What tractor do I need?

[Anonymous-0]

I am looking to get into grain farming. I need a tractor that will
plow , cut harrow, and pull a planter with ease. I am looking to get a used tractor to start out with. What tractors should I be looking for? I will be farming about 150 acres to start, and expand yearly. Anybody have any idea what tractor I should start with? Thanks
Andrew

 

[David from Kansas]

Depends on what you want to spend, most of all. You will probably want 3-pt hitch. Do you want a nice comfy cab with heat and a/c?
In any case, you can"t go wrong with a JD, but of course, I am partial to them.

 

[G1355]

8870 or 8970 ford new holland, seem to be trouble free,will have power to do what you need, it will be pretty modern, nice cab, power shift and there not a ton of money for what they are. There a good tractor for the money.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I do want a cab but to start out I don't need anything fancy. Just something to get the job done. What do you mean you are partial to John Deere?

 

[Robert Major]

Hi
This is a difficult one to answer. Most more modern tractors in the past 15 to 20 years are full of electronics and powershift transmissions, the dealers are charging stupid money for fixing these and for the parts. If you can still get them or find good used,
Some of the older Cases and Internationals are the same like 5088 style and the 2290 and those types.
It can cost more to fix a bad one than they are worth. If you find a tractor you think might do, search it on forums and ask here. you will get fair answers to base your descision on from guys with the experience.
I need a tractor for the farm but fix for a living and hear the problems too, so not sure what to get.
I might look at valtra/valmet when I win the lottery, I know guys that beat them to death with minimal problems.
Good luck
Regards Robert

 

[donjr]

Look for a --30 or --40 series JD, 42 or 44. The --30's will be a bit cheaper, but good strong machines that are easy to work on and have good parts support. They still have a lot of acres in them.

 

[JHD]

The size and power requirements of your implements will determine how much drawbar horsepower you need and how many remotes you need and hydraulic pressure required. Also whether you need hitch arms, and 540/1000 pto. Add more horsepower if you have tough soils and hilly terrain.
When I started planting corn and soybeans as a cash crop it was roughly 100 acres of each and we used a International 3788 with duals to pull a set of White 5 bottoms, 14 shank Brillion chisels, and a 24' set of discs. I plant with a CaseIH 950 8 row Cyclo-air planter behind a IH 1466 with duals. The 14s hydraulics were slow so had to goose the throttle to pick up the planter but other than that we got by. A couple of years later we picked up a used CaseIH 8930 and have upgraded to a 12 row Kinze planter and that is all the equipment we use for tilling and planting around 950 acres and it works just fine for us.
So figure your power requirements, take into account your expansion and work out the debt load. Other than that I'd go pretty much with where is your nearest source for parts and what your neighbours have in case you need a part in a pinch.
Good Luck, J

 

[amfarms]

Maybe a john deere 4840 that would work i think they have around 135-150 hp

 

[Huskers86]

(quoted from post at 21:02:21 10/30/12) I am looking to get into grain farming. I need a tractor that will
plow , cut harrow, and pull a planter with ease. I am looking to get a used tractor to start out with. What tractors should I be looking for? I will be farming about 150 acres to start, and expand yearly. Anybody have any idea what tractor I should start with? Thanks
Andrew

How many row equiptment? If you are going to up the size of equiptment you should start with a bigger tractor and grow the line into it.