I need help, please ...

[Dhill]

I've decided to do some farming, and I'm ready to buy the tractor for it. I've been to the farm shows and have a fairly decent idea about which tractor makes are suitable for me, but I need help determining what size tractor is best for my purpose. I plan to cultivate 10 acres of wheat and 10 acres of coastal bermuda on my land. I could go a little more acreage with either or both.
Here are my questions.
1. What minimum size tractor will I need for working, seeding the 10 acres? I'll ask about equipment later. The land is relatively flat. I'll probably hire a dozer to come in and do the initial clearing of the plot.

2. I'm looking at investing the extra bucks in the cab version. Is the comfort of the cab worth the extra money? My son made a point that it's much easier to sight everything without a cab, but I'm not sure that's necessarily so.

Any advice anyone can give to help me make my choice (I'm looking to buy in the next 30 days) is greatly appreciated. I've read many threads here and haven't come up with answers to these specific questions. Thanks again.

Dusty in north central Texas

 

[Bird]

Welcome to Tractorbynet.

I don't think anyone can give you a good answer without knowing more. When you talk about coastal bermuda, are you planning to cut and bale it? If so, you need a bigger tractor. However, there's no way it would be practical to buy that kind of equipment for that small a crop. And the same is true for wheat. Now if you're only talking about seeding wheat and coastal for pasture, that's another matter.

As for the cab. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason for not having a cab is if you don't have enough money to buy a cab tractor.

 

[Dhill]

Thanks, Bird. I'm only going to plant the stuff and maybe fertilize. I'll get someone else to harvest. I don't know anything about raising crops. I'm not looking at this as a farming business. It's love labor. I'm doing it as a hobby. My main reason for wheat is to bring in wildlife. I'm not a hunter so it's not to bring them in for that purpose. Thanks for the comment about the cab. I'm thinking that's the best attitude.

 

[Bird]

In that case, Dusty, I'd say you can do with a 30hp tractor, such as the Kubota B3030, but in my opinion only, a 50hp, plus or minus a little bit would be about ideal.

 

[Dhill]

Thanks, Bird. That is much appreciated. I was thinking 50 minimum, but now I'm in that range that a 40+ with a cab might be ideal. I think you just saved me a bunch of money. I owe you a bar-b-cue dinner .

 

[Barneyhunts]

Dhill,
I have a Kubota B7800 30 Hp HST that I used on my property last year. With it I mowed about 13 acres of fields and some trails in the woods using a 5' Woods rotary mower. I plowed about 2 acres using a 12" Howse 2 bottom plow. I disced what I plowed using a 5 1/2' King Kutter heavy duty disc. My land is very rocky and I cleared some of the rock with a 5' stone rake and the front end loader on my tractor. The FEL (loader) is like having a strong helper. The 30 Hp worked really well except when I was plowing and the problems I had may have been due more to my inexperience than to the size of the tractor. I'm thinking of trading up to a 45 Hp., but really struggling with the decision because the B7800 handles everything else so well. Best wishes!
Barney

 

[Barneyhunts]

Dhill,
I'm located in north eastern Pennsylvania. I have 77 acres, wooded and fields, with some hilly sections. The areas I plowed were heavy sod and very rocky. Besides handling the mowing very well the BX is pretty handy in the woods (carefully, though, because I don't have a cab). This year, I expect the plowing to be easier, and I intend to spread lime and plant corn with the BX7800.
Once again, BEST WISHES!
Barney

 

[Dhill]

Barney,
Thanks for the valuable information. It sounds like you have a place similar to mine except I don't have rocks. I have a few mesquite scrub trees that I might have to move. The back side of my 80 acres is oak trees that I plan on cleaning up as much as possible. I've been frightened a couple of times by wild fires. If the fire got in my trees, I'd lose most of what I have at the place, and so I want to do some cleaning up to help prevent and to make access for equipment into the oak forest. I'm thinking that a 30+ hp with a fel would accommodate that ok, but I'm looking for bigger for the sake of plowing the 10 acres. I could actually cultivate a lot more, but I don't intend to at this time. Working a couple of 10 acre plots independently I'm thinking won't consume every waking hour that I have. I will be bushhogging quite a bit of the acreage, but again, I don't have to do it all in one day by any means. Cattle keep the grass mown down pretty well on my place. Thanks again.
Dusty

 

[DAP]

Dhill,
I'm located in north eastern Pennsylvania. I have 77 acres, wooded and fields, with some hilly sections. The areas I plowed were heavy sod and very rocky. Besides handling the mowing very well the BX is pretty handy in the woods (carefully, though, because I don't have a cab). This year, I expect the plowing to be easier, and I intend to spread lime and plant corn with the BX7800.
Once again, BEST WISHES!
Barney

Sorry, but what the **** is a BX7800????

