Compact utility tractors

[Vermonster]

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!

Yep. B1700 for lawn and garden. TN70 for serious work.

 

[kodiak]

I have a Kubota BX2350 with a 60" mid-mount mower, FEL, a 60" rear blower and a 60" rear blade. The blower and blade are full size cat 1 implements. It's used mostly for mowing our 2.5 acre lawn and clearing big snows from our 1,200' driveway. Smaller snowfalls are taken care of with the ATV plow. It has turf tires and it gets chains all around in the winter. It has exceeded my expectations.

 

[John R]

John Deere, and Kubota both make good stout tractors.

 

[muddstopper]

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.

I can certainly see your point as well. It really is in how you plan to use your tractor and how much money you are willing to spend. In my situation, I bought bagged lime by the pallet to use in my hydroseeding business. The only time I needed the horse power was when unloading the lime, and for every other job, I could have gotten by with a much smaller tractor. Couldnt afford 2 tractors, so used what I had. The power was really nice when I needed it, but i could have bought a used forklift for a fraction of what that tractor cost. Sold the business and sold the tractor. Miss the big tractor from time to time, but not enough to invest in another one. Now if a bargain in a 100hp tractor falls in my lap I might reconsider.

 

[FLRA_Dave]

When I decided I wanted to get a compact tractor I thought I would want one with a MMM on it. I mowed my property a few times and came to the conclusion that a CUT simply would not be able to mow like my X534 could. The AWS makes for a very nimble machine... I can now across the bank in front of my place with no issues - it will even do u-turns going down, then up the bank. If I had tried to now that with CUT, it surely would end up flopping over. Mowing up and down the bank isn't much of an option. So I decided to keep my X534 and bought a 3032E with the FEL, grapple, and rear remotes. Having both machines has been great.

 

[cantoo]

I have 10 acres. 6 acres of it I let a neighbour use for crops, no cost to me to maintain property I don't need yet. the other 4 is buildings, grass and storage space. We have a grass cutting business so I have no need to mow with a tractor when we have a bunch of ztr's sitting around. I had a Ford 1520, built a 10' snow blade for the front and a 5' blower on the back. Worked great but not big enough to lift some of the heavy equipment I buy and sell. I trade services with a farming neighbour when I have stuff too heavy to lift. Then I decided I had to get a backhoe to dig in a basement tile drain so I bought a used Kubota L35. Too big to do custom rototilling and lawn installs so decided to get out of that business. The Kubota is nice and we use it a lot but very seldom take it off the property so it doesn't make us as much money as the Ford used to. Looking back it would have been cheaper (maybe better) to keep the Ford so we could continue the lawn service work, rent a mini excavator for the one time drain and I wouldn't have spent $15,000 on buckets, wood equipment, heavier trailer etc for the bigger Kubota. Think long and hard about what you actually need to use the tractor for and buy accordingly. I would never consider cutting my grass with a tractor.

 

[philoshop]

You can never have too many; tractors, saws, power tools, guns, or 'spare' beers in the fridge. :msp_tongue:

 

[flashhole]

I have 30 acres and two compact tractors, a Kubota L2900 and a John Deere 790. Both are rated at 30 HP at the PTO. Both are 4 wheel drive, the Kubota has turf saver tires, the JD has knobby tires. The Kubota is my primary mower with a 6' mower deck (looks like a riding lawn mower on steroids) and has the Hydrostatic transmission (forward and reverse from the colum shifter and shifts on the fly with a lever for speed selection). I do use the Kubota from time to time for other farm work when the mower is not attached. I also have it rigged to use my log splitter on the hydraulic stub outs. The JD is all manual, 4 speeds for each High and Low gearing. It is the real work horse with bucket, brush hog and 7' blade and I use it to plow in the winter.

This is not intended to flame anyone but in my opinion there is no comparison between the two. The JD is the go-to tractor when real work needs to be done, the Kubota is more like a hangar queen. It's a great mower with the 6' mower deck but doesn't have the guts the JD does. The Kubota is in the shop at the moment for a $3500 repair having busted a 1" shaft and taking out 5 gears in the tranny from mowing grass!

