First timer needs help

[ESL]

I know there are a lot of threads about which tractor to get. I just read about 10 of them. My problem is what seems to be very conflicting advice from the Deere sales guy and the Kubota guy I have talked to.
My situation: I have 8 acre of which 3.5 are a field which needs to be brush cut a couple of times per year, about 1.5 acres of lawn, a horse barn and paddock to keep clear (no horses yet) and the remaining is woods to clear the underbrush and open up. So I need a machine to do the above as well as clean the yard in the fall and the 3/10ths miles driveway (dirt/gravel) in the winter.
The dilemma: The Deere guy says to go with the 2305, it can do all I need and then some.. For the drive he says a snow blower is fine (we get about 100-120 inches/year of the white stuff). The Kubota guy says I will need at least a 2630, preferably a 3030 or more to do everything and recommends a rear blade and the FEL for the snow removal. He said the BX's would be too small for my needs and take too long for the field. This seems to be quite different from the deere dude.
Neither would give me an exact price since I didn't have exact specs, just a ballpark of $16-18K for the deere and $19K for the kubota.

So, which do I need and about how much will it run me?
Thanks in advance and for all the info I have already gleaned from this site,
Eric

 

[bruceatlam]

Well, without attempting to justify my response -- I side with the Kubota sales guy. According to you, looks like it'll cost you about $19.0K

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

mowing 3.5 acres with the 2305 would be a 2 day job.
everthing I've heard about the 3030 is good.
front loader is a must if you're going to be cleaning paddocks.

OTOH, the smaller machines have a lighter footprint for mowing the yard and can fit through a 4 foot space for cleaning stalls if you have the smaller bucket on them.

 

[sandman2234]

And then of course you could do what some people do when they have a need that spreads across a broad range of uses. Consider spending part of your hard earned money on a larger used tractor. According to some of our members, older/used tractors aren't worth much, so you could pick up a 20 year old tractor for next to nothing. Get a heavy duty bush hog, not one of those lightweight ones, and you will be set to do the field in a few hours rather than a few days, and have a tractor that will thin out the brush in the woods, as long as you are allowing room between the trees for the tractor to fit. Take your time shopping on used, as you don't want a worn out piece of junk. If you aren't familar with equipment, find somebody locally that is, and get them to check out each tractor you consider.
Once you have the fields cut, the woods thinned, and find out just how far a large tractor will allow a snowblower to blow snow and how good all that weight is while traveling on snow, then buy a lawnmower with a bagger for the yard and enjoy the rest of your days, looking for a decent small tractor to handle the horse stalls that are currently without occupants. Who knows, you may decide the horsestalls would be better handled by a bobcat type of loader, as they tend to handle tighter spaces at the hands of qualified operators.
If you just want a new tractor, then I am not much help....but an old tractor with say a hundred horsepower will make short work of that field and are pretty much bullet proof for the little bit of work you are asking of it. They also don't have a huge following, and can be purchased reasonable.
David from jax

 

[LBrown59]

I know there are a lot of threads about which tractor to get. I just read about 10 of them. My problem is what seems to be very conflicting advice from the Deere sales guy and the Kubota guy I have talked to.
My situation: I have 8 acre of which 3.5 are a field which needs to be brush cut a couple of times per year, about 1.5 acres of lawn, a horse barn and paddock to keep clear (no horses yet) and the remaining is woods to clear the underbrush and open up. So I need a machine to do the above as well as clean the yard in the fall and the 3/10ths miles driveway (dirt/gravel) in the winter.
The dilemma: The Deere guy says to go with the 2305, it can do all I need and then some.. For the drive he says a snow blower is fine (we get about 100-120 inches/year of the white stuff). The Kubota guy says I will need at least a 2630, preferably a 3030 or more to do everything and recommends a rear blade and the FEL for the snow removal. He said the BX's would be too small for my needs and take too long for the field. This seems to be quite different from the deere dude.
Neither would give me an exact price since I didn't have exact specs, just a ballpark of $16-18K for the deere and $19K for the kubota.

So, which do I need and about how much will it run me?
Thanks in advance and for all the info I have already gleaned from this site,
Eric

A BX Will do every thing a JD2305 will do.

 

[newbury]

I know there are a lot of threads about which tractor to get. I just read about 10 of them. <snip>

Read and summarize every thread for every $100 you want to spend,
Then come back.
10 threads is diddly squat.

 

[LD1]

I'd reccomend a L3400 or bigger. I only have 5 acres and often think it is a little small at times.

I have a 5' hog i bought used (you can go with a 6') and it would only take me 2-2.5hrs to do 3.5acres. I also have a 61" RFM for the yard. Again you could go to 6'. It weighs 2500lbs compaired to 1800 for the 3030, but is also has larger tires that reduce ground compaction. I have ag tires and don't have a problem at all with my yard.

I wouldn't spend big money on a blower either. A 6' rear blade is very efficcient at moving snow and the loader is equally effective at stacking it.

The B3030 has more fancy features but the 3400 has more lift capacity, more HP, and is probabally a little less money.

