Buying Advice Yet another newbie, trying to size this right

[Polimom]

Yet another "I'm a newbie, I need advice" thread. Very sorry -- but... well... I am a newbie. And I need advice.

My husband and I bought a place w/ 16 acres; 2 acres or so pasture and a pond, another acre or so for the house and lawn, and the rest is woods with overgrown trails. Prior owners kept horses (4 stall barn), and the pastures are split-rail fenced -- mostly. (The rest of the fencing is rock walls and piled tree limbs.) The land is rocky and hilly, and some of the woods are wet. Probably 300+ ft drive, paved, curved and hilly.

We have an old beater Snapper to mow the lawn, so any mowing we'd do with the tractor would be brush hogging in the pastures / barn lot.

We think we need: FEL, backhoe, serious front-mount snowblower, and the brush hog. Backhoe would be for clearing drainage and stream outlets, repairing fences, moving boulders (if weight is too high, we'll dig holes and roll), pulling smaller trees / stumps.

We also think we need to stay on the small dimension side, to manage rehabilitation of the woods trails (navigation issues).

We've looked at several new tractors, like the Kubota B2320. The dealer has a used B7610 as well.

What think ye? Is that the right range for the work we have?

 

[Will_C]

I think those sized machines could serve you well-but you could go, within reason, as big as your wallet can allow. A 35-45 hp L series would not be too big for your uses, but you'll pay for the increased capacity.

It just depends on how much you are willing to spend, and how fast you want to accomplish your tasks.

Will

 

[Polimom]

Will, thank you for your response!

So... do you think we could pull it off with a BX? Or would we be getting too small for what we'll be doing?

 

[crazyal]

I wouldn't go anything less than a B series tractor and would say that you'll be happier with the L series. For a front mount blower you either need a center PTO (not all models have the option) or you'll have to look at non kubota brand options.

For the woods you'll want ground clearance, that's why I wouldn't go with the BX. I often drive my GL4240 through the woods without a problem. It's about 6' wide, I think you could get a B series in 5' wide. How much land do you plan on brush hogging and how often? The general rule of thumb is 5 pto HP for each foot of width for a brush hog. I wouldn't go with anything less than a 30hp tractor.

Backhoes are nice but if you are only going to use it on rare occasion you can rent a small excavator and save some money.

 

[ChuckinNH]

I've had a BX22 with the backhoe, etc., and I think other posters are right in guiding you to something larger. I stayed with a B size, and it has done a good job for me. I got the B2620 because I wanted the extra loader capacity you get with that model over the B2320. Though the backhoe on these B's is more than capable, there is another step up in performance when going to the larger B3200, etc. size. I've done a lot of work without the backhoe, but I still miss having one, and may be getting one for my B. Forks will be a very useful addition for the kind of work you are planning. Moving rocks from one place to another for example, working with brush, and logs, etc. I have some spots in my woods trails that are still just wide enough to get my tractor through, and a 60" bucket wouldn't fit through one spot so my B2620 has worked well for me doing trail work, and is still small enough to rototill small gardens, and do other things around the yard. I have about 3+ acres of "yard", and the rest is wooded.

 

[Polimom]

Hi crazyal -- yes, it's definitely the woods clearance that worries me with the sub. I could see taking it in there and getting stuck between some roots almost immediately. OTOH, I think we have a bit of a mental block for viewing ourselves as having anything bigger than a jacked-up mower.

Oddly, I think we'd be using the backhoe more often than the brush hog. Probably have several solid weeks of work with it right out of the gate -- which is really kind of funny, since initially we didn't think we needed one at all. A conversation one afternoon with a dealer brought out a huge number of projects that aren't getting done... and flat-out won't get done if we have to go down the hill to town to rent one.

Very helpful rule about hp per ' for running the hog. So we couldn't go 24 hp on a 5 ft? What problem would the slight under-power cause?

 

[Polimom]

Heh. Chuck, for all I know we're neighbors (we're also in NH). Very helpful, thanks for the pix!! You probably have an excellent visual of our woods!

Hadn't thought about a forklift. Expect we'll be moving the rocks in the fel.

So. Sounds like we stay with at least the B size.

As I said upthread -- the dealer has a B7610. Better ground clearance than the B2320. Under 150 hrs. Comes with everything I need except the hog. Wants $18000. Do y'all suppose that's worth pursuing? (Sounds like it is, but this is such new ground for us!!)

 

[peterc38]

Heh. Chuck, for all I know we're neighbors (we're also in NH). Very helpful, thanks for the pix!! You probably have an excellent visual of our woods!

Hadn't thought about a forklift. Expect we'll be moving the rocks in the fel.

So. Sounds like we stay with at least the B size.

As I said upthread -- the dealer has a B7610. Better ground clearance than the B2320. Under 150 hrs. Comes with everything I need except the hog. Wants $18000. Do y'all suppose that's worth pursuing? (Sounds like it is, but this is such new ground for us!!)

IMO, $18,000 sounds a little steep for a used B7610, even with a backhoe. What other attachments does it come with?

 

[Polimom]

IMO, $18,000 sounds a little steep for a used B7610, even with a backhoe. What other attachments does it come with?

Peter, it comes with the FEL, backhoe, and front snowblower. It went up on tractorhouse yesterday (he told us about it two days ago). Not sure if links work on this forum, but here it is:
2007 KUBOTA B7610HST Tractors - Less than 40 HP For Sale At TractorHouse.com

 

[Mac25]

You can get a B2320 with the upgraded 364 FEL that comes on the 2620 and 2920.