looking for recommendation on tractor size

[Anonymous-0]

How big a tractor do I need? I mostly need it for keeping about 40 acres of pasture and fields mowed and running a snowblower up and down 1/4 mile of driveway. But I'd like something big enough so I can use it to make 15 acres of hay and plow and replant 3 or 4 acres a year.

 

[phillipd]

I guess you would need a tractor big enough to run your largest piece of equipment.If you mow with a sickle mower,use a 3 or 4 sod plow and you don't get 4' snow banks the length of your driveway,than 50-60 hp will be plenty.If you run a 9 foot dick mower,run a huge snow blower and a 5 or 5 sod plow,than you will want atleast 90 hp.pd

 

[phillipd]

ahhhhhhhh,very embarrased,didn't correct a MAJOR typo there,should have read DISK mower,not the previously stated,very very sorry to all on that.PD!

 

[Anonymous-0]

I was hoping that for my limited plowing and haymaking ambitions, I could get away with something like 40 horse and just go slow. But I sure don't want to be constantly wishing I had more power. Thanks for your input.
I'm glad I hadn't already run down to the farm equipment dealer to ask about mowers.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Could easily do it on 50 hp in a farm tractor, not a cut.

 

[495man]

A 35 to 45 PTO HP tractor with 3 pt and live/independent PTO with be more than sufficient.

Don't waste your time with 8N's or Farmall H's etc, they are next to useless for a one tractor farm and "modern" implements.

Not sure what your price range is, but the MF 135 family and newer is good, as well as the british IH utilities i.e. 364/444 or 454/484 etc.

A 484 w/ 2200 loader can be had "reasonable"

You'll easily pull 2 to 3 bottoms, run a sickle mower or SMALL 3pt disc mower (5-6 foot) , pull square baler or even small round one.

You can get a bigger tractor, but bigger tractor needs bigger, more expensive implements (try putting a 2 furrow cat one plow on a 4020 or 806.....) also uses more fuel, take more room to store.

You may get a bargain on a "big" one, i.e. some over 100 HP tractors sell for less than 40 HP ones.....but consider all the factors.

 

[Roy in UK]

(quoted from post at 13:14:51 02/04/09) ahhhhhhhh,very embarrased,didn't correct a MAJOR typo there,should have read DISK mower,not the previously stated,very very sorry to all on that.PD!

Yes it is at times like this I [i:5c68487519]really[/i:5c68487519] do wish there was an "edit" facility on this forum (subtle hint to the administrators ) :wink:

 

[Mark]

Well,.....here"s a piece of advice I was tendered several years ago.......it made sense to me then, maybe it will to you, now.

You can do small work with a big tractor, but you can"t do big work with a small tractor.

Obviously, there are limits.....you don"t need 100 horses to mow and bale hay or plow the garden.

I would recommend a 60 PTO horse machine. This to me, is a mid size utility tractor...a jack of all trades. Whatever you do, buy something fairly modern and I cannot praise 4 WD enough...best thing that ever happened to a tractor.

 

[Stovepipe]

It depends on what implement you want to pull.If you want 40 hp, look at implements considered appropriate for that tractor size, and decide if they look like what you have in mind. Are you looking for a newer tractor or an older one?

 

[Anonymous-0]

I'd like to not spend the money for a newer one, but I really don't want to spend half an hour on repairs for every hour of operation. And I don't want leaking coolings systems and lubricant reservoirs. I've been there and I didn't like it. Do I need to be looking at something newer? Under 1000 hours operation?

 

[495man]

Not sure your budget, but you can buy a brand new Deere utility (real size, not compact toy size) for under 20k with loader.