Buying Advice Yep, another first timer thread. Please comment.

[PineyWoods]

I have done a lot of digging here thought I would post to validate the opinions I have formed and ask a couple of other questions.

First, of course, is how much tractor do I need?

My place is just over 11 acres half pasture and half wooded, mostly in hard woods. We will be keeping 3 horses and, eventually, a whole mess of fine bird dogs. The work I need to do is maintaining the pastures, moving hay, etc and I would very much like to be able to clear a series of paths through the woods, beat back the jungle, encourage the few pines there are to grow and eventually end up with something that looks a lot more like the piney woods of prime Alabama quail country. Obviously, some of those are regular and immediate needs and some are long term projects. Here is a pic of one of the pastures and one of the overgrown woods entrance.






So far I have been to a Kubota dealer, a John Deere dealer, and a dealer that sold both LS and Mahindra. The Kubota guy recommended a L2501. The Deere guy a 3032e and the Mahindra LS guy was really only interested in telling me about prices, all of which were higher than the 2 quotes I have from Kubota dealers. I'm not sure that guy could sell a life jacket to a drowning man, on credit.

So, second question; isn't part of the attraction to Mahindra and LS supposed to be price point for similar performance? Did I just visit the totally wrong dealer?

Based on what I have seen so far, my intention is to buy the Kubota L2501 4WD with a gear drive and FEL. The quote I have includes a Land Pride 1260 rotary cutter. Can y'all give opinions on cutting the underbrush in my woods with that rig? Would it be worth it to trade 12" of width for the additional cutting power of a 1548? The dealer told me 20 hp @ the PTO would not be enough to run the 1860, which confuses me because the Land Pride specs say 20-50 hp @ PTO. Confirm? Refute?

What is the best tool to maintain my gravel driveway of 100 ft. The Kubota dealer has a package that includes a 60" box blade but I am thinking a rake or even a rear blade would work the best.

Please, answer and comment freely. I would like to make a purchase as soon as Saturday.

Thanks!

 

[murphy1244]

I have done a lot of digging here thought I would post to validate the opinions I have formed and ask a couple of other questions.

First, of course, is how much tractor do I need?

My place is just over 11 acres half pasture and half wooded, mostly in hard woods. We will be keeping 3 horses and, eventually, a whole mess of fine bird dogs. The work I need to do is maintaining the pastures, moving hay, etc and I would very much like to be able to clear a series of paths through the woods, beat back the jungle, encourage the few pines there are to grow and eventually end up with something that looks a lot more like the piney woods of prime Alabama quail country. Obviously, some of those are regular and immediate needs and some are long term projects. Here is a pic of one of the pastures and one of the overgrown woods entrance.

View attachment 477285

View attachment 477286


So far I have been to a Kubota dealer, a John Deere dealer, and a dealer that sold both LS and Mahindra. The Kubota guy recommended a L2501. The Deere guy a 3032e and the Mahindra LS guy was really only interested in telling me about prices, all of which were higher than the 2 quotes I have from Kubota dealers. I'm not sure that guy could sell a life jacket to a drowning man, on credit.

So, second question; isn't part of the attraction to Mahindra and LS supposed to be price point for similar performance? Did I just visit the totally wrong dealer?

Based on what I have seen so far, my intention is to buy the Kubota L2501 4WD with a gear drive and FEL. The quote I have includes a Land Pride 1260 rotary cutter. Can y'all give opinions on cutting the underbrush in my woods with that rig? Would it be worth it to trade 12" of width for the additional cutting power of a 1548? The dealer told me 20 hp @ the PTO would not be enough to run the 1860, which confuses me because the Land Pride specs say 20-50 hp @ PTO. Confirm? Refute?

What is the best tool to maintain my gravel driveway of 100 ft. The Kubota dealer has a package that includes a 60" box blade but I am thinking a rake or even a rear blade would work the best.

Please, answer and comment freely. I would like to make a purchase as soon as Saturday.

Thanks!

Don't be such in a rush to buy. Go sit on the and play with the controls. Rule of thumb is 5 pto hp per 1 ft of blade on cutters. A LPGS would be better for maintaining a drive.

 

[/pine]

...What is the best tool to maintain my gravel driveway of 100 ft. The Kubota dealer has a package that includes a 60" box blade but I am thinking a rake or even a rear blade would work the best...

IMO there is not more versatile implement as a box blade...although it can't be angled...it can do everything the other attachments mentioned can do itself...

For a gravel lane that does not develop pot holes or require re-crowning etc...a rake is the perfect implement for just grooming and re-distributing gravel etc...

If the base is uniform and there are no large rocks etc. a land plane (with scarifiers) is an effective tool that can do things a rake alone can't in general gravel lane maintenance...

a rear scrape blade with multi angle adjustments is very effective for all aspects of gravel lane maintenance...but lacks the ability of scarifiers...

IMO a rake is one of the easiest (grading etc.) attachments to learn to use effectively (as with any grading implement, hydraulic top and tilt exponentially enhance the effectiveness)

However...if you master the use of a box blade...Tractor wise it's like being able to "catch a fly with chop sticks"...once you master a box blade...you can do anything...!

 

[AJ197816134]

Dealers Can make or break your opinion of a company or performance. I had a sour dealer on the phone with LS, they just did not want bothered, now what I did was go to their lot look at all the models of LS, and then found another dealer!
LS to me in same frame and Cab model was much cheaper than Kubota, and Deere, Mahindra as there with pricing but I did not like the product as much, Fit and Finish did not seem to be a nice as LS. The Mahindra Dealer was snobby, but moved a lot of units, I did visit another dealer.
IF you think the other LS dealer is out of line, go visit another one. My guess you will find he was trying to make all his money at once.

 

[oosik]

Are you sure that pic is your property and not some shot of the Amazon jungle? When I was looking at tractors I check - JD, Kioti, Mahindra, Kubota, Case IH & New Holland. I chose Kubota - the tractor just fit me best and I'd been dealing with that dealership for 30+ years. It is important when buying a tractor that you are fully confident that the dealer can and will be able to service your tractor. There are many tales of woe from operators who have found out after purchase that service was not a dealership high point.

I use a land plane grading scraper(LPGS) to maintain my driveway in the summer. I also have a hydraulic top link which is of great benefit for "fine tuning" any land engagement implement. My mile long driveway is a combination of gravel, sand & volcanic ash. In the summer this mixture becomes concrete. The result is that my heavy rear blade is simply a joke as far as summer maintenance. If your driveway remains "soft" in the summer a rear blade can do the job but requires a lot more learning & practice than a LPGS.

Don't be in such a hurry to buy your tractor. Sit on each of the prospective candidates - fiddle with all the controls - give yourself time to seriously consider each machine. Remember - with proper maintenance a tractor will last you a LONG time.

BTW - my dad raised bird dogs too - Liewellin setters.

 

[4570Man]

When you say moving hay I assume you mean round bails. If that's correct you will need a bigger tractor or very small round bails. I have done a lot of bush hogging behind a Kubota L2550 or a Kioti CK25. Both tractors have plenty of power for my 60" cutter. The L2550 was traded for a L3800. Using the same 60" cutter I haven't ever been able to bog it down. My experience with small tractors and bush hogs has been lifting the front wheels off the ground, not running out of power. If you have a loader lifting the front wheels of the ground isn't much of a problem.