What's The Deal?

[Spudland_Dave]

In true ARFCOM fashion...get both!

Another ARFCommer here?
GTD (Green Tractor Disease) has put my BRD into submission for the time being.....

 

[Nuru]

Nuru, we're in the same boat...we are on 2.1 acres, I'd be stretching it if I said .5 was lawn.... Got a F935 w/72" Commercial Deck & a Shiny new 3520 Cab...Overkill is my middle name....the straw that broke the camels back was I got tired of freezing my you know whats to the F935 seat this winter (Fabbed up a nice 56" blade when I got it). Not to mention, I grew up in a farming family with tractors of all sizes...had a tractor for any chore at my disposal...got REAL tired of saying "if I had a tractor I could do this..or that"
Not to mention, on the farm...we got tractors from 190 horse and down...guess what blew snow all winter? a TC33 (67 hours worth of snowblowing just this winter BTW)..... Sure bigger = better in some applications. But the right tool for the job is always the best. Its the same reason why I'm keeping the F935 around, it would without a doubt smoke circles around any 3x20 with 72" MMM at cutting grass.
In my opinion...those 50-75 horse tractors are the "whats the deal" type tractors...might as well spend a few bucks more and get a "REAL" one...Too small to do any "actual work" yet big & cumbersome...

Hey Spudland_Dave, welcome to the "OK" club, I do have that acre of grass and it has some slopes, but I think the 3520 will make things a lot easier - no more dust/dirt/pollen/hornets in my face and all over me. No more freezing ran/ice/sleet/snow and soaked clothers, etc. I gonna get a flail mower in the next two weeks and the Front 3PT mounted blade later this year.

 

[tjkadar]

my needs are quite different then most. I need the high horsepower of an ag utility but the manuverability of the smaller compact tractors. see, i have to keep up firebreaks that run all through my woods. i own 700+ acres, and probably 70% of that is wooded. the other 30% are open feilds with the largest field being 8-10 acres. i pull only a 5' disc, but its a HEAVY disc weighing at or over 900lbs. i cant have a cab due to working in the woods, but it sure would be nice when im bushhogging feilds in the spring and summer. i could use two tractors, BUT cant afford 2 and only have storage for one. i am looking at the tractors in the 5003 series but one of the criteria i HAVE to have is a certain width on the size of the machine to make sure i can get through the woods, but i need 50+ horsepower. height also plays into the deciding factor. also when it comes to bushogging, i dont want too small of a tractor as that would take forever to do the mowing i have to do. i can relate to the guys with the smaller compact tractors as well as the ones who own an ag utility.

Sounds like an Antonio Carraro tractor would fit the bill. I wish they had a bigger dealership presence in the US. Those are some pretty cool tractors... Almost pulled the trigger on one, but was too scared to do it.

 

[pitt_md]

When I bought my tractor 50hp Kubota my wife asked me if I really needed that much tractor for our 30 acre hobby farm. I am very glad I did not buy smaller for my application. I need to till about 20 acres total and smaller I think I would have just worked into the ground. Just the other say I was using it to move a large shed to make way for our new house and when she saw what it could do she said "blessed be the kubota"

 

[mstewart44]

I originally posted this message and it's always interesting to me how a post can go in a variety of directions. The first couple of posts make the most sense, that you buy a tractor to fit the size of the job. Most folks out there do not own over 100 acres that they manage, but have one to five acres. Therefore, you don't need a 50hp tractor like I bought. Makes sense. The posts about hp per acre were rather silly and irrevelant but like I said, messages sometimes take on a life of their own.

I have been really happy with my tractor and I like looking on this board for info and tips. Keep posting!!