Another consideration would be to look at getting a dedicated little mower, because you only have 1.5 acres, which isn't much. And then go even bigger, like a L4400, with a 7' blade and a 7' bushhog.

 

[flusher]

I know there are a lot of threads about which tractor to get. I just read about 10 of them. My problem is what seems to be very conflicting advice from the Deere sales guy and the Kubota guy I have talked to.
My situation: I have 8 acre of which 3.5 are a field which needs to be brush cut a couple of times per year, about 1.5 acres of lawn, a horse barn and paddock to keep clear (no horses yet) and the remaining is woods to clear the underbrush and open up. So I need a machine to do the above as well as clean the yard in the fall and the 3/10ths miles driveway (dirt/gravel) in the winter.
The dilemma: The Deere guy says to go with the 2305, it can do all I need and then some.. For the drive he says a snow blower is fine (we get about 100-120 inches/year of the white stuff). The Kubota guy says I will need at least a 2630, preferably a 3030 or more to do everything and recommends a rear blade and the FEL for the snow removal. He said the BX's would be too small for my needs and take too long for the field. This seems to be quite different from the deere dude.
Neither would give me an exact price since I didn't have exact specs, just a ballpark of $16-18K for the deere and $19K for the kubota.

So, which do I need and about how much will it run me?
Thanks in advance and for all the info I have already gleaned from this site,
Eric

I did all the jobs you listed when I moved to my 10 acre (flat pasture) parcel in late 2005, except the horse barn stuff and snow blowing (no snow here in the North Sacramento Valley), with a new 2005 Kubuta B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, 4WD, power steering, hydrostatic tranny) with the LA302 FEL (4-ft wide bucket, 800 lb lift capacity). Cost: $12,600 plus tax. My mower was a 4-ft King Kutter brush hog.

My guess is that something like the 7510 could handle the horse stuff and the snow blowing as well.

 

[texasjohn]

You don't want a tractor.

You want attachments, and an engine/hydraulics to power them properly.

Focus on the threads that assist you in understanding what each attachment does, and the pros and cons of small versus larger attachments. ie, the time to do a job versus size.

Your needs are broad, thus you will benefit from numerous attachments.

Budget half or more for attachments.

Consider the benefits of a cab... I hate cold and enjoy sitting in the warm in the winter, and cool in summer.

See if you can't cultivate a nearby TBN member and visit them, perhaps drive numerous vehicles while using various attachments. Experience is the best way to avoid improper allocation of $$.

Fundamentally, your setup will be determined, ideally, by identifying the meanest, heaviest, longest task you will EVER ask your tractor and implements to accomplish. This is the tractor size you will need... and implements sized accordingly.

Think of what you wish to accomplish and the amount of sweat/pain you are willing to personally expend to get it done. Point is, pretty much all you want to do CAN be accomplished by hand tools. You want to move to using oil and hydraulic power to offload your body. An undersized tractor and implements still puts significant strain on your time, energy and satisfaction at getting a job done.

My personal logic goes this way...
a FEL is the most handy and frequently used attachment
I find that bucket size is very important to task completion time
I've discovered that I often operate at relief valve limits of the FEL when chaining and lifting things.
I need to lift 2800 lbs and more. This dictated, for me, the 50ish hp tractor/FEL as the minimum I can live with.
4WD is critical to have in snow, mud, FEL work, a must have.
weighted tires, extra rear weight on box blade, must haves

Reading many threads will give you the trends of TBN tractor users.
To me, they include:
bigger tractors are better
more FEL lift capacity is better
there are lots of simple attachments that are HUGELY significant..chains, grab hooks, proper tires (I like R4's)....make a list and get them to begin with.... people are regularly discovering the joy of new, simple tools and attachments.

Hope this helps.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Most of what you want to do, can be done with small tractors, but it all depends on how much time you want to spend doing it, as the bigger tractor and attachments will do it faster. The thing I would think about is in the woods, as you need to have plenty of ground clearance if you don't want to get hung up things.

 

[Gittyup]

There are also "tweeners" that you might want to consider, like the TYM T273 or T293, or the Kioti CK20. These are not quite as big as many in their hp class, yet have nearly similar performance specs (in some cases better). Yet, they are small enough to manuever in tight spaces.

The 3030 is a real nice setup, especially with cab, though it is priced quite high. But, it always struck as quite narrow, leaving me to wonder about its stability on hills. Perhaps this fear is unfounded though.

I think the BX/2305 , etc subcut size is too small for all that you want to do.

The thought of two older tractors as opposed to one new one is a very good suggestion too.

A tractor is much use without implements. So, give this some serious evaluation. Also, implements for a subcut are much different that those for a bigger tractor, often not interchangeable behind these two classes of machines.

 

[crbr]

B3030 and never look back. Write the check.

The JD guy is way off base.

 

[ChuckinNH]

It's not that a 2305, or BX won't do everything you need done on your smaller property, but when you say woods, or brush, you start talking about more clearance under the tractor, and a tougher underbelly. For your uses I would go to the next larger frame size, I.E. the JD 2320/2520/2720, the Kubota B2320/2620/2920, or something like those in the Kioti, or Mahindra, etc. I've had both a BX, and the B2620 on 13 acres with about the same amount open, and much prefer the B2620 for all uses on rough ground, and for loader work. If I were mostly mowing with a mmm, I would prefer the 2305/ BX.

