25hp Tractors for Vegetable Farming

[Egon]

When you say match them to the tractor are you talking about horsepower and 3pt category or something else?

It means an implement that will do what you want and can be mounted on the tractor you choose.

 

[jeff9366]

I'm looking to get into vegetable farming and am considering getting a couple (2) 25hp tractors to do it.

Consider one tractor with four wheels, one tractor with two wheels, such as Gravely, BCS or Grillo.

2-wheel tractor forum: 2-Wheel Tractors

VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=BCS,+Grillo


The biggest task for one tractor will be wagon pulling.

A utility vehicle paired with a dumping trailer may be more efficient and cheaper for these tasks than a second tractor. Kubota utility vehicles have HST transmissions, the same transmissions on Kubota BX tractors, therefore are real work horses. MUTS from Canada is the Gold Standard in dumping compact trailers.

Muts Trailers by Widemans | ATV Dumping Trailer & Attachments

Muts Trailers, manufactured by Widemans Inc., are tough and durable ATV dumpers available as single-axle models or double-axle Maximum.

www.muts.ca

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[IndyJay]

It means an implement that will do what you want and can be mounted on the tractor you choose.

It means it is suited to work and perform as designed on the tractor you choose.
You can mount almost anything, you just might not be able to use it very well, or at all.

 

[Anonymous1]

I like my 1526 Massey Ferguson, I use it for my veggies and chicken feed. I'm making a two bottom plow for it, currently have a 1 bottom for turning the soil over. The plow is a garden tractor plow blade, 18", not the 28" large tractor plows. I like the indusrtial tires on it, they dig, don't hurt my lawn when i mow with it either. I do sweet corn, cucumbers, grain sorghum (for chickens), and cover crop in fall. Check it out, wide open throttle I go through 1 gallon of fuel every 2 1/4hrs, under load and working.
I will say this about it, look close at the Kubota's, they aren't built like their reputation.

I went away from them for a reason

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

Consider one tractor with four wheels, one tractor with two wheels, such as Gravely, BCS or Grillo.

I've seen the BCS and Grillo on the internet before. I know plenty of market gardeners/ vegetable farmers are using them these days. I just can't see the economics of a two wheel tractor working out for me. I don't know how long it would take to work up an acre of soil with a two wheel tractor, but I can't imagine it being less than a couple of days. If one approached it with a small 4 wheel tractor, I would expect it to be 1/2 to 1/4 of the time. If you're paying for the labor that could add up quickly. I also couldn't use the 2 wheel tractor implements on anything else. For the price of a two wheel tractor and a set of implements, I think I could buy a used small tractor in pretty good shape and get a lot more done in a day.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

A utility vehicle paired with a dumping trailer may be more efficient and cheaper for these tasks than a second tractor. Kubota utility vehicles have HST transmissions, the same transmissions on Kubota BX tractors, therefore are real work horses.

I really like the Kubota UTVs. I'd definitely like to get one, but I don't see it as a tractor replacement. I'm planning on putting 1000-1200 hours a year on the tractors. I don't know how well the independent suspension and smaller engine would handle that. Maybe it would do well, but I'm afraid it would be pretty worn out in 3-4 years. Do you have experience putting a lot of hours on one? I could be underestimating their reliability and longevity.

 

[jeff9366]

I went away from Kubota for a reason

You have teased us. What is your reason(s) for avoiding Kubota as a brand?

Kubota has around 50% of the new compact tractor market in the USA.

 

[jeff9366]

I really like the Kubota UTVs. I'd definitely like to get one, but I don't see it as a tractor replacement. I don't know how well the independent suspension and smaller engine would handle that. Maybe it would do well, but I'm afraid it would be pretty worn out in 3-4 years. Do you have experience putting a lot of hours on one? I could be underestimating their reliability and longevity.

I have 2,000 engine hours on my 2010 Kubota RTV500 gas. ($10,000)

Except for one fuel contamination problem, unrelated to Kubota, faultless.
Pictures indicate my RTV500 gets plenty of use.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

I like my 1526 Massey Ferguson, I use it for my veggies and chicken feed.

I looked at the specs for the 1825E and that all looks good to me. It has a rocker pedal for the hydro. I've driven Kubotas with a rocker pedal and didn't really care for it. I have a MF dealer nearby and I may drop in and try one out to see if I like it better than the Kubota version, but I don't know if I could ever get comfortable with one.

 

[Randy Gann]

For row crops such as vegetables you may want to consider some of the “offset” tractors such as Farmall Cub, Super A or Farmall 140. These old tractors are great for cultivating row crops. In my area of NC still plenty of them around. Inexpensive and easy to maintain. Mid mount rotary hoes on a Farmall 140 is one of best ways to cultivate row crops. This low cost older tractor would free up more money to purchase the second tractor for the other tasks around the farm.

 

[Iowa Hillbilly]

For row crops such as vegetables you may want to consider some of the “offset” tractors such as Farmall Cub, Super A or Farmall 140. These old tractors are great for cultivating row crops.

Those are handy tractors. My issue with them is the lack of ROPS and 2 wheel drive. I've got a Case 400 that could do some of the work, but it doesn't have a ROPS and no one makes one for it in the aftermarket. I hope to get some local teenage help in the summers, if any of them still want to work in this day and age. I don't think I could live with myself if one got badly hurt or killed working for me. There was a 12yr old girl that got killed when she rolled a UTV at her parents place just a few miles away from me this spring, so it is a real concern.

