No fel no problem

[jeff9366]

Front End Loader is the single most useful tractor option. FEL is not much good without having Four Wheel Drive to push the bucket deep into a pile.

 

[jim44]

I would not forego 4 wheel drive and a loader under any circumstances. I can hardly imagine trying to accomplish much without both.

Save up until you can get the whole package. You won't regret it.

 

[vabiker23518]

I'll join the chorus here and advise you to get the FEL. I only have 30 acres of good hunting land and bought my first tractor (2-WD Bolens with no FEL) to bush hog trails and keep the food plots working. (this was my first ever tractor and really didn't know enough to make informed decision). Anyway, three years later I purchased a TYM 233 with 4 WD and FEL. Tractor work is much easier, more fun and safer than before.

 

[k0ua]

"As God is my witness I will never own another tractor without a FEL."

Quote adapted from "Gone With The Wind" with minor changes....

+1...:thumbsup: "a tractor without a FEL is like a day without sunshine" with apologies to Anita Bryant.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

4wd + FEL > 2wd with no FEL

BUT

2wd with no FEL > no tractor at all

When I was a kid, my dad farmed about 2,500 acres (wheat, cotton, milo, hay, cattle & pigs), and we never had 4wd tractor or a FEL the entire time I was on the farm. So FEL and 4wd are great but not absolutely essential. At least not for everyone.

 

[RaydaKub]

Front End Loader is the single most useful tractor option. FEL is not much good without having Four Wheel Drive.

I understand what you are saying. FWD is wonderful. But I'll bet the pile of dirt, snow, manure, sand, rocks, silage, haylage, & <you-name-it> that my dad scooped in 40 years with his trusty Ford 8N would dwarf what most members here will ever do with tractors 3 times the size. And the conditions going through the feedlot were not always...ideal. Rear end weight and chains made it work.

 

[MH8675309]

Rear end weight and chains made it work.

What he said!

 

[ber72564]

Johnny Bucket Sr. is one way to cut the FEL cost in half if you don't need the high lift. Another option is the Westendorf Rear-Ender 3PH rear bucket which can come with a High Lifter option, and carry all functions. Yet another option is Pat's Easy Lifter 3PH rear bucket.

I understand the FEL proponents, and in a perfect world we would all have an extra 3-5K to get the FEL. But I also understand the power of the Bank of My Hip International. If you need a tractor you need a tractor. Also, put rim guard in the tires and pick up an additional 200+ LBs of weight. You can buy a lot of other implements for the cost of just the FEL.

IMHO

 

[MESSMAKER]

The amount of things that you can do with a front end loader are endless. It's always there and you learn to rely on it. I bought my new tractor with Loader on it and expected to take it off for bushogging. It never happened, I use the lowered bucket to check for obstacles. I use it yo push me out of unseen ditches. I use the toothbar and bucket to move fallen limbs. I also use it to grub out weeds. This does not touch on material moving or dirt work. You also can convert it into a forklift or a crane with a little work. It seems like a lot of money, but it is worth it.

 

[Gordon Gould]

My bucket is really handy and I wouldn't have a tractor w/o one unless it was the only tractor available to me. Like Pappy said. I must say except for loading logs with the grapple 90% of what I do maintaining roads, property, and logging, I do with 3ph impliments.