Best tractor for 5 Acres?

[BobDFL]

Help !!

I've been looking at the small compact tractors on the market and I am getting a little overwhelmed.

I've leaning towards either a John Deere 2305 or the Kubota BX24 ( the only 2 tractor dealers I know of nearby ).

What I need is to be able to move stuff around ( Front-end Loader ) and rough cut the pastures when they get to long ( Bushhogging ). I would also like to be able to pull up some tree stumps from the trees that need to cut down along the fence line ( some small Oaks, Wax Mrytles, and Brazilian Pepper Trees ). I also need to run pretty much all new fence ( thanks to Hurrican Wilma last year ) so being able to use an Auger attachment would be helpfull ( Perimeter and Cross Fencing ).

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[gottahaveagoat]

Where are you located? We just delivered a tractor to Virginia, we are located in Indiana. We are a New Holland, Kubota dealer www.boothmachinery.com We ship and deliver. We would be happy to work with you.

[Crystal H]

We have a Kubota BX 24. We love it! We have a little under7 acres. We have a front end loader, box scraper, a tiller, a backhoe attachment, and a post hole digger. Very easy to switch back and forth. We also bought a cement mixer too. Excellent craftsmanship but I must say we've also had a great service from the Dealer too. Most of it is made in the US of A so even better.

Hope this helps.

Crystal

[uncle Will in In.]

Any machinery requires some parts a maintaince from time to time. Having them nearby is a very positive plus. most any 25 hp or larger tractor can do all you mentioned except pull stumps. Some small stumps can stop a 100 horse tractor.
With a loader the front wheel assist is very important. Let your billfold be your guide.

[catahoula]

We just bought a New Holland, but we also have a little John Deere landscaping tractor, they say you pay for the green. You can get parts for Deers made clear back in the 40's, but you pay for them. Our Deere is a booger to work on, in some ways it almost seems like it was designed to break, it's even hard to fuel up. The green combine I operate during harvest, while operation is smooth, it's a booger to maintain and repair. When they say nothing runs like a Deere, I don't really think that's something to brag about. That being said, I will say that John Deere makes the best mowers I've ever operated both riding and walk behind ... well pretty much the only mowers I've ever operated. If the people above can hook you up with a New Holland I would go for that, if not go orange. A well maintained tractor will hold it's value regardless of the color, looking through the classifieds will prove that. Good luck, nothing puts a smile on a face like a new tractor.

[BobDFL]

GottaHaveagoat,

I'm in St. Cloud, FL. which is south of Orlando in Central FL.

I don't know of any New Holland dealers around here, maybe up closer to Orlando.

But do they have a model that is similar to the one's I mentioned, since I noticed you also have Kubota's?

All,

Thanks for the input. I just got back in from taking down 2 more of those rotten Brazillian Pepper trees.

Please keep your comments coming since the scariest thing to a salesman is an informed consumer.

And if there are any other makes or models that y'all know of let me know and maybe I can find a dealer around here as well.

Thanks,

Bob D from FL.

[oldmanriver]

All I own are old tractors but they are all fords/ All the parts I get from my local NAPA dealer One is a 1949 and i just bought a new gas tank for it.. If i was buying new it would be a holland. My neighbor has a deere It is down more than it is up. Just mt 2 cents worth.

[boonieman]

I have a New Holland 3010S that I bought new 5 years ago. I haven't laid a wrench on it yet, other than changing oil and filters. Also have a 1954 Ford 8N. Also extremely reliable. I have no experience with Deere or Kubota, but I think all the name brands will suit you.

[Dave S.]

The Kubota gets my vote. Best hydro on the market, and the easiest backhoe to switch as well. It is a lot of machine in a small package. You can get an underhung mower, it has three point hitch, and hydro.

[Windy in Kansas]

Offering my opinion. By all means buy a unit you can get parts for nearby, just as you have been looking at doing.

I own a Ford compact and love it. However for your uses I really think you would be better off finding an older, larger, farm tractor properly weighted for maximum work. I also think you would get better value for your money in this regard too.

Ask someone that really knows as I don't, but I have heard that for pulling stumps it is best to cut the tree off several feet above ground level. The stump then works as a lever to wrest out the stump and roots. Learn the proper technique for hooking to and pulling a stump so that you don't turn a tractor over backwards.

Expect you'll enjoy any tractor. Best wishes for making the proper selection.

[gottahaveagoat]

TZ 25 and you can add a backhoe to it. But with this class of tractor a Kubota is a better deal. Kubota is the first one to come up with a sub compact tractor and everyone else is trying to copy them. As far as parts you can have them shipped anywhere.

[BobDFL]

I found a New Holland dealer up in Orlando . Of course they weren't open on Sunday so I'll check them out sometime this week .

I ran New Holland's product selector and it came up with 3 models.

The one that looks the most interesting ( basically because it was the lowest price of the 3 ) was the TC30 ( the other 2 were the TC31DA and the TC34DA ).

Anyone have any experience with these tractors?

Y'All have been a big help with this.

Thanks,

Bob D. in FL.

[catahoula]

The numbers stand for horse power, you always want more horse power and four wheel drive, it's worth the extra money. You want weight too, the loader adds front end weight, and liquid filled tires add weight to the back. Oh, man...a new tractor, you are going to be so happy.

[Pat]

i've read and thought about this alot... didn't want to steal the thread but saw a great letter to the editor in Mother Earth News today that says exactly what I feel (especially with 5 acres) "How economical is it to spend #20,000 to $40,000 on a tractor for a small homestead? Suppose you take home $20/hour from your job, or from growing a particularly lucrative organic crop. It will take 6 to 12 months of full time work to pay for this "convenience".

