New buyer, looking for advice

[Gronk]

Hello all,

I am looking to buy a new property (offer is in, looks good ) and it is on 5 acres of land. Approx. 2 acres are lawn, pretty nice lawn for Northern Ontario. I am leaving a 1 acre yard that I maintained with a Husqvarna YTH1542 lawn tractor and that is the extent of my experience, save for a dozen or so hours on a friend's Ford 1220 with a FEL and mid mower.

As when I bought my first house six years ago, the deal with this one is that I get a new tractor but I'm having some difficulty in assessing what I need.

Firstly, my 42" cut Husky is a little small for the new place, I am thinking something around 60" would be better but I am not sure. I don't want to spend 4 hours mowing the lawn but I want it to be nice.

Secondly, the remaining three acres are undeveloped with one of those acres still uncleared forest. I would like a tractor with enough power/versatility to tackle that. I think a FEL and a backhoe would be almost a necessity and that I would also need to be able to power a brush hog and perhaps a roto-tiller as well. I have a Kubota dealer nearby and from what I have researched, a BX 23-24 looks to be a reasonable choice. Is something like that overkill for mowing but too small for digging out roots and leveling terrain?

Lastly, what kind of tires should I be looking to use? I have read many posts about roots and such puncturing turf tires but on the other hand, won't the tougher more aggressive tires tear up my lawn?

Thanks for any advice you could share.


Sean

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Sean,
Welcome to the forum !!! Congrats on your potential move to a more rural spot with more property ! Are you sure you dont want to buy a bigger parcel ??? The more you have the more you want !

All kidding aside, I wouldnt think you would want more than an acre or two of lawn and leave the rest field which you would only have to rough cut a couple of times per year.

If your going to stay with the 5 acres I would think that a 20-25 hp cut would be more than do the job ! You could use a finish mower for the lawn and a rotary mower for the rest. Maybe you want to leave some wooded for a wood lot, oil is going up all the time ! Lots of helpful people on here willing to nspend your hard earned money !

 

[Gronk]

Thanks Scott. For sure I would like more land but I'm not a farmer and 5 acres is about as much as I can deal with.

As for the lawn, it wasn't my doing to have 2 acres of it and I really can`t reduce it. The property has 350 feet of frontage and the house is 200 feet into the property. The whole front yard is lawn and it extends behind the house. It would look kinda crappy not having nice lawn there.

The other thing I didn't mention is that I have three boys and we are all into dirtbikes, even the Mrs. They are already asking me if I will build them jumps and stuff so now a TLB is not even something optional! Toss in the fact that the driveway is a few hundred feet long and we get quite a lot of snow up here in Canada so whatever I buy will be used year-round. Maybe I would be better off with a plow truck.

What other machines are comparable to the Kubota BX tractors? We also have a JD and Ford dealer in town and I wouldn't be above purchasing something foreign either as long as it fits my needs.


Sean

 

[GreenWannabe]

Similar sized machines are JD2305, MF GC2310 or MF GC2410. Agco ST-22a, New Holland T1110, and New Holland TZ series are the same size, but do not have a factory backhoe. The Woods BH-6000 backhoe would be an appropriate third-party model,

 

[peterc38]

Not to knock the BX (or any sub-compact equivalent) for that matter cause they are great machines but personally I think when you get in the woods you are going to want more ground clearance and maybe more power. If your thinking Bota (which I am partial to ) I'd start looking at a B series. If it was me for the lawn I'd stick with what you have or try to find a decent used lawn tractor with a slightly larger deck. I mow a similar sized lawn w/ a cheap box store lawn tractor w/ 48" deck and does not take me close to 4 hrs, probably like 1 hr 45 minutes. I'd go with R4 tires since you wouldn't be mowing the lawn with it.

 

[kozak]

Secondly, the remaining three acres are undeveloped with one of those acres still uncleared forest. I would like a tractor with enough power/versatility to tackle that. I think a FEL and a backhoe would be almost a necessity and that I would also need to be able to power a brush hog and perhaps a roto-tiller as well. I have a Kubota dealer nearby and from what I have researched, a BX 23-24 looks to be a reasonable choice. Is something like that overkill for mowing but too small for digging out roots and leveling terrain?

