Skid steer or Tractor
 

Which should I get first? 30 acre farm, just starting to sell pastured meat and eggs at farmers markets. Still a good bit of land to clear, fields in less than stellar shape from a Thoroughbred horse breeding operation on them and not much management. I figured I'd want a tractor to bush hog frequently to keep the weeds from seeding. But a friend did some work with his skid steer, and I was surprised how versatile it was. The grapple bucket ripped into brush piles and trees. It had tracks so it could climb uneven terrain. That's a must here with all the limestone breaks.

Opinions on what I should buy first?

What is your budget? Do you plan on making your own hay?

Definately a tractor first, much more versatile than a skid steer. I would be looking at a smaller compact utility with a front end loader. New Holland will usually run 0% interest sales in the fall. I have their little 40hp boomer 4x4 with a loader and I can do anything a small farm may need done. The front end loader will come close to doing what the skid steer will. I have had a skid steer also, do not get me wrong, they have their place and they are handy, but if you can only have 1 a tractor will be much more useful to you.

In this area, a realistic budget for a decent used tractor would be $9k+. Before anyone jumps down my throat - this is one of the most expensive areas of the country. And I'd rather go bigger than I need than too small and underpowered again. I'll probably have someone else hay for me when the time comes. I would be renting hay ground. My fields are nowhere near ready. And the rocks! But I feed rounds, and will feed baleage this winter. And that's heavier than hay.

The closed cab on the skid appeals to me. If I'm knocking down trees and burning huge brush piles.... And you can pick up bales with the grapple bucket. They seem to run about $6-9k used. Renting one or hiring someone with one gets to be about $1k for 3 days. Only thing it can't do is bush hog. But correct me if I'm wrong, lol

38-40 hp tractor 4x4 can do a lot of work. Definitely get a front loader.
If your planning to expand into bailing your own hay a 40 hp tractor can do about anything a small homesteader needs to do. With remote hydraulics you can do anything a skid steer can do.

Trouble is, I'm not so small. By the standards of some farms I know, yes. But I'm a good bit larger than a lot on this site. Several hundred chickens/ducks/turkeys, 10+ pigs at any given time, growing cattle herd. And m ust add sheep in to the mess for lambs next year. I move lots of heavy stuff on a daily basis. I still need to scrape the waste hay up from the sacrifice areas.' I'm letting the hogs plow the tired areas up. Land needs to be leveled each time they finish their work. And I'm concerned 40HP might not be enough with the winters we've had lately. I think 75 might be semi-overkill, but the question is by how much?

At the same time, I really don't know about haying myself. From my preliminary estimates, it appears more economical to have someone else make the hay on my land. I'd like to grow a type of baleage grown in Ireland for the coming winter. Bale wrappers cost a fortune. Same with any grain for feed. Cheaper to lease the land, and have someone who owns all the $$$$$$ equipment do custom farming.

I have a NH Workmaster 35. I moved up from a '42 Ford 9N. Wow can I do so much more. I bush hog and box blade mostly but the loader (new to me) is definitely growing on me. The front loader has the same connections as the skid steer so I can use any front end implement the skid steer can (that I can justify). Combine that with the 3pt on the rear and I can't see how a tractor is not the best 1st choice. I have 4wd, differential lock if I need it, and filled tires. It is plenty for my 11 acres.

But, it did cost me more than $9k.

A tractor is the way to go. Far more versitile. Ground clearance is better. A tracked skidsteer around here won't be found till you get into the 20,000 dollar range.
75 Hp is not really overkill.
Single bale wrappers can be found for under 5000, just watched one go at auction for under 2000 .

I love using a skid steer but "it ain't no tractor"
If you want a cab, buy a tractor with a cab!

I'm not so small (1 section) and have a 150HP and a 35HP tractor. Both have loaders.
The 35HP has a 3pt hitch and does 90% of the work. Feeding with rear mounted spear (3pt can lift a full ton easily). Discing out ruts and levelling driveway, ripping up sloughs and straw buildup etc. Bush hogging. Plowing snow and digging holes. Assorted chores and hauling of junk around the farm. Awful turning radius especially with loader and spear mounted (as it often is configured) but hey - I make it work.
I only put 5 gallons in once every couple months. It is the definition of a fuel sipper.

