tractor suggestions

[bman4523]

I will be looking to get a tractor later this year (new or used) and would like to know what you all think is a good value tractor. Here is my requirements-
Something that can move around a 4X5 bale (bale spear?)
would like to have a front end loader for moving material like driveway gravel and scooping up cut fire wood
would like a bucket for burying dead cows and digging water lines and septic drain fields and electric lines (thinking minimum 40" digging depth)
3 point to run seed spreader and 5-6' mower
something heavy and powerful enough to drag a harrow over 60 acres of broadcast seed or a drag a dead cow to the hole I dug with the bucket
guess that's about it
I have been living with a Ford 8N on a small acreage pulling a 6' blade for driveway grading and a 5' JD mower and 3 pt post hole digger, but not having a live pto really sucks. Its pretty light also, trying to move much gravel in front of that blade (wheel spin)
thanks for your input, bman

 

[tom4018]

For most of the things mentioned I personally would want a 50 hp or larger tractor. If you are going to be feeding that hay in a lot of mud with a loader I would want a 4wd one.

You mentioned digging water lines and such, in my opinion a backhoe attachment would be needed. You would have a awful wide ditch doing that with a loader, plus if you did it woould be slow. I just think a backhoe attachment would be the only way with a tractor.

I would stick with a major brand tractor that has a dealer near you for parts support. You need to get on some and see what you like.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Tom, don't yOu have the same Kubota M7040 that we do? I like that tractor a lot.

 

[tom4018]

Tom, don't yOu have the same Kubota M7040 that we do? I like that tractor a lot.

Yes I do, it is a good tractor. It is a little lighter than the 4630 Ford/NH I had. The shuttle shift and 4wd are nice. If my old one would have been 4wd drive I would probably never traded. I got about 900 hours on mine.

 

[bigbull338]

im going to say this knowing meny here dont care for kubotas.but they give you more bang for the buck.a mx5100 4x4 with loader would do what you want.a 6040 or 7040 would as well but that adds $10,000 to $15,000 to the price.for less than $42,000 you can get a 8540.

 

[highgrit]

The Kubota 51MX 4x4 would work. If kubota built their tractors like they build their RTV 1140 they would have something. My Kubota RTV 1140 is built heavy duty, out pulled a new Polaris 900 with 4 people on it. The only thing wrong with Kubota tractors is their light weight and operator comfort.

 

[dun]

For most of the things mentioned I personally would want a 50 hp or larger tractor. If you are going to be feeding that hay in a lot of mud with a loader I would want a 4wd one.

You mentioned digging water lines and such, in my opinion a backhoe attachment would be needed. You would have a awful wide ditch doing that with a loader, plus if you did it woould be slow. I just think a backhoe attachment would be the only way with a tractor.

I would stick with a major brand tractor that has a dealer near you for parts support. You need to get on some and see what you like.

I'll second everything that he said!

 

[denvermartinfarms]

For most of the things mentioned I personally would want a 50 hp or larger tractor. If you are going to be feeding that hay in a lot of mud with a loader I would want a 4wd one.

You mentioned digging water lines and such, in my opinion a backhoe attachment would be needed. You would have a awful wide ditch doing that with a loader, plus if you did it woould be slow. I just think a backhoe attachment would be the only way with a tractor.

I would stick with a major brand tractor that has a dealer near you for parts support. You need to get on some and see what you like.

I'll second everything that he said!

Me too. and i think for what you are wanting to do a m7040 kubota would be the best tractor you could get.or in something a little older but about the same size a m6800. in my opinion kubota's are the best tractors around in there size range.

 

[bigbull338]

The Kubota 51MX 4x4 would work. If kubota built their tractors like they build their RTV 1140 they would have something. My Kubota RTV 1140 is built heavy duty, out pulled a new Polaris 900 with 4 people on it. The only thing wrong with Kubota tractors is their light weight and operator comfort.

i own said tractor with HST an we work that tractor hard.we used it to move 5 by 6 bales on front an rear.pulled a 4 bale hay hauler with a bale on the loader.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Another option might be get a tractor that will pull a mower and move bales but maybe in the 50 to 60 hp range. and then depending on how much water line and other digging you have to do buy a good but cheaper backhoe. it would handle the digging part of what you are doing alot better. if you were thinking about a tractor that would run a backhoe attachment and then buying the attachment just buying a tractor and a older backhoe might be just as cheap anyway.Don't know if this has been any help at all but i don't know your situation so i am just trying to help with some possible ideas.

 

[High Cotton]

Another option to look at is a trencher. I'm pretty quick with a backhoe but I couldn't keep pace with a trencher very long in normal conditions. You could possibly rent one for a couple hundred bucks. That's one less peice of machinery to maintain. You will get no where fast trying to dig much dirt with a FEL on a tractor. Leveling and grading is one thing. Digging very much compacted dirt is a whole other ball game.

 

[James T]

Another option to look at is a trencher. I'm pretty quick with a backhoe but I couldn't keep pace with a trencher very long in normal conditions. You could possibly rent one for a couple hundred bucks. That's one less peice of machinery to maintain. You will get no where fast trying to dig much dirt with a FEL on a tractor. Leveling and grading is one thing. Digging very much compacted dirt is a whole other ball game.

