When I bought my 2615, I thought it would be the perfect tractor for my needs. For the majority of what I do it's fine. I have a mile of driveway through rocky, hilly and wooded terrain that I maintain. The 2615 is too light for this work. I was planning on trading up to a 4530 but have also looked at an 8560. I thought the weight of the 4530 would be sufficient to pull a 7' blade. Because of the large rock in the ground and the steep grades, a box blade just doesn't work.
I thought I had my decision made but after reading here, I'm leaning toward the "more is better" school of thought.
I want to buy enough machine but don't want to go too far overboard.
Just my :2cents: here. If you don't want to spend a lot of time working on your road, you will need weight and horse power and the right implements for the task at hand.
You need a tractor with 50 or more HP.
That tractor with loader and any other ballast needs to weigh over 7,000lbs.
You should have a LPGB (land plane grader blade) to do the majority of the road maintenance.
You should have a rear blade for any ditching or reshaping of the road.
A box blade is nice to have when larger amounts of material need to be moved.
A landscape rake is nice to have to do finishing touch up on the road.
These implements need to match the capabilities of the tractor, definitly not less and it is better if they are not a lot over sized.
I maintain over 2 miles of roads, I have all of this stuff. It can be done with a smaller tractor, just takes a lot longer. If I could only have one of the 4 implements to maintain the road, it would be the LPGB hands down.
If it were me, I would be looking at the 5035 and up.
Good luck with your decision, have fun looking, let us know if you have any other questions.
