Compact utility tractors

[jhoff310]

Ok guys I know its kind of off topic but I need some guidance. The wife and I are looking at possibly buying a new place that sits on 10 acres. The house sits around 800' off the road. Im looking for some advice on compact utility tractors. I know there are several brands with several different attachments. I would need one with a mower deck and loader.
Is a 3 point attachment from 1 brand going to fit a 3 point system on another brand (kubota back blade, will it fit a new holland CUT 3 point system).
What is a high price and what is a steal price? Everything I see around here is around the 15k range for loader and deck.

come on guys educate me

Jeff

 

[sunfish]

3 pt implements are universal as long as same category. Cat 1 is what all the smaller tractors use.

I've been using Kubota tractors for 30 years, they have served me very well. Super dependable and very high quality!

Price well vary between brand and size

 

[Cheesecutter]

3 point attachments are sized into categories ...1, 2, and 3. Category 1 is lightweight , cat 2 is medium, and cat 3 is high horsepower farm equipment sized. Attachments are universal fit based upon category size. What horsepower rating are you looking at?

 

[leon]

tractor, tractor, tractor,

Ok guys I know its kind of off topic but I need some guidance. The wife and I are looking at possibly buying a new place that sits on 10 acres. The house sits around 800' off the road. Im looking for some advice on compact utility tractors. I know there are several brands with several different attachments. I would need one with a mower deck and loader.
Is a 3 point attachment from 1 brand going to fit a 3 point system on another brand (kubota back blade, will it fit a new holland CUT 3 point system).
What is a high price and what is a steal price? Everything I see around here is around the 15k range for loader and deck.

come on guys educate me

Jeff

How much room do you have in your wallet?


If you live near lake Erie you want a rear mount Pronovost or an Allied/farm king snow caster which must be wider than the rear tires. You want V bar rear chains and loaded rear tires as well as the turf, R4 tires or Ag tires/R2 will get gummed up with wet snows and are worthless on ice.


Belly mowers are more trouble than thier worth with any utility tractor.
(YOU HAVER TO CLEAN THEM)

A Caroni 59 inch or JD 25A 7 foot flailmower will provide you with the ability to mow brush
and fine turf with no adjustments.



Do you know what horsepower you want???? A compact utility tractor will be hamstrung in heavy wet snows and you only want to use a front end loader to scoop snow NOT PLOW IT.

The more horsepower you have the better and the longer a tractor will last and will be under much less
strain. Some folks have the smallest Kubota; the Kubota 1860 with much longer driveways than yours and have snow chains, loaded rear tires, rear munted snow blowers, and heated cabs.

The KUbota Snow blowers are built by RAD in Canada and The Pronovost snow casters are better in my opinion-yes I own a JD snow blower built by RAD and It is not built well in my opinion where the pronovosts are built in Canada.

The other thing you have to under stand is that a snow caster that weighs more is better built because the steel is heavier and the welds are better/thicker.


You can obtain a compact utility tractor like the Kubota 2370 with a hydro transmission and heated cab and a five foot wide rear mount snow caster from Pronovost for reasonable money.

There is no best price or steal price! your paying threough the nose unless its fire damaged as new!

Three point implements fit all three point hitches.

You will want a front end loader and a rear mount snow blower because that will give you the most benefit per dollar spent.

The front end loaders on most sub compacts pop on and off after a few minutes work when needed.

A hydro transmission tractor will allow you to remove snow with a rear mount snow caster by simply swiveling the seat and pushing the reverse pedal and the snow caster will act as a brake when stopping so no issues there.

The "Miserable" problem with the Kubota sub compacts and compact utility tractors is the low idle as it is detuned/the timing is advanced to reduce the emmisions at the tail pipe per the EPA and the vibration will go all the way into the steering wheel at high idle. Its an easy fix to change the idle back to spec though.

For the money you may better off going to an on farm dispersal auction as the tractor will have been owned by the farm owner-font look at auctions that have a entire herd of machinery in one auction barn!!!!

You can also find a good buy on www.tractorhouse.com as long as you find an implement dealer that has excess inventory.

