2-wheeled or compact tractor?

[Flatlandfarmer]

Hi All,

We are buying a 10 acre farm and I'm in the process of researching equipment. I'm a bit of a newbie so I wanted to ask for some input from you all.

Right now, there are four acres in fenced pasture, with the buildings and lawn on one acre of grass. In addition, there are five acres tillable that are currently being rented by a farmer but next season, I'll probably tackle that land too. Right now, thinking that may be 1/2-1.0 acre market garden, an acre or so in hay, and the rest in green manure. I'm trying to be low-impact and minimal tillage. In addition, I do have a day job so I'll only have two, maybe three days a week (plus some time before/after work) to handle this.

Is a 2-wheeled tractor (Grillo G107 or BCS 853) up to the task or am I better off looking to a compact 4-wheeled machine for the sake of efficiency? I'm a middle aged guy is reasonable shape, but don't want to overwhelm myself...too much.

Still deciding on implements that I'll want to get started too. Budget is a bit of a concern (which is part of the reason I liked the idea of a two-wheel tractor) but I don't want to cut corners I'll regret in a year or two.

Thanks.

 

[jeff9366]

A two wheel tractor requires considerable energy and strength to navigate down the rows, are you up to it? You can plant rows 24" apart. Minimal storage space required. I would only store a two wheel tractor indoors.

Four wheel tractor is less taxing to use. You can cultivate, with a one row or two row cultivator, down 24" rows. Roto-tillers, however, have a minimum width of 42". You can blow or plow snow with a four wheel tractor. Many more implements available for four wheel tractors. I keep my tractor in my garage; others store their tractor outside.

If you decide on a four wheel tractor get one with a Category 1, Three Point Hitch and Four Wheel Drive. Do not get one with a Category 0, Three Point Hitch or just Two Wheel Drive. The most useful tractor option is a Front End Loader and Bucket.

After four crops of green manure over two years, what will you do with this four acres?

Do you have a road to maintain?

 

[Oldtractorfixer]

A two wheel is marginal for most of these uses at best. With your limited time not even a consideration. Also implements are way more expense and you probably will have trouble finding used. What you would like would be a 25hp 4wd with fel. Even used that will be 10k. A nice old ford 8n or similar can usually be found for $2500. Implements are every where for those tractors and can be used on a different tractor as you upgrade. You will get way more done with an old 2wd ford than a 2 wheel walk behind. It's all about what you can afford.

 

[Flatlandfarmer]

A two wheel tractor requires considerable energy and strength to navigate down the rows, are you up to it? You can plant rows 24" apart. Minimal storage space required. I would only store a two wheel tractor indoors.

Four wheel tractor is less taxing to use. You can cultivate, with a one row or two row cultivator, down 24" rows. Roto-tillers, however, have a minimum width of 42". You can blow or plow snow with a four wheel tractor. Many more implements available for four wheel tractors. I keep my tractor in my garage; others store their tractor outside.

If you decide on a four wheel tractor get one with a Category 1, Three Point Hitch and Four Wheel Drive. Do not get one with a Category 0, Three Point Hitch or just Two Wheel Drive. The most useful tractor option is a Front End Loader and Bucket.

After four crops of green manure over two years, what will you do with this four acres?

Do you have a road to maintain?

Thanks!

With the five tillable acres, I'm thinking of keeping one or two acres in hay at any given time, then rotating the other land (basically 3 one acre sub-plots) so that I'm only working one acre of it intensively in any given season. (At least until I figure out what direction I want to head.) Whether I grow more or add to the existing pasture remains to be seen.

No road to maintain, just a driveway and not a huge one. (It's paved.)

It's the "considerable energy" part that makes me cautious about the two-wheeled route. I can probably handle it now and next year too. But I look at equipment as something I want to keep long-term, hence my concerns about whether it'll be too much in a few years. I don't want to beat myself up too much or unnecessarily. At the same time, I'm not opposed to a bit of physical activity. But I reckon there will still be plenty of that either way!

 

[Flatlandfarmer]

A two wheel is marginal for most of these uses at best. With your limited time not even a consideration. Also implements are way more expense and you probably will have trouble finding used. What you would like would be a 25hp 4wd with fel. Even used that will be 10k. A nice old ford 8n or similar can usually be found for $2500. Implements are every where for those tractors and can be used on a different tractor as you upgrade. You will get way more done with an old 2wd ford than a 2 wheel walk behind. It's all about what you can afford.

I don't want to go too deep in debt but you bring up some excellent points and I look at a tractor as an investment. I'm not opposed to older equipment. My concern is, getting something in good enough mechanical condition so that I'm buying a piece of working hardware and not an expensive headache. I haven't looked too deep yet, but I do see John Deere offers 0% financing on new tractors like their 1025R. Although a nice running Ford 8N or similar would definitely be something I'd consider.

 

[bilrus61]

You can get tillers that are narrower. You can get the Sicma gear drive tiller as narrow as 35 inchs and put it behind a Kubota 2320N narrow tractor that is just 36 inches wide. One good thing about the narrow Kubota's they have the position control on the 3 pt lift that maintains the height of the impliment. I've always wanted that combo to try out. I would say you could get away with rows 45 inches apart with it and stil ride. Kinda cool to think about. No way to do hay with that. But be warned that 1 or 2 acres of hay isn't much and hardly worth fooling with and certainly not worth buying hay equipment. Hardly worth calling someone else to come and do it either.

