Cheap tractor for tilling

[Cash4Toys]

You would be better off with an old small
field cultivator, could even be wheel
lift, 6-8' wide. You can find them really
cheap. You could pull it with any older
tractor that runs good. Wouldn't have much
money in it at all. Once it's worked the
depth, it's easy to maintain the area.
Spend your free time tilling or spend your
time riding, choice is yours.

 

[westga]

I'm with Cash4. An older tractor with
disc harrow would work. Every thing we
do is about time. The speed/time with an 8
foot harrow would be nice. An arena is
about an acre. Time would be a factor
here.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I'm not a horse guy. But seems like if all horses needed loose dirt to work in then they would all be sore from running on hard ground over the last 2-4 thousand years. I guess the wild ones don't need that till they are tamed or domesticated. Then they become sissy horses. Chisel plow it up then just work it like a field and you would have about 4 inches of loose soft dirt then just field cultivate it every so often.

 

[wp6529]

(quoted from post at 14:54:32 11/03/23) Actually about every compact made in the last 30 years have gears more than slow enough for tilling.

Older than that. My 70's Kubota B7100 does very well with a 4' tiller. Set the 3 speed PTO for 1,000 put it in low range 1st gear and don't go full throttle so you don't overspeed the tiller too bad. Gives you a lot of tiller revs per foot of travel. If the ground is hard just do an initial pass in 540 then followup with another pass in 1000.

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 06:14:19 11/04/23)

(quoted from post at 14:54:32 11/03/23) Actually about every compact made in the last 30 years have gears more than slow enough for tilling.

Older than that. My 70's Kubota B7100 does very well with a 4' tiller. Set the 3 speed PTO for 1,000 put it in low range 1st gear and don't go full throttle so you don't overspeed the tiller too bad. Gives you a lot of tiller revs per foot of travel. If the ground is hard just do an initial pass in 540 then followup with another pass in 1000.

use a 70 JD 110. Wide open throttle, first gear and pull the variator all the way back. Fluffs it up really nice. Great for root vegetables.

 

[gene bender]

Get a pull behind one with its own motor that way you can do the best job
and dont need a tractor that can go slow enough to do the job

 

[Steven Allen]

(quoted from post at 20:04:14 11/03/23) I'm with Cash4. An older tractor with
disc harrow would work. Every thing we
do is about time. The speed/time with an 8
foot harrow would be nice. An arena is
about an acre. Time would be a factor
here.

And the A would do this job well.

 

[showcrop]

before you go for a tiller figure out how long the job will take. I think that it will be too long and that you would be much happier with a little disc behind pretty much anything.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I saw on TV yesterday one race horse wins more on soft dirt vs grass. Go figure.

Horses running on soft dirt is better on the bones in their legs.

Hard dirt makes their leg bones brittle.

A friend has 2 horses that have issues with their hoofs. He has to watch them very closely. He has a problem finding grass hay. He claims clover and alfalfa hay has too much protein or something not good for his horses.

I think horse lovers have a different view of how they want their horses cared for.

 

[dkc2420]

(quoted from post at 01:52:00 11/05/23) I saw on TV yesterday one race horse wins more on soft dirt vs grass. Go figure.

Horses running on soft dirt is better on the bones in their legs.

Hard dirt makes their leg bones brittle.

A friend has 2 horses that have issues with their hoofs. He has to watch them very closely. He has a problem finding grass hay. He claims clover and alfalfa hay has too much protein or something not good for his horses.

I think horse lovers have a different view of how they want their horses cared for.

I know someone made the comment earlier about wild horses being ok for thousands of years on grass, etc. The problem is, we ask a lot out of domesticated horses. sharp turns, hard stops, lots of running. Wild horses walk most of the time. You ll never see a wild horse do barrel racing or do a 15 foot sliding stop in the wild. Lol. Performance Horses will get sore on hard ground. We just ask a lot out of them. They need softer ground for longevity.
Yes, your friend is right. Too much protein can be bad for certain horses. They can founder on too much alfalfa. And clover has too much sugar and starch which can make a house founder easily as well.



We did find a garden tractor though yesterday! A John Deere 455. 22 hp diesel. 3 pt hitch with 540 PTO. Gonna get a 48” tiller. Gonna spend a bit more than $5k all together, but my husband likes the setup and so do I. I think it’ll work really well.
Thanks everybody for all the recommendations and advice!

This post was edited by dkc2420 on 11/06/2023 at 05:36 am.

 

[Destroked 450]

I don t have horses but have friends that barrel race. Horses running it an arena will pack the dirt like concrete
Getting the larger 22 hp garden tractor was a good idea as you ll most likely have to go over the arena twice to get the running area loosened up
I have a 52 hp tractor with a heavy duty 7 ft tiller, in hard soil it will take a couple of passes to 3-5 inches of loose dirt
With the skid runners off a 3rd pass will get it down to 6+ inches for a nice garden