4 Wheel Drive Lawn Tractor

[rScotty]

Hey Ya'll,
I just purchased 37 acres - measuring up. I have about two acres of flat land to mow - easily handled with a big box troy built, but I wanted something to take up the mountain trail hall trees back down, hall lumber to build a deer stand etc... essentially, does an all-in-one, mower / 4 wheeler exist? If so, what's the best?

Thanks

What's best? Varies of course. For us, best turned out to be scrapping the all-in-one idea and going with machines built for the purpose.

We have about the same amount of land and lawn you do. For mowing we use a self-propelled Honda lawnmower. I wouldn't want anything any more complex for just a couple of acres. Simple, bulletproof, no problems with it. It cost about $1000 8 years ago at Home Depot. Walking around following the mower for 2 acres isn't much exercise, but it beats none.

For all the tractor lifting and carrying, making dirt roads, & moving rocks & trees we have a medium size 4wd backhoe/loader. That's where we put the bulk of our money. Value: simply priceless. We grin at each other every time we use it and sing out, "We should have bought that years ago!"

An ATV with a dump bed would be the perfect compliment for just getting around the place, but I haven't found one yet so we are still using an old 4wd LandCruiser or the tractor.

rScotty

 

[GeneV]

He never mentioned cost, and he never mentions a loader in his original post, but Ventrac still makes a loader.

KH500 VERSA-Loader

Discover the versatility and ease of the Ventrac Versa-Loader (shown with standard bucket). Drive up and attach in minutes without tools or heavy lifting. Once connected, choose the standard bucket or three other optional attachments, which also feature the Ventrac Mount System, and get the job...

www.ventrac.com

True, but see that's what I saying tho, $8600 for that loader attachment, with less lift capacity than a loader on a scut of any color.

 

[Vigo327]

I think with 37 acres you need a 'utility vehicle' more than you need a mower, so unless you plan to buy two dedicated machines I would get a utility vehicle that can be made to mow, such as the RTV/UTV with pull-behind mower as mentioned. A tractor will do a lot more in the long run but it's also a fairly slow and bumpy way to get around and can get tedious to get on and off a bunch of times depending on how big it is and what you're doing.

I think the question is mostly should you buy a UTV/RTV and a pull-behind mower (or regular riding mower) and take your time figuring out the inevitable tractor purchase? Or buy the inevitable tractor right now and decide you also want a UTV later.

I also agree about considering a japanese mini-truck in place of the UTV, in some cases anyway. Price, road legality, how fast you like to drive off-road, need for AC, are all big factors when comparing those two.