Tractors 101 - where to learn

[travelrider73]

I have been a reluctant city dweller all my life and at 40 years old, I have just gotten lucky enough to contract on a 5 acre parcel zoned Agricultural. This is my dream situation! If only it were 10 acres!

I now have questions I never thought I would be fortunate enough to have and I need to start educating myself. My wife and I want to cultivate some of this land and I think we should buy a small used tractor and the right mix of attachments. The 5 acres cost us a pretty penny (relative to our budget), so we can't spend a fortune.

So, not too small, not too big... Able to handle a variety of attachments such as a tiller, post hole digger, backhoe, skidder, loader, mower, etc. I'm not saying I want to buy all of these things necessarily, and I certainly can't afford to buy them all at once, but I want a tractor that can handle small versions of these accessories.

So, the question isn't specific to "What tractor should I buy" (at least not yet). I'm really asking how to best educate myself.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[smstonypoint]

Some useful reading material from LSU:

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/1f4cc3b5-a24f-4f54-858c-1515ea97b9e3/2699/pub2906compacttractor3.pdf

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/1b522d98-ae78-4dfa-a258-7f845263bdd8/11557/pub2917tractorimplements1.pdf

See Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos for useful videos.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[travelrider73]

Some useful reading material from LSU:

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/1f4cc3b5-a24f-4f54-858c-1515ea97b9e3/2699/pub2906compacttractor3.pdf

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/1b522d98-ae78-4dfa-a258-7f845263bdd8/11557/pub2917tractorimplements1.pdf

See Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos for useful videos.

Good luck.

Steve

Thank you! These are all great. I appreciate the links.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Those are good links indeed.

If you will hang around this forum and do your best impression of a sponge and try to absorb as much information as your brain can process, I think this forum is probably the best resource because you are not getting just one person's point of view. There is an absolute wealth of knowledge and experience here on TBN, and I have learned a lot from many, many posters here.

Oh, and congratulations on your new place. For 5 acres without any major clearing work to be done, I'd suggest looking at subcompact tractors like the Kubota BX series. They will do more work than their size would lead you to believe, there is a huge aftermarket (especially for Kubota and Deere), they are less expensive than their larger counterparts, and the implements are less expensive too. For the most part, they will do the same amount of work as a larger tractor; it just takes longer.

 

[k0ua]

All of "tractor Mike" videos are worth watching too. He is a local to my area fella, but he has years of tractor experience, having retired from a tractor dealership in my area.

Tractor Mike
- YouTube

 

[k0ua]

You can maybe start with this one.. There are 92 videos... good luck.

The Danger of Tractors on Hills - YouTube

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

One more thing: Read the Safety forum here. It will teach you a lot about things NOT to do or things to avoid. There are a lot of ways to get hurt when using a tractor and implements. A lot of them are common sense stuff, but some might not be so apparent to the uninitiated.

 

[travelrider73]

Thanks everyone!!! You've already pointed me to a ton of information to keep me busy for a while.

I do have one question in light of the suggestion for a "sub-compact" tractor. If I'm buying used, is there any truth to the idea that you can get a used high quality farm tractor that's designed to last 50-60 years as inexpensively as you can a lightly used sub-compact? What do you all think about the pros and cons of buying a "small farm quality tractor" with a lot of hours on it vs a "high end homeowner quality tractor" with low hours? As an analogy, I've been researching heavy tow vehicles for a giant 5th wheel. An interesting thing I've learned is that I can buy a Class 8 tractor with 500k miles on it (designed to go 1M before overhaul) substantially cheaper than I can a Medium Duty Truck with 50k miles on it (designed to go 200k). Does this same anomaly hold true in the tractor world?

P.S. I've been watching Tractor Mike for at least 45 minutes. Excellent videos! Thank you, Mike -- wherever you are!

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I'm not knowledgeable on the prices of older farm tractors, so I can't directly answer your questions. But, yes, those old 50 - 60 year old tractors were made to last forever. The problem is that nothing lasts forever, and anything made by man can and will break at some point. Then the questions are: (1) are the parts available, (2) what does it cost to fix it, and (3) WHO is going to fix it?

