Buying Advice Compact for new 43 acre wooded property

[jgoehri1]

The Mrs and I recently purchased a 43 acre property in Indiana. It consists of a 3 acres that needs mowed, 30 acres of woods that includes a 1 acre pond (old gravel pit that I'd like to clean up for my young kids to fish, felled tree hauling and, cash permitting, backhoe work) and 10 acres of old pasture that floods approximately 10 times per year. I'd like to bushhog the old pasture and plant deer food plots along with spruces for wind breaks. My driveway is about 1/4 of a mile and needs new gravel. The house is 125 years old with an addition that was not concerned with insulation and could use a wood stove for additional winter comfort. We certainly have the wood and I'll need something capable of towing out fallen trees and hauling cut wood. I'm a country boy who finally managed to get the land I've so coveted.

Please help a fella out with my best option. I'm leaning Kubota 3200 or Jd 2000 series. My question is will these handle the heavy tilling and backhoe work while still being able to handle a belly mower? What do you guys recommend? I'm fortunate to have a pretty good job to provide for the family, but it's not an unlimited well. I could probably swing about $25K, but am open to suggestions.

 

[94BULLITT]

:welcome: to the forum.

The Kubota L3200 would be as small as I would go. It is not comparable to a John Deere 2000 series. It would be comparable to a 3032 John Deere. The L3200 does not have a mid pto option or the JD 3032 so you can't run a mid mount mower. You could go with a L3540. The Grand L Kubota has HST+ which gives you 2 speeds in each range, stall guard, and you can change the responsiveness of the hydro. It also has Auto throttle advance which basically links the throttle to the hydro pedal. It has a mid pto option but I think with a MMM and FEL you would be over 25K. You could go with a rear mount finish mower which would be cheaper and a MMM would not be in the way for other tasks. One drawback is L series is getting pretty big and heavy for mowing. You could also get a Kubota B3200 with a MMM and a FEL. It is comparable to a John Deere 2720. I belive you would benefit from a large tractor than a B Kubota or a 2000 JD. A kubota L4600 may also be another good option for you. It is bigger than a L3200/3800 and has a stronger loader but no mid pto.

 

[jgoehri1]

Thanks for the reply Bullitt. My 3 acres of mowing is "rough" as it consists of established trees in front of the homestead. My concern is having something to handle the mowing without tearing everyting up, but still being to handle to job behind the house in the woods. I know we can't have it all, but I'd like to get as close as I can without buying two pieces of equipment. I'd sacrifice on the mowing to handle the food plots and wooded acreage work.

 

[94BULLITT]

It is very hard to get one tractor to do it all especially if you want to mow. I know for me personally I have a bunch of small areas to mow so I need something small but everybody has different needs. If you think you have plenty of room to maneuver a larger tractor around then a mower on the tractor may be a option for you. The Kubotas and most other brands have a removable loader so you can take it off in 5 minutes which would get rid of weight and make the tractor smaller for mowing. The 2000 series JD has a removable loader but I don't think the 3032 does. I have R4 tires on both of my tractors. They are more turf friendly than ags but you have traction than a turf tire. They are more puncture resistant than ags or turfs. They are a good all around tire. I keep my implements upon top off a hill. If it is wet i can drive up there with the L4240 and it barely harms the grass. 3 acres is alot of mowing to do so a mower on tractor would be nice but you may need something smaller for close to your house.

 

[murphy1244]

:welcome: I think your better off going with two machines.

 

[790greene]

I would go with a 3000 series John Deere. I have 56 acres about 14 or 15 mowed and the rest is woods. I have a J.D. 790 which is the same as the 3005. I also have a loader and backhoe for it. It works very well, I have a lot of steep hills so i went with a gear transmission instead of hyro. Also have a 5' tiller. I definately wouldn't want a smaller tractor, a little larger would be nice, however when i am in the woods with my tractor it is just the right size. A bigger tractor wouldn't work so well in the woods. Another deciding factor for me was John Deere is an american company, and I am an american, so i try to support my country. REMEMBER BUY AMERICAN OR BYE AMERICA!!

 

[crazyal]

I think I would opt for something a little larger in size. Like Bullet said the L3540 would be a good fit. It's about the same HP but more weight and a larger loader would come in handy. For a nice lawn the weight might be a detractor but it sounds like you don't have to worry about that. The weight and extra loader will help with the gravel driveway and the pond.

 

[JD 4520]

JD 2000 is definitely too small, 3000 or 4000 series to do what you are looking to do in the future.

Love to see a picture of your darling 125 year old house.

 

[TomSeller]

I would opt for something in the 40 to 50 HP range, maybe 35. Or two tractors of different complimenting sizes/configurations.

 

[Grandad4]

From my experience, just about any work you plan to do in the woods means you are going on rough terrain with ruts, rocks and roots, often in narrow quarters. That's not something you want to be doing with a belly mower hanging beneath your tractor... it will get hung up or something will be damaged. So if the tractor has to serve both functions, you're forever putting on and taking off that mower. Particularly with a tractor of the size you're considering, that gets old very quickly and I'm thinking a decent mowing unit of your preference would be a wise choice, leaving your tractor set up so you can do your land clearing and preparation tasks and other work more readily.

As others have noted, a larger-framed tractor in the 30-50 hp range such as the Kubota L or Grand L or the Deere 3000 or 4000 series would be a good match for your work. Both brands offer absolutely top-notch equipment in those model lines and there are other very good ones as well.

