To complete my purchase story on the subject of "what size tractor to buy", I am adding a post I made yesterday in another thread:
<font color="blue">When I was researching and shopping, I was focused on mowing my two acres of lawn and brush clearing another acre on this side of the overgrown creek. And after I cleared that acre of the brush, rocks, stumps, etc., I planned on eventually mowing all three acres with a finish mower. Those other 8 acres on the other side of the creek were an inaccessable swamp and jungle--so forget that. It all seemed clear and logical to me, and therefore, applying the Occam's Razor parsimonious purchasing principle, I bought a BX.
Now I have 8 acres to mow. I have sweeping vistas I didn't have before, a sparkling and burbling creek opened up to deer and herons and ducks, and channels draining the swamp. I have improved the beauty and value of my property immensely--just me, all alone, with my tractor.
But not my BX. I realized after two weeks that the BX could meet the limited 3 acre objectives I had set for it. But I also then had glimpsed "the power" of the tractor. And that that power could terraform the swamp-jungle. But that the BX was too small.
I traded up to a 2910, built a bridge with the help of the tractor, and began clearing the other side of the creek. Beat the tar out of the tractor. Thousand dollars worth of damage and repairs eventually. Rode over dozens of huge 20 stemmed bushes, the tractor's nose pointed 30 degrees up in the air to get the Woods 60" medium duty cutter over the stems--and it cut them. Maybe took many passes and lug-outs but it cut them. Took me maybe 50 hours to clear an acre. I really needed a bigger, heavier tractor. Carted stuff away, but it took a long time with the small and weak FEL.
Now that it's cleared, it's got to be maintained or else it will re-junglefy. So I need bigger mowers. I need a 72" brush mower and an 84" finish mower. But the 2910 is too small for them.
And I want a backhoe--to dig channels, and dirt, and to sculpt a sitting and view spot high on a hill overlooking the open acres. The very best current backhoe for the 2910 (7800) is a Bradco 3375 frame mount hoe. But the frame mountings will interfere with my MMM. So I have to sell the 72" MMM, which is big money losing proposition, and then buy a RMM.
The answer is: I now inevitably need a Grand L to maintain and extend the work for which I should have had a Grand L in the first place.
Gee, how come I didn't foresee all this three years ago when I so scientifically specified the 3 acre jobs for my tractor. Because I couldn't. Tractors are magical ... like a cornucopia. Whenever you do one thing with them, that opens up the opportunity to do two new things you never thought of. Etcetera. Exponentially. As long as you have the land. And the will.</font>
And the imagination.
Indeed, I have ordered a Grand L 3430 with a few cute doodads and original customizations that I will be writing about in detail (and posting my first pictures ever) in a few weeks.
That's my story of "what size tractor to buy".
So far.
