Something I don't understand about applications of below 40hp tractors

[Learning2Tractor]

I read you don't plough with any tractor under 40hp. At least maybe not on a new unworked field. Don't know if that's right, but it is what I have been reading on more than one site.

If you don't have a front loader or a lawn cutting pull behind implement, what do you use them for? For example, I found a good price on a Kubota B6000e. It is only the tractor. I can only cut the grass with it?

Are all the old tractors over 40hp?

Edit:. I read the Kubota was 10.5 hp. My jd L110 is 17.5, but no pto. I don't know what I'd do with the Kubota.

 

[claggstractors]

I got a little B6100E Kubota myself. Loaded rice patty tires on it. Pull a single bottom plow, 4' disc, 42" tiller, 4' box blade, and a 4' brush hog with it. Slow going when plowing, but it's only a foot at a time. Depending on hard the ground is I have to add some front weight on it. Got bigger tractors, but on smaller garden plots it is handier.

 

[Diggin It]

It's not the size of the tractor, it's the size of the task. If you want to plow or do heavy crop work, go bigger. If you want to till, drag a blade to grade a driveway or a rake or harrow, move small loads of loose material, drill post holes, spray or seed moderate areas, or any number of other tasks and be able to manuever in smaller spaces, go smaller.

 

[Root Cause]

I bought a 38 Hp which has served me well for its intended purpose. I have cleared almost an acre of densely wooded land.
I paid to have the drainage and roads finished as well as areas cleared that were too steep for a tractor.

Now, I am entering the landscaping phase using a bucket and backhoe. Stumps are gone so pushing dirt is not hard.
It is difficult to calculate the savings but I have saved some money and enjoyed the experience.
I see others with smaller tractors having success but it is a matter of time more than tractor.

Weight is a big factor. I am sitting with about 6000 lbs. Old tractors had less HP but gearing and weight moved mountains back in the day.

You didn't say why you were looking or hoped to accomplish with one. Others here have a lot of knowledge to help you figure it out if you can provide some context to your questions.

 

[Learning2Tractor]

I got a little B6100E Kubota myself. Loaded rice patty tires on it. Pull a single bottom plow, 4' disc, 42" tiller, 4' box blade, and a 4' brush hog with it. Slow going when plowing, but it's only a foot at a time. Depending on hard the ground is I have to add some front weight on it. Got bigger tractors, but on smaller garden plots it is handier.

I have about an acre where lots of trees were cut down so I'm sure there are roots. Maybe as long as I don't get too close to the stump it's ok.

10hp was enough for you?

 

[Farmer495]

Depends on the age of the tractor. I'd say 1930's & 1940's almost all the plowing on the continent was done with 20 to 40 HP 2wd tractors.

Keep in mind those were Ag tractors, not compact tractors of today.

A 40 HP tractor was on almost every farm here in the 70s and 80s. You could do a lot of farm work with one with right size implements. As farms got bigger and machinery did, they weren't big enough.

 

[jeff9366]

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Tractor capability is more closely correlated to tractor weight than any other single (1) specification.

The compact tractor era functionally began when Henry Ford licensed Harry Ferguson's tractor and Three Point Hitch design in 1939. The tractor industry uniformly adopted the Three Point Hitch after 1955, when Ferguson's patents began to expire and his tractor and Three Point Hitch design were available to industry participants besides Ford open source.

There were tractors before the Ford 9N, including earlier Fords. However, less efficient, pre-TPH tractors did not clearly outperform draft animals and not many pre-TPH tractors were sold.