Sean,

I would have to agree with Peter. The BX series tractors are fine for cutting the lawn but for your other tasks would be way too small. Not too sure what you are planning with that 1 acre of woods. Do you want to clear cut it ? (That would be a shame.) The BX does not have the ground clearance for that kind of work nor will it be robust enough. You would be taking hundreds of life hours off the tractor putting it through something like that not to mention eventually having a major repair.

You really should be looking at something like the B2920 or B3030. Believe me, you will be MUCH happier. You could cut the lawn with these tractors but a zero turn would be much easier on your turf.

Very tough getting a tractor that's small enough to cut your yard & do major work.

R4 tires are the way to go for your tractor.


Good Luck,

Vic

 

[TractorChick]

"Very tough getting a tractor that's small enough to cut your yard & do major work. "

I talk to so many people who want a compact loader backhoe and a finish cut mower. The consensus where I work is that you don't want all the weight of a loader and a backhoe on your lawn. It's a waste of fuel, it compacts the ground too much, takes too long, and the attachments get in the way. Of course you can remove them, but most people don't bother (my guess).

Get a compact loader backhoe with R4 industrial tires, keep using your Husqvarna, and when it poops out, get a Z-turn for the lawn.

 

[Gronk]

Sean,

I would have to agree with Peter. The BX series tractors are fine for cutting the lawn but for your other tasks would be way too small. Not too sure what you are planning with that 1 acre of woods. Do you want to clear cut it ? (That would be a shame.) The BX does not have the ground clearance for that kind of work nor will it be robust enough. You would be taking hundreds of life hours off the tractor putting it through something like that not to mention eventually having a major repair.

You really should be looking at something like the B2920 or B3030. Believe me, you will be MUCH happier. You could cut the lawn with these tractors but a zero turn would be much easier on your turf.

Very tough getting a tractor that's small enough to cut your yard & do major work.

R4 tires are the way to go for your tractor.


Good Luck,

Vic

I think I did not provide enough information regarding the wooded area. No I don't want to clear cut it. I would like to clean it up by removing the brush and small trees, leaving the bigger trees with some room around them. Perhaps then adding some grass to hold the soil and make a park-type area. I wouldn't be pulling out big stumps at all and I figured a smaller sized tractor would be better able to navigate around the big trees.

I understand (after much reading here) the importance of not working equipment beyond it's design limits and I fully intend to keep whatever I buy for a very long time so I would like to get the proper size machine right from the start. I am also on a budget (aren't we all ) so I have to consider that fact as well.


Sean

 

[Gronk]

"Very tough getting a tractor that's small enough to cut your yard & do major work. "

I talk to so many people who want a compact loader backhoe and a finish cut mower. The consensus where I work is that you don't want all the weight of a loader and a backhoe on your lawn. It's a waste of fuel, it compacts the ground too much, takes too long, and the attachments get in the way. Of course you can remove them, but most people don't bother (my guess).

Get a compact loader backhoe with R4 industrial tires, keep using your Husqvarna, and when it poops out, get a Z-turn for the lawn.

Well in my case I think I would have to remove at least the BH occasionally for other attachments so leaving it off for mowing shouldn't be an issue.

I have put 155 hours on my Husky in the six years I have had it so I don't think it will be pooping out anytime soon, if ever in my lifetime. (wait, the boys will start using it and I may be eating that last statement )
It is the only new thing I have ever bought in my life (39 yrs old) and I maintain it very well. Still though, I have looked at those Z-turn mowers, especially in the 72" cut size. Mighty enticing indeed.

So the R4 tires are a good choice for a do-all type machine? I am more than likely buying a used tractor so that is probably going to be an added cost if I can't find a machine with them already. How much would four new R4 tires for a BX23-24 size tractor run me?


Sean

 

[TractorChick]

Just the tires are $500 - $600 in my area, then you've got hauling or travel, mount and dismount, and disposal of (or credit for? Ha!) the old tires.

Buy new! You've got a warranty and financing. Nevermind that you can get exactly what you want, and not have to put up with some nasty old seat some dude sat in for a decade.