30 HP does OK around the farm but I would be lieing if I denied there are times when I wished I had a bigger tractor, especially when dragging large tree trunks up out of the woods. The best thing about a compact utility tractor is the really tiny turning raduis. You can get those things in and out of just about anywhere you can walk. I have two tractors and dedicate them to specific chores but if I were in a situation where I could have only one it would be bigger than what I have.

 

[sw18x]

Forget the dog, a bucket is a man's best friend.

My Kubota BX2360 was hands down the best investment I ever made. On 10 acres you'll want to go a little bigger probably, into the B series most likely. Tractorbynet has a great forum, you'll find information on all brands.
My advice: if you buy new, whatever you buy, spend the extra 3 or 4k for a model with a backhoe. With 10 acres I'm sure you'll find uses for it, and you'll regret it later if you don't get it with the tractor now.

 

[kjp]

I certainly sometimes wish I had a larger tractor but so far my ford 1710 has done very well for me. Sometimes size and horsepower are two things to take into consideration. It's only 26 horse but is built stout and isn't a tiny little thing like most compacts of the same horsepower being built now. With chains on all fours it will go anywhere in the woods. It's also very low impact. With a winch on the back it's even pulls enough for me to make a little money with it. Of course I log on the weekends and have almost zero overhead. I was out with it last weekend and was able to pull about a cord an hour, across 7 acres to the landing. It has been a big selling point to people that have had me log there property because it is so low impact it hardly leaves a trace. I do have to be a little picky in the trees I take, monster trees put a strain on it and I do find myself pushing the fel to the max while piling bigger logs. But I can safely lift 12-14" diameter trees bucked to 18 foot. I have also never fixed anything on it and it's an 86. I guess it really depends on what uses you will have for your tractor to decide the size you need, I certainly couldn't maintain a farm with it.

 

[terryknight]

i'd like to add another thing. the bigger brand name tractors JD, kubota, etc are much easier to get parts for. something to consider if you buy a used tractor or plan on keeping it for a long time. our MF 1045 was great, but the engine manufacturer went out of business in 97 and you can't get parts for it

 

[kjp]

i'd like to add another thing. the bigger brand name tractors JD, kubota, etc are much easier to get parts for. something to consider if you buy a used tractor or plan on keeping it for a long time. our MF 1045 was great, but the engine manufacturer went out of business in 97 and you can't get parts for it

This is a very good point, knock on wood I've never had to fix anything but have browsed parts for my tractor and some of it is getting hard to find, I have to look online but new holland still carries a lot of my parts

 

[GeeVee]

I prefer my ASV RC-30. For your budget, you could get a nice used RC-30 and a new mower....

 

[2rod511]

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!

Round here we call it snaking logs and snaking logs isn't a job for a small tractor. You need to be able to lift the front of the log up with a boom pole before you drag it out or the log will be full of mud before you get 10'. Try picking a log up and then pulling it with little tractor and you'll learn how to steer with the brakes real fast. I have a 70hp JD 2640 about 34 years old if I can't get it back to the log then I get a longer chain. She will get in plenty of tight places.

 

[cnice_37]

You really need to tell us what you plan to do with...

From a guy with a 21HP Kubota (FEL only and some attachments).... I'd prefer a 35HP and I only have 1 acre!

Lift capacity at the FEL should be something you pay attention to. Being on AS means you've got the firewood, and the tractor is the way to move it efficiently.

I have a box blade which comes in handy. Just picked up a 4' snowblower for a real nice price. No backhoe but for the price of the machine used, I couldn't pass it up. It is limited but very useful. No mowing experience.

 

[sunfish]

Round here we call it snaking logs and snaking logs isn't a job for a small tractor. You need to be able to lift the front of the log up with a boom pole before you drag it out or the log will be full of mud before you get 10'. Try picking a log up and then pulling it with little tractor and you'll learn how to steer with the brakes real fast. I have a 70hp JD 2640 about 34 years old if I can't get it back to the log then I get a longer chain. She will get in plenty of tight places.

You're right, you don't want too small a tractor.

I do it with a 38hp Kubota L3800DT. No problems here, but I wouldn't want any smaller rig.