The 150HP runs the round baler and has enough lift on its loader to put bales on the wagon to haul back to the stack. That's about it. If I didn't make hay I wouldn't have any use for it, to be honest. It's rare it gets started at all between September-June unless something very heavy needs to be unloaded from a truck.

To be honest I would trade the 35HP for 75HP with FWA and grapple. Oh yeah... grapples are where it's at. But you need to go at least 50HP to get enough mass to back them up. The only real use for all that HP is to run a round baler. And 75HP is dangerously marginal for a round baler.

By the way you CAN make hay yourself cheaply but you need to skip the fancy stuff like wrappers and baylage etc. My round baler was $1000, my swather $300. They are nothing special (well the baler is a little special, it's a roller baler) but they get the hay cut and into bales. The sheep eat the bales and don't complain.

Anyways on topic, never have found a job I "needed" a skid steer for other than corral cleaning, and that can be hired out easily enough.
Skid steers don't have PTOs, only hydraulics. Most affordable equipment is PTO driven.
Also skid steers don't have 3pt hitches or heavy drawbars, so you lose entire classes of useful equipment.
Tracks are more trouble than they are worth unless you have thick, sticky mud. I'd sooner have a set of big luggy tractor tires... duals if you need the option to really dig in. We've got rocks galore and I just bounce over them on the tractor.

I have a Bobcat S185 and love it!!! I have a 68 inch bucket with a tooth bar. Summertime I use the bobcat for digging and also filling in. Also use it to move some very large rocks. Wintertime I take off the toothbar and I use it to remove snow from our 900 foot lane. First year I had it we had over 90 inches of snow within a couple of days. Cleaned that lane up good!!!

We are moving to 81 acres in Arkansas in about 1 1/2 years where I plan to buy auger and bush hog attachments (have the fast connect). I've rented an auger for it and it was great!!! And there are a lot more uses for it.

BTW I do have a Ford 8N tractor that I've used for years but am giving it to my younger son when I move.

I have 1 skidsteer and 5 tractors. What the skidsteer can do it does better than any tractor. Then there's the rest of the work.

There is a brush cutter attachment for skid steers and also a mulcher.

Just an FYI, using hydraulic powered equipment is great. Like them better than PTO shaft drive. Tons safer too. Just know the service life of the filtres and oil is reduced even up to half life. A filtre set for my skidsteer is pushing $100 and using good quality TDH almost $300. Nothing to do that twice a year for a well used machine running attachments. I still think its great thing, its just pricey.

Skid steer or Tractor
 

Farmer mommy where are you ?
Remember that just cause tractors are expensive where you live you can buy a used one anywhere. Thus contributing to lower prices where you are.
A new one is different I'd buy it locally.

If I was buying now I would be looking at a skidsteer. They can pretty much do anything my FIL's closed cab 40hp 4x4 Kubota can do and more in my opinion.

Either way a FIL is the way to go.

I'm in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I do like to see used equipment in person, especially with a big ticket item like a tractor. People try to take advantage of women. (Oddly, it's generally men my age - late 30's. I can usually rely on the guys in their 70's and 80's to give me good advice.) I can't exactly tear an engine apart. But I do have a good idea of what I'm looking at.

That's a good point about hydraulics versus the PTO. I'm generally wary of PTOs - seen a lot of accidents.

I need to do more thorough research into the cattle feeding program when I have a moment to catch my breath from the farm markets starting. This past winter, I felt like I couldn't get enough protein into them from the hay that was available. And anything unwrapped and stored outside, well, you lost a couple hundred pounds off it lifting it off the ground. A good alfalfa round would have been $80-100. If you could find them. Right at the end of winter, I did find a neighbor with enormous, high-quality bales for $35. I'm going to see if I can work out a pre-purchase for this year and get a discount off that.

Even if I can get my pastures restored to good grass, the rocks are an issue for haying. You'd break equipment. I have an area in the front that I can't work out a way to clear at all. It's going to have to be a human with a machete and then goats. A guy that helps me with chores sometimes insisted it could be bush hogged because he wanted the $$$ to do it. I had to walk him out and point out the 4 foot high rock breaks. :bash: So, still more economical to buy hay for now. I wouldn't rule it out ever making my own, but it would be a 5 year plan.