Ford's first Ferguson TPH tractor:

Ford 9N​

1939 - 1942

N Series

Utility tractor

Ford 9N Power
Drawbar (claimed):	12.68 hp 9.5 kW
Belt (claimed):	20.29 hp 15.1 kW
Plows:	2 (14-inch)
Drawbar (tested):	16.31 hp 12.2 kW
Engine (net):	23.56 hp 17.6 kW

Ford 9N Weight
Shipping:	2140 lbs 970 kg
Operating:	2900 lbs 1315 kg
Ballasted:	3375 lbs 1530 kg

Mechanical
Chassis:	2WD
Steering:	manual
Cab:	Open operator station
Transmission:	3-speed

Lots of grain threshers, well pumps and (laundry) washing machines ran off Ford 9N PTOs. Ford tractors often preceded grid electrical power on the farm by years.

Horses and mules continued to work USA farms through the 1950s.

 

[jeff9366]

Kubota popularized subcompact category TPH tractors. All Kubota USA TPH tractors had diesel engines. 4-WD was an option. Two readily apparent advantages.

1972 -- Kubota established it's first overseas tractor sales base, in the United States. Kubota's entry into the USA market was well timed. The shift of urban dwellers to suburbia was underway. Large lawns were "in".

Ford approached Kubota in 1967 about supplying Ford with gas engine small tractors for USA sale. However, Kubota decided to establish its own reputation in the North American market with its Kubota brand on a direct basis.

USA tractor demand was overwhelmingly for petrol engines. Kubota had completed a multi-cylinder, lightweight and compact diesel engine that overcame the problems with then current diesel engines. Kubota decided to export only leading technology diesel engine tractors, rather than gasoline models.

 

[claggstractors]

I have about an acre where lots of trees were cut down so I'm sure there are roots. Maybe as long as I don't get too close to the stump it's ok.

10hp was enough for you?

Yeah, the trick is having the right size implements and the Rice Paddy tires loaded with water. The factory Ag tires that were on it didn't get half of the traction. Also went to 8-16 instead of the factory 7-16 size on the rears. Any big roots will stop ya dead in your tracks with the moldboard plow. Have used the box blade with only two of the rippers down and the back end as far up as possible to get roots out of the way though when I couldn't get a bigger tractor to those areas.

 

[M59]

The fundamental importance of TRACTOR WEIGHT eludes many tractor shoppers. Tractor capability is more closely correlated to tractor weight than any other single (1) specification.

Completely agree with jeff9366 except to add the HST tractors ( tractors with hydraulic drive ) require horsepower along with weight because the engine does not directly drive the wheels. The engine drives a hydraulic pump which then drives the wheels, so the more horsepower you have the bigger the pump can be driven, the greater the drawing or pushing power of the tractor.

Weight is really important because it causes the tires the engage the ground and the better the engagement the more the tractor can do.

The above does not apply to tractors using gears, belts, chains to drive the wheels.

 

[claggstractors]

Edit:. I read the Kubota was 10.5 hp. My jd L110 is 17.5, but no pto. I don't know what I'd do with the Kubota.

Yeah, will say there is a difference in pulling power between the two, plus the difference torque wise between a diesel and gas. Biggest problem with the B6000's PTO is that it turns backwards. I had forgot about that.

 

[jeff9366]

I found a good price on a Kubota B6000e. It is only the tractor. I can only cut the grass with it?

Edit:. I read the Kubota was 10.5 hp. ((powering 900 pounds bare tractor weight))

The Kubota B6000e is the first Kubota tractor model imported into the USA. Besides having a weight of only 900 pounds, it MAY be only 2-WD. After 50 years of wear it is unlikely the B6000e engine is generating 10.5 horsepower; probably ~ 8 horsepower.

I can only cut grass with it? YES - But not very long grass.

Contemporary subcompact tractors weigh 1,400 to 1,700 pounds. Subcompact tractors are fine for mowing grass and moving light loads around a smooth property in the FEL bucket. You can plow an established garden plot with a subcompact tractor, though most with a choice would prepare a garden with a PTO powered rototiller. Few employ subcompact weight tractors on more than two (2) smooth acres, three smooth acres tops.

As soon as a plow on a (light) subcompact tractor encounters any but the smallest underground root or other obstruction, including hard ground, the tractor will lose traction and stop.

