What should I buy? (35 acre forest management and future farm)

[dearmarie1990]

Hi there! I’ve recently acquired a 35 acre property in WA. It is 90% 35 yr old Douglas fir forest. Planning to put in a road, trench utilities and most importantly, clear and de-stump 4-6 acres for a regenerative farm. I’d like to purchase a Kubota because some neighbors have attachments we can use. Trying to get the best bang for buck. I’d like to buy used. What minimum horsepower should I be looking for? What do y’all recommend? Thanks! -Marie

 

[jeff9366]

I’d like to purchase a Kubota because neighbors have attachments we can use.

The tractor Three Point Hitch (( TPH )) has been an international standard since the mid-1950's.

While the TPH comes in sizes, called categories, of Category 1-5, compact tractors discussed on T-B-N come with either a Category 1 or Category 2 Three Point Hitch. Some tractors come with a TPH which will mount either Category 1 or Category 2 implements with the use of simple adaptor shims.

Summary: Almost all tractor Category 1 implements can be used with any brand of tractor with a Category 1 TPH.

Almost all tractor Category 2 implements can be used with any brand of tractor with a Category 2 TPH.

Most Category 1 implements can be simply adapted to operate behind heavier tractors with a heavier Category 2 TPH.

MORE: TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch

 

[jeff9366]

Planning to put in a road, trench utilities and most importantly, clear and de-stump 4-6 acres.

This is not tractor work. Call in professionals for road execution and multi-acre stump removal.

Hire either a bulldozer or an excavator to remove stumps.

Bulldozer can rough in your road.

Excavator can trench for utilities. A tractor Backhoe can trench relatively slowly at an implement cost of $7,000 new. It is cheaper to have an excavator already on your land trench, unless your trenching need will be ongoing.

Use a tractor to smooth land after stumps are removed. Land will settle moderately for several years after stumps are removed and large stump holes filled.

 

[jeff9366]

Hi there! I’ve recently acquired a 35 acre property in WA. It is 90% 35 yr old Douglas fir forest. Planning to put in a road, trench utilities and most importantly, clear and de-stump 4-6 acres for a regenerative farm.

I am not familiar with the term "regenerative" farm.

However, for a hobby farm of 4-6 acres most T-B-N contributors will recommend a compact tractor with less than 26-horsepower to avoid complex Tier IV emission controls required on tractors with over 26-horsepower, plus a bare tractor weight of 1,700 pounds to 2,800 pounds.

Kubota B2650 @ 1,800 pounds bare tractor weight or Kubota L2501 @ 2,700 pounds bare tractor weight would both meet your needs for six fairly flat acres. Both are available used.

With tractors weight is your friend.​

VIDEOS:

If you intend to take the tractor regularly into thirty acres of woods you will want a wider ( therefore more stable ) tractor with at least 45-horsepower to operate PTO powered implements, most especially a heavy duty 72" Rotary Cutter / Bush Hog.

Tractors are inherently unstable operating on sloped ground. Tractor rear wheel/tire spread, sometimes adjustable, is a critical factor increasing compact tractor stability working sloped or uneven ground. Rear axle is the tractor component on which rear wheels/tires mount. A 6" to 10" wider rear axle substantially decreases tractor rollover potential. Tractor width is an approximation of rear axle width.

Larger wheels and tires yield more tractive power over uneven ground pulling ground contact implements and logs, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow. Larger wheels and tires permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, ruts and tree debris with less operator perturbation and higher ground speed.

When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.


Selling a used tractor is easy. Selling multiple light implements in order to buy heavier, wider implements for a new, heavier tractor requires a lot of time. Depreciation on implements is worse than depreciation on a tractor.


GOOD LUCK IN YOUR SEARCH! Except for those who grew up with tractors we all began with your experience = zero.

 

[jeff9366]

Trying to get the best bang for buck.

Korean manufacturing labor is paid 20% less than Japanese manufacturing labor.

Consider Korean tractor brands Kioti, LS, Branson for value, if you have a stable dealer nearby.

A quality dealer, reasonably close, available for coaching, is important for tractor neophytes. Most tractors are delivered with a glitch or two requiring correction. My kubota dealer is six miles away. I feel my local dealer continues to add value to my equipment after eight years. Dealer proximity is less important for those experienced with tractors and qualified to perform their own maintenance.

 

[jeff9366]

I’ve recently acquired a property in Washington state.

If you inform me of a nearby city and nearby zip code I will show you used tractors for sale on eBay near the location designated. That will give you price range for used tractors in various weights.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Marie,

Specific types of attachments, and their size will help determine how much hp you will need. The 2 "common" ways of listing hp are engine hp, and pto hp. The engine hp can be useful when trying to figure out what size plowing or dragging implements you can use. The weight of the tractor also ties into how "big" a plow or a drag you can use. Those 2 "stats" work together, engine hp and weight of tractor. The heavier the tractor (within reason), the more traction you have for pulling on things. Which tread type you pick on the tractor tires also ties into this available traction.

Pto hp is how much power is available to run certain pto driven attachments, like mowers, wood chippers, snow blowers, roto-tillers, etc. The more pto hp you have, the "bigger" these attachments can be, and the quicker the specific task can be done. So even a small pto hp rated tractor can get things done, they will be more limited to smaller sized attachments.

There are plenty of options these days on implements available to us compact and sub-compact (CUT and SCUT) tractor buyers. The key is just sizing all the equipment to work well together.

 

[jjeff]

I wonder if you can sell the timber and work something out with the logging company to put in a road and get rid of six acres of stumps? I have quite a few hrs digging up stumps with a three point backhoe mounted on a older kubota L2850, mostly maples and birch some would take hrs, hydraulic fluid would get so hot it would come out the filler tube. It was hard work, hard on the tractor and backhoe. I also used a 8 inch pto wood chipper does a great job on smaller stuff. Dont run stumps or roots through it. Definitely hard work.
Good luck.

 

[metalbender]

Hire an experienced dozer operator to do the road and clearing. Life is too short to do that work with a little tractor.

 

[ericm979]

I'm with hiring out the road too. Someone with experience can put in a road that will drain properly and not wash out. If you're in a Doug Fir forest as we are, you get a lot of rain, so this is important.

It takes a lot of work with a backhoe to dig out even a small stump. I mean a whole lot of work. If you can afford it, it would make sense to pay someone with the right size and type of equipment to do it.

You'd have to do a lot of trenching to pay for a backhoe.

You don't need to have a Kubota to use the neighbor's implements. (nice neighbors!) Any Cat 1 implement will connect to a tractor with a Cat 1 hitch. You can put Cat 1 implements on a Cat 2 tractor but not the other way around. Even with the same category the implements need to be sized appropriately for the tractor. If your neighbors have big implements they may be too large for your tractor, or vice versa.