Buying Advice Newbie

[siman00]

Hello. I have decided to buy a tractor, and never having even driven one, need good advice on what to consider.

We have a small farm in eastern North Carolina. While we lease the land to a local farmer, he has just converted to no-till farming. We're not happy with the new methods because the fields have that overgrown look. Our home is situated adjacent to two fields, so it looks pretty bad. Therefore, most of my need is to clean up the fields when no crops are planted. Our fields total about 10 acres.

Our dirt driveway needs maintenance occasionally and I'd use the tractor to scrape it level from time to time.

I am leaning towards a used Kubota in the mid20s horsepower, preferably with a front end loader.

I'll appreciate all advice you can give.

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN and the forum. Unless you have an inordinate amount of time to spend on field work and driveway maintenance a mid 20 hp tractor will be a tad small. Actually a mid 20 hp tractor would place certain limitations on exactly what type of field work you could do. If you were to jump up to mid 30's - you will get a heavier tractor, heavier frame, larger implements and significantly increased abilities.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

 

[Thomas]

:welcome: to TBN.
Lots good threads w/advice in what your seeking...try SEARCH to get started.

 

[dougtrr2]

If you have leased the fields to someone else you may not be able to go in and work on them in the off season. See exactly what the lease says and them sit down with your leasee and see what you can come up with.

Doug in SW IA

 

[Grandad4]

What crops and what is your plan for the fields? For example, if you were going to run a bush hog through them, a 30 hp tractor with a 5 ft cutter would get through 10 acres in a reasonable time. Mid-20 hp would probably also do Ok with the same cutter but might be slower. I would avoid doing any actual tillage work with the ground for the reasons already noted.

 

[morristvu]

Regarding to shopping process, I think you should look around first on the sites like Machinery Marketplace, Tractor House, Equipment Pete... where there are more choices and not constrained to one or two dealerships. I like MM more b/c it provides nice map that will help you to find local dealerships once you know what you want. Another way would be looking into makers' site to figure out what works for you, but that will take lots of time. Good luck!

 

[siman00]

Regarding to shopping process, I think you should look around first on the sites like Machinery Marketplace, Tractor House, Equipment Pete... where there are more choices and not constrained to one or two dealerships. I like MM more b/c it provides nice map that will help you to find local dealerships once you know what you want. Another way would be looking into makers' site to figure out what works for you, but that will take lots of time. Good luck!

First, thank each of you who commented on my original post. A couple of responses may be helpful. I have cleared with my cousin "leasee" about bushhogging the fields, and he's fine with it. I have no intention of doing anything in the fields but to bushhog them when overgrown. I'm leaning towards a Kubota because of its reputation for being reliable and holding value. I don't want a large tractor, so a compact size fits my situation.

Part of the difficulty I'm experiencing is that there are so many models and series in the Kubota tractors that it's hard to understand the differences between them. I'm hoping to learn those differences in this forum.

Thank you again.

 

[morristvu]

My sister likes Kubota over JD (and others) for the fact that it's lower, more compact for the same power. From what I know, Kubota makes fine tractors. Have you also looked Mahindra? I know it's tough as there are so many choices. I came across this site that has a pretty good comparison Kubota vs. Mahindra - Lansdowne-Moody Company

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Have you done much research on no till applications?

I would talk with the guy who leases the ground and make sure your not chopping up the cover crop he planted.

Planting a cover crop is the same as tilling the ground, you have to plant a fast growing plant such as rye and a mixture of grasses that root in the soil and open it up, before the cash crop is planted a herbicide is sprayed to kill everything in the field, a few days later the ground is no till drilled with the cash crop that roots in the same cracks the cover crop opened up.

Cutting plants down stunts there growth, there's less surface area of the plant to absorb the sunshine so by bush hogging the cover crop you may be affecting the efficiency of the land, the cover crop won't grow as fast and open the ground up as much which will make the cash crop work harder to root ext. which may mean lower yields at harvest.

If done correctly according to The Ohio State University, no till will have higher yields and is more profitable than tilling, even after buying more herbicide and cover crop seed.

Just something to consider.