What tractor is best?

Excellent suggestion.

Thanks now to get it from WI to KY LOL. That is one problem I find them but they are not in KY

Lots of good advice above. Around here (NW Georgia), tractors in the 50+ horsepower range are better values than the smaller units. I've had good luck with Masseys, Fords, Deeres and Kubotas. By far the best machine on the place though (and the one that gets borrowed the most) has been the Kubota, but it was purchased new. The others were 10-20 years old when purchased, but they all ran and did their jobs effectively (just not as easily as the Kubota).

If you are doing a lot of loader work, 4x4 would be a very good option to have. A box blade makes cleaning a barn a relatively simple chore...if it's not too mucky. Best wishes.

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"Luck is the residue of design" - Branch Rickey

For small projects... I like an Ford 8N

I have a John Deere 4700 which we got in 2001.
I wouldn't want anything with less power.
I wouldn't want anything physically larger.
It serves us well.

That said, there is probably no "best" tractor.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

get the largest one you can afford, you wont be sorry for it. it may not happen very often but there will be times you wish your tractor was just lil bigger for some things.

What sorts of 3 PT attachments are you thinking about using? This may impact your HP requirements.

Mike

I need a loader a belly mower and a box blade

Look at Mahindra, I've been real happy with mine.

Carol

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Midhill Dexters
http://www.midhilldexters.com/

Check out SI Trader It is southern Il an Ky too Lots of interesting stuff in it

Look to see what dealers you have in your area. You will need parts.

Take wild guesses as to what you might want to use it for in the future. Small tractors are very light weight, thus no field work to speak of.

Stay away from AC, as their 3 pt systems are a pain with todays attachments.

With tractors, size matters. Buy the biggest tractor you can get around in your stables.

Drive around and look at farms. If most farmers have brand X, consider that brand.

I bought my tractor 6 yrs ago. Met my needs perfect for the first 3 years but as my goals changed, my tractor is still the same size.

Do a Google search for "farm equipment auctions" in your area.
There are a lot of them most places, and you can find a lot of variety.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Well here you don't want to drive around an look at brands as most are 4x4 huge jokers not many small ones to be found. Was in the valley in South Texas last week an saw a lot of ground worked but no tractors ?? Were they keep them Anyway this area one of our small farmers has sixteen semi's and nine large combine's . Few dealers have the late model smaller tractors but are nuts on price .A few small fords ,jd, an ih still floating around they run forever don't give much trouble Dealers are fading fast I go to Waverly Tn to get Tj log skidder parts long drive .

The nice thing about the size tractor your looking for is it will pull nicely on a car trailer. If you go for a smaller unit you can haul it in a PU.
If you have to rent a trailer pick it up and drop it off localy.

Id still suggest that 340 IH besides being very inexpencive for a first line manufacturer. The red will go nicley with your red hair and around here some of the ones owned by the state were painted blue to match your eyes. With luck you could find a older state unit about half the paint peeled that would match both....................................

For cleaning a horse stall you would need a small tractor. Don't take this wrong but 5k isn't much of a budget for a tractor with a loader never mind any attachments.
Have you ever used a tractor with a loader? You will definetly need a tractor with power steering. Also a loader works best if you have 4wd which is a whloe 'nother story. also get a tractor where the loader detaches easily as it allows you to use it as a regular tractor easier.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

We're looking for a similarly sized/equipped tractor and the one thing I do know is that we refuse to buy one made since about '95. Smaller-scaled tractors are not what they used to be!

Older ones break down more often? Sure.
But an old tractor is the perfect thing to learn to mechanic on.
And it's much less likely they will have fatal breakdowns, like the newer ones do...

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Ugh.

A belly mower pretty much turns a tractor into a glorified lawn mower, & not able to do much else.

Some of the newer compact tractors have fairly good quick tach options for a belly mower, but they are way way over your budget.

The older belly mowers might suggest they are quick attach, but.... It really ain't so.

With the mower on, you can't really use the loader. The tractor is too low to the ground, has no clearence for typical loader work.

Would you consider a rear 3pt mower of some sort instead? It takes a tiny bit more skill to use them, but are much easier to mount & dismount so you can actually use the tractor for a tractor.

Just my opinion....

For loader work you want live hydraulics.

For mower work you want live pto.

That rules out IHC H and the old Ford N series of tractors. Yea it's possible to mow or use a loader without live, but it certainly is far less fun.

'Live' means the pto (or hydraulics) continues to operate when you push the clutch paert way in, stopping the movement of the tractor, but not the movement of the pto - or hydraulics. It sounds like a simple thing, but it is a big deal once you realize the difference in operation.

I would look for a tractor 1955 or newer with live pto, live hydraulics, power steering, and 3point hitch. That is what you will end up needing. Olliver Super 55, Ford 660 are the one's I'm familiar with as having good options, newer machines sometimes are not any more expensive.

A loader typically adds at least $1000, a mower should add $300 - 700, and a box blade is around $300. You need to match the size of these implements to the size of your tractor, and it is often best to find a tractor with a loader on it if that is what you want - cheaper than finding a loader later.

You can find a tractor for under $5000 as I describe, but probably not with _all_ 3 implements included. If it goes that cheap I would then expect problems....

Here where I live, the compact tractors go $5000 to 12000 at 15-35 hp. I just bought a real nice large 60 hp tractor for $5200 at a farm auction, much bigger tractor, much less demand for that size. Everyone with 10 acres wants a little compact diesel.....

Depends what size you are comfortable with, bigger might be cheaper.

--->Paul

Thanks for all the replies. I have come to the conculsion that one tractor won't do all I want. That said I think I need either one of those little compacts (too expensive) or need to concentrate on a tractor that is able to move earth around and do some gravel work with a loader and a box blade and maybe a plow attachment and forget the lawn mower ability and mucking the one stall. Sound about right?

All great advice.

One thing I'd mention, a pull-behind finish mower is MUCH easier to hook up than a belly mower. The belly mower is a little more manuverable, but they can be a pain to put on and take off.

One thing I'd mention in lookig for a loader tractor, is to get up on it and determine how well you can see what's directly in front of the bucket. I had an old ih460. Loved that tractor, probably more because it was my very first tractor more than anything else.

Anyway, it had plenty of power to do what I needed with it, however, it was a big, tall ag tractor, and being 5'3, it was very hard for me to see the ground in front of the tractor since the hood was sooooo long. Many times I wound up having to partially stand up behind the wheel to make sure I was getting aligned up to something just right.
Kind of like sitting behind the wheel of a 69 Cadillac or something!

Like you, I am looking around for another tractor, love the red ones But this time I'm going to check out the view a little more closely. Oh, and mowing with a brush hog behind you is pretty easy, you should consider that. Brush hogs are pretty plentiful and easy to come by, ime.