I hope I'm not coming off as shooting down every suggestion. It's just my way of talking it out. My brain is a strange place :) I appreciate everyone's advice. Keep it coming!

i'd go with a 4 wheel drive tractor .shidsters are great but if given a choice preticulary if you may some day want to farm your own land a tractor can be a once in a lifetime purchase with maintainance lasting decades ,

If a 75-80 hp tractor is in you budget that's even better .
The 38-40 hp tractor is the highest priced size due to being the most popular.
The 80 hp tractor in most cases is a better value .
Whatever size I got it would definitely have 4x4 and front loader. And if I had the extra money I'd get a cab.

Well, I'm no help, FarmerMommy, the way I look at it, I CAN'T farm without a tractor, and I WON'T farm without a skidsteer. The tractor does mostly field work here, and round bale moving. If you aren't going to take hay off your place, then maybe a tractor isn't quite as necessary to you, but even then if you are making a deal with a neighbor for bales you'll need to haul them home.

The skidsteer to me, though, is like having a hired hand around the place. It makes short easy work of hauling, feeding, fence building, etc. It has an intimacy to it when working that you just don't get with a front end loader on a tractor. You can also rent implements for your skidsteer for those one off jobs that makes it really handy, too.

I have two tractors and two Bobcats. The main tractor and the main Bobcat get equal hours during the year. I run about 40 beefers and have chickens and turkeys (so pen cleaning, feed hauling) as well.

Good luck! I don't think you can make a bad decision whichever way you go.

Skid steer does really, really good at loader work, its a specialty tool.

The tractor is versitile at doing many tasks.

If you hire out hay making, it is a tough choice for you. The skid will do the hay moving and manure moving and rock picking a lot quicker.

But it won't be able to do other stuff much.

If you get a high flow hyd setup on a bigger skid, they do make hyd driven brush mowers for the front of them. I think you are looking at more $$$ that way, but the option is there.

Paul

Has anyone here used a brush mower or tiller on a skid steer? How did it do?

FF, I have not used either on a Skid Steer, so I am not avoiding your question, but I will say is. Yes all of these attachments are available for a skid steer, but they are far more expensive than the same attachment for a tractor. For instance a new bushog in the 5' range can be had for around $1000 new, maybe $1200. used they are around $500. A similar size bushog for a skid steer will run over $2500 new. I actually seen one today on CL that was a top of the line heavy duty in that size and it was $3700. I am not sure what a person could get a used one for, as I seldom see any for sale?

Main point for me is these are two different pieces of equipment made for 2 different main jobs, although some capabilities overlap. everything a skid steer can do a tracto can do. Basically a skid steer is a drive around front end loader. That is it. Now the same can not be said for a Skid Steer, it can not do everything a tractor can do. A tractor is a drive around front end loader, although because of its size and manual transmission (although some tractors are hydrostat) it is not quite as easily manipulated as a SS. A tractor can be used with various tillage equipment for gardening. Not much available for a skid steer. The low ground clearance also makes a SS less usable on rough terrain.

I still stand by I would get a tractor first. attachments can be bought used and will be much cheaper than similar attachments for a SS. I have a grapple for my tractor front end loader also, so many attachments can be used, in fact MOST can be used on either. If it will go on a SS front end, it will go on a tractor.

If my tractor blew up tomorrow I would go down to the local New Holland dealer and get another one. If I had the extra money to get a Skid Steer also I would, they are handy, but can never replace a tractor on a farm.

Every farm needs a tractor! Many persons with a farm want a skidsteer! My ~ 10 years old skidsteer bought new has 827 hours on the hourmeter. My tractors have thousands of hours on them.

I have a brush mower for my 50 HP diesel skidsteer. My sole use for this attachment is to clip under my high tensile fencing. The slow travel speed and the rough ride on skidsteer when compared to a tractor with a rotary mower will quickly convince the operator to choose the tractor if the task is very large. The finished mowing appearance is more attractive with the tractor also. The skidsteer finished mowing appearance appears like a bad haircut because of the inability to hold the mower level.