1st time buyer. How much tractor do I need?

[ORBrit]

Hi, I've been learning a great deal from this site and still am finding it hard to gauge how much tractor I need. The forested portion is not going to be mowed or regularly maintained with whatever tractor I buy -unless I end up getting a chipper that uses the PTO.
The Property
I have 10 acres of mostly level property - about 7 acres wooded and 3 acres of brush. Gravel driveway about 500' long.
Anticipated use
I'm looking for a "tool" that will allow me to:

• keep the brush from getting over grown.
• possibly allow finish leveling of the brush for future lawn growth.
• capable of mowing once we do have a finished lawn one day.
• moving landscaping materials for future projects - mulch, dirt, rock, pavers.
• possibly use to drill post holes or use to help with constructing 400' of wood split rail fence and 2500' of t-post/wire fence.
• possibly use PTO power to drive a wood chipper.

The Options
We have Kubota, JD and Bobcat dealers in our town - Eugene, OR

Can I do all or most of the above with a Bobcat CT120?
If I'm going to jump to a CT230 (I've ruled out the CT225 as it costs more than the CT230) what are the equivalent Kubota/JD or other models I should be comparing to?

What is a good price for a CT120 with FEL with the current promotions taking into account we have no sales tax in OR?

Thanks for any tips and advice.

 

[greggh]

I am not that familiar with Bobcat tractors. I do understand that they have good pricing at this time. I don't know the sizes of the different tractors but I would suggest with the tasks that you describe that I would make sure that they had a category I three point hitch. I am not crazy about category 0. However, it might do. They both may be category I, I am just not familiar with the tractors. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Donkey Shade Farm]

Hi, I've been learning a great deal from this site and still am finding it hard to gauge how much tractor I need. The forested portion is not going to be mowed or regularly maintained with whatever tractor I buy -unless I end up getting a chipper that uses the PTO.
The Property
I have 10 acres of mostly level property - about 7 acres wooded and 3 acres of brush. Gravel driveway about 500' long.
Anticipated use
I'm looking for a "tool" that will allow me to:

• keep the brush from getting over grown.
• possibly allow finish leveling of the brush for future lawn growth.
• capable of mowing once we do have a finished lawn one day.
• moving landscaping materials for future projects - mulch, dirt, rock, pavers.
• possibly use to drill post holes or use to help with constructing 400' of wood split rail fence and 2500' of t-post/wire fence.
• possibly use PTO power to drive a wood chipper.

The Options
We have Kubota, JD and Bobcat dealers in our town - Eugene, OR

Can I do all or most of the above with a Bobcat CT120?
If I'm going to jump to a CT230 (I've ruled out the CT225 as it costs more than the CT230) what are the equivalent Kubota/JD or other models I should be comparing to?

What is a good price for a CT120 with FEL with the current promotions taking into account we have no sales tax in OR?

Thanks for any tips and advice.

Yes, a CUT in 20-30 hp range could do everything on your list.

Looks like your looking for something around 20-30 hp with a FEL. I purchased a Kubota 2360 with FEL two months ago and I'm impressed with it's capabilities. The tractor, FEL and a finish mower were all purchased for under 15K. I think this tractor or any in the BX series could do what you want for a good price. It's size would also give you more manuevering ability in your woods over something larger.

Currently Kubota is offering 0% financing.

 

[Soundguy]

IMHO.. with only 400' of wood post fence to put up.. a powered phd auger is going to cost you nearly a dollar a foot .. ie.. might be better to rent one.. or use a hand held unit.. or just dig them by hand.

as for the rest of the stuff.. a brush hog and a rider lawnmower for the stuff right around the house... tha and a fel.. stuck to whatever brand tractor you get... which will likely be in the 18 to 30 hp range.

soundguy

 

[ORBrit]

thanks for the replies.
My local Kubota dealer is selling the BX2360 with LA243 FEL for $12,250 out the door. 0% for 48 months available.
Waiting for quotes on the Bobcats from the dealer - sales guy was out yesterday.
I plan to rent the auger attachment(s) necessary for the fence/gate post drilling. It's the beauty of these machines is you can rent just the attachments for specific projects.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Bear in mind that the leveling, like all ground engagement work, will take a lot of force if it isn't minor.

I'd guess a 30hp HST tractor would probably do it. Lower horsepower moves you more towards the "mowing" end of the spectrum usually. If you have ambitions to do more, you might look into the bigger tractors earlier - many of us here started small and went bigger rapidly. Others, of course, started small and stayed small happily.

Another way of doing it is getting a smaller tractor, and renting excavators/backhoes/bulldozers for big jobs

 

[flusher]

Bear in mind that the leveling, like all ground engagement work, will take a lot of force if it isn't minor.

