1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor?

   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #51  
The CK2610/20SE isn't available in open station, only as a cab; however, the CK2610/20 can be outfitted with almost everything the SE has. You can't add tilt steering, and I'm sure I am forgetting something.
I stand corrected; all the different models of everything, options, ect; start blending together. Not all the manufacturers have a similar "Build and price" website. But I knew there was a dual rear remote "package" or a single rear I was quoted $650 (I think) for labor and parts; but the kit had a lead time.
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #52  
I stand corrected; all the different models of everything, options, ect; start blending together.

They really don't make it easy to keep on top of, lol.

It's foolish they don't offer a CK2610/20SE open station, all the parts are there.
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #54  
Skips is an independent guy in Bangor but that’s kind of a haul.
The folks at Union Farm have been great more than once on buying used equipment.

Union is where I would go if I was going Kubota; I was a big fan of Hammond, but they're gone now.
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #55  
Union is where I would go if I was going Kubota; I was a big fan of Hammond, but they're gone now.
Do you like MB tractor? I bought one from them..
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #56  
Do you like MB tractor? I bought one from them..

They're newer to my area, having replaced Hammond's presence in Fairfield, and while I have no real experience with them I did enjoy my visit to their lot. It was a little haphazard, and the salesman was quite polite and gave me plenty of space while still making a point of letting me know he was around.
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #57  
They're newer to my area, having replaced Hammond's presence in Fairfield, and while I have no real experience with them I did enjoy my visit to their lot. It was a little haphazard, and the salesman was quite polite and gave me plenty of space while still making a point of letting me know he was around.
I think most dealers are good it just depends on what sales person you get..
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #58  
Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit but I've yet to see a use case quite like mine.

We recently bought a large ~1.5 acre property and historic home in a small town center in Maine. Originally a small horse farm, it was at one point extensively landscaped like a park, with lots of garden plots and about 60 old growth maples and while it's not a big property, it's been a fairly high maintenance one for its small size. The whole property is on a gently sloping hillside with about an acre of lawn, which currently takes me about 90+ minutes to mow with a commercial walk behind (there's a ZTR in our near future). On top of that, it had been neglected for a couple of decades when we bought it, and we're in the process of digging it out from the overgrowth and restoring it to its former glory.

We've got a long list of major landscaping projects planned, including building stone stairs and doing a lot of terracing/retaining wall construction to build foundations for an outdoor dining pavilion as well as a workshop/sugar shack/garage for the ZTR. In addition, the 60 maples generate about 20 cubic yards of leaves every year, which has been "fun" to manage and sustains a leaf pile that's about 45'x25'x6' deep. We're also doing the millennial hobby farmer thing and expanding a large vegetable garden and I'm growing a large hobbyist/small commercial scale maple syrup operation.

With the cost of getting any work done these days, I figure I'm easily at $30-40k or more to get all of the outstanding landscaping projects done, and between moving sap barrels around the yard during syrup season, gardening/landscaping odds and ends, and turning over our large compost pile, a loader would be nice to have. Am I crazy for thinking that a tractor more than pays for itself with the landscaping/earthmoving projects and afterwards becomes a useful tool for managing a small but high maintenance property while raising a growing family and often being pressed for time? What size/hp range should I be considering?

The only rear implements I'd likely be running are a box blade, a small rotary cultivator, and probably a wood chipper. I'd like to be able to lift/move ~800lbs for the landscaping projects. I was thinking that a 25hp emissions-exempt compact with loaded tires would be a good place to start. My local dealerships sell Deere, Kubota, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, and Yanmar, and they all seem pretty decent. If I even need a tractor, what should I look for?

Any of the non-emission under 25 hp tractors will do you just fine. The market is very competitive, and by spending more you tend to get more.

My choice for similar work would be a Kubota B26 TLB - and include the optional 3pt hitch..... BUT that is because I do more landscaping than gardening.

it were the other way around I'd probably go for a less expensive tractor and add 3pt implements. In fact, that is what most people with small acreage do.

25 hp will be fine. Get plenty of ground clearance and a tractor that has adjustable wheel width. HST is nice. 3 ranges are better than 2. I prefer universal tread instead of aggressive tractor tires because it is easier on the lawn. Actually I like turf tires and put on chains in the winter.

Next step: Go sit on a few. Don't be put off by arrogant salespeople. You are buying a tractor, not a salesman. Ask to be shown around their workshop and mecanical area. That will tell you all you need to know & maybe more than you hoped to learn.

Take some notes and them post again. Most people here on TBN have the advantage of experience.
Luck,
rScotty
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #59  
Kioti is an excellent choice.
 
   / 1.5 acres. Am I nuts for thinking about a tractor? #60  
Any of the non-emission under 25 hp tractors will do you just fine. The market is very competitive, and by spending more you tend to get more.

My choice for similar work would be a Kubota B26 TLB - and include the optional 3pt hitch..... BUT that is because I do more landscaping than gardening.
Kioti is an excellent choice.
Yep. It is. The only reason I mentioned Kubota B26 is that nobody else makes a dedicated small Tractor/Loader/Backhoe i.e. a TLB.
Plus... having made that size TLB for decades now, Kubota has it is well worked out. Expensive little monsters, although there are reasons for that.

For traditional tractors and implements instead of TLBs, there are a whole ton of good choices.
rScotty
 

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