First Tractor - HELP!

[xmlboy]

Wow, so many responses in less than 24h! Thanks for the input.

Slammer, Blackwell, I haven’t seen the Power Tracs’s…I will take a look.

Bird, I agree re. getting as much as we can afford, but to sleep at night, I’ve got to make sure we don’t get too much /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. As for the loader, you’re probably right. And we do hope to get it into the barn; our aisle will be at least 12’ (maybe 14’) and at least as high. Is that a tight squeeze for most tractors in this range?

Bob, We have Kubota and JD dealers “near” us, so we’ve already checked out a few of those. I’ve heard good things about the NH & Farmall…I’ll have to check for dealers nearby. Kioti is a new name. I’ll check them out.

Woodbeef, I’ll have to look into req’s for the spreader. My wife’s boss indicated that she has far more problem with the drag than the spreader, but who knows?

KiotiJohn…so you like the Kioti’s, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Bob, Micro, depratt_equip, I’ve heard the HST is best, especially for first-time tractor users (which my wife –the primary user - will be). Not really sure that she wouldn’t just use a single speed at a time (she can’t drive a manual car transmission either). Is there typically a significant price/other difference between the two?

SteveM, I grew up mowing slightly less than 4 acres, so I am definitely concerned with the time required. We have two horses, with a few more on the way (my wife gives lessons, trains and rehabilitates them – no boarders). However, on that small a piece of land, I have a feeling they’ll keep the grass pretty low and the manure should be (relatively speaking) low volume.

Thanks again for the info. Keep it coming. I'll keep everyone posted on our progress.

-xmlboy

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Typically the price difference from gear to HST is about $1000. Is it worth it? How much is your wife worth? She can't drive a manual transmission car so do you think it would be safe for her to be on a hillside with a load in the FEL and have to look behind her while backing up, trying to find the right gear, and being worried about dumping the load in the FEL? Or in tight quarters light a barn trying to do a 3pt turn? HST is faster and SAFER. You are not pulling a plow, if you were, I'd sing a different tune. There is NO WAY that I would put your wife on a gear tractor.

As for turning around inside a barn, the Power Trac 425 will out manuver any traditional tractor inside a barn. So much so that it is silly to make comparisions between the PT and any other machine. They, simply put, are the most nimble machines around, and by a very wide margin. Two other tractors come to mind, they are also articulated tractors, Steiner & Ventrac, but to get a model that would suit your needs would be twice the price of the PT425, so I would not recommend them.

The only reason I shyed away from recommending PT was becuase of the manure spreader issue. However, if you can find a well made ground driven manure spreader that works, then I think PT is an excellent choice. In fact you might be able to make your barn smaller if you use a PT because they manuver so well.

You commented on 12' to 14' main aisle width. My New Holland TC24D is compact. It is 13' long from the front edge of the bucket to the rear of the ballast box. You could subtract about 15" if you remove the ballast box and load the rear tires. But that would put the L.O.A. at a few inches under 12'. Turning it inside a 12' or 14' aisleway would be a challenge unless you can pull into a stall for each turn you make.

I think pretty much any of the machines mentioned so far are going to be good fits for you. I am not sure if the Century/Branson like up offers a small machine, last time I looked they were 30hp or larger units and I doubt you'd find that would be appropriate for you needs, also, unless things have changed, I believe they only offer gear tractors, no hydros. Again, I am not sure about that.

The downside to a PT is there are no dealers to help you so you have to fix it if it breaks. The upside is they are amazing machines. Assuming you don't want to fix your own machine, then I would stick with any of the HST 24/25hp tractors that are built on a SMALL frame, all will be roughly 12' long with a loader, all will have roughly the same capabilities. I strongly prefer the curved FELs on New Holland and the Case/Farmall tractors because there is greater visibility of the bucket. But any of the brands will do the jobs you need.

I would also suggest you might want a 48" bucket instead of a larger bucket. The smaller bucket will make manuvering in confined places (the barn) a much easier task.

 

[ByronBob]

Will the BX line work?? Not sure about the spreader situation but for size and accessability in tight spots it sure is nice. 3 engine sizes to choose from and costs are good.