I'd guess a 30hp HST tractor would probably do it. Lower horsepower moves you more towards the "mowing" end of the spectrum usually. If you have ambitions to do more, you might look into the bigger tractors earlier - many of us here started small and went bigger rapidly. Others, of course, started small and stayed small happily.

Another way of doing it is getting a smaller tractor, and renting excavators/backhoes/bulldozers for big jobs

Looking at your avatar. That Mcmillan hydraulic auger looks impressive attached to your B3030. I assume it works OK with the 9 gpm flow capability of your Kubota. What are the gpm requirements for that auger?

 

[flusher]

Hi, I've been learning a great deal from this site and still am finding it hard to gauge how much tractor I need. The forested portion is not going to be mowed or regularly maintained with whatever tractor I buy -unless I end up getting a chipper that uses the PTO.
The Property
I have 10 acres of mostly level property - about 7 acres wooded and 3 acres of brush. Gravel driveway about 500' long.
Anticipated use
I'm looking for a "tool" that will allow me to:

• keep the brush from getting over grown.
• possibly allow finish leveling of the brush for future lawn growth.
• capable of mowing once we do have a finished lawn one day.
• moving landscaping materials for future projects - mulch, dirt, rock, pavers.
• possibly use to drill post holes or use to help with constructing 400' of wood split rail fence and 2500' of t-post/wire fence.
• possibly use PTO power to drive a wood chipper.

The Options
We have Kubota, JD and Bobcat dealers in our town - Eugene, OR

Can I do all or most of the above with a Bobcat CT120?
If I'm going to jump to a CT230 (I've ruled out the CT225 as it costs more than the CT230) what are the equivalent Kubota/JD or other models I should be comparing to?

What is a good price for a CT120 with FEL with the current promotions taking into account we have no sales tax in OR?

Thanks for any tips and advice.

I'll put in a word for the 20ish hp SCUT.

My first tractor was a new 2005 Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, HST, 4WD, power steering) with the LA302 FEL (4-ft wide bucket, 800 lb lift capacity). Cost: $12.6K plus tax. I used it on my 10-acre spread (flat pasture land with a few dozen almond trees left over from the time the property was an orchard).

I kept it for 3 years and then traded it for a larger Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto, 2WD, power steering, constant partial mesh gear tranny) when I decided to grow oat hay on about 6 acres.

My first implements were a 4-ft King Kutter box blade ($300 from Tractor Supply) and a 4-ft KK rotary mower (aka brush hog, $600 from TSC). Since you have 7 acres of woods, you might want to go with a smaller, more nimble tractor to mow there. Hydrostatic transmission is nice for mowing since you can easily move forward and reverse without clutching/gear shifting. Very convenient.

My 7510HST had two pto shafts--one facing rear and the other mid-mounted and facing forward. Kubota has a mid-mount mower (MMM) for the B7510HST that runs off the forward-facing pto. The MMM is more for landscape mowing than for field work. BTW: the 7510 has two PTO speeds--540 rpm and 1000 rpm. If you want to use your new tractor to mow your lawn, this is one way to do it. You could also get a finish mower that attaches to the 3pt hitch to do the lawn mowing job.

For tilling with the 7510, I used a KK middle buster plow ($150 from TSC) and a used 4-ft Yanmar RS1200 rototiller ($300 from my local grey market tractor dealer).

The 7510 size tractor can handle a pto-driven PHD on the 3pt hitch. But you have to be sure that your 3pt can raise the PHD/auger sufficiently high so it hangs vertical with the auger point a few inches off the ground. If this is a problem, you can use longer lower lift arms on the 3pt and/or a shorter-shafted auger to give you the clearance you need. I used longer lift arms (35 inches instead of 27 inches) on my 7510 to handle the drive shaft/slip clutch on that rototiller.

Just some suggestions that may be of interest to you, particularly if your budget is limited.

 

[LBrown59]

Bear in mind that the leveling, like all ground engagement work, will take a lot of force if it isn't minor.

I'd guess a 30hp HST tractor would probably do it. Lower horsepower moves you more towards the "mowing" end of the spectrum usually. If you have ambitions to do more, you might look into the bigger tractors earlier - *many of us here started small and went bigger rapidly.

Another way of doing it is getting a smaller tractor, and renting excavators/backhoes/bulldozers for big jobs

*This don't make sense as over time task/projects become come compleated so then you're stuck with to large a machine setting around doing nothing .

