planning to buy tractor

   / planning to buy tractor #1  

SummFarm

New member
Joined
Jan 21, 2022
Messages
3
Location
North Central Florida
Tractor
None yet - researching
I have 400 acres in north central Florida. Planted pines take up about half. Woods roads and open scrub woods / thick brush make up the other half. The land is slightly hilly. No substantial slopes.

Pine straw is contracted out. Vendor generally maintains the older planted pine plantations. However, I will need to mow the pine middles on younger plantations.

No pasture, agricultural fields, nor crops. No rocks. No residence at this time.

I will be doing woods roads maintenance (10 miles), mowing slopes on large pond and fence lines (4 miles), cutting tree limb encroachment along woods roads and pine plantation boundaries, burning, food plots, and clearing some woods.

No current tractor.

Some experience mowing with JD 5300 manual non-synchro.

Intend to buy a new tractor with a minimum of: FEL & SSQA, factory cab, 4WD, HST, 3 remotes, third function, and ag tires.

Thinking offset flail mower vice bushhog.

Deere, Kubota, and Massey dealerships are within 20-40 minutes.

How much engine horsepower do I need?

How much p.t.o. horsepower do I need?

What brands & models do you recommend?

Why?
 
   / planning to buy tractor #2  
How wide are the rows? That might help to determine the size. I have a friend and her dad's tree are planted so that an 8 foot offset rotary mower works the best. He makes one trip up and one back on each row. I know another who just runs a 10 foot down the middle. If the HST is a requirement for you that will limit how big of a tractor you can get.

Check out how hard it is going to be to remove the FEL. The longer the tractor with the FEL the less maneuverable it will be in the trees.

I would consider a rotary cutter vs the flail mower just because of the maintenance of the two types of machines. Changing the chains and cuts would be a chore.

Without knowing a lot of your details are you going to trailer the tractor from your home to the tree farm? If so the size of your truck and trailer may set limits to the size of the tractor. And if you are to leave it on the farm how are you going to secure it. The FL sun does nothing to keep your tractor nice.
 
   / planning to buy tractor #3  
I will need to mow the pine middles on younger plantations.

How wide are the rows?



Thinking offset flail mower or Bush Hog.....


A flail mower is what you use to make your mowing job take longer, use more fuel to get less done, and keep the parts man and mechanics busy, all the while emptying your wallet at an incredible pace.

Flail mowers have their uses, but they have a number of liabilities too. I TRIED to fit them into the game plan with my mowing business. That was a waste of time AND money. Some people believe that when something is more complicated, it MUST be better.....I just believe it's more complicated.



 
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   / planning to buy tractor #4  
I will be doing woods roads maintenance (10 miles), mowing slopes on large pond and fence lines (4 miles).

Planted pines take up about 200 acres. I need to mow the pine middles on younger plantations.

No pasture, agricultural fields, nor crops. No rocks. No residence.

Intend to buy a new tractor with a minimum of: FEL & SSQA, factory cab, 4WD, HST, 3 remotes, third function, and ag tires.


For mowing this property buy some sort of a geared tractor. It does not have to be the old clutch and gear type.

VIDEOS:

For mowing in miles, opt for 6-ply or 8-ply R4/industrial tires or Kevlar belted R4/demolition tires over 4-ply R1/ag tires. Rear flats on a cab tractor require at least two physically fit people to change. Tractors are not supplied with a tire change jack. You will lose a day with every puncture. Mowing requires only moderate traction.

Have expanded steel armor fabricated to protect tractor undercarriage. Easy job.


No current tractor.
What brands & models do you recommend?



 
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   / planning to buy tractor #5  
Flail mowers have there places. Our nearby town has one mounted on a tractor, along side the cab. They use it to mow ditches, so when it’s lowered it’s mowing beside the tractor, not behind it. It has another unit behind it. All hydraulic powered so it needs a lot of hydraulic power. Might be handy for getting under trees but probably expensive.

I agree, knowing what width you need will size the tractor.
 
   / planning to buy tractor
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thank you for your responses.

The pines are planted in rows 10 feet apart.
Part of the exterior outside of my fence to be mowed is 2-3 feet above the county graded road, so, I thought being able to raise and offset the flail would work. Also,to get as far down the pond slope as possible. I also planned to maintain interior woods roads with the flail offset and at 90 degrees to trim encroaching tree limbs.

The tractor will be kept on site.

Thanks for the link to the you tube videos about HST v. geared.

Recently retired, so time is not a problem.

The "farm" is primarily recreational for hunting with the pines for a cash crop every 10-15 years.

SummFarm
 
   / planning to buy tractor #7  
The pines are planted in rows 10 feet apart

I have never owned a tree farm. My experience has been tending vineyard rows in California.

A 72" operating width heavy-duty Rotary Cutter weighing 1,100 pounds will be 80" wide, overall, leaving 20" margin between each side of the mower and the trees, ASSUMING ROWS ARE PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. As tree trunks increase in diameter with age 20" margin will decrease. Mowing boring, monotonous miles, 20" is as close to the trees as you want to mow.

Cab tractor will likely be ~ 72" ~ wide. You do not want tree branches banging your glass cab.
 
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   / planning to buy tractor #8  
Part of the exterior outside of my fence to be mowed is 2-3 feet above the county graded road, so, I thought being able to raise and offset the flail would work. Also,to get as far down the pond slope as possible. I also planned to maintain interior woods roads with the flail offset and at 90 degrees to trim encroaching tree limbs.
Recently retired, so time is not a problem.

Hire this work out. Too dangerous for a retiree who should be focused on avoiding tractor-related hospitalization in order to collect Social Security for thirty years.


If you feel irrationally compelled to do this work yourself purchase a Ventrac as a second tractor.

We live on a VERY steep hilly property where we need to rotary mow 8 acres of horse pasture a few times a year, drag our horse arena and move downed trees/wood regularly. We have 11 acres total.

Consider a Ventrac for your primary mower, in lieu of a Three Point Hitch tractor. Ventrac is a division of Toro.

Rugged, two-plane articulated equipment designed for mowing slopes and marsh.

Front PTO is straight mechanical drive like a compact tractor but power transfers by rubber belt rather than tractor splines to implement PTO coupler.

We need to drag our horse arena and move downed trees/wood regularly.
Rear TPH optional. No rear PTO.

Watch the Ventrac videos linked immediately below.

VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ventrac+Steiner




Another slope mower. Less versatile. Less flotation around pond than a Ventrac, but more flotation than a tractor, much more flotation than a tractor/flail combination.

 
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   / planning to buy tractor #9  
^^^^
The Cub Cadet Pro Z are fantastic ZTR’s for hills and slopes!

6DEDE4FF-C88F-4F23-8262-00117710873D.jpeg

It solved all my hillside mowing issues and saved an hour of mowing time! I highly recommend them.

Mike
 
   / planning to buy tractor #10  
The HP requirements will depend on what the mower attachment requires. This also effects the time spent mowing. There are mowers that will mow around trees or fence posts.
 

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