Green Horn

[Appygirl]

Hello everyone,
I been lurking for almost a week here picking up information. Boy, are you guys great! I also bought the book from this sight, which has greatly helped.
I guess I still need some reassurance from you all. I have taken a time out on looking at tractors and have started concentrated on what I need for my jobs around here as far as horse power, transmission, hydraulics, pto's, torque etc.... There is still a variable for me and that is the horse power and what would the rate be for a high flowing pto ( numbers please).
I printed off a few spec sheets and just got a glaze over my eyes. LOL
I really am not sure which number is better when looking at pto's and hydraulics. So I need to break it down some how.
I did look at the Kubota L3240 34hp, and MF 1540 gross 40hp, pto is 31hp est. What hard is the different lingo for the spec ( words are different but mean the same...haven't figure that out .

So here is what I have to do on 10 acres with horses. Obviously lots of heaven clean up in spring, plan on using round bales this winter( need to make sure I can get the 4x5 rounds), need to brush hog borrowed 7 acre pasture plus my stuff, drag , and maintenance of manure. We have had alot of tree taken down over the past 3 years and I want to do clean there as well. My goal is to work smarter not harder!!
I just want to make sure I have enough horse power, and easy attachment of implements. Eventually I will use the tractor for snow clearing, but right now old man Curtis has the job until when ever. I would hope most dealers would steer me in the right direction, but I hate being ignorant treading in a new venture. I have already operated stump grinders, bobcats, sm 2-wd backhoe( that was a joke, I had to get my neighbor to back fill with his real tractor!) So even though I've operated this stuff the tractor is another whole ball of wax. Hubby is nervous about it, but like someone suggested... hand him a shovel and a wheel barrel and tell him to go clean up the manure piles!! He'll be back in an hour saying," where do I sign". I have 6 horse each creates 8-12 piles day X 6; they love the corners too! Ugg!
So that's my case and I'm sticking to it!
I have more questions, but I think this is a pretty good start for now.
Any help will be greatly appreciated and thank you ahead of time for your time.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Welcome!

So here is what I have to do on 10 acres with horses. Obviously lots of heaven clean up in spring, plan on using round bales this winter( need to make sure I can get the 4x5 rounds), need to brush hog borrowed 7 acre pasture plus my stuff, drag , and maintenance of manure. We have had alot of tree taken down over the past 3 years and I want to do clean there as well. My goal is to work smarter not harder!!

We are on 20 acres with 10 of it in hay, now down to 1 horse but had 2 for a while. We have 3 acres in pasture, which gets mowed occasionally, some other areas to mow, and we mostly pasture the horses (now horse) and simply drag the manure most of the time - we only scooped it to clean out their run-in shed in the spring. So my tasks are reasonably similar.

The one task you list that really requires a decent sized tractor is the 4x5 round bales. They can't be moved at all with a SCUT, and they are iffy for a CUT. Describe your property - is it flat, sloping, hilly, anything extreme? How many rounds will you be moving? I assume they are purchased and trucked in? A utility tractor is what you would need to comfortably move round bales, especially if the land isn't flat. If your land is flat, you could probably manage with the mid to larger CUTs, but you'll have to have plenty of counterweight and it won't be as easy and comfortable as it would be with a larger tractor.

I have a JD 5105, a 50hp utility tractor, and it does all my mowing, pasture maintenance and bale handling quite easily. It is bigger than I need for anything but the bale handling. For our 4x5 rounds of alfalfa, it is big enough to never feel strained, but it never feels too big either. Our land is mostly flat with a gentle slope between hay fields and barn/pasture area. I would feel slightly nervous going up that slope with a 4x5 on the FEL spear if I had a smaller tractor, though I think it could be done.

Other than for 4x5 round bales, all your tasks could be done with a small to midsize CUT, quite comfortably I think. Some of them may even be easier with a smaller tractor, if you want to mow or drag close to fencelines, or do anything inside a barn. Dragging requires hardly any hp; a SCUT would be fine for that. Mowing requires some hp, depending on the mower size and what you're mowing, but not tons - you could run a 6' brush mower with a 25-30 PTO hp tractor without trouble. The tractors you've looked at would be comfortable with a 6' mower. I think they are on the edge for bale handling - they could probably lift the bales, but without a lot of reserve capacity. If your land is totally flat and you're moving bales a short distance, they would probably be fine. If you have hills or a long distance to move bales from storage to feeding, I would go larger.

