what's my best option???

[thatdoggJake]

I have 500 acres to mow. I also posted a question on the grasses topic (please check that question out as well).

I have a ten year lease, but no tractor as of now. I think I have a 70 hp tractor to use with a 15' cutter for free, plus the diesel fuel and parts if anything was to break while I had it. This sounds like my best option, but I don't want to feel like I owe the guy something back, when espcially I have nothing to really give that would be benieft him besides money.

I really want to buy my own tractor, but the idea is to make money one day off my cattle business and I don't know if buying a tractor will every get me in the black when I only plan to use it about 120-200 hrs a year.

Lastly, I could hire someone to mow who already had a tractor. I know three different people who mow large tracts, but I don't want to ask them for quotes and never use them. These three people are also customers of mine who I sell fencing supplies to (which is the business I am in, oh yeah and I can't get any special fencing pricing for whoever might have that idea).

What would you do???

Thanks!!!!!

 

[novatech]

Borrowing something from a friend can end meaning you loose the friend. If something major went wrong you you may feel an obligation to repair it. On the other hand it could have broke because of previous wear and tare. There is nothing cheap about tractor repair.
My advice is that if you value the friend buy your own or hire it done.
10 years use on a 70 hp tractor is a lot of wear and depreciation. A 15' shreeder will be used up and only be scrap, that is if it were new when you got it. If nothing else it will rust out in that length of time in your area.

 

[dun]

Hire it done

 

[pdfangus]

I don't know you or your abilities but.

If you want to make money with cattle and have that kind of land.

and are in the fencing business.

make the cattle do the mowing.

Check out managment intensive grazing. Greg Judy..... Green Pastures Farm

http://www.greenpasturesfarm.net/

 

[ifarm26]

If you are going to continuously farm the land for 10 years and you are going to be baling it, I'd say buy a tractor. You'll put well over 120 hrs a year on it with that kind of acreage to maintain.

 

[1982vett]

Rent

 

[novatech]

Check out managment intensive grazing. Greg Judy..... Green Pastures Farm

http://www.greenpasturesfarm.net/

Sounds great, she never fertilizes. The birds do it, along with the insects. I need 60 lbs of P per acre. There is 22 lbs. per ton in chicken manure. Chickens are a lot bigger than most native birds. Does anyone have any idea how many years it would take for birds to crap on my pasture giving me the required 60 lbs P per acre?

 

[pdfangus]

if that is the only managment change then you will not live long enough to get the 60 lbs that way. better send for the chickens.

 

[Cowdirt]

I have 500 acres to mow. I also posted a question on the grasses topic (please check that question out as well).

I have a ten year lease, but no tractor as of now. I think I have a 70 hp tractor to use with a 15' cutter for free, plus the diesel fuel and parts if anything was to break while I had it. This sounds like my best option, but I don't want to feel like I owe the guy something back, when espcially I have nothing to really give that would be benieft him besides money.

I really want to buy my own tractor, but the idea is to make money one day off my cattle business and I don't know if buying a tractor will every get me in the black when I only plan to use it about 120-200 hrs a year.

Lastly, I could hire someone to mow who already had a tractor. I know three different people who mow large tracts, but I don't want to ask them for quotes and never use them. These three people are also customers of mine who I sell fencing supplies to (which is the business I am in, oh yeah and I can't get any special fencing pricing for whoever might have that idea).

What would you do???

Thanks!!!!!

Thatdoggjake, you,ll certainly owe your friend something if you use his tractor 120-200 hrs/yr for 10yrs. Do something different!

 

[marksmu]

Check out managment intensive grazing. Greg Judy..... Green Pastures Farm

http://www.greenpasturesfarm.net/

Sounds great, she never fertilizes. The birds do it, along with the insects. I need 60 lbs of P per acre. There is 22 lbs. per ton in chicken manure. Chickens are a lot bigger than most native birds. Does anyone have any idea how many years it would take for birds to crap on my pasture giving me the required 60 lbs P per acre?

