What is enough HP?

[redman135]

Some food for thought.
GEARBOX: this dictates how well you can use the avalible power. Very underated. eg JD, IVT will beat a quad box,( 5 or 6sp stickshift with 4 electric shift gears/splits in each main gear) will beat a straight stick shift gearbox
What tractor and gearbox are you looking at?

Is the weight of the 80 hp tractor similar to the 100 hp tractor, weight matters in blade work, esspecially on slopes ie15-20 degrees. My steepest track is 30 degrees(measured). Also I recommend you set your rear wheels to max width for stability, and safety.

Hydraulic blade, do you have the pump capacity to run 2 rams at once, or is it 1 at a time ? Do you have enough outlets to run a 3 way blade AND top link? Tail wheels make a huge difference to your ability to make a high quality finish.

Cultivation and mowing are both signifiantly influenced by how easy your gearbox is to use in the desired work speed ranges. eg JD quad box, you don't want to be stick shifting, split shifts only.
Front end loader, are control mounts adjustable so the controls are a comfortable reach? Having to stretch gets old (and sore) fast.

Good Luck.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

What are you doing non standard? I survived on 65 acres mowing 40 of them with a 31 HP HST For quite a while. Only reason I stepped up to 75hp was a cab and a 90” snow blower. My 75c is a large frame tractor with a small engine. It has plenty of power for anything needing to be done for a normal operation. I live at 8000’ so my hp numbers are lower than most. I would agree if you are haying 2000 acres into rounds more Hp is required. But for all your implements 75hp would be more than enough. And 50-60 is probably enough in a large frame tractor.

I'm using it as a dozer, excavator, grader, and tractor. I detailed it in my initial post.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

Whoops,
misread what the OP posted already has a good Woods backhoe.

Agree with others and for sure would want an FEL and MFWD other than that, many times bigger and more industrial ends up being less money than a newer SCUT or small utility tractor.

Mountains of dirt and rock can mean different things to different people.
If it means "large" rocks that really changes things.

Not large rock, but lots of rock. I need to raise an are 50'x500' by 3 feet. And build bases for my main buildings and level out other areas. The dumptrucks will not stop for some time I'm imagining.

 

[Atypical_decorum]

Some food for thought.
GEARBOX: this dictates how well you can use the avalible power. Very underated. eg JD, IVT will beat a quad box,( 5 or 6sp stickshift with 4 electric shift gears/splits in each main gear) will beat a straight stick shift gearbox
What tractor and gearbox are you looking at?

Is the weight of the 80 hp tractor similar to the 100 hp tractor, weight matters in blade work, esspecially on slopes ie15-20 degrees. My steepest track is 30 degrees(measured). Also I recommend you set your rear wheels to max width for stability, and safety.

Hydraulic blade, do you have the pump capacity to run 2 rams at once, or is it 1 at a time ? Do you have enough outlets to run a 3 way blade AND top link? Tail wheels make a huge difference to your ability to make a high quality finish.

Cultivation and mowing are both signifiantly influenced by how easy your gearbox is to use in the desired work speed ranges. eg JD quad box, you don't want to be stick shifting, split shifts only.
Front end loader, are control mounts adjustable so the controls are a comfortable reach? Having to stretch gets old (and sore) fast.

Good Luck.

Good advice. The rams are not going to be constantly moving. But any tractor in that size range should should be enough to move the rams even if slowly. I'm plumbing one remote into a hydrolic block, so it should be fine.


I'm currently looking at an M9960 and an M5-111. But I'm still looking at options. I saw a nice Massey 2660D but it was only 8spd.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I'm using it as a dozer, excavator, grader, and tractor. I detailed it in my initial post.

Hmm, ok. I didn’t know that was non standard. I use my tractor the same. Obviously I am not excavating for skyscrapers in a city. But I have built pads for buildings and made multiple riding arenas. I have made roads. I even use mine as a cherry picker for building painting and repair. But if that is non standard to you ok. But I guess this is another case where I am non standard which I am most of the time. My 75C has an 84” bucket that seems to do the trick. It is ssqa and has pioneer and FF connectors for 3rd function. Haven’t found anything I can’t do with it. It has 600 pounds of wheel weights.

 

[Hay Dude]

Judging by my wildly successful previous post, I should get some good answers here.

I found a pretty stellar 80hp tractor with more displacement then the 100hp tractors I've been looking at. But, does size matter?

I may as well say what I'm doing exactly with the tractor. A big function of the tractor is pulling a 8 to 10ft hydraulic grader blade. I'll be on flat and hillside ground making trails for my camp goers.

With this same blade I'll be flatening mountains of dirt and rock. The FEL will be moving the same.

I have a Woods 1080 BH which will be used for putting in utilities (water/electric/air), the koi pond and other stuff.

I'll also be pulling felled trees from my work area, up/down/across hills.

I'll be pulling the biggest finish mower I can.

I'll be using a 24" auger bit.

And finally, as far as I can plan for, I'll be deep tilling about 1 acre routinely. I'm sure there will be more, but that's where I'm at for now.

Would 260cu in 80hp tractor cut it or is that magical 3 digit hp number the grail?

Can't get heavy equipment. This has to be an all in one.

I don’t know if power is an issue as much as weight. If you are pushing & pulling heavy things, an
80HP HEAVY tractor may actually deliver more drawbar HP than a lightweight 100HP tractor.

Weight transfers power to the ground.

 

[jaxs]

I'll take a different approach and leave it to others to post links. As for advertised horsepower,make sure tests are by same people using same standards. Operator experience plays a huge role in how much work gets done,how much fuel is burnt and most importantly for how many hours per $ spent on repair and maintenance. There's far more stats regarding semi-trucks than tractors when it comes to difference depending on who's in the operators seat but it's as true for one as the other. In row cropping we always wanted just enough weight and hp without putting strain on the tractor. You know when that is achieved if rpms are in power band and governor only occasionally kicks in briefly with little or no wheel spin. Gears and ballast can be used to achieve that while using various implements but there are limitations that require bigger or smaller tractor. If operator isn't experienced it's always better being overpowered at the expense of more expensive tractor burning additional fuel. If the engine only gets off governor occasionally and briefly you best grab a lower gear or get a bigger engine. To recap,with heavy load ( be it pto or ground engaging) set rpms to mfgr's recommended then watch for wheel spin and change in exhaust sound & smoke plus listen for change in engine and exhaust sounds. It will soon become second nature without concentrating ,thereby letting you watch what you are doing.