What I'm saying is instead of looking at the purchase cost, look at the overall cost of ownership.

When you buy an old tractor, you never know if you're buying something that will be trouble free for the next 5 years, or if the last guy got rid of it because he knew it was soon going to need an expensive repair.

 

[travelrider73]

I'm not knowledgeable on the prices of older farm tractors, so I can't directly answer your questions. But, yes, those old 50 - 60 year old tractors were made to last forever. The problem is that nothing lasts forever, and anything made by man can and will break at some point. Then the questions are: (1) are the parts available, (2) what does it cost to fix it, and (3) WHO is going to fix it?

What I'm saying is instead of looking at the purchase cost, look at the overall cost of ownership.

When you buy an old tractor, you never know if you're buying something that will be trouble free for the next 5 years, or if the last guy got rid of it because he knew it was soon going to need an expensive repair.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear about what I was asking. I am not suggesting I might consider a 50 year old tractor by any means. I like new technology too much to do that. What I was asking is if used larger farm quality tractors lose value faster than used compact tractors, thereby making them a good value for a homeowner with acreage. Maybe it lost more value because of higher hours, but if it was manufactured better because of its intended use, then maybe 3000 hours on a high end model still has more life left in it than 1500 hours on a lower end model... That's what I'm wondering about.

Another way to frame my question: Given a particular budget, would you buy a higher end bigger model that may be a couple years older and have more hours on it -- or would you buy a smaller lower end model that's closer to the current year with less hours on it? Is the bigger tractor necessarily "better built" enough that the extra hours don't matter?

 

[DT86]

The bigger ones will be built to last longer, but with 5 acres how big are you talking about?


It will take a long time to wear out any current machine on 5 acres.

 

[travelrider73]

The bigger ones will be built to last longer, but with 5 acres how big are you talking about?


It will take a long time to wear out any current machine on 5 acres.

I was kind of thinking of "larger compact". The John Deere 4044M or Kubota L3901 would be examples of the size I was thinking, but I'm just learning and just beginning my investigation. I figured something that size would do anything I could ever want on 5 acres without being physically too large to be maneuverable. Thoughts?

Those two are out of budget new, but something like those that are under 10 years old?

 

[spitter]

I have 5 acres and I have a tc29d and its just to small for me.My biggest thing is lifting capacity I do a lot of landscape work rocks and stuff. Maneuverablity will not be a problem with either of those tractors.Big difference in the way they both feel u have to sit on both tractors and drive them.U will never know how a tractor feels till u drive it.U won't buy a car unless u drove it would u .PS. my dream tractor is a l6060 or 4060r.:cool2::drink:

 

[travelrider73]

I have 5 acres and I have a tc29d and its just to small for me.My biggest thing is lifting capacity I do a lot of landscape work rocks and stuff. Maneuverablity will not be a problem with either of those tractors.Big difference in the way they both feel u have to sit on both tractors and drive them.U will never know how a tractor feels till u drive it.U won't buy a car unless u drove it would u .PS. my dream tractor is a l6060 or 4060r.:cool2::drink:

So, your ideal on 5 acres would be the frame size I'm looking at, but you'd go all the way to 60hp models if money were not a factor!?

 

[flusher]

My ranch was a 10-acre spread, flat, perfectly square fence lines. Bought it in Jan 2005.

My first tractor was a new 2005 Kubota B7510 HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, 4WD, hydrostatic transmission, power steering, with a 4-ft wide FEL). Cost: $12600. Bought in May 2005.

Three years later I decided to grow hay on 7 acres. So I traded that 7510 for a 2008 Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto, 2WD, partially synchronized gear tranny, power steering, FEL with 6-ft wide bucket, triple rear hydraulic remotes). Cost: $18K. Bought in March 2008.



Something like that B7510 or a little larger would handle the work you mentioned.

