Make your life easy and get a Kubota, they’re basically the Toyota’s of tractors
I have a Massey Ferguson I bought in 2006 and while it’s a good tractor they quit making that line and moved production to India. If I was buying today it’d be a Kubota. Kubota is made in Japan, that MF2600 either India or Brazil, which do you think will be better quality?
The Kubota dealer in Cynthiana just lost his franchise, & he was never competitive with the ones in Mt. Sterling or Augusta anyway.
No disrespect intended, but there's been many a city fella buy a hill farm & get really effed up or worse on a tractor, especially while pulling a loaded trailer or wagon. A beater 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup with some rough tires can haul the hell out of field rock or firewood, & be a lot safer to boot on land like you own. JMHO. 4x4 tractors changed the game as far as HP requirements & safety. But when the tail is wagging the dog like a trailer or wagon can do is another problem.
That leaves room for a sensibly priced 45-65 HP tractor for food plots & such.
This might sound intrusive or opinionated but I've lived in the immediate area all my life & could share many stories of roller coaster rides in a tractor. Some came out OK, some did not.
I think the guy who was pushing me onto the 70 HP MF 2600 H was thinking that eventually I'd want to hay the 40 acres I've got in pasture. He's also thinking about the land around us. It's hilly. We've got just under 200 feet of elevation difference between the lowest point and the highest point, but it is precipitous. There's a 60 foot drop over 300 feet just out back. I don't want to get into that. I'll deal with the easy stuff and leave the hard stuff to hired guys with the right equipment.
1) I've got a guy who hays the place every year. I let him have it (<70 round bales) just to be done with it. I don't mind the arrangement. 2) I'm going to cultivate maybe 1-2 acre food plots. 3) I'm going to bushhog no more than 10 acres a year. My biggest job is keeping an abandoned county road open so I can get to the back of the property. The forest is closing in on both sides. I know a flail mower would do the job, but that's a job that's going to be too big for any tractor I can afford. I'll hire that out. 4) The soil is fairly easy to cultivate. Normally one plowing (I can hire that out) and then just roto-tilling every few years. 5) I'd like to expand the trail system on the place, but as things are, the best way to do it is to bring in a dozer and then keep it groomed.
The stone hauling is a one-off thing. I've got piles and piles of field stone. This is what is precipitating the contemplation of a tractor, but a 70 HP animal is quite an investment for that one-time job. Beyond that, I'm not contemplating 20 acres of corn or beans. I'm not going to be schlepping hay bales all winter to feed cattle. I hope I can stay a happy acorn farmer-- feed the acorns to the deer and turkeys and then harvest the deer and turkeys.
My buddy has a 24 horse Kubota and loves it, but I can see it is probably too small. He's just using it around his house.
I bought my 3130HST new 20 some years ago. I replace a cylinder on the loader, and a loader hydraulic hose. No other issues. I have 800 hours on it, and because it is pre emission I can sell it for what I paid new. One of my better buys. I thought of a new one with loader forks to unload ton pallets of wood pellets, but it would have the emission stuff, so I’ll keep mine.
You might want to consider a good used 70's vintage Ford tractor. The x600 series (2600, 3600, 4600, etc) are solid work horses, and I see quite a few for sale that have front end loaders. I have a 2600, and it is a rock solid piece of equipment.
I inherited a Belarus tractor that is equipped with a front end loader from my dad. I haven't had time to exercise it yet, but he thought a lot of it.
===================== Boots were made for walking Winds were blowing change Boys fall in the jungle As I Came of Age
There were a couple of compact Deere's in my family, and then I married into a farm family who had some larger non-compact utility tractors.
There's a pretty wide chasm in farming capability between the old 544 Hydro Farmall (~55hp) and the little 42hp Deere 4105. I used the latter to run a pto hay rake this year and while it worked, it wasn't super comfortable doing so with the low-range hydros whining over hill and dale. The 544 runs the swather, rake and baler like they're barely there. It weighs well over 2x what the deere weighs. No loader on the 544 so it's only a haying and woodchipper tractor. It's older than I am and runs great.
The other two farm tractors are an old M7500dt kubota and an M8950dt kubota. They're both 4wd with loaders, big farm utility tractors, and they'll do things with loaders, hay equipment and tillage that the little deere can only dream of. Both are tired...one makes a click in first gear under load (presuming a chipped gear tooth) and the other has a cracked engine block extension (basically a casting that is the oil pan sides, to which the whole 4wd front end bolts). They should probably go down the road eventually, or maybe I get in and fix them.
However, my last two tractor jobs have been scraping sod down to hardpan for making a driveway and pouring a big 12x22 woodshed slab. The little deere worked fine for that, notwithstanding the low-range hydro growl. It's super handy for loader work.
There's a lot of plastic on the little deere, and others have mentioned the various safety shutoffs: PTO, gear position, operator in seat, etc. The real bummer is that you have to be in the seat to run the PTO, so I can't run our big woodchipper on it. The last time I got on and started it, the tach wouldn't work until I gave it a light "Fonzie slap". Little stuff like that on what is supposed to be a premium product sort of gets under my skin.
I think the future has us selling the Deere and its grapple and backblade for premium $$ (low hours, no emissions) and getting a pre-emissions 3-range hydrostatic drive kubota or New Holland instead.
if you're not doing tillage or hay, then compact/utility sounds right. I'd make sure the hydrostatic drive has 3 ranges, and that you end up with a grapple and a brush hog or flail mower. Rototiller is fine too. You'll pay Deere a lot of money for that, and probably get more for your money from the likes of Kubota/Kioti/New Holland/LS.