 

[rarefish383]

Good posts above. My cousin and brother in law both have Kubota's and love them. I tend to go over board and buy older, bigger equipment. But, that's not compact. I had a JD 2010 and loved it. Good luck, Joe.

 

[Walt41]

Go "test drive" several, what "fits" for one guy does not work for another. I have been running machines from the time I was put on a dozer at age 12 and have found that if you have enough gear range and finesse you can get any brand to do the job, question is how you feel when the work is done...saving a few bucks does not feel good after you are frozen solid from just clearing your driveway or sunburned like an overcooked hotdog after mowing the grass.
I would consider a cab and front loader with skid steer quick disconnect bucket attach, brand is up to you and your wallet. When looking at used, bring along a pair of channelocks so you can pull the front end sticks and see if maintenance was done, look for excessive oil leaks, rotten coolant, busted grease fittings, scrapes on the bottom and excessive play in any of the controls. Run the machine in all gears and listen for noises that should not be there, run the hydraulics thru their ranges and check for bucket creep as well.

 

[blackdogon57]

Can't go wrong with brand name like kubota/John Deere. They are more expensive because they are built to last and hold their resale value. I have 2200+ hours on my jd 3320 and it still runs good as new. As others have posted 3pt attachments are universal. Just make sure you get a machine big enough for cat 3 attachments.

I've been plowing for years with unchained turf tires and FEL mounted plow and never get stuck, even in big storms. Rear mounted blades are a way to slow if you have a big area to plow.

 

[Vermonster]

Go "test drive" several, what "fits" for one guy does not work for another. I have been running machines from the time I was put on a dozer at age 12 and have found that if you have enough gear range and finesse you can get any brand to do the job, question is how you feel when the work is done...saving a few bucks does not feel good after you are frozen solid from just clearing your driveway or sunburned like an overcooked hotdog after mowing the grass.
I would consider a cab and front loader with skid steer quick disconnect bucket attach, brand is up to you and your wallet. When looking at used, bring along a pair of channelocks so you can pull the front end sticks and see if maintenance was done, look for excessive oil leaks, rotten coolant, busted grease fittings, scrapes on the bottom and excessive play in any of the controls. Run the machine in all gears and listen for noises that should not be there, run the hydraulics thru their ranges and check for bucket creep as well.

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/26571.htm

This would be the ideal tractor, a MX5000, but out of my price range and probably yours. I looked around for 3 years before settling on a 12 year old TN70 New Holland with 1000 hours on it. Found it on CL NH. Came from a horse farm/estate and had never seen the woods before I bought it. Shuttle shift is awesome, saves a lot of time and effort. Just a lever on the steering wheel column to bang up or down.
When shopping just follow the above posts from Walt and Leon for important things to look for.
IMHO, it's far better to have too much HP than too little.

 

[sunfish]

I'm logging with a Kubota L3800DT right now. Love it!

Small, nimble and will skid any log I grab with it. :msp_biggrin:

 

[7sleeper]

Check out the site "mytractorforum.com", they are a bunch of freaks just like here! Any of the major brands will make you happy. Cub cadet, Massey, Kubota, Deere.....

Good luck!

7

 

[muddstopper]

Everybody has their own ideal on what kind of tractor they think they want. I have used a Ford Jubile to raise row crops of Tobacco and Tomatoes, Kept 30acres of pasture mowed with it, logged timber with it, scraped dirveways, etc, etc. Still have the tractor (Barn Queen). Worth more now than it was when it was new. I have also ran Dexters, Massey 's, and New Holland. Over all these years and many tractors, I have sort of setted on a few Must haves in a tractor. I prefer around 40hp, Just seems to be right for pulling a 6ft bushhogs. I have a buddy that pulls a 7ft behind his 3710 Kubota, but he tears up a bunch of stuff all the time. After all these years of running 2wd drive tractors, I wont buy one now that isnt 4wd. Also have found a FEL is one of the best attachments you can ever own. 3pt attachments come in different catagories. Cat0 is for the small lawn mower type tractors. Pretty useless in my opinion unless you are only using in a small garden plot in the back yard. Cat one attachments will work behind most farm size tractors, can be used behind cat2 tractors with a simple pin change and most Cat2 attachments can be used behind cat1 tractors, again just swap the pins. Cat3 attachments are meant for large tractors and are usually to heavy to pull behind a cat1, but you might get by behind cat2 depending on what you are trying to do. Best to fit attachment size to tractor size and you wont keep breaking things all the time.