Good luck

 

[newbury]

I've got a B7610 and an M4700. As flusher wrote a B7510 should handle what you need for 5 acres.

It seems a majority of TBN'ers advise to "get something bigger". Remember it's not their money.

I would recommend you don't go down to the BX size. Look for 25 to 30 engine HP.

Good luck, give us some more prameters of your situation - nearby dealers, lay of land (swamp, gullies?), wrenching capabilities.

 

[rgr33]

I would think for a five acre parcel, something in the 25 to 35 hp range would be about right. You can get a pretty nice Kubota, LS, Kioti of that size for a reasonable price, with a warranty if you buy new.
I started out on 10 acres with a 1948 Ford 8n gasser. I spent more time fixing and just trying to get it to start, than I did tractoring, so going old and cheap has it's drawbacks. I know bigger sounds better to us guys, but think of it like putting a a whale in your swimming pool, too much in too small a space.

 

[spitter]

I wasn't advising anything I was saying what would suit me best . Why not have the best tractor you can afford? I also see no reason to buy new espically with all this 4 tier sh-- You can buy a 10 year old tractor with low hours that someone took care of for half the price if you take your time and look hard.Being a first time buyer you probally want a hydro. It is buy far the easiest to learn on .A 30 horse tractor will certainly fit the bill unless your trying too pick up over 1200 lbs.What is your main reason for use? What kind of attachments do you want ?Will the tractor run these .Mid pto 4 mmm.Rear hydro's for log splitter.If you wan't a fel with ssqa.All these are more important than which color or if it is new or not.Make a list of things you wan't your tractor to do and a attachment list.Then see what fits your buget.No one ever said I wish I bought a smaller tractor.:2cents::drink:

 

[brasco426]

Hello Travelrider73, congratulations on your new land. Living in the country is new to me too, and stumbled upon this site while tractor shopping. I maintain just over 6 acres between 2 property's. It's all pretty much finished and I just keep up with maintenance, and landscaping. For me I made a list of all the things I need done on a reoccurring basis, then things I needed done throughout the year. Mowing, Grading, Moving material with FEL i.e. Snow, Dirt, Gravel, Manure, etc. I get it all done with a 24 hp tractor.

Here's a thread I did for mine take a peak if you like. See if something like this will meet your needs, if not, then bigger will better suit you. It really comes down to what You need to get done, and what You want to buy . Good Luck. Donnie

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353157

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a bit over 11 acres and own 2 tractors. It sure isn't necessary to have two but at times they do come in handy, like if you get one stuck in the mud.
I started with an gray market Yanmar that worked OK after several flushings of the hydraulic oil, but I really wanted a cab tractor. At the time, money was not much of a concern so I went looking for a tractor in the $35K range with cab. I was really looking for a 50 HP tractor but I found an LS P7010 for what other brands were selling a 50 HP for so I bought the P7010. It was great, AC and radio in the cab, powerful beyond belief and comfortable to operate. I did a lot of huge rock moving, moved tons of dirt etc but found that it was a lot too big to fit in some spaces. I lucked up on a Kubota B26 thanks to a TBN member so I bought that and now use it for 99% of my work. I needed the big lift capacity when I first got my place to move all the heavy loads but now I don't need that much capacity so the B26 TLB gets all the work except tilling the garden in the spring.
You can get too big of a tractor even though most TBN members say that is not possible.
For your needs, I would suggest a Kubota B 26xx model. It will have higher ground clearance than the BX series and with 26 HP it will run most any rotary equipment that you need for 5 or even 15 acres. I can handle a 5 foot bush hog, 60" rotary tiller, middle buster, and even a belly mower if you want to use it for that. They have been out for many years so a good used one should be easy to find. About 5 years ago my daughter bought a new B2620 with belly mower, tiller, middle buster and tool bar for less than $20k.
Any used tractor with 500 - 1000 gently used hours should be a bargain at likely half price of new and still be good for thousands more hours. Try to find one that has been stored inside.