 

[jjp8182]

There are also newer models of cultivating tractors being made. One being the Oggun: Ronnie Baugh Tractors // Cleber, LLC (made entirely from commercially available parts and intended to be an "open source" tractor)

and another made by Tilmor:

Tilmor - A Marketplace for Small Growers

Welcome to Tilmor, your online market place for small growers. We are joining reliable, traditional techniques with modern, innovative tooling. Products are in stock and fully supported. Order Today. Fast Shipping.

www.tilmor.com

Would seriously consider either of them (or others) for one of the two tractors if cultivating established crops. It can be real easy to wipe out a row (in part or full) with a "regular" tractor if a person can't hold straight & parallel lines while driving (which isn't alwasy as easy as it sounds and is even harder to do if looking anywhere other than forward).

 

[eexner54]

I'm looking to get into vegetable farming and am considering getting a couple of 25hp tractors to do it. There are a lot more options on the market than I expected and I'm not sure which model(s) would work best for me. I plan on having beds that are 36" wide with 18" pathways in between and I want to be able to straddle the beds, so tread width is very important for me. The biggest task for them will be wagon pulling, but I also plan to use them for a 36" tiller, potato digger, flail mower for maintaining fence lines, running a PTO generator, and maybe a wood splitter. I don't need or want a cab for this. I may get a loader for one of them for odd jobs, where a small machine comes in handy. I generally prefer larger displacement, lower rpm engines for longevity and heavier weight machines. I plan for both to be hydrostat transmissions and I want them to be easy to operate for inexperienced tractor drivers.

I've got three models on my short list right now: the Mahindra 1626 HST, the Kioti CK2610 HST, and the Branson 2515H. Kioti lists the front and rear tread width for their tractor on the spec sheet, but Mahindra and Branson don't. I can more or less figure it for the rear axle by subtracting a tire width from the overall width, but the front tread width is a mystery. Does anyone know the front tread widths for those machines? Do any of these models have electronic engine management or are they still mechanical injection? I like to keep it simple.

I'm not at all concerned about putting spacers on the rear axles to widen them out, but I'm somewhat hesitant to try that on the front for fear of messing up the steering radius/geometry and exposing the king pin to potential rock hits. Does anyone have experience with front axle spacers who can educate me on this? I'd appreciate any help you can give me or experience you can share with me about this.

You need to checkout the Agura...it is like a modern Alis Chalmers G model.

 

[Jofang]

I'm looking to get into vegetable farming and am considering getting a couple of 25hp tractors to do it. There are a lot more options on the market than I expected and I'm not sure which model(s) would work best for me. I plan on having beds that are 36" wide with 18" pathways in between and I want to be able to straddle the beds, so tread width is very important for me. The biggest task for them will be wagon pulling, but I also plan to use them for a 36" tiller, potato digger, flail mower for maintaining fence lines, running a PTO generator, and maybe a wood splitter. I don't need or want a cab for this. I may get a loader for one of them for odd jobs, where a small machine comes in handy. I generally prefer larger displacement, lower rpm engines for longevity and heavier weight machines. I plan for both to be hydrostat transmissions and I want them to be easy to operate for inexperienced tractor drivers.

I've got three models on my short list right now: the Mahindra 1626 HST, the Kioti CK2610 HST, and the Branson 2515H. Kioti lists the front and rear tread width for their tractor on the spec sheet, but Mahindra and Branson don't. I can more or less figure it for the rear axle by subtracting a tire width from the overall width, but the front tread width is a mystery. Does anyone know the front tread widths for those machines? Do any of these models have electronic engine management or are they still mechanical injection? I like to keep it simple.

I'm not at all concerned about putting spacers on the rear axles to widen them out, but I'm somewhat hesitant to try that on the front for fear of messing up the steering radius/geometry and exposing the king pin to potential rock hits. Does anyone have experience with front axle spacers who can educate me on this? I'd appreciate any help you can give me or experience you can share with me about this.

I'm sure you'll get some sound advice here on which tractor to buy but whatever you do don't buy a log splitter to work off the 25hp tractor hydraulics. If you consider the large diameter of the log splitter hydraulic cylinder and then compare that to any hydraulic cylinder on the size of the tractor you're planning to buy you'll soon realise that the log splitter would move so slow it would be impractical to use. It's best to buy a self-powered log splitter with a reasonable cycle time.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

My only concern about Mahindra is that they seem to be a hodgepodge of whatever parts they can put together, meaning that this year's model and next year may look the same but be very different under the hood.

But this can happen to any of them. My Massey 1760 was replaced by a 2760 two months after I bought it.

 

[IndyJay]

My only concern about Mahindra is that they seem to be a hodgepodge of whatever parts they can put together, meaning that this year's model and next year may look the same but be very different under the hood.

But this can happen to any of them. My Massey 1760 was replaced by a 2760 two months after I bought it.

Was this because MF switched back from Shibaura to Iseki this year to build their compacts?

 

[sailonner]

My 25hp Chinese 4WD diesel Taskmaster has 34" spacing between the front tires. Standard rims, no spacers. I wonder why you are thinking about 36" beds? I tried wide beds like that but found it's too hard for an old geezer like me to bend into the center and weed it. (I don't use any chemicals) I use a single plow blade and drive the furrows with the wheels next the mound I just ran. They wind up about 24"' apart. Much easier to tend to.

 

[jeff9366]

You need to checkout the Agura...it is like a modern Alis Chalmers G model.

I googled "Agura tractor". Nothing came up.

How about posting a link?

 

[IndyJay]

I googled "Agura tractor". Nothing came up.

How about posting a link?

Maybe he meant this? Some funny looking tractors here...

Agria tractor at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

Good choice for those that struggle between buying Orange or Green...

 

[Randy Gann]

I understand your concern about safety and rops and inexperienced tractor drivers. As mentioned an inexperienced operator can do a lot of damage to your crops. So give a lot of thought to tasks you assign to inexperienced operators.