In my experiance in tilling here on my farm for many years you can "overtill" if you never add humis or grow cover crops. I grow buckwheat and rye grass and till in some straw and grass clippings and fall leaves. I've found the soil just keeps getting better and better and I've not had any issues with pulverized soil or hardpan. I frankly have serious doubts that a light tractor with a tiller weighing a few hunderd pounds is able to make a true "hardpan" like the huge heavy row crop tractors/discs. Try raising some daylillies. They are quick to reproduce and make a nice little cash crop without taking up too much room. My mom uses her B3030 kubota for that.

 

[Tbolt76]

Flatlandfarmer,
I own a BCS 745 and have owned an 850, both with tiller and flail mower. Finally just bought an LS R4041 with FEL. I have a small, organic farm of about 10 acres, 1/2 in cover crop at any one time. Cultivate with a 1950 Allis Chalmers G. My farm is divided into two parts, I call them the "small" side and "big" side. Also have 4 16'x96' hoophouses.
Pencil out where you want the farm to be in 5 yrs, 10 yrs, etc. What will be your market? Will you transition to full time farming or part time the whole way? Old tractors can be pretty reliable if you buy with caution and patience. I bought a new one b/c my old JD 520, still usable, was going to need more time and money dedicated to it than I wanted to spend. Down time is lost money. Having said that, old ford 8n's can pull a two bottom plow and disc harrow pretty easy. I don't think they are slow enough to till with, but I've seen it done. Also, can pull a simple 1 row cultivator, mow, etc. I think there are alot of good "newer" options in the 20 yr old category. check out JD 950, 1050, 970 1070. Ford 1710/1720, 1910/1920. Kubota L series L2900 and the like are great machines. 2 Wheel tractors don't replace 4 wheel machines, and definitely will only save you time on smaller tasks i.e. tilling 5-6 beds at a time. I keep mine for the small side of the farm, where we do more hand cultivation (wheel hoe/hand hoe), for intensively spaced crops like lettuce, etc. The BCS also works well in the hoophouses, which only have an 8' high peak.
Give us some info on your budget, maybe we can make some other suggestions. If you look long enough for used, you can usually find what you are looking for.
Tom

 

[mark02tj]

I am by no means an expert in any of this, but here's my $.02...

As much as I love my old 2 wheeled Gravely 5465 walk behind (10hp Kohler) I am glad that I finally made the jump to my Deere 3520 (35 hp 4WD hydrostat). I only have 5 acres and I'm only planting small gardens, but I do have a 400' gravel driveway to maintain as well as woods that I want to clear the brush out of. The Gravely still has a place here, but it's the Deere that I'm really working with now.

You mention the Deere 1025R. I would probably go bigger than that if I could afford it. When I first started considering getting some sort of 4 wheeled tractor about a year ago, the first thing I found that I really liked was a used Deere 2305 which is about the same tractor as the 1025. It was pretty cool with a mid-mount mower, 3 point hitch and a front end loader and I drooled over it (as I was saving money) before the dealership sold it. I really started thinking about what I wanted to with the tractor (primarily work in the woods clearing brush) and decided that I needed to step it up a notch. So I started looking at the 2x20 series Deere tractors. One of the deciding factors was that the Deere salesman mentioned that size and up would give me a "real 3 pt. hitch." I was confused by this and asked what he meant. He explained that even though the 3 pt. on the 2305/1025 tractors was a category 1 hitch that the tractor sat too low to the ground to really make use of ground engaging implements. You could get them in the ground, but the hitch wouldn't lift them high enough in many cases to transport them. I found a nice used 2520 tractor with all the bells and whistles and then, FINALLY, found my 3520. So now I have a tractor that is MUCH larger than the original one that I was interested in and I'm super happy with it!! About a week after I got it, I borrowed a box blade from a buddy of mine and spread 50 tons of gravel in just a couple of hours! Doing that with my Gravely would have been a multi-day job for me, not to mention I wouldn't have been able to prep the original surface as well prior to getting the gravel.

I guess the point of all of my rambling is that you will probably really appreciate a 4 wheel tractor on a place your size. It will save you considerable time and effort (not to mention back pain!) over using a 2 wheel tractor. Get the best one you can afford. Nothing wrong with an old 8N or 9N for what you want. Or even an old Kubota. My initial thought (prior to stumbling on the 2305) was to get an older, mid-80's Kubota 4WD. Those old tractors are pretty rugged and simple to work on. None of the electronics that are on my Deere. Don't feel like you HAVE to buy something NOW - shop around and you will eventually find the right tractor for you.

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[js5020]

Hmmm, a 2 wheel or 4 wheel on 10 acres,,, while the 2 wheelers are very competent and versatile for me 10 acres would be to much ground to cover, and a 4 wheel could be cumbersome and heavy for some tasks. So get both!

 

[Flatlandfarmer]

Thanks for all the input. As for budget, I guess $10k and maybe up to $15k (delivered) is feasible, if it's a good, solid piece of tractor that will last me. The consensus seems to be 4 wheels and I'm agreeing at this point. (A two-wheeled may be a nice new toy in a few years.) I think the four-wheeled route will give me at lot more flexibility to grow with and will save a bit of back pain as mark02tj points out.

In general terms, I'm looking for something that can mow, disc, and possibly be fit with a front-end loader. (I originally wasn't thinking I wanted one but a friend told me they are quite versatile, so it's something I'm now considering.) I wouldn't mind a tractor where I can handle basic repairs, but I make no claims to being a mechanic so anything complex will need to be outsourced. Illinois seems to be Deere country so I know service and parts on that brand are readily available locally. It's an obstacle that I know can be addressed, but currently some of the pasture has 54" gates (PVC fencing) so that might need to be changed to fit anything with greater width.