaining 11 or so acres are woods. Of the woods area, the majority of it is very sloped and rugged and dangerous for machinery. However, of that wooded area, there is a two acre "marsh" area that is flat with lots of tall grasses, but we don't do much with it. It is too boggy almost all year round.

Tasks: "Clip" or mow the two pastures about twice per year, depending on needs. Drag a harrow to spread out manure from the animals, take care of pastures via fertilizing, spraying...still figuring out how to manage pastures...I am new to this! General scooping of manure tasks around barn and cleaning up the area using the FEL to lift heavy things. Do some landscaping by spreading wood chips. Pulling a trailer to haul out some cut wood every once in a while. (Note, only a few areas are safe enough to haul out wood, so won't be doing this a lot.)

I really like the smaller tractors with lower impact in smashing down the yard/land. Would a 1810D or even a 1610D give me enough horsepower to rotary clip my pastures in a reasonable amount of time? I was looking at a 4' rotary cutter, but maybe I should go for a 5'? How much PTO HP would I need for a 5' light duty cutter for the pastures?

What machines do you have? Any suggestions? Don't want to overbuy a huge powerful machine and not need it, but don't want to go on the low end and make the same mistake.

I have been looking at subcompacts like the Kubota BX, but I like the big tires to smooth out the ride with the Yanmars. Plus, I like old stuff and my Dad had a JD 1050 growing up. (I think it is a Yanmar!). That machine was a beast and we even did hay with it! Don't need something that big!

Thank you kindly!

There is a TBN subscriber (Jeff9366) here who says it BEST!
BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR !!!!!

 

[California]

My YM186D (YM1510) is enough to run a 4 ft rotary mower on rough ground if that's your heaviest task. Somebody on here runs a 5 ft rotary mower with a YM1510 but I expect he's mowing pasture, not shredding rough pruning debris like my application. The little guy isn't enough however to run the 53" Yanmar rototiller that was designed specifically for YM2000.

I strongly recommend Powershift for your hilly terrain. Shift up/down on the move without losing inertia instead of a full stop to choose the gear needed for a specific slope. I was out pulling the heavy watering trailer in the orchard today and was shifting continually, while moving. When I used to do this with the YM240 (YM2000) a gear low enough to get started uphill meant I had to crawl up the slope.

Size? Dunno. Do you need a big step up from the 13 pto hp Beaver, or just the next size more powerful? All the Yanmars are narrow and tall so consider adding spacers to get the rear wheels out farther. ROPS mandatory for the terrain you described!

 

[CoyPatton]

You mention hauling out logs. With this in the back of my mind, about the only time I have heard someone say they bought too big of a tractor is when the physical size will not fit in a given area. When you mentioned woods on your property that came to mind. Also while width becomes a concern so does being able to turn between trees which also factors in length. Your length issues will include the loader and 3PH implements.
So with your consideration of where you plan to take your tractor, buy as large a HP tractor as you can afford in the size that means your needs.
YM series yanmars first 2 numerical digits indicates the PTO HP. So my YM2002D is 20hp at the PTO. The D indicates it is a ‘4x4’ model (I was raised with much smaller front tire tractors called front assist, I think this is better terminology personally). I have forgotten what the 02 means.
10 and 20 in that location are early and then later power shift models.
All of that to address the HP needs for implements. I feel that I am at the max with my 5’ brush cutter that came with my yannie. In heavy tall material, I have had it load up the tractor and felt it best to drop to a slower gear for the mowing on a full width cut. For a while I had a 4’ mower also and never had an issue running it in any cutting situations. You will have to decide if your 1-2 cuttings per year would be to much material to run at a normal speed. To me my time trade off for slowing down compared to narrower mower was pretty much a trade off.
I also have a 5’ BB which has on a few occasions be all I could handle, but both 5’ implements have been workable. I also have a 6’ straight rear blade that it pulls fine, I have never had any issues with it. I also have a 4.5’ tiller that the only issues have been when I find a buried object that had jammed up the blades, otherwise no problems. I have even tilled (multi passes) grown that I know had not been till for over 30 years and produced finely tilled soil in heavy clay. And strangely enough the implement that has placed in my opinion on my tractor is a combination subsoiler/middle buster, I have been able to pull it but needed both diff lock and 4x4 at times.
Others may have a differing experience. Hope that helps.
Oh the 1050 was indeed a yanmar build tractor, but to JD specs. Hoyetractor.com is another resource for these tractors as well as Fredrick’s.

 

[cpy911]

This is great info! Thank you.