Ditto the trencher. Skip the backhoe unless your going to use it often. The backhoe would be over kill on water lines and maybe even on the the septic system, depending on what type of system. Rent a trencher and be done with that. Kubota is hard to beat. My best advice is to go 4 wheel drive and buy as much horsepower as you can afford. The 4 wheel drive will better support the heavy loads you can pick up with the FEL. The two wheel drive is ok but the front hub spindles with their bearing assemblies have a hard time keeping up with the loader weights (have replaced 3). A front and rear bale spear is a must for haying. Go for the 'quick attach' system if you can. Go with a cab, if you can (inhaling hay fines gets old fast). Think about the most you want to pull or do and then decide on horsepower - more is better.

 

[highgrit]

James T, what make of tractor is the front wheel bearings going out on?? We have a loader on a 2 wheel drive 4610 Ford
1986 model and have never replaced a bad wheel bearing. It's main job has been to load and move hay for the last
3800 hrs. It's a heavy duty little tractor that still has a lot of work left in it.

 

[saltbranch]

We bought a used Case 485 2wd, 53 hp with FEL. that does everything you describe. Digging is very slow and hard on the front end loader in black dirt. Thats going to be with any tractor though. We move big round bales with the FEL, load on and off semi's etc. Pull a 7'(?) cross cut Hawse disc and 7' brush hog with no problems. I use the ratchet rake attachement and have cleared alot of brush with it. Overall very happy with it. We were looking at Kabotas 4x4/FEL tractors and came across this one with 1200 hrs, barn kept for a good price. My uncle has a JD 4020 that is a powerhouse, but cant get every where our Case does do to the brush/mesquite trees. Plus the Case can be easily loaded on a 10k utility trailer and moved to our other property. I was really wanting a 4x4 tractor but honestly having had the 2wd Case for a couple of years now, I have not ran into a situation where I needed 4x4 on the tractor.
One thing I was looking at too when buying a new tractor was parts availability. there were some brands it would have been hard for to get parts off the shelf for where our property is located. If you have not already looked, check out http://www.tractorhouse.com/Default.aspx

 

[bman4523]

thanks All. I did not clarify that the "bucket" i was referring to meant "back hoe attachment" The septic (3' drain trench), water and electric lines are really one time shots, once in I will not be doing much digging except for the other occasional uses I mentioned. I will do some research on the models suggested. Out of curiosity what is the smallest reasonably sized tractor for moving 4x5 bales? Do you usually move them with a spear or is there another method? Thnx bman

 

[bigbull338]

thanks All. I did not clarify that the "bucket" i was referring to meant "back hoe attachment" The septic (3' drain trench), water and electric lines are really one time shots, once in I will not be doing much digging except for the other occasional uses I mentioned. I will do some research on the models suggested. Out of curiosity what is the smallest reasonably sized tractor for moving 4x5 bales? Do you usually move them with a spear or is there another method? Thnx bman

i would not go lower than a mx4600 47hp to move 4 by 5 bales around.front hay forks are better than the spears to move hay with.even then youll want a bale on back no matter what hp you choose.

 

[High Cotton]

What ever you buy make sure it has at least one rear hydraulic remote.

 

[xring100]

When buying a tractor its hard to argue with going one size larger than you think you need and by as much as you can afford. In my case a 70 hp would have been fine for most things but i opted to step up to an M8540 instead. I have no regrets had i bought an M7040 i would have been severely disappointed in the loader capabilities. I've lifted 2600 lb pallets of shingles with no problems and 3000lb pallets of flag stone off a semi truck. I have loaded tires and over 1000lbs of ballast on the back of the tractor and barley had enough weight for the 3000lb pallets. Remember its easy to run a oversized tractor at 70% of its capability but its impossible to run an undersized tractor at 130%.
For me going up one frame size increased loader capacity by over 55% or over 1000lbs

Loader comparison between kubota LA1153 M5140 - M7040 and LA1353 M8540 and M9540
(V) Lift Capacity (800 mm forward, max height)
Height hole 1587 lbs. (720 kg)
Power hole 1830 lbs. (830 kg)
(X) Lift Capacity (800 mm forward, 1500 mm height)
Height hole 2227 lbs. (1010 kg)
Power hole 2646 lbs. (1200 kg)

LA1353
(V) Lift Capacity (800 mm forward, max height)
Height hole 2524 lbs. (1145 kg)
Power hole 2855 lbs. (1295 kg)
(X) Lift Capacity (800 mm forward, 1500 mm height)
Height hole 3384 lbs. (1535 kg)
Power hole 3957 lbs. (1795 kg)
specs are found here http://www.kubota.ca/en/productdetail.a ... =379#tab=1

 

[bman4523]

After pricing a few new units I am now looking exclusively at the used market :shock: With that in mind what should one be careful of when looking at the major used brands (JD, CIH, NH, INT, MF, Ford) such as problematic models, parts availability, parts costs etc?
bman

 

[saltbranch]

I'm not going to be much help, butI found several Belarus russian made tractors cheap when i was looking. i would stay away from those, from everything i found researching them parts are hard to get. Closest supplier for me was Dallas, 500 plus miles away. Alot of the parts were obsolete etc.
Good luck on your search.