 

[Birdmayon]

Msteward, your summary sums it up pretty well I think. My situation, and why I bought a small tractor (2520) is this:

Currently live on 1.5 acres and need to mow that, the whole thing is lawn, except where the house sits, so I don't want a super heavy tractor. I own 15acres of woods that I plan to build a new home on, and need to do a bunch of work around there. 80% of that property is 100% resource preservation, I can't cut trees down in that section of the property, by law, so I needed something small enough to get through the (dense) woods, yet powerful enough to be able to accomplish some real work. The 2520 fits perfectly (I think) as it's much more machine than a garden tractor, but is significantly smaller than the true compact utility tractors. I'd love more loader capability, more weight, but all that comes with a price (both literally and figuratively) of bigger size. Trying to get around my woods with anything bigger than I've got would be like Austin Powers in that golf cart scene.

I will have to rent something do do major stump removal or dirt work, but this tractor will fit the majority of my needs long term, so hopefully it's the right choice. Time will tell.

 

[Harold_J]

I agree that the deal is you have to buy a machine that "fits" your needs, hence the popularity of CUT's.

But putting individual needs aside for a moment, is Mstewart44 correct in feeling you get more bang for the buck in the full size utility tractor? His comparison would seem to indicate so, but it's not exactly apples to apples since he compares a 2wd gear tractor to 4wd hydro's.

I have also heard that repair parts for CUT's tend to be more expensive than equivalent utility tractors. Is this true, and if so why would that be the case?

 

[KeithInSpace]

Mr. Harold J, your thoughts touch on many veins and bring to the front some of the differences in the original argument.

I've invested $20,000 in my BX2230. That may seem like a princely sum for a SCUT, but for that I have a FEL, a BH, a box blade, a PHD, a 60" professional-quality mower, a HUGE bagger, and a few other widgets. All on a very approachable, easy to manage (for a suburbanite), maneuverable tractor platform with power steering, HST, and 4WD. Of course folks that manage 100+ acres would call it a toy...to them it IS a toy.

But I love the point you made...the OP's tractor is 100% NOT what I would need, or want, on my property. As much as I could never drag a huge plow through a 80 acre field with my tractor, I could not infuse the Deere 5103 with as much utility as my "toy" tractor for the same price.

Like the Austin Powers comparison, could you imagine a 50 HP tractor in my front yard? Sure dragging an 84" flail mower would allow me to cut it in about 8 minutes flat, but somehow I think it would look just a LIIIIIIITLE out of place.

 

[Nuru]

Out of place, nah, you could do it. And that time you save with that 90" mower would be very valuable to your family! They would have you for more chores!

 

[T185]

Another ARFCommer here?
GTD (Green Tractor Disease) has put my BRD into submission for the time being.....

One more....

 

[greggh]

I only have 15 acres, but I do a lot of tilling. I couldn't see doing the work I do with a CUT. I'm sure it could be done but why? My 5203 just trucks through the chores without a itch.

 

[Mackinac Joe]

OP asks a valid question, one that I asked myself when I started thinking about buying a tractor. I started out big, but ended up small (2320 w/ attachments).

I grew up on an Illinois grain farm that eventually grew to about 2,000 acres with machines to match, so I never thought of the CUTs as serious tractors.

Years later, I live on 40 acres of thick Michigan woods with less than 2 acres to mow. All that's tillable are some large-garden-sized plots. My first (and second) tractors were 1950 Farmall Ms. They are simple, well built, and the price was right. Anyone who knows that tractor knows it's a large-framed tractor, but to me even that was small.

Still, the M was too big for just about everything I wanted to do in the woods. I simply had trouble squeezing through the trees. It was way too heavy to even think about rigging a finish mower for the yard. The M took up a huge amount of room in my shed. The Ms power (37 hp with high torque?) came in handy a few times (using a loader-mounted blade to shape trails and yanking some small trees and stumps), but most of the time the tractor's size was just getting in my way.

That's when I understood the attraction of the CUTs.

My 2320 is far more useful to me than the larger M ever was (for lots of reasons, but also for its size). Yes, there have been a few times I've wished for a bigger tractor. But not near as many times as I used to wish for a smaller, lighter one.

My dad and brother who still farm make fun of my little tractor. If I ever buy the 20 acres next door which has a much larger tillable area, I might have to move to a bigger machine. But for now, the little one gets the job done when the bigger one didn't.

Joe