You mention hauling out logs. With this in the back of my mind, about the only time I have heard someone say they bought too big of a tractor is when the physical size will not fit in a given area. When you mentioned woods on your property that came to mind. Also while width becomes a concern so does being able to turn between trees which also factors in length. Your length issues will include the loader and 3PH implements.
So with your consideration of where you plan to take your tractor, buy as large a HP tractor as you can afford in the size that means your needs.
YM series yanmars first 2 numerical digits indicates the PTO HP. So my YM2002D is 20hp at the PTO. The D indicates it is a ?x4 model (I was raised with much smaller front tire tractors called front assist, I think this is better terminology personally). I have forgotten what the 02 means.
10 and 20 in that location are early and then later power shift models.
All of that to address the HP needs for implements. I feel that I am at the max with my 5 brush cutter that came with my yannie. In heavy tall material, I have had it load up the tractor and felt it best to drop to a slower gear for the mowing on a full width cut. For a while I had a 4 mower also and never had an issue running it in any cutting situations. You will have to decide if your 1-2 cuttings per year would be to much material to run at a normal speed. To me my time trade off for slowing down compared to narrower mower was pretty much a trade off.
I also have a 5 BB which has on a few occasions be all I could handle, but both 5 implements have been workable. I also have a 6 straight rear blade that it pulls fine, I have never had any issues with it. I also have a 4.5 tiller that the only issues have been when I find a buried object that had jammed up the blades, otherwise no problems. I have even tilled (multi passes) grown that I know had not been till for over 30 years and produced finely tilled soil in heavy clay. And strangely enough the implement that has placed in my opinion on my tractor is a combination subsoiler/middle buster, I have been able to pull it but needed both diff lock and 4x4 at times.
Others may have a differing experience. Hope that helps.
Oh the 1050 was indeed a yanmar build tractor, but to JD specs. Hoyetractor.com is another resource for these tractors as well as Fredrick痴.

 

[coosa]

I have a 2210DB tractor that was refurbished by Fredrickson, and I keep up a 21 acre place that sounds similar to yours. I have a 4' cutter and disc, along with a cultivator, a 6' scrape blade, and a 2 bottom turning plow.

I knew that it was way too small for the turning plow, but I only use it once a year to turn a small garden. I have found that if I just go slow it will do the job. In fact, the little tractor will do most anything if you gear it down and go slow.

The one job where I really get frustrated is running the cutter in very hot weather. The tractor just keeps getting hotter after several hours of that. It has never overheated, but I am uncomfortable with how hot it runs.

This tractor is rated at 26 hp. I think that is likely the minimum for what you need, and one a little bigger would be better. Good luck!

 

[CoyPatton]

One other caution on the YM’s as that is what I have (probably applies to most Japanese imports however) they were all designed for Rice farming, as such they tend to be a bit high centered for their weight. If working on hillsides, be sure to set the rear wheels to widest possible stance. There are lots of different style wheels so post some pictures after you get the tractor and plenty of us can give you info for your wheel design.
Also ROPS is a very good ideal. Most of the imports did not come with these, so consider the addition of ROPS in any price for a used tractor if it does not have it already. Most refurbs will already include ROPS.
There are conversion wheel/tire kits available to lower there height and provide a wider stance, but it is a sizable investment (see hoyetractor.com).

 

[winston1]

I have a 2210DB tractor that was refurbished by Fredrickson, and I keep up a 21 acre place that sounds similar to yours. I have a 4' cutter and disc, along with a cultivator, a 6' scrape blade, and a 2 bottom turning plow.

I knew that it was way too small for the turning plow, but I only use it once a year to turn a small garden. I have found that if I just go slow it will do the job. In fact, the little tractor will do most anything if you gear it down and go slow.

The one job where I really get frustrated is running the cutter in very hot weather. The tractor just keeps getting hotter after several hours of that. It has never overheated, but I am uncomfortable with how hot it runs.

This tractor is rated at 26 hp. I think that is likely the minimum for what you need, and one a little bigger would be better. Good luck!

Your 2210 ought to cruise with a 4' cutter unless your mowing awfully heavy stuff. Are you confident your cooling system is in good order?

 

[coosa]

Winston, there was a long thread here about the cooling system on my tractor a couple of years back. If I just had a warning light on it, I probably wouldn't think there is a problem, as it has never overheated. I have taken extensive temp readings with a laser at different points on the tractor, and the guy at Fredrickson said it was ok. Some folks here disagree, but I decided that I am just gonna run it. Everything related to the cooling system was replaced; I don't know anything else I could do.

And yes, the time it gets hotter than I like is when cutting tall and tough grass on 100 degree days in August. It's hard work for such a small tractor.

 

[cpy911]

Thank you. Hopefully the overheating issue never causes damage.

I have a 2210DB tractor that was refurbished by Fredrickson, and I keep up a 21 acre place that sounds similar to yours. I have a 4' cutter and disc, along with a cultivator, a 6' scrape blade, and a 2 bottom turning plow.

I knew that it was way too small for the turning plow, but I only use it once a year to turn a small garden. I have found that if I just go slow it will do the job. In fact, the little tractor will do most anything if you gear it down and go slow.

The one job where I really get frustrated is running the cutter in very hot weather. The tractor just keeps getting hotter after several hours of that. It has never overheated, but I am uncomfortable with how hot it runs.

This tractor is rated at 26 hp. I think that is likely the minimum for what you need, and one a little bigger would be better. Good luck!