Do I need a tractor?

[cardiologist]

I need your help. I am not sure if I need a tractor, but would like one. Here is my situation...

I just bought a house on 5.8 acres. About 2.5 acres needs to be mowed, and we have a very cheap lawn service that mows it for about $65 every other week. They also snow plow our long driveway for about $45 each time. It's about 300 feet long. We do not have any farm animals. We have a fruit tree orchard and have about 10 apple trees.

My thoughts are that if we get a sub-compact utility tractor, we'd get the mid mower option, but I'd still rather have the company come do our lawn. They bring about 3 zero-turn mowers and finish in less than an hour. I can't beat that. But the tractor can be used to spray the lawn, spread fertilizer, aerate the lawn, and maybe even do our own snowplowing. The lawn service only cuts, they don't do fertilizers or aeration or crabgrass prevention. No one will care for your lawn better than you will, and I plan on making the lawn look a lot better. They don't care about weeds and crabgrass. I think it'd look a lot better if I did that other stuff.

Can a tractor with just a front loader do a good job at snowplowing? Or would a dedicated blade be necessary? Also, we do have to do some limbing and cutting down of limbs on our forest, could a tractor help in that? I do have a Cushman Haulster that I have been using to haul limbs, fallen branches, and all kinds of other stuff back and forth. Any thoughts on this?

We do have a pine tree forest, and the trees are infected with fungus and will eventually either fall down, or need to be chopped down. There are about 300 of these. I do not need to do this soon, but eventually it needs to happen.

Also, I want to plant more pine trees and other trees to replace the trees that have decayed. Will a front end loader suffice, or is a back hoe necessary? The prices I've seen to add a backhoe seem a bit crazy, should I worry about the backhoe later on? I don't want to rent a mini excavator every time I pick up a tree to plant.

How good are the wood chippers that you can get for SCUTs? I'm thinking John Deere 1 series or Kubota BX series. What size wood will they chip and is it worth even doing that? Or just pile up the wood and rent a serious wood chipper?

Can the front end loader actually dig, grade land, or be used to remove the top 4-6 inches of sod? Do these tractors 17-26 horsepower have enough oomph to dig up dirt and sod and remove it?

What else can tractors do around the property? What all uses have you found for them on non-farm type properties. Just a house, some land, and some woods. I don't want to be one of those guys that buys everything just to have it and let it sit in my garage. But for about $250 a month, I don't see it as a huge expense. I'm just wondering if it will add enough value and earn it's keep.

I'm thinking of a tractor in the range of 12-16k or so. Any thoughts? Do I really "need" one, or is it more of a luxury item that will just sit in my garage and do nothing? I'm sure if I had it, I could find random stuff to do.

You all are more experienced than me, so please chime in and let me know. I am a new homeowner and need some advice.

 

[k0ua]

Tractors are useful for thousands of projects around your home. Yes Front End Loaders can be used to dig and scrape, A toothbar would help in the digging. As for the planting, no not so much, I built a "shovel" to chain onto mine to assist that. I have use the loader to make a trench to plant bulbs with though. That is quick and easy to plant bulb type flowers. The FEL is so usefull for lifting of things, I have pallet forks for mine and find it very useful. I don't own a chipper (yet), but lots of guys here do, and find them useful. While you can move snow with a FEL, it is slow, and a blade is much faster and more efficient. I recently got a grapple for my tractor, and moved a lot of cut off tree limbs yesterday, turning a laborious chore into fun! If you intend to level much land, you should invest in a boxblade for your tractor, it's scarifiers will loosen the soil and the box will smooth it out for you. There are many projects you have not thought of yet that a tractor can assist with or turn something that is a back breaking chore into a fun afternoon. I have moved a lot of stones on my place with the tractor and turned them into landscaping. To sum up, tractor ownership is fun. Here is my shovel project thread if you are interested.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/189604-shovel-ready-project.html

James K0UA

 

[TripleR]

Want and need are sometimes not the same thing and sometimes they are, sounds like you have legitimate "needs" that can only be met by spending money whether you spend the money paying someone to do it or buy a tractor to do it yourself. In the long run I imagine the cost will be about the same. It often comes down to how important it is to you to "do it yourself", essential to me but not so much by others, only you can answer that.