 

[JD 4520]

From my experience, just about any work you plan to do in the woods means you are going on rough terrain with ruts, rocks and roots, often in narrow quarters. That's not something you want to be doing with a belly mower hanging beneath your tractor... it will get hung up or something will be damaged. So if the tractor has to serve both functions, you're forever putting on and taking off that mower. Particularly with a tractor of the size you're considering, that gets old very quickly and I'm thinking a decent mowing unit of your preference would be a wise choice, leaving your tractor set up so you can do your land clearing and preparation tasks and other work more readily.

As others have noted, a larger-framed tractor in the 30-50 hp range such as the Kubota L or Grand L or the Deere 3000 or 4000 series would be a good match for your work. Both brands offer absolutely top-notch equipment in those model lines and there are other very good ones as well.

I second this motion. You will be much happier, trust me (us)!

 

[flusher]

$25Kbudget? Split it in half. Buy a used, low-hour (<500 hours) Kubota B-series tractor with belly mower for work around the house. Then find a used, 10-20 year old tractor in the 40-50 hp (pto) range for field work.
Check Craigslist, eBay and local dealers for trade-in units.

Good luck.

 

[TomSeller]

From my experience, just about any work you plan to do in the woods means you are going on rough terrain with ruts, rocks and roots, often in narrow quarters. That's not something you want to be doing with a belly mower hanging beneath your tractor..

Good point, also with a small, narrow tractor you could easily be tipping it over in the woods.

 

[bhh]

My wife and I just bought 40 acres in upstate NY and went through the same exact thing. If you search through my posts over the past few months, you can follow my saga which I suspect is very similar. We ended up with a Kubota L3800 which we just received last Friday. We ended up going with an L3800 vs the grand L so we had more money for implements and so far I love it. As far as implements, we initially went with dealer-installed 3rd function hydraulics for a grapple, Quick-Attach FEL bucket, QA Pallet forks, QA grapple, rotary mower, box blade, 3pt hitch quick-attach bracket. We had a budget of about $25k and were able to stay right around that and we plan on adding a PTO chipper soon.

Good luck. The search is fun but owning it is MORE fun.

 

[abeal]

Was in a similiar situation about a year ago. Purchased a 100 acre farm to mostly hunt and generally screw off on. Not much farming although the neighbor grazes some horses there. We went with a L3200 with loader/brush hog/box blade and a few other implements and a BX1860 that is used entirely for mowing the 3 acres or so of grass around the house and what not. We bush hog about 20 acres or so probably 2x a year and also use the L3200 for anything and everything else that comes up. Barn size limited us to 14' in length (was planning on a mx4700) and that is why we went with the L3200. We were skeptical it wouldn't be enough but it was done everything just fine.

 

[jgoehri1]

I know two pieces of equipment is the way to go, but I'm not sure the boss is going to allow it out of principle. Gotta love women.

bhh . . . are you mowing in an area with a lot of trees? I love the L3800. If I could get away with mowing with it, I'd seriously consider it.

 

[TomSeller]

Make one of them hers.

 

[bhh]

I know two pieces of equipment is the way to go, but I'm not sure the boss is going to allow it out of principle. Gotta love women.

bhh . . . are you mowing in an area with a lot of trees? I love the L3800. If I could get away with mowing with it, I'd seriously consider it.

We only have about an acre of regular grass and I am currently hiring that out but I am very time-poor and this is a weekend property. The rotary mower I bought is brush mower, not a finish mower and that will be used to open up parts of the woods we want to be more "park-like" (wife's words) and a food plot we are going to open up in an area that was logged about 10 years ago. If I ever decide to start mowing the grass myself, I will buy a cheap dedicated mower for that or if we had a much bigger lawn, one of those "Zero Turn" things. No reason to poor diesel down a 25k, 38 HP machine to mow a little grass.

Edit: BTW, what worked for me regarding the "boss" was to involve her as much as you can in the vision of the property. Ask what she wants out of the land and then you can purchase implements, tools, equipment specifically to address "her" wants. In the beginning, she could not understand why the **** I wanted a tractor but after a few months of discussing our vision for the property and how to achieve it, she came around to not only agreeing but wanting one too. I knew I had it in the bag when I would hear her explaining to our urban friends why we "needed" a tractor, lol. I would say the rotary mower part of our purchase was directly related to parts of the property she wants to open up and make to "look like a park". She also hates it when I use the chainsaw so "picking up a downed tree and moving it" is a lot safer (to her) than chopping it up into wheel-barrow sized pieces to haul to the stump dump.

 

[lemontwist]

I am in a similar situation as you minus the mowing, as our house is in the woods. Have an L3200 with backhoe and grapple on the way. The B series was just too small for the terrain around here.

The better half got on board when we went to the dealer and she got to drive one.

 

[Grandad4]

I know two pieces of equipment is the way to go, but I'm not sure the boss is going to allow it out of principle. Gotta love women.

If you are the primary breadwinner, there is one cold-hearted but factual "principle" everyone involved needs to understand and agree to concerning your property development plans:
Your time is limited and valuable and there is a big piece of work ahead of you with your property. If the idea is to run you ragged doing everything the hard way just to save $100/month, you're going to be an old man before your time. That's just not a good plan. Further, whatever the right equipment costs is chump change vs. a disabling injury (or worse) that resulted from fatigue or inadequate equipment.