We have 14 acres, and when we first moved here, I was going to buy a small tractor. Unfortunately (actually fortunately) mortgage deal fell through, and we had to pay cash (I had planned on the mortage being only a "bridgeing" loan). Now, we can't justify a tractor! (Undoubtedly true then, but didn't know having not worked ((nor lived)) on farms in a year or 40)

If I need a pasture brush hogged, I pay a neighbor to do so. I can easily plant "t" posts with a "T" post driver (added 660 feet of 5 stand barbed wire fence last year), and, if you wait unitl the middle or end of spring can dig corner posts with a manual post hole digger. I do buy a "metal garden cart" from Lowes or Home Depot a year at less than $100 (they only last me a year) to move all the leaves, and to muck out the corral area (Highlands and hair sheep). I also move most of the wood we burn with the cart and living in hte Ozarks plenty of rock too! (we have next winters wood and about 12 more cords of wood put up now)

If I were you, I'd wait at least a year (hire out the bush hog etc. or rent a tracor to do the "other" things you listed), then look at your needs again and see what exactly you need. I know around here it's fairly easy to pick up "things" that people moving in thought they needed at a cheap price. Also as alluded in the comments about the John Deere but true of all they need maintenance. If you can't do it yourself, it's expensive.

I use feeder pigs to till the garden the first time (then with a shovel dig in compost), and finally a Mathis to fluff it up before planting. About the only thing I wish I had a tractor for (at least around here) is to deal with the round bales. It's diffucult to find (but again this year I have) the rectangular bales (at 700 pounds and up for the round bales and only 65 - 90 for the rectangular bales) I can deal with manually.

Pat

[sgrmtndrone]

We have 40ac. and we needed a tractor as well . I bought a Iseki TL1900 4x4 24hp 3cly. diesel . Iseki makes tractors for Massy and Bolens as well as stuff for catipiller . I got a blade , brushhog , post auger , rock rake (we are in the Ozarks) , boompole and 5 foot tiller . The implements were all new . I love this tractor and have even begun to make our own biodiesel . I do wish I had spent the $2500 for a front loader but I'll find one lol . In total We have around $5000 in it and it has been a godsend as for labor .

[titansrunfarm]

When we moved onto our 7.5 acres hubby wanted a tractor also but it just wasn't in the budget. Since then we have bought a motor driven hand auger and put up about 200 posts worth of horse fence. Got an aerator/spreader attatchment for the riding mower. Put a teenager that needs timeout on the mower with the blades on highest setting to keep pasture weeds down. We stretched fencing and pulled stumps with our old Bronco. Once we get our riding arena done a drag will be furnished and pulled by the Bronco. We have gotten so used to doing things by alternative ways we don't think we need the tractor at all and of course don't miss the huge payment on one either.

[toomb68]

i'm far from an expert here, but unless you have money to burn i'd look at used tractors. my brother in law has a nice $20,000 kubota. it is a sweet tractor, but it doesn't run a bush hog any differently than my $1800.00 massey harris. and like someone said many parts for old tractors can be bought at autoparts stores. search the used market, farm auctions. there is tons of stuff out there at very reasonable prices. with 5 acres, you aernt gonna be using it 10 hours a day 7 days a week. just my 2 cents

[BobDFL]

Thanks Y'all,

I really appreciate all the comments.

I am hoping to find a used tractor but my wife and I are still considering whether it is worth the investment.

I guess being in the high-tech field for so long ( computer programmer for over 20 years ) I always look for technology to solve all my problems ( OK I'm a Geek ).

Please keep the comments coming since we haven't made our final decision yet.

Thanks again,

Bob D. in FL.

[logbuilder]

I have 5.5 acres of which 3 is clear and needs grass cut periodically. When I got the property, I knew I needed something that could handle that much area and from prior experience, I knew I didn't want to do it on a riding lawnmower. I also envisioned putting up a fence (log posts and rails) someday. Trees do come down from time to time so getting stumps out is also a potential use. I took a look at modern tractors and ruled them out quickly for one basic reason... I'm cheap. I re-evaluated my needs and realized something. The things I needed to do fell into two categories. First were the things that I would need to do repeatedly like mowing and smoothing driveways. Second were one time things like post holes for fence and stumps. I decided to get something to do the repeated jobs and either rent or hire for the one time jobs. When I looked at what would be good for mowing and smoothing and also met my other criteria, being cheap, I found the older farm tractors fit the bill. Specifically, the ford N series seemed attractive. Usually you can get a good running one for $1500 or so if you aren't concerned about the looks. Somewhere around 23 HP with 4 cylinder flathead. Parts very available and reasonably priced. I watched the ads and found a 1942 Ford 9N that was in great mechanical condition and had been cleaned up and painted. The nice thing about this tractor is that is has the universal category 1 implement system so most all modern implements work. It has hydraulic lift arms and a power take-off (PTO). There are features it does not have compared to modern stuff but for mowing and scraping, it is perfect. I picked up a well used brushhog for $50 and a real heavy duty box blade for $200. It is a really simple machine to work on and there are super resources on the internet to get help should there be a fix you can't figure out yourself. Now if you are the kind that just won't work on a machine should it break, this isn't the machine for you. Me, I enjoy working on it. Something about keeping a 60+ year old machine going challenges me and I take pride in knowing that whatever problem comes up, I can fix it.

Might not be the right answer for you but for me... it fit my two most important criteria. First it does the repeated jobs and second it was (relatively) cheap.

Here is a pic of mine so you get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Robert

[logbuilder]

One more tidbit of info. My next implement purchase will be a boom pole. It allows you to lift and move heavy stuff. I think my tractor will probably be able to lift and move things up to 800 lbs. Here is what one looks like.