I probably can't help much as snow is only an occasionally occurrence here and no one has a blower, we just clear with a FEL and bucket. We own three SCUTS, BX2200, BX2660 and John Deere 2305 and all were bought for lawn mowing and small chores around the house as we have larger tractors for the heavier stuff. With only about 8 inches of ground clearance, if you are not going to be mowing, I would skip the SCUT and go to a CUT, something along the lines of the B Series Kubota, 2000 Series John Deere or equivalent in Kioti, Massey etc.

To dig and move much soil, you will need something in addition to the FEL and bucket to optimize it performance though it can be done especially with the addition of a tooth bar. We use a box scraper, sometimes a plow or tiller, just something to break up the soil then scoop it up with the bucket.

We have found it to be much cheaper to rent a back hoe than buy one, now if money was no object... We have used a post hole digger to plant trees and someone makes a spade to attach to the bucket, don't know how it works, so maybe someone can help.

A tractor is great for working in the woods and we have used pallet forks to haul trees out or just dragged and stacked them to burn. I am sure you will find plenty to do with a tractor.

 

[lilranch2001]

Quick answer is, if you are a male, you need a tractor.
If you are a female, you need a tractor
Thanks
:cool2:

 

[Steve in MT]

With all the work that you mentioned, a small tractor tractor would be a welcomed addition to your garage. Along with a loader, a grapple would would come in very handy for all the tree triming. I cant say about a chipper, someone else will have to chime in on this one. A backhoe is allways a great addition if a person can justify the added expence. For what you need/want to do, then my vote is for a Kubota "B" series tractor (next step up from the BX) A word of caution, once you have a tractor of your choice, its real easy to go all bat crap crazy for attachments.
Steve

 

[TripleR]

Here are some videos that might help you: Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos

 

[Gary Fowler]

First let me say that buying a tractor with a mid-mount mower but still using a lawn service for mowing is pretty ludicrous. A mid mount mower and a weed eater and you can do your own lawn just as good as they can unless you are just too lazy to do it. I don't think a BX series Kubota will help you a lot with moving trees even with a grapple due to limited weight that they can lift. I would go with a B series in 26 or 29 HP with FEL and box blade and maybe add a grapple on if you need it. I don't have a grapple and it is a fight every time I have to move brush. YOU can get the brush with a FEL but it requires finesse and ends up loading it on by hand a lot of times. Many times I will just push it into a burn pile close by which if you have a tooth bar, it is pretty easy to gather up brush and push it without getting a lot of dirt. As for a backhoe, I have a TLB and use it a lot. It is my go to tractor for most of my work, but most folks say they cant justify the cost of ownership. To me my little projects that require a backhoe usually cant wait to build up enough work to rent one, so owning is only right for me (your mileage may vary on that). I have used it a lot thinning trees and with the aid of the hydraulic thumb (an expensive option but very handy) I can pick up and stack fairly large trees with mine (my B26 weighs in at 4001 pounds so it is a lot heavier than a standard B23xx series TLB) Just last week I used it to move a lot of limbs and lift and stack the larger stuff from a huge 100+year old oak that had blown over on my fence from a neighbors yard (also used the back hoe to lift some of the limbs when I got my bar pinched on the saw)
I have two tractors and sometimes I use the back hoe to load stuff into the bucket of the larger LS tractor (did I say I don't have a grapple) so I find lots of uses for the back hoe including digging up and removing those pesky rocks that grow out of our Arkansas soil all the time.

 

[lilranch2001]

Personally I would not own a MMM, too clunky and PITA

 

[jeff9366]

You are asking, on THIS FORUM, if you need a Tractor?

Certainly you need a tractor.

T-B-N Respondents breathe tractors.

Tractor/Loaders and implements can be a little dangerous in the beginning, but OH WHAT FUN!

 

[TripleR]

You are asking, on THIS FORUM, if you need a Tractor?

Certainly you need a tractor.

T-B-N Respondents breathe tractors.

Tractor/Loaders and implements can be a little dangerous in the beginning, but OH WHAT FUN!

Yeah, we might be a bit more help in answering, "Do I need another tractor".:laughing:

 

[Don87]

Yes, you need a tractor with a front end loader.

