Anyone lease a smaller tractor?

I am looking at maybe leasing a small tractor and loader for the purpose of handling palleted material outside. Also thinking that I may use it at other times to move some round bales so that would impact the size I need.

My question is: has anyone leased a tractor/loader this size? What brand-model? What were the terms of the lease? Length and cost etc.

Suggestions?

If you can think of something else to use to quickly handle palleted stuff that only weighs 300-400 lbs and might be able to handle round bales weighing upwards of 1500 pounds, I am all ears.

Big range of weights there, but a skid loader might be handier . Is this short term or long term? Most rental companies have skid loaders,but no tractors.The problem with small tractors is you need a lot of weight on the back end to lift a big bale. My tractor, a 25HP Kubota, I have to put a heavy implement on the back and add weight to it .If not the back end will come off the ground with 800 #'s.

Bale spears will work better than forks for bales and a medium size generally will lift 1500# bales .You might be able to rent both forks and spears with the skid loader

Last I checked, skid loaders went for about $125/day. I don't know about long term leases though

Reason fro the tractor idea is because I will be running on uneven ground. Gravel, dirt, pavement etc. and I will be covering some distance at times. That combined with the added functionality of a tractor made me think about leasing a little ~40hp tractor.

I know counter weights would be required. If I were to use the tractor for bales, I would switch to a spear on the back and on the loader.

Local crop and grain outfit has a little cat challenger tractor they're using. Think they are leasing it. Got a call into them to check into their terms.

John Deere had a very good leasing deal going on some of their smaller tractors a few years ago. These were your basic tractor.......2 wheel drive, 40-60 HP, no frills whatsoever, pretty much just a tractor to pull something with. I think they were leasing in the $2000 a year range or maybe less, and allowing 300 hours of use. I even thought about getting one myself. You could upgrade to front wheel assist and a loader, but that was quite a bit higher. They leased a bunch of them around here, and had a long waiting list. Most farmers were getting them to pull tobacco wagons around.

Keep one thing in mind when using a tractor and loader......the more weight your tractor has, the better it handles a loader and a load. I have 3 tractors with loaders.......a sub-compact JD, a compact 45 HP NH, and a 80 HP NH. As to how they handle a load is not even close, as the bigger the better. I'm not sure a 40 HP will handle what you think it will. Large round bales can weigh a lot, depending on the kind of hay, and how dry the bales are. I feed the large round bales, and use my biggest tractor to haul them. I wouldn't even attempt it with the 45 HP, and it's 4-WD with fluid in the rear tires. It's the weight of the tractor, rather than the power.

The uneven ground makes JamesJr's point even more important.

A large skid loader will move round bales that weigh 1500#. I move round bales with a skid steer using a bale fork. It is a Bobcat with a Kubota and designated as a 763. It is marginal at best and if the bales weigh more than 1200# it gets pretty prone to tipping. If there were 1500# bales to move you need about 2000# lift capacity, especially on uneven ground. A skid loader is better moving pallets around than a tractor simply due it its tight turning radius.

I would not move round bales with a tractor that had less than about 75 hp. You can do it with a smaller hp tractor but not over the long haul, at least in my experience. .

I've found that the horsepower of a tractor has less to do with it than does the weight and hydraulic capacity. I have a neighbor who has a 45-50 HP Long tractor, an older one with a frontend loader, and he feeds a big herd of cattle. He handles several hundred round bales every year, not only hauling them out to feed, but moving them out of the field, loading on a trailer to move, and then unloading and stacking. His tractor has held up under all that work, but it's made of all metal, not part fiberglass like many tractors are today.

I used to use a 60HP Ford to feed with, and never saw a bale it wouldn't pick up. That tractor burned up, and before I bought another one, I used my in-laws 45HP Case-IH and it worked just fine also. But, these were older tractors that were heavier than the ones made today.

Having said all of that, I'll agree that the more HP you have is a definite plus. I currently use my 80HP NH tractor as my hay tractor, and wouldn't want anything smaller.

The most my 27 hp Kubota will lift are 3 x 3 x 8 bales that weigh about 800 pounds. Anything more and the back end will lift up even with an extra 100 pounds of lead on the rear blade

What everyone else is saying...…………

We're Kubota folks. 300-400 lbs is BX Series work...…….the sub-compact. Much more than 1500 lbs puckers my hind end in our M-Series cab tractor (loaded rears @ +/- 9500 lbs of machine) on anything but pool table level ground.

Always, ALWAYS bear in mind that most all brands of new tractors will physically lift more with the front loader than you should safely have in it.