When plowing dirt, tractor capability is a factor of 2-WD or 4-WD and tractor weight.

A 4-WD compact tractor with a bare tractor weight of at least 2,700 pounds will pull a single bottom turning plow through almost any moist soil, including sod which has been mowed VERY SHORT or previously killed with Roundup/Glycophosphate. Plow will sever tree roots up to 1" if roots are not too concentrated.

 

[Root Cause]

I have about an acre where lots of trees were cut down so I'm sure there are roots. Maybe as long as I don't get too close to the stump it's ok.

10hp was enough for you?

No idea what type or size of these trees but 20' away might be too close.
Hire out the initial work and then work with a SCUT.
Too many hidden treasures and roots have won that battle with bigger equipment.
You might want to do some research here and learn from what others have experienced with smaller tractors.

 

[Jchonline]

If it is 10hp and 900lbs its a no go for plowing. In Summary, its a garden tractor not a field tractor.

 

[ptsg]

I don't get this non sense that gets spread all over US forums that compact tractors and smaller can't farm... Of they can, at a smaller scale and with properly sized implements but they sure can.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

My grandfather started farming with mules and grew into 3,000 acre of row crop. I’m not sure of the first tractor he bought but they did a lot of farming with 3 Massey Ferguson 35’s which my dad still uses one. The largest tractor they used was a 4840 JD bought around 1979. No four wheel drives were used. Their theory was if you needed four wheel drive the ground was too wet to work.

 

[Fixastuff]

I used to have a mf1010 and it would pull the crap out of a 4ft box blade and run 5ft finish mower quite nicely. It's crazy what good low gearing can do.

 

[Learning2Tractor]

I don't get this non sense that gets spread all over US forums that compact tractors and smaller can't farm... Of they can, at a smaller scale and with properly sized implements but they sure can.

That is an established plot though. Mine is raw land with trees removed.

 

[Learning2Tractor]

The Kubota B6000e is the first Kubota tractor model imported into the USA. Besides having a weight of only 900 pounds, it MAY be only 2-WD. After 50 years of use it is unlikely the B6000e is generating 10.5 horsepower; more like 7 - 8 horsepower.

I can only cut grass with it? YES - But not very long grass.

Contemporary subcompact tractors weigh 1,400 to 1,700 pounds. Subcompact tractors are fine for mowing grass and moving light loads around a smooth property in the FEL bucket. You can plow an established garden plot with a subcompact tractor, though most with a choice would prepare a garden with a PTO powered rototiller. Few employ subcompact weight tractors on more than two (2) smooth acres, three smooth acres tops.

As soon as a plow on a (light) subcompact tractor encounters any but the smallest underground root or other obstruction, including hard ground, the tractor will lose traction and stop.

When plowing dirt, tractor capability is a factor of 2-WD or 4-WD and tractor weight.

A 4-WD compact tractor with a bare tractor weight of at least 2,700 pounds will pull a single bottom turning plow through almost any moist soil, including sod which has been first mowed VERY SHORT or previously killed with Roundup/Glycophosphate. Plow will sever tree roots up to 1" if roots are not too concentrated.

I know you told me most of this in my other thread, but I'm unsure what kind of tractor you're telling me would be appropriate other than the walk behind.

 

[Jchonline]

I don't get this non sense that gets spread all over US forums that compact tractors and smaller can't farm... Of they can, at a smaller scale and with properly sized implements but they sure can.

The guy on that B7000 machine doubles the weight. It bottoms out in the rut because it doesn't have the ground clearance. It is also 4WD which makes big difference. Not only that, but that's not a field he is plowing...its a garden.

The B6000 is a field, but he is only plowing 1 row at maybe 12 inch depth. If you have an acre or 2 its fine. If you have 20...the planting season will be over before you finish.

I can use a shovel to dig a lake....it just takes alot longer.