I looked at that...it says she never uses "Chemical" fertilizer. She may buy lots and lots and lots of manure and spread it herself. I dont see free range chickens pooping up an entire farms worth of fertilizer.

 

[msscamp]

I know three different people who mow large tracts, but I don't want to ask them for quotes and never use them.

What would you do???

Thanks!!!!!

Until such time as I could afford to buy my own tractor and brush hog, I would get bids from these 3 different people, and go with the one I felt was the most econimical and would do the best job. Why do you have a problem with getting a bid from these people? It's done every day of the year in every industry from construction, to house cleaning, to mowing, to landscaping, and everything in between.

 

[bigbull338]

if you hired 500ac shredded around here it would cost you min of $7500.an it would really need tobe done 2x a year.so thats $15,000.so buy a tractor an shredder.itll pay for its self in 3yrs.besides youll need a tractor to put hay out with.

 

[thatdoggJake]

hmmm. what to do. so many options....

 

[SRBeef]

If you will be running cattle on this ground, I would suggest a larger tractor and a flail type mower, not a rotary. The cut grass etc is chopped and more uniformly spread than with any rotary. Does take a bit more HP but worth it. Th eflail will be better for clipping pastures after they are grazed in the future.

500 acres is a LOT of mowing! have you ever mowed 500 acres before?

 

[SRBeef]

If you will be running cattle on this ground, I would suggest a larger tractor and a flail type mower, not a rotary. The cut grass etc is chopped and more uniformly spread than with any rotary. Does take a bit more HP but worth it. Th eflail will be better for clipping pastures after they are grazed in the future.

500 acres is a LOT of mowing! have you ever mowed 500 acres before?

I'd suggest at least a 125 HP tractor and appropriate size flail.

 

[Brute 23]

What are you mowing? Strictly extra grass or is this mowing for weed and brush control also? If its excess grass you are only looking at once a year. If its weed and brush control you could be looking at multiple times a year.

If it were me I would look for a used tractor and bushhog bat-wing. There are some very good deals to be had right now, not sure where you are located. No less than 90hp tractor. Some times there are better deals to be had on 100+hp which won't hurt you any with the amount of ac.

That is your best bet for even thing about ever making a profit. I would take a loss on the tractor before I kept borrowing from a friend. IF you take care of your equipment you should have value in both of them at the end of the 10yrs in which they could potentially be sold for,,, and subtracted out of the cost. Check the equipment market and buy the best value, IMO.

 

[Poundsy]

500 acres??? You need to buy a tractor. There will be more than just mowing to be done on that much ground. We have 6 tractors for just 800 acres. Like every one else said-90hp range is where you should be looking. Alot of old 66 and 86 series internationals are out there for cheap and they are pretty tough machines. Good luck making a decision, it isn't an easy one.

 

[lavacarancher]

Thatdog, I think Brute is right. You don't mention what you will be mowing and why. If you are mowing field grasses even that grass has some value as hay (not much but I would have taken some the last two years). Buy the tractor and a mower (hay cutter or bat wing or flail). Tractors last a looong time if they are taken care of and there will be lot's of life left in it after just ten years. My newest tractor is an '80 model and the oldest is a '53. Parts are available and they all run just fine.

500 acres??? That's a lot of mowing - might take you a couple of hours to knock that out. :lol2:

 

[Stocker Steve]

I started out renting equipment from a semi retired uncle. He had three green tractors and a Ford farm truck but only one started consistenly, few of the lights worked, and they looked a little rough. I got them all running good with a lot of elbow grease but over the course of the next couple years we ended up spending on two engine overhauls, two sets of tires, one starter, one radiator, an injector pump, and a new clutch. That equipment had not seen a lot of use in recent years...

Hire it done.

 

[thatdoggJake]

Where would u look to buy a used tractor? Criagslist??? Not saying I'd get one, but were could I check them out at? Lol