 

[cardiologist]

Thank you all for the awesome insight. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm just worried that me trying to mow with a MMM may take too long and be an inefficient use of time. Although I have considered firing the lawn service and taking over the lawn mowing. I just feel I can do other stuff and leave the lawn mowing to the guys with 3 zero turn mowers. They finish so quickly. It's not a perfect job, but pretty decent. Do they make grapples for scuts? I guess I may need a B series or 2 series. I'll look into those too. I have a huge garage that could fit anything, so the size doesn't matter. I'm not a welder, so making additions and implements won't be easy for me. I'm a cardiologist and I love doing my own stuff. It's very fulfilling. I just don't want to be buying and overpriced toy. I can help you with your cholesterol though. Lol.

How about the back hoe? I want to dig holes and plant trees. I'd rather have the backhoe available and ready to use than wait to rent one and then go out and buy a bunch of trees. Sometimes you find trees on sale and just want to buy them and get them in the ground.

 

[Don87]

Thank you all for the awesome insight. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm just worried that me trying to mow with a MMM may take too long and be an inefficient use of time. Although I have considered firing the lawn service and taking over the lawn mowing. I just feel I can do other stuff and leave the lawn mowing to the guys with 3 zero turn mowers. They finish so quickly. It's not a perfect job, but pretty decent. Do they make grapples for scuts? I guess I may need a B series or 2 series. I'll look into those too. I have a huge garage that could fit anything, so the size doesn't matter. I'm not a welder, so making additions and implements won't be easy for me. I'm a cardiologist and I love doing my own stuff. It's very fulfilling. I just don't want to be buying and overpriced toy. I can help you with your cholesterol though. Lol.

How about the back hoe? I want to dig holes and plant trees. I'd rather have the backhoe available and ready to use than wait to rent one and then go out and buy a bunch of trees. Sometimes you find trees on sale and just want to buy them and get them in the ground.

You can purchase small 'seedling' trees, they wouldn't require anything more than a spade shovel. And if it's 'bare root' seedlings, a hole need not be dug. Just push the spade shovel straight into the ground, push it sideways, insert tree with water, remove spade and press dirt with your foot.


But backhoes can be a lot of fun.

 

[lilranch2001]

Personally I would not limit my search to Kubota.
Yes they are a very visible name in the marketplace, and have helped build the industry to the level it is at now.

But in my humble opinion in many of their lines, they have sat on there laurels and let name recognition sell their products at a premium price

There there are quite a few other brands out there that can compete and maybe even exceed Kubota for a better price.

I started out with wanting a Kubota, and found better choices (for me) in the market

 

[cardiologist]

Personally I would not limit my search to Kubota.
Yes they are a very visible name in the marketplace, and have helped build the industry to the level it is at now.

But in my humble opinion in many of their lines, they have sat on there laurels and let name recognition sell their products at a premium price

There there are quite a few other brands out there that can compete and maybe even exceed Kubota for a better price.

I started out with wanting a Kubota, and found better choices (for me) in the market

What did you end up with? I'm not looking for any specific brand. I just happen to have a dealer less than a mile from my house. I looked at JD too. Any other options to be able to get more tractor for you're money?

 

[TripleR]

We have had dedicated mowers, SCUTS, CUTS, UT and Ag tractors and now have them from 22 to 85 HP. If you throw mowing into the equation, whatever you buy will be a compromise, some can live with a compromise and some can't. Our lawn mower now is a BX2660 and it does a good job though not as good as a dedicated mower and we have an open yard with little to mow around, sometimes however, a small tractor with FEL really comes in handy. I have since accumulated other machines and if I was buying again would go with a dedicated mower.

In my opinion, you would need a mower and a CUT to do all the things you wish.

As to the back hoe, if you have the need then go for it, everyone's situation is different, we rarely need one and have a full size Case sitting in a barn which hasn't been used in years, some use them all the time or simply want one handy, both good reasons to own. We will be planting several hundred trees this year, but usually just go with seedlings and plant with a dibble bar or hire a crew.

 

[lilranch2001]

What did you end up with? I'm not looking for any specific brand. I just happen to have a dealer less than a mile from my house. I looked at JD too. Any other options to be able to get more tractor for you're money?