 

[Barneyhunts]

Sorry, but what the **** is a BX7800????

I don't know how that X snuck in there............

 

[Eastinlet]

Thanks, Bird. I'm only going to plant the stuff and maybe fertilize. I'll get someone else to harvest. I don't know anything about raising crops. I'm not looking at this as a farming business. It's love labor. I'm doing it as a hobby. My main reason for wheat is to bring in wildlife. I'm not a hunter so it's not to bring them in for that purpose. Thanks for the comment about the cab. I'm thinking that's the best attitude.

Do you plan to plant wheat annually on your 10 acres? If so, you'll need tillage equipment and a grain drill at a minimum. You'll need to size your tractor to the requirements of that equipment.

You might consider the implications of owning a larger tractor on your free time as well. As an example, consider a single-bottom 14" moldboard plow (not saying that moldboard is best, in fact I'd take a hard look at chisels in your country). Drawn at 4 MPH it will plow about .80 acres per hour, taking about 12 hours to plow your field each year. Going to 2 or 3 bottoms will yield proportional time savings. Then you have to disk, harrow, etc, and the width and weight of the implements again determines hours on the seat, though secondary tillage will take less time than primary.

What I'm trying to say is that consider the implications of increased HP on tillage width and speed over distance. If you decide to do tillage through planting by yourself rather than hire it out, then do a little research on which implements are best suited for your soil and other needs. there's a lot here at TBN on that topic.

 

[WTA]

I'm farming 25 acres of winter wheat and Giant Bermuda here in West Texas.

I was doing it all with an old super C farmall and a MM 4 star. I sold the farmall to a relative last year and just junked the MM. I had completely restored the old farmall and it did the job, even ran the baler but boy did I get sunburned!
Now I have a TD95D New Holland with air conditioning and I'm loving it. It's maybe more than enough for what I really need but there is absolutely nothing I can't do with it here.

BTW, For around here I'd recommend Giant bermuda over coastal. It's better for horses to eat as hay than coastal according to all the studies I have read and also you can plant it yourself. I hand broadcast mine because I couldn't find a grass drill. It established the first year and has been real easy to maintain.

If you are looking for a wheat drill I'll be selling my old JD DR-A drill sometime this year to get a new brillion seeder instead. We're probably too far away for you to get it though.

 

[billbill1]

Look at the sizes available with cabs and go from there. The B3030 is the smallest cab tractor that I am aware of, JD also has some smaller cab models available. 35 hp would be your minimum size in my opinion. Having heat and air conditioning is a very good thing!!

 

[greggh]

Barney,
Thanks for the valuable information. It sounds like you have a place similar to mine except I don't have rocks. I have a few mesquite scrub trees that I might have to move. The back side of my 80 acres is oak trees that I plan on cleaning up as much as possible. I've been frightened a couple of times by wild fires. If the fire got in my trees, I'd lose most of what I have at the place, and so I want to do some cleaning up to help prevent and to make access for equipment into the oak forest. I'm thinking that a 30+ hp with a fel would accommodate that ok, but I'm looking for bigger for the sake of plowing the 10 acres. I could actually cultivate a lot more, but I don't intend to at this time. Working a couple of 10 acre plots independently I'm thinking won't consume every waking hour that I have. I will be bushhogging quite a bit of the acreage, but again, I don't have to do it all in one day by any means. Cattle keep the grass mown down pretty well on my place. Thanks again.
Dusty

Where in N. Texas are you located? I have some acreage in Bonham. I just purchased a JD 5203 in November and I am quite pleased with the purchased. I would suggest be around the 50 HP range for plowing. I would also suggest a utility tractor instead of a CUT. I know that there are plenty of people that will disagree with me, but when plowing I feel a gear tractor is best.

 

[Dhill]

Thank all of you for your much needed information. I have a very good idea now of what tractor will best suit my needs. I'm looking at the JD, Kubota, Manhindra/Branson cab versions in the mid 40hp range. I need info about the implements I'll need also, but I'll save that for a thread after I buy the tractor. Thanks again to each of you.
Dusty