For the last 18 years I’ve had a Kubota L4400DT. Absolutely no problems that I didn’t cause. Trading it in soon on a Kubota MX5400 with 4WD, front bucket, extra rear hydraulics, and a grapple. I need that grapple, but didn’t know it till my neighbor got a Kioti with all the bells and whistles and a grapple. I had a good look at a Kioti, but no dealers close, so I went with Kubota.
I have a MF 1532 I bought as a demo in 2012, made in 2010 and had 51 hours on it and a quick detach loader. It’s been a great machine. Loader is rated for 1,200 lbs but I’ve lifted more with it, carefully. Considered trading up at one point but the dealer talked me out of it, less emissions stuff to deal with on the older machines. There are times when more power would be handy but this one maneuvers through woods easier and doesn’t tear the lawn up unless it’s really soft.
For hauling heavy loads regularly I’d recommend getting a decent trailer to go with it, or at least counter weight for the back end if you use the loader for transport.
I'm with you. Would love a bigger tractor. We have a MF 1705 and maintain 100 acres. Just rebuilt our 3/4 mile road with it and about 60 ton of crushed asphalt. Dam thing should have died years ago but except for a few hydraulic leaks and a few batteries, it just keeps going. Got a mini ex a couple years ago. I'll use the MF to trailer the the mini ex to wherever I need it, that way I got both. Kinda PIA to have to switch equipment but we are in for about 30k for both together, I can deal with it
Get on a site like Tractorhouse.com and search for a used one in whichever color you like. Remember, these are not pickups, passenger cars, or big box store lawn mowers but durable machines meant to work all day every day. A decades old one with a couple of thousand hours on it is like a late model pickup with 30k miles and still very viable.
This......in spades.
We have a John Deere 4020 on our 20 acres. Overkill, hell yes! It is a 1967 96 HP diesel tractor. It uses less fuel than the 25 HP Ford 8N, unless you are actually working it, such as plowing. Then, it still takes less fuel than the little tractor to do the same job.
In almost ten years, we have replaced the seals on the load sensor shaft under the rear end. And that was probably because I spent one summer dragging four dirt with it and had the shaft buried in grit all summer.
We also have a 1970 vintage International 70 HP for a loader tractor.
On a little place, a large ag tractor will never get worked hard enough to hurt it or wear it out.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
I think the guy who was pushing me onto the 70 HP MF 2600 H was thinking that eventually I'd want to hay the 40 acres I've got in pasture. He's also thinking about the land around us. It's hilly. We've got just under 200 feet of elevation difference between the lowest point and the highest point, but it is precipitous. There's a 60 foot drop over 300 feet just out back. I don't want to get into that. I'll deal with the easy stuff and leave the hard stuff to hired guys with the right equipment.
1) I've got a guy who hays the place every year. I let him have it (<70 round bales) just to be done with it. I don't mind the arrangement. 2) I'm going to cultivate maybe 1-2 acre food plots. 3) I'm going to bushhog no more than 10 acres a year. My biggest job is keeping an abandoned county road open so I can get to the back of the property. The forest is closing in on both sides. I know a flail mower would do the job, but that's a job that's going to be too big for any tractor I can afford. I'll hire that out. 4) The soil is fairly easy to cultivate. Normally one plowing (I can hire that out) and then just roto-tilling every few years. 5) I'd like to expand the trail system on the place, but as things are, the best way to do it is to bring in a dozer and then keep it groomed.
The stone hauling is a one-off thing. I've got piles and piles of field stone. This is what is precipitating the contemplation of a tractor, but a 70 HP animal is quite an investment for that one-time job. Beyond that, I'm not contemplating 20 acres of corn or beans. I'm not going to be schlepping hay bales all winter to feed cattle. I hope I can stay a happy acorn farmer-- feed the acorns to the deer and turkeys and then harvest the deer and turkeys.
My buddy has a 24 horse Kubota and loves it, but I can see it is probably too small. He's just using it around his house.
One more advantage of purchasing a 25 to 50 year old ag tractor. No depreciation!
When you are done with the heavy work, sell it for what you have in it.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
Unless you are super handy, a dealer is likely the most important factor. In terms of specs, if all other things are near equal, the heavier tractor gets the nod. Weight can help a lot in ground engaging and heavy load hauling. A quick hitch of some sort really helps when changing implements.
TractorHouse is a good source. I picked up a Kubota MX5400 HST 4x4 FEL with less than 5 hours with 2 years left on the warranties with implements I didn’t have for less than what I could have bought the tractor. Came with grapple, bucket, forks, third function and grader. If your area Kubota dealer has a good reputation that’s what I would go with for a utility tractor. If your needs are AG then I would look at the heaviest unit per HP. Wouldn’t consider a 2WD or without FEL (unless I had a FEL deal lined up). Forks are really handy.
One of my challenges will be hauling tons of fieldstone from the 200 acres back to the building site. I've got stone piles out the wazoo. THe problem is that they have to be dug out and loaded on something and transported up to a half-mile back to the house. Beyond that, I'll need something to mow, put in food plots, collect firewood and keep the roads open.
If I'm following, you want to dig up rock piles with loader tractor?
That is not going to be fun for a little loader tractor.
For $47k you can buy a whole fleet of 7000 series Allis Chalmers and they’ll have enough weight to actually do something. I think at one time my uncle had a half dozen he picked up for $5k-$7k at farm auctions, and he wasn’t just playing with them, but mixing feed daily for several hundred milk cows plus raising a lot of their feed. Blow a motor up? Big deal, now you’ve got a parts tractor for the other 5…
Not as cushy as a new Deere, but the price was right.
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