 

[Timber]

Welcome to the group, sounds like you will fit right in hear

 

[Appygirl]

Hi Z-Michigan, I'm actually north of you near Lake Michigan.
The property is pretty level where I'm at; there are mild slopes in some areas.
I was thinking of using a pallet with a spear for the round bales and for counter weight I was thinking of having the tires filled with rim guard and maybe have a back blade on the rear. Using the pallet instead of the FEL would have less weight in front right and might help with balance? YEs, the bales are a big concern and while the land is pretty level the snow will be on the ground and so I'll have a new area to plow to get there safely. I wouldn't have to far to go 100-200 feet still would be far enough to get a wobble or two if the strength and balance isn't right.
Can you get through 3-4ft snow drifts carrying one? I guess the question is; how high would the bale be? If its only2 - 3 feet off the ground then I would need to make a path.

Thanks

 

[Z-Michigan]

Oh, another Michigan person! Great. I can make some dealer comments if you want, PM me.

A couple comments.

I should have mentioned that the issue with bales is that they are just big and awkward and dangerous if they fall. I have had a ton (literally, more or less) of wet clay in the FEL bucket and while it is much heavier than a bale, it is less worrisome to control. The bales wobble a bit and just stick way, way far out in front. And if they drop they can hurt someone, either right away or if they manage to roll downhill.

I don't fully understand your statement about "a pallet with a spear". Do you mean pallet forks with some added spear? Or maybe a wood pallet with a spear in the center to keep the bale in place? I'm not understanding.

Also, I made a bad assumption, which is assuming you want to move bales on the FEL. This is necessary to stack them two high (or three high with a monster size tractor), but it isn't necessary to just move them from A to B. If you can keep them in just a single layer, you can move bales with a spear that mounts on the three point hitch (3ph). This is a much cheaper option and does not require as big a tractor. It is slightly less convenient, but so much cheaper that it pretty much outweighs the convenience - IF you don't need to stack them, or lift them up high for purposes of loading into a truck or tossing over a fence.

Tires filled with rimguard is an excellent starting point, but you need serious weight on the rear end to move bales on a FEL spike. Rear blades vary a lot in weight. I would want at least 500lbs on the rear end for routine use. I have moved rounds with only a 200lb implement on the 3ph, but my tires are big (16.9x28) and filled with rimguard for a whopping 1500lbs of weight in the tires. Even then I know I should have had more weight on the back. A CUT will have smaller tires that won't weigh nearly that much filled, so it will need more 3ph ballast for safety.

You have probably already read this, but don't even think about moving a round bale with a bucket (by itself) or with pallet forks. It can be done, but is dangerous, because the bale can easily slip off and crush things, including you. The safe ways to move a bale are spears (rear or FEL) or a bale grapple which mounts to a bucket. The latter works great but is rarely seen on tractors below 60-70hp, and is a pricey way to go also.

100-200ft isn't that far so a smaller tractor may cut it for your use. How many bales will you be handling? I'm guessing about 60 per winter based on our consumption, but I'd like to know your expectations.

Ideally you would want to remove snow drifts before trying to move a bale, for both ease and safety. But any size tractor you're looking at will make short work of snow with a backblade and FEL bucket. I think you will want 4wd (MFWD) for traction, particularly if you go with a CUT. Tires haven't been mentioned yet but you may want to consider R1 ag tires, as they give the best traction on all soft surfaces, including snow. They can damage lawns though and don't last long on pavement. It all depends on your uses.

 

[Appygirl]

sorry double posted

 

[Appygirl]

Z I pm'd you. Yes, I am wanting ag tires, its sandy in this area!

Need to investgate opposions on round bale sizes in my area, since this can be my hang up in what I purchase.


Thanks Timber for the welcome.

 

[Egon]

This is all for Horses; right?

Sooo-- convert several of those barn types into Percheron's with a nice harness and get some work out of them!

 

[Bill Barrett]

Hi appy welcome

 

[Z-Michigan]

4x5 round bales vary in weight depending on the type of hay, how densely it was baled (varies on what brand and how new the baler is) and how wet it is. The average for alfalfa or grass as hay (not haylage, which you wouldn't feed a horse anyway!) is probably 700-900lbs for a 4x5 bale. Because the bale is so awkward and weight is so far forward of the FEL pivots, you would want a minimum of 1200-1500lbs FEL lift capacity to lift an average bale.