Tractor Sizing Time to upgrade from my L3400, need advice

Owensdad · Oct 7, 2015

I have a 50 acre hobby farm and have had an L3400HST for the last 10 years which has been great. Mainly used to pull a 7' finish mower and cut trails a few times a year with a 6' rotary cutter. Currently I lease most of the property to a local farmer who grows soy and corn. For several reasons, I would like to end the lease and care for that ground myself, which will probably consist of plating/mowing some mix of grasses, so I figure I'll need a bigger tractor. Ground is flat to gentle hills. Years ago, I cut several of the larger fields with the 6' brush hog and it took forever, so I was thinking of getting a 12' batwing if my wallet can handle it. Since I am used to the HST, I was looking at the MX5800 as a replacement for my L3400. My thinking is that the MX5800 would be able to do everything my L3400 can do, and quite a bit more without being that much larger of a machine. I realize there are other threads on this site about tractor sizing and batwings, but I am a bit confused. Overall tone seems to be that you need about 5 PTO HP per foot of cutter, but several posts note that much more HP is needed which has me concerned that the MX5800 will not be large enough. Question is: Do you think the MX5800 (50 PTO HP) could handle a 12' batwing in grass and occasionally light brush. Woods makes a 12' batwing which they say is specifically designed for smaller tractors, down to 35 PTO HP. I just don't want to spend 10's of thousands and be disappointed. Thanks in advance.

TripleR · Oct 7, 2015

It seems like there was a similar thread not long ago and he reported good results, sorry I can't remember. foreman Etexas ran a 12' flat deck with his 5040, wish I could provide a better example.

Land Pride also offers one for smaller tractors: RC2512 Rotary Cutters | Land Pride

RedNeckRacin · Oct 7, 2015

Are you planning on mowing the large areas with the batting a couple times a year or only once? The 5hp/ft is an assumption. I think it's accurate for smaller machines and isn't quite enough on the larger machines. I have about 200 ac I mow a year with a 10' medium duty cutter. Most of it only gets mowed once a year and I could use more hp at times. I have some serious hills in some areas and having more than the minimum pto gives me some margin of error if I hit a gopher hole or something and don't stall the tractor at a very bad time.

Dozernut · Oct 7, 2015

You might want to look at the Kubota M5660SUHD, 57hp. It weighs about 700 lbs. more than the MX tractors and the loader will lift almost 3000 lbs. No hydrostat, but does come with a hydraulic shuttle. It comes with one set of hydraulic hookups on the rear as standard and you can get the 3rd function valve on the loader. I don't know about it running the batwing mowers but the standard tranny does put out more pto hp than the hydro.

jeff9366 · Oct 7, 2015

I do not know your age.

I am 68 years old.

I appreciate the deLuxe features on my 'Grand L' 3560 more with every passing year.

Consider a L5460 as well as the MX5200. Pretty much the same tractor specs. The 'Grand L' L5460 has EVERYTHING, the MX5200 is the utility version. The L5460 will be somewhat more money. You may find the deLuxe features are worth it. (And, yes, the deluxe features increase productivity.)

Luke'sScreenName · Oct 7, 2015

jeff9366 said:
I do not know your age.

I am 68 years old.

I appreciate the deLuxe features on my 'Grand L' 3560 more with every passing year.

Consider a L5460 as well as the MX5200. Pretty much the same tractor specs. The 'Grand L' L5460 has EVERYTHING, the MX5200 is the utility version. The L5460 will be somewhat more money. You may find the deLuxe features are worth it. (And, yes, the deluxe features increase productivity.)

While what "somewhat more money" is might be subjective... I would characterize it as "a lot more money."

varmint · Oct 7, 2015

When you get to 68, or older, a new tractor may well be the last one you will be buying, so I wouldn't hold back. It's only money, and you will be spending a lot of time on it, most likely. Having owned a Grand L and a standard L, I miss the raft of special features that the Grand had. But, they weren't a requirement.

Owensdad · Oct 7, 2015

RedNeckRacin said:
Are you planning on mowing the large areas with the batting a couple times a year or only once? The 5hp/ft is an assumption. I think it's accurate for smaller machines and isn't quite enough on the larger machines. I have about 200 ac I mow a year with a 10' medium duty cutter. Most of it only gets mowed once a year and I could use more hp at times. I have some serious hills in some areas and having more than the minimum pto gives me some margin of error if I hit a gopher hole or something and don't stall the tractor at a very bad time.

I'll probably end up mowing a few times per year, which would mean shorter grass and therefore less HP required. However, if I am going to make this type of investment, I want to be certain that I'll be able to cut an overgrown field, maybe a bit more slowly, but safely.

What size tractor do you pull your 10' cutter with?

RedNeckRacin · Oct 7, 2015

I have a full mount Mx10 behind my 5083E jd. 83 net, 69 pto hp. I like running weights or the loader to keep the front end on the ground.

Owensdad · Oct 7, 2015

RedNeckRacin said:
I have a full mount Mx10 behind my 5083E jd. 83 net, 69 pto hp. I like running weights or the loader to keep the front end on the ground.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I've got all winter to trawl this site and pester local dealers with these types of questions.