My 1st CUT - Need help - looking to purchase very soon

[CNYGuy]

(Sorry in advance for long-post, I have tried to add as much info I can to get some help from the experts here!)

I'm very new here to the forum & hoping to get my 1st CUT this weekend (May Sales Events end this weekend).
I need some help deciding between my 2 last contenders in my search;
Kubota B2601, HST, FEL, 1,600# tractor weight
or
Massey Ferguson 1726E, HST, FEL, 2,600# tractor weight.
Both packages will also have Tiller-50" & Box Blade-60".
The Kubota is a small-frame 'B' & the Massey is sized more like a series-3 (in JD-speak).
The Massey is physically larger, much heavier & the hydraulics are somewhat better.

Here are my uses.
Central NY location, 7 acres, 2 as lawn, rest as woodlot, heavy clay soil here (right now it's a swamp due to all the recent rain), have some slopes to deal with; walk-out-basement & a pond close to the house.

Main purposes for CUT: need to rototill the perimeter of my property (some sidehilling included) as a tick barrier (this year has been bad). Also use Box Blade to maintain my 150' long gravel driveway & to create a new gravel driveway to get equipment from house frontage to barn out back. The FEL will be used for typical material moving, landscape improving, winter snowbanks (have ATV w/blade & snowblower for regular drive clearing). FEL and/or 3PH will be needed to move large rocks.
I have plans for adding either a 3rd function or rear remote. My next implement will most likely be a grapple (lots of woodlot work with this).
I have a GT for mowing, so this CUT will never see lawn mowing duty.

Where I am hung-up is due to the difference in weight between these two units; the K-2601 weighs 1,600#, the MF-1726E weighs 2,600#, substantially more. I agree no one usually complains about buying 'too-large' of a tractor, but between the soft lawns in the spring & fall, I wonder if the extra 1,000# Massey would not be able to be driven over any lawns for some time. Right now my 700# GT is leaving wet trails when I mow. I realize this spring is atypical with the amount of rain & being clay once the rain stops for a while my soil will harden up like concrete. Also, working the woodlot, I wonder if the larger, longer tractor might feel like a 'bull-in-a-china-shop'.
So given the type of work, the nature of the property & usage, does anything really ring out to you with similar properties/equipment experiences? Is there any down-side to having a tractor that might be a bit big/heavy for the property?
Any insights would be very much appreciated - thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[nybirdman]

I am a Kubota fan but given your work the Massey is a better choice.Things are drying fast,I just went across my lawn with a 7,000 tractor.Central NY?,you may want to think about a snow plow for your new rig!

 

[Teachu2]

Weight gives traction, width gives stability. They make the tractor more useful and forgiving.

I have 5 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills. I have some pretty steep grades, and started out with a 30-year old Mitsubishi 21hp diesel 4wd tractor. Tall, narrow, and on ag(R1) tires. Hitting a squirrel hole on the hillside was a heart-stopper. It was also a bit under-powered for a 5' brushcutter. It did, however, allow me to get some cheap experience and learn what I wanted to buy. A family friend with 40 years professional experience in earthmoving and tractor work advised me to buy heavy - all the horsepower in the world becomes detrimental if you can't maintain traction.

I researched what was available locally, and narrowed it down to a used Kubota B2920 (1554lbs,29hp) with 750 hours pulling an orchard wagon, a new Kioti DS3510 (2897lbs,34hp), or a new Kioti DS4510 (3538lbs, 45hp). The Kioti models were both larger and substantially heavier than the Kubota, and the Kubota cost as much used as the 3510 Kioti did new. The 4510 was a beast in comparison, heavier with a considerable increase in FEL and 3pt capacities and more room, as well as a power shuttle - but it was 18" wider, $7k more, and Tier4. The 3510 was the last of the Kiotis available without full Tier4. I was worried about the extra width being a problem when working among the many oak trees on my property. I ended up with the DS3510, and it's been great. I have taken down a couple of trees by accident - the bigger one would bave been more than a couple!

Another line I considered was Mahindra. They are strong, heavy tractors - but the closest dealer was 85 miles away, was a trailer lot, and had no parts or service department. He contracted a mobile mechanic as needed. His real business was financing - trailers and tractors were incidental - and I wanted a geared model which he couldn't get. Had he been an actual tractor dealer, I might have gone ahead and bought a 30 or 35hp HST model from him, and a trailer to transport it.

The dealer I bought from has been here since 1949, and the grandson of the founder sold me the tractor. One of my former students works there turning wrenches. They have three locations in my county, and are here to stay. Very helpful folks.

 

[Teachu2]

Whoops - of the two you list, I'd go with the Massey. If you have Mahindra or Kioti in the area, check them out.

 

[ericm979]

I was worried about the extra width being a problem when working among the many oak trees on my property.

Before I bought the Branson I walked around the tight parts of my property with a T post that was the width of the tractor plus a few inches. And used a tape measure set to the turning radius plus width with a fudge factor to account for the front wheels going wider to check if I'd be able to make some restricted turns. It's an approximation but showed me that I could get the much larger Branson in the same places I operated my Kubota B7100.


For the uses the OP lists the heavier tractor would do better.

 

[CNYGuy]

Thanks guys - that has been the consensus of what I have researched so far or others have said, 'the bigger tractor would be better'. I'd consider running around my woods with a cut-to-length 2x4 to measure tree gaps, except my wife might see me & think twice about letting me get a tractor,...! That actually is a great idea - I used to make trails through the woods during my motocross-enduro youth & can definitely remember a bike at speed needs a 'whole-lot-more' of turning space than a kid walking around with a bow saw. Thanks for the reminder, I'll take that suggestion & measure my woods (not wood)! Both of these tractors with FELs attached are pretty-looong beasts - I have a feeling the chainsaw will be getting a workout regardless. Thanks guys!

 

[ericm979]

The bucket sticks out even further. than the front wheels But you can raise it to get over short things, and when raised it does not stick out as far as when lowered. I'm not sure where exactly the turning radius is measured but I assumed it's at the rear axle.

 

[jeff9366]

Weight gives traction, width gives stability. Weight and traction make the tractor more useful and forgiving.
.

Buy the 2,600 pound Massey Ferguson.

I run over residential lawns with my heavier Kubota L3560 outfitted with R4/industrial tires in 2-WD mode on a daily basis without marking turf.

 

[feasant]

kioti ck2610. compare the specs

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I would search and shop all the dealers in your area.

All the colors under the sun, I would suggest you stay away from the E series JDs.

First, I would buy the larger massy over the smaller, lighter Kubota.

This past winter in Ohio, it was crazy muddy, I store my bales on grass so I as gently as I could drove over the grass to load a bale, my 4320 weighs around 5300lbs carrying a 600-700lb round bale on the FEL, you could deff see my tracks in the turf and a few times I cut down 4-6 inches but when the ground hardened up a bit as it dried I ran those ruts over with the tractor and truck, come this spring, I have been running full speed (5mph) on the riding mower around there and I honestly forgot about them until now. The grass grew back and now you can't tell.

So even if you cut while driving on you lawn, it's easy to repair, if it's an issue order Turfs, they do better in snow, just as good in mud but they don't handle FEL weight as well, for what I do, I would be happy with Titan Turf Savers on my tractor.