New to tractors

[ncbowhnter]

So I致e only drove a tractor one time. However I would like to add one to my lawn care / landscaping business.
I知 pretty much right in the middle of 3 different dealers. Mahindra, Kubota and John Deere.
I have made a brief visit to each to try to get a general idea of a recommended size for my purposes and they have all recommended a different size, anywhere from 25hp to 44hp.
My uses for my business would be grapple bucket to grab up limbs after trimming trees, some small brush hogging of briar patches and small saplings, and possibly some light snow removal. We don稚 have snow often but when we do there is a lot of money to be made clearing small parking lots for businesses/restaurants. I would also like to eventually get into gravel driveway work.
I only have 3 acres at home but I already have plenty of things in mind to do at home to include cutting up and removing small trees, creating a new circle driveway for my shop (most of the work is done here, just would need to do a little digging, smoothing and the spreading gravel, and also a little more clearing of roots and smoothing out in the backyard to make it a little bigger.
I致e been reading a lot and watching videos but I would like to know the general consensus of what size I should be looking at so I can compare apples to apples when looking at each brand.
As far as budget, of course I would like the best bang for the buck but I could put off the purchase for longer to save a little more if I need to. Although honestly, the price point of the l2501 Kubota is what got me interested
Not really sure if I need any fancy features or not so pretty much the only thing I know I want is 4wd and hst.

 

[Diggin It]

For commercial work, I don't think you want the smallest possible. Probably mid range. Also, don't figure on making money plowing with a loader bucket. You'd probably need a blower of some sort, or at least a snow blade. Tractors don't cover ground as fast as a plow truck would. They may be fine for homeowner use, or a business plowing their own lot, but trying to do several lots a day might be a chore.

 

[widefat]

Add a backhoe to the package and you can greatly expand your business possibilities.

 

[ncbowhnter]

We don’t really see many private plow trucks here. Seems like everybody uses tractors. I guess cause we don’t get much snow if any. I was thinking of the front plow blade for that function

 

[ncbowhnter]

Add a backhoe to the package and you can greatly expand your business possibilities.

Haven't really thought much about a backhoe. What size hp tractor would be recommended? I guess that would be nice for digging small stumps. Just not sure how much I'd use it.
I just don't want to realize that I needed something bigger later on down the road is the most important factor. I consider this to be a large one time purchase and I don't want to have to trade up later on.
The smaller attachments I could always purchase later on but the larger, more expensive ones I would like to be able to purchase with the tractor. Such as the root grapple.

 

[PEJ5]

What size properties are you working on for landscaping? Small city lots with a tight squeeze to the back yards or larger? A one size fits all may not be possible. I am most familiar with Kioti models so I'll quote those and you can apply my comments to other brands that you may be focused on. I expect you can get lots of work done with a CK series (26 to 40HP) digging/tilling up people's dead lawns and gardens. The backhoe can be added anytime, maybe on the first contract that needs a bunch of drainage installed$$.

What I am really writing to observe is that the used DK5010 with 5' rear attachment I purchased fully consumed a large 20' trailer. The ramps had to be lined up just right to track the front and rear tires, and the back of the trailer blocked up so it did not lift the hitch/truck - about 6500# that day. I was nervous. You would get good at it, but again, the smaller CK frame and weight may be easier to trailer regularly in your landscaping business.

Another thing, my DK is only 6" longer than a CK, but when comparing lengths with the loaders and buckets the DK is 2' longer and would be less maneuverable in tight places.

Last summer I watched a big landscaping job progress as I walked to work. They used a wheeled Bobcat, but a tractor would have worked. Buy the smaller bucket and a set of pallet forks for unloading and moving around pallets of concrete blocks and sod.

For the amount of snow you describe a 7' back blade set at an angle will likely do fine with your bucket to pile it.

Good luck

 

[ncbowhnter]

I was thinking of the compact size since my mowers are 60" wide and most compact tractors seems to be about that width?
Need help with hp size

 

[Citydude]

I was thinking of the compact size since my mowers are 60" wide and most compact tractors seems to be about that width?
Need help with hp size

The 2501 will do the work you listed. Horsepower comes more into play with PTO requirements. Figure out what size of rotary cutter you will need. The 2501 will run a 5' cutter however will struggle with a 6' cutter. The L3301 or 3901 would be better suited to run a cutter that size. I had an L2501 with a 6' Landpride brush grapple I used to clear some of my property of ponderosa pines. It handled logs 12' long and up to 20" round very well. Make sure to have the rear tires filled with fluid. They are very light in the rear without ballast.

 

[ncbowhnter]

I think I'd be fine with a 5' cutter. From what I understand, the implements should be wider than the rear tires. I can't think of any large places that I would need a larger cutter.
I've got a 7 acre field that I cut once a week with my zero turn. Would I benefit any if I used a rotary cutter and only cut it once a month? If so, then a 6' cutter would be much better. Which brings me to another question.
If grass is the only thing being cut, at which point do u go from a finishing mower to a rough cut mower? Like the grass is 2-3' tall or taller. Or is it basically the only difference is for the end look?

 

[Citydude]

I think I'd be fine with a 5' cutter. From what I understand, the implements should be wider than the rear tires. I can't think of any large places that I would need a larger cutter.
I've got a 7 acre field that I cut once a week with my zero turn. Would I benefit any if I used a rotary cutter and only cut it once a month? If so, then a 6' cutter would be much better. Which brings me to another question.
If grass is the only thing being cut, at which point do u go from a finishing mower to a rough cut mower? Like the grass is 2-3' tall or taller. Or is it basically the only difference is for the end look?

If you want to go from once a week to once a month mowing, a rotary cutter ( brush cutter) would be my choice. You won't have a golf course fairway look to it after mowing it however.