 

[ESL]

Everyone,
Thanks for the replies. I had to go awy this weekend and am only getting a chance to respond now. I had a feeling the Deere guy was underpowering me rather than giving me what I needed. I have been looking at used but am a total newbie so am somewhat scored of screwing things up without a tutorial from a dealer. Am I being naive?
Eric

 

[newbury]

Everyone,
Thanks for the replies. I had to go awy this weekend and am only getting a chance to respond now. I had a feeling the Deere guy was underpowering me rather than giving me what I needed. I have been looking at used but am a total newbie so am somewhat scored of screwing things up without a tutorial from a dealer. Am I being naive?
Eric

Dig deep into the forums.

For "wood work" you gots to get between trees and above ground. A nice 50HP machine has higher clearance but greater width, I went w/ a B for a few inches higher. But still small enough to get around my forests.

Whose going to support you? If your driveway ends at a Kubota dealership (like Johnthomas) there's a big tradeoff on saving $ versus quick support.

A lot of us are OOF (official old farts) that like to give suggestions but we really need more data on what you need to do.

And remember you might want to buy your second tractor first.

 

[sandman2234]

Going new versus used often depends on the support level that you have nearby. Nothing worse than breaking a hose on a FEL if you live in the middle of nowhere and there isn't a hydraulic shop nearby. If your schedule depends on the tractor being key ready and no chance that you might need to do some sort of maintance before you can either start the process of the next chore, or finish it, then new might be the way to go. Don't get me wrong, as even new tractors break down, but if you have a little linency in your "to do" list, then by all means consider a good used tractor. If you are a great mechanic, or just able to turn a wrench, consider used. If you need to have all of your light bulb changing hired out, then consider new and invest in a new chair for your computer desk, as we all know your going to be writing a LOT of posts that start with "Newbie needs help" Whichever way you go, most of us have been there, done at least some of the misttakes your fixing to make. Our job hopefully is to soften the blow that comes with making the mistakes we all make, by at least leading you partway. Most of our TBN member opinions are formed by what worked for us, and while each of us has our own little niche, we often will try to mold our good experiences to your conditions. Your job is to give us as much information as you can, so we can figure out what we did that won't work in your situation. For example, I have never owned a new tractor, but my neighbor has owned two and I drive them regularly. My used tractors have several quirks that only I understand (and learned by using them). Since I have had great luck with used tractors, I promote buying them, but I also understand someone needing or wanting to buy a new tractor. However buying a new small tractor to do the jobs that probably should require a larger tractor but because of price, was avoided, is probably the fastest way to make a new tractor purchase a mistake. Buying a used tractor that continually has problems is the fastest way to regret the used purchase. I have been fortunate in my purchases, and hopefully you will be in yours.
David from jax

 

[bpsooner]

You don't want a tractor.

You want attachments, and an engine/hydraulics to power them properly.

Focus on the threads that assist you in understanding what each attachment does, and the pros and cons of small versus larger attachments. ie, the time to do a job versus size.

Your needs are broad, thus you will benefit from numerous attachments.

Budget half or more for attachments.

Consider the benefits of a cab... I hate cold and enjoy sitting in the warm in the winter, and cool in summer.

See if you can't cultivate a nearby TBN member and visit them, perhaps drive numerous vehicles while using various attachments. Experience is the best way to avoid improper allocation of $$.

Fundamentally, your setup will be determined, ideally, by identifying the meanest, heaviest, longest task you will EVER ask your tractor and implements to accomplish. This is the tractor size you will need... and implements sized accordingly.

Think of what you wish to accomplish and the amount of sweat/pain you are willing to personally expend to get it done. Point is, pretty much all you want to do CAN be accomplished by hand tools. You want to move to using oil and hydraulic power to offload your body. An undersized tractor and implements still puts significant strain on your time, energy and satisfaction at getting a job done.

My personal logic goes this way...
a FEL is the most handy and frequently used attachment
I find that bucket size is very important to task completion time
I've discovered that I often operate at relief valve limits of the FEL when chaining and lifting things.
I need to lift 2800 lbs and more. This dictated, for me, the 50ish hp tractor/FEL as the minimum I can live with.
4WD is critical to have in snow, mud, FEL work, a must have.
weighted tires, extra rear weight on box blade, must haves

Reading many threads will give you the trends of TBN tractor users.
To me, they include:
bigger tractors are better
more FEL lift capacity is better
there are lots of simple attachments that are HUGELY significant..chains, grab hooks, proper tires (I like R4's)....make a list and get them to begin with.... people are regularly discovering the joy of new, simple tools and attachments.

Hope this helps.

I agree with TexasJohn. You need to determine what is the hardest, most demanding tasks that you will be during and get a tractor that can efficently perform those tasks. You do not want to spend several days performing one task. You do not want to purchase a small tractor and then find out it will not do what you need it to do. The bigger the better...........