I have a Bobcat brand, which is no longer built, but Kioti and several clones (like Bobcat) is out there.
I am not even promoting these brands. My point is to look at local dealers that have been in business for a long time and check out all product lines

I just felt many parts of the Kubota lines were inferior to other brands, and you paid for name recognition (much like JD) rather than quality parts.

I think I ended up looking at 7 different brands, chose Bobcat because I liked many of the features Bobcat employed, and my Bobcat dealer was across the highway from my work so it was very convenient to me and the Bobcat name is well know throughout the world.
Never expected them to drop the tractor line though, so in one way I missed the boat....

 

[jeff9366]

1) Can a tractor with just a front loader do a good job at snowplowing? Or would a dedicated blade be necessary?

2) I want to plant more pine trees and other trees. Will a front end loader suffice, or is a back hoe necessary?

3) How good are the wood chippers that you can get for SCUTs?

4) Can the front end loader actually dig, grade land, or be used to remove the top 4-6 inches of sod?

5) What else can tractors do around the property? What all uses have you found for them on non-farm type properties. Just a house, some land, and some woods.

1) How much snow do you have to deal with each winter? How much area do you need to clear?

Bucket on a Front End Loader will handle "some" snow. A rear blade more. A three point hitch mounted, PTO powered snow blower, much more, but not on a BX.

http://www.ratchetrake.com/video_snow_edge.shtml

2) Backhoes are expensive. You can buy four $ implements for what one $$$$ Backhoe costs. When Backhoe is on tractor the three point hitch is not available. Backhoes are heavy. Most people leave them on all the time, losing the three point hitch, or they take them off and leave them in the garage 95% of the time.

Consider a Bucket Spade for tree planting. Great tool but not for a BX.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/258433-florida-planting-sand-pears-kubota.html

3) Wallenstein Chippers and Chipper/Shredders are The Best and what YOU deserve.

BX Wood Chippers - Wallenstein

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...267507-kubota-rtv500-muts-trailer-kubota.html

4) With a Toothbar or Bucket Spade attached a FEL bucket can do some digging. It can remove sod but not so sod can easily be reused. With a Ratchet Rake attached, bucket can do limited grading. BX is limited for digging/grading by lack of power.

For serious grading you use "implements" which mount on the three point hitch at the rear of the tractor. There are a bizillion implements for grading. The four most common are the Box Blade, Landscape Rake, Rear/Angle Blade and Land Plane......then things get esoteric.

The three point hitch is now an industry standard. All tractors come with them, in five capacities: Category 0/BX, Category 1/Most Prevalent, Category 2/Utility Tractors, Category 3/Ag Tractors and Category 4/Behemoths.

Three points hitches are all laid out the same. Understand one, understand all.

5) Make a list. Tractors can do everything but limb trees.

You need a tractor in the 30-40 horsepower range, not a BX.

If I were a Cardiologist, instead of a retired marketing guy, I would buy a Kubota "Grand L" L3560. L3560 has all the gold bells and platinum whistles standard, including the ever-so-nice three point hitch with pin adjustable and telescoping lower links, which makes mounting heavy implements easy on your heart.

I aspire to an L3560. Nirvana.

http://www.kubota.com/product/L60/lineup.aspx

I buy one new implement every-other-month. It used to make Wifey crazy but she has figured out hobby tractoring is less expensvie than hobby boats.....and has become inured. The implements that sit are sold off. The stock of active implements keeps growing....

Sorry T-B-N limits pictures. I have a lot more.

YOU NEED A T-R-A-C-T-O-R L-O-A-D-E-R.

 

[k0ua]

And Gary you need a grapple, on that big LS.. You will be amazed how it makes picking up brush and junk fun!.. I have got my new Everything Attachments Wicked Grapple going on my Kioti, and have started using it. It is way better than forks for brush, I have used forks for years to haul brush off, but it is mostly a get off and stack it thing. Better than trying to get it in/on a bucket, but now where near as cool as taking a couple of seconds to "grab a bite" of brush and off to the brush pile with it.

James K0UA

 

[jeff9366]

OK, OK, a few more pics.....