It is very hard to spec out a tractor for someone else and everybody will have different opinions on which brand is best. My Uncle swore by his massey's for years, but now owns a Mahindra. Never thought he would change. Still owns a Massey, but does most of his work now with the Mahindra.

 

[dieselfitter]

A wise gentleman once told me"you can do just about anything with a tractor, just none of it very well". I agree, I personally prefer a skid loader or better yet a wheel loader. Let the debate begin.

 

[srb08]

Figure out what you think you need and go two sizes larger.
If you think a 25hp tractor will do what you need, get a 50hp.
I've been down this road and speak from experience.

 

[captjack]

Srb08 is spot on. You will find a 25hp is really small for 10acres. I have a 68hp john Deere and am always pushing its limit. I would never get anything less than a 50 hp for 10 acres. Just my opinion

 

[muddstopper]

Figure out what you think you need and go two sizes larger.
If you think a 25hp tractor will do what you need, get a 50hp.
I've been down this road and speak from experience.

I have been there to and disagree. I traded up (4610SU) to a TN75 newholland and found it to big for small areas. Burnt more fuel, harder to transport, and really just a pain in the Butt. Send it to Montana and made the buyer and seller happy. Big tractors have their place, but a TN75 in a small garden isnt one of them. When I bought the TN75, it was the smallest tractor I could find that had a fel capacity to lift a pallet of lime (3200lbs)off the back of a truck and found that was the only thing it was really good for. Everything else, it was just to big. Now if I had been plowing or mowing a large area, I would have liked the big tractor a little better. Best to choose a tractor that will fit what you are are wanting to do with it, than buying a big tractor just because you can. Of course If I ran across a 100hp tractor at a CUT price, I probably wouldnt pass it by, still wouldnt make it a good sensible purchase. It aint really a bargain if you cant use it.

 

[captjack]

I see your point but the first time you can't pick something up or pull something it gets so frustrating. Around here a utility tractor is over 100hp. So my tractor is small.

 

[7sleeper]

I see it similary. The problem is if you want to mow the lawn and use it around the house the bigger it get's the deeper the "footprint" is it will leave behind! So you can get a large hp model in the beginning or rent out larger equipment until you have your dedicated area worked over and use a lawntractor for around the house and then switch over to a cut during time that will be sufficient for the generel maintenance.

7

 

[sunfish]

Figure out what you think you need and go two sizes larger.
If you think a 25hp tractor will do what you need, get a 50hp.
I've been down this road and speak from experience.

Doesn't work for me. I skid logs out of some tight places that a larger tractor wont go, without cutting more tress. I also mow in some tight places.

Best to have two tractors!

 

[terryknight]

i went through this this summer. wanted to replace our MF 1045. I wanted a large CUT or a small utility. I bought a JD 5055E. it's been great. the bigger the tractor the harder to move the more fuel it uses, but at the same time i can cut the pastures/fields in 1/3 to 1/2 less time then i could before so overall it uses less fuel. LS makes good CUT tractors they also make the CUT boomer tractors for NH. Kioti has good tractor as well. Mahindra is not as price competitive in the CUT market as some of the others. most of the CUT tractors are made in India and South Korea. doing my research the CUT tractors normally cost more than the same brand's bigger utility tractors

 

[srb08]

If all you're doing is cutting grass in tight places and moving small wood, a small tractor is better.
If you plan on plowing snow or moving anything heavy, a large tractor is the way to go.
There are times I can't get my 50hp tractor into tight places but when I'm plowing, grading, moving rock or large trees, I'm glad I have the extra weight and HP. I went from a 26hp tractor to a 50hp and never looked back. I also have 4WD and wouldn't have another utility tractor without it.