 

[Soundguy]

Havn't had that problem yet. if yo have big machines.. you usually find big work for them.. same for small ones.

best is to have a wide variety of machine sizes..

soundguy

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Havn't had that problem yet. if yo have big machines.. you usually find big work for them.. same for small ones.

best is to have a wide variety of machine sizes..

soundguy

Best way to go if you can. Hard to go wrong if you have them all.

 

[ORBrit]

I figure I can't have one machine that will do it all, so I'd be better off trying to find a machine that will do the most of what I need.
I can rent the equipment to do the rest.

Personally I think a SCUT will probably surprise me with how much it will do.

 

[mrlullabye]

Get as much tractor as you can afford. I started out thinking I just needed a 17 hp kubota to cut grass, went drove some a guy let me test drive the FEL unit and the box blade, I kept going bigger and bigger.

Finally got a 39hp. It is amazing even to me how much my expectations changed as I operated the tractor, but I can say it doesn't cost much more for a bigger tractor.

Looking back I would either say "I am getting this just to cut grass and I will get a cheap tractor, or if I want to do anything other then cut grass I need the biggest tractor I can afford"

i can also say if you get an FEL, you really need 4wd unless you are stricktly moving loose material on level solid ground.

 

[ORBrit]

here are the quotes I've gotten so far.

Bobcat CT230 with FEL(7TL) and 60" rotary cutter

Bobcat CT120 with FEL(6TL) and 60" rotary cutter

Kubota BX2360 with FEL (LA243) and 60" rotary cutter
$13,550

 

[MDM]

I seriously doubt a BX will handle a 60" rotary cutter. A 60" cutter would make the front end light on a CT230, let alone a BX. 17.5 PTO HP is not enough to run a five foot rotary effectively.

 

[Soundguy]

I wouldn't want a 5' cutter on any SCUT if for weight alone..even if it did have the power to spin it reliably.

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

*This don't make sense as over time task/projects become come compleated so then you're stuck with to large a machine setting around doing nothing .

Pure BS IMHO. A slightly "too big" tractor will do the work of a small one in almost every case I know of, where a "too small" tractor is just, well.....too small. Personally, I wouldn't want anything less than 40 hp, or smaller (physical size) than a conventional "utility" tractor. I own 10 tractors that range from 38hp/4700lbs to 95hp/11,000lbs. The smaller ones are what would be considered antiques to many. The larger ones are all used in a business. What "don't make sense" is owning SEVERAL "too small" tractors where ONE big enough to do the job would suffice. If you've "compleated" your projects/tasks, the size of the tractor would have no bearing on whether it's "setting around doing nothing" or not. No work for a tractor is still no work for a tractor regardless of size.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

My personal preference for an "estate tractor" is toward the 40HP (+ or -) range. They have the capability to do what most end users need, plus a little extra "cushion". Not "too big", not "too small". And speaking as someone who's bought and sold literally hundreds of used tractors, one in the 40hp range will sell quick come time to re-sell. VERY popular size for utility tractors.

 

[newbury]

Pure BS IMHO. A slightly "too big" tractor will do the work of a small one in almost every case I know of, where a "too small" tractor is just, well.....too small. Personally, I wouldn't want anything less than 40 hp, or smaller (physical size) than a conventional "utility" tractor. I own 10 tractors that range from 38hp/4700lbs to 95hp/11,000lbs. The smaller ones are what would be considered antiques to many. The larger ones are all used in a business. What "don't make sense" is owning SEVERAL "too small" tractors where ONE big enough to do the job would suffice. If you've "compleated" your projects/tasks, the size of the tractor would have no bearing on whether it's "setting around doing nothing" or not. No work for a tractor is still no work for a tractor regardless of size.

There is a strong case to be made that for some small is needed. Primarily because of access for for work. If I had a little BH1500 I could easily scoot into all my neighbors back yards thru their walk gates. Also some people don't like changing attachments, so they get 1 tractor for each attachment

 

[LBrown59]

Pure BS IMHO. A slightly "too big" tractor will do the work of a small one in almost every case I know of, where a "too small" tractor is just, well.....too small. Personally, I wouldn't want anything less than 40 hp, or smaller (physical size) than a conventional "utility" tractor. I own 10 tractors that range from 38hp/4700lbs to 95hp/11,000lbs. The smaller ones are what would be considered antiques to many. The larger ones are all used in a business. What "don't make sense" is owning SEVERAL "too small" tractors where ONE big enough to do the job would suffice. If you've "compleated" your projects/tasks, the size of the tractor would have no bearing on whether it's "setting around doing nothing" or not. No work for a tractor is still no work for a tractor regardless of size.

The bigger the tractor and equip the more the cost so a bigger tractor is more money tied up setting around doing little or nothing.