 

[Dirtboy]

We have about 11 acres also, about 8 heavily wooded, and a 300' driveway. Did a lot of looking around at the Kubota, Deere, Branson and Kioti dealers. Finally decided on the Kioti. I bought the CK20H, front loader, rear snowblower, and later picked up a 5' KK brushhog. Had Ag tires loaded, which made lawn cutting impractical with a MM or rear 3 Pt. Don't overlook these tractors, they pack a lot of bang for the buck. Never had a single problem with it for 7 years. Cleared myself some overgrown trails, which allow me to get back and gather my firewood. The snowblower worked great, but had a tendency to push heavy wet snow if you went to fast.

After 7 years I decided to sell it. Trails I cut are managed now with a garden tractor, and I found that the tractor to be impractical for firewood gathering because of the terrain. I bought an ATV which now allows me to get where the tractor would not. Snowblowing is now handled with an ATV plow and garden tractor with a blower. And the extra real estate in the garage was a plus my wifes vehicle appreciated :msp_thumbup:.

When I sold it I made back about 2/3rds of my initial investment, which I did not consider bad considering all the work it did. When you do buy, take your dealer into consideration. My dealer was great. A bad one will leave a sour taste in your mouth.

 

[TimberSwamp]

First tractor was a used low hr JDeere 750 24HP I think for a 40 acre woodlot. Easy to work on and Deere shop manuals are great. Not enough lifting power front or rear for real woods work. Bought a Farmi 351p winch for it right off and that was 20 years ago. A short while later I bought a used Deere 1070 39HP machine which I still have. Sold the small tractor. Perfect size for the woods with just enough lift to drag large, long sawlogs. My mill will take 39.5ft for timber framing stock. Anyway just rebuild two of the hydraulic tilt cylinders this week for the 430 loader that I bought new for the machine 15 yrs ago. I did have to split the tractor once to replace the clutch but other than that, it has been a great machine. I still use it for pulling trees around and loading salt into my salt spreader in winter. Nothing wrong with shifting and the machine is pretty bullet proof for that reason I believe. Newer version is the 970 I think, though it doesnt have the syncro-shift, and some other features it is priced right usually. Look for a machine with less than 1000hrs. Both small machines I purchased had less than 250hrs. they are around. If you find a 1070 with low hrs in good shape for less than 12k you've scored. Add 3k for a used loader w bucket. and get some forks or a root grapple and a winch if you are doing skidding. Belly mid mt mowers are bad news IMO too. Flail mowers are expensive to maintain if you get into rocks and stumps. Brushhog is what I need. Had a used flail that i used to maintain my trails but blades and parts are so expensive its not worth fixing.

I have a new Deere 5115M. 115HP all 6 ton of it when its set up for snow. Too big for the woods and anytime you use a machine in the woods it's gonna get trashed so best to buy used in my opinion for that purpose. I do run studded logging chains on the 1070 and it is unstoppable. Good luck

 

[NHMike]

I have a small B series Kubota (B7610) and it has done everything I have ever asked of it and more. I have 40 acres, live on a hill with a 1,900' driveway. I have a farmi JL290 logging winch, 60" 4in1 bucket, 48" FEL Grapple, 60" rear blower, 6 1/2' FEL power angle snowplow, backhoe and a few other tools.

From time to time I wish I might have wished for a few more HP's but no more than 30HP. It is small and light enough that I can cross septic fields, and get in cloes to the house to use the 7 1/2' backhoe, But I have also enough power to do everything that I need to do.

It really comes down to what work you intend to do, and how you will use it. If you are using for a living, or working a farm, then bigger is definetly better. But if you are a homeowner who is going to plow/blow the driveway, do some landscaping, and haul some wood, then you don't need a great big unit.

If I had to do it over, I might trade up for a few more HP, but certainly not out of the frame size I am in.

Really try to go the the dealers and try out the different brands, as they all feel different.

 

[captjack]

I dont understand why eveyone thinks you cant get a 50-75 hp tractor into the woods. The tire width is adjustable on these bigger tractor and with an open station they are almost as nimble as these little tractors but with a heck of a lot more power.

b7800 jd 5400
width 54 inches 68
wheel base 65 80
hp 30 68


the 68 hp tractor is not that much bigger but a heck of a lot more capable

I take mine in the woods all the time - its an open station and not a cab tractor - I dont take cab tractors in the woods cause the john deere glass is expensive !

I have never had a problem getting logs out of the woods - if you cant get right next to them you simply put on a choker chain and hook a few chains together and pull it close enough to pick up with forks.