Tractors

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CeeZar

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Jul 6, 2018
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I'm about to buy 6.4 acres and build a house. This is roughly 3 acres field and the rest woods. I haven't had is surveyed yet, but am hoping it can support about 1ish acre lake. So I need/want a small tractor. I have no experience with a tractor other than the hours of youtube videos I've been watching.

I have a zero turn and will use it for lawn so won't use a belly mower but will need to mow the fields, along the road, and tree line. Mostly I think I will need it to clear brush and cut paths through woods. It seems Deere and Kubota are the most favored brands but 1, 2, 3 series Deere, BX, B, LX, L series Kubota? 25HP, 33HP, more? Best attachements?

Any advice is appreciate.
 

nighttrain

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my brother in law, who is pretty knowledgeable swears by John Deere 455 Engine. 22HP Yanmar 881cc 3-cyl diesel. Fuel tank, 6.5 gal 24.6 L, it's a belly mower, but they all are
train in Iowa
 

Selassie I

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I'm not an expert... but my Grandparent's had a big orange grove back in the day. My Grandad went through a number of tractors before he finally bit the bullet and bought a Kubota. He swore if he had just bought one to begin with he would have saved a ton of money compared to the others and their routine breakdowns and aggravation. That Kubota never needed anything but preventative maintenance. Always cranked immediately too.

I only used it to pile up dirt/sand to create big ramps to jump my dirt bike. The last one I made helped me end my dirt bike jumping... I landed IN one of the orange trees.

We have friends now who have a small farm with a few cows and a horse... they also grow their own vegetables. It's about 15 acres I'm guessing. They had a similar experience with tractors constantly not working until they bought a Kubota about 4 years ago. They swear by it now.

That's all I got Brudda. Like I said... I'm not expert, but I know a Kubota is worth the price and won't let you down.
 

Tano

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I'm about to buy 6.4 acres and build a house. This is roughly 3 acres field and the rest woods. I haven't had is surveyed yet, but am hoping it can support about 1ish acre lake. So I need/want a small tractor. I have no experience with a tractor other than the hours of youtube videos I've been watching.

I have a zero turn and will use it for lawn so won't use a belly mower but will need to mow the fields, along the road, and tree line. Mostly I think I will need it to clear brush and cut paths through woods. It seems Deere and Kubota are the most favored brands but 1, 2, 3 series Deere, BX, B, LX, L series Kubota? 25HP, 33HP, more? Best attachements?

Any advice is appreciate.
As one of our former forum brethren said - you need to get Wentz
 

RamFan503

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My brother did quite a bit of research before buying a smallish Kubota backhoe. He bought 10 acres several years ago and built a house and "barn" (aka giant man cave). He has used it for anything from digging and grading out his house footings, to trenching for utilities, to moving around some pretty big boulders. He swears by it.

If you'd like, I can find out what model it is. Mainly, I think you just need to figure out what size you need.

In landscaping, I've used several John Deeres, Kubotas, and Bob Cats. I definitely prefer the Kubota. The controls on the Kubota just work more smoothly than the John Deere. The Bob Cat is a good choice for tight areas but IMO is more limited.

As for attachments... I would suggest a flail mower, hoe, blade, and front bucket (not sure if that's actually what it's called).

All that said, unless you're going to be using it constantly, you may want to consider just renting one. Or see if you can rent models that you are considering buying so you can test drive them.
 

Psycho_X

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Jan 14, 2013
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Whatever you decide to do just make sure you compare the tractors capabilities to the requirements of your attachments/implements. Does tractor have enough HP (engine and PTO HP-two very different things)? Do they require PTO/hydraulics/3 point hitch/etc and does tractor have said capabilities and power for each? What's the hauling/towing capacity of said tractor? If you buy a 15' batwing mower (random example) that has minimum requirements of 60 HP you really don't want a tractor that barely meets that HP... it's going to struggle if not be inadequate under most conditions. Need some breathing room... especially if your land has inclines or tough geography such as heavy vegetation or trees you'll have to deal with.

If you go through a dealer they should be able to help you with all of that especially if you match up brands. But that's usually pretty expensive for a small operation. Usually a lot of farm estate sales, auctions, etc where you can get adequate used equipment for your needs at a fraction of the cost but that's where you want to do your research before sinking money into something.

But that's my main point... you'll probably be buying equipment from multiple sources so just make sure it all works together before committing.
 

CeeZar

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Jul 6, 2018
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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8
My brother did quite a bit of research before buying a smallish Kubota backhoe. He bought 10 acres several years ago and built a house and "barn" (aka giant man cave). He has used it for anything from digging and grading out his house footings, to trenching for utilities, to moving around some pretty big boulders. He swears by it.

If you'd like, I can find out what model it is. Mainly, I think you just need to figure out what size you need.

In landscaping, I've used several John Deeres, Kubotas, and Bob Cats. I definitely prefer the Kubota. The controls on the Kubota just work more smoothly than the John Deere. The Bob Cat is a good choice for tight areas but IMO is more limited.

As for attachments... I would suggest a flail mower, hoe, blade, and front bucket (not sure if that's actually what it's called).

All that said, unless you're going to be using it constantly, you may want to consider just renting one. Or see if you can rent models that you are considering buying so you can test drive them.
I'd be interested to know what model Kubota. I am leaning that way due to reliability and just general ease of use. The only two reasons I would get a Deere at this point is that the dealer is a bit closer and IF I were to get a belly mower, it is drive over and auto connect.

I will likely buy used if I can get one. Since I expect to use it a lot over the first couple years of owning the property and don't want to deal with the hassle of rental.

Loader, box blade, flail mower, and grapple are on the list of attachments and maybe an auger.
 

nighttrain

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Jan 12, 2013
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I'd be interested to know what model Kubota. I am leaning that way due to reliability and just general ease of use. The only two reasons I would get a Deere at this point is that the dealer is a bit closer and IF I were to get a belly mower, it is drive over and auto connect.

I will likely buy used if I can get one. Since I expect to use it a lot over the first couple years of owning the property and don't want to deal with the hassle of rental.

Loader, box blade, flail mower, and grapple are on the list of attachments and maybe an auger.
my brother in laws 445 is 29 years old and never been worked on, just regular maintenance
train
 

Loyal

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I'd be interested to know what model Kubota. I am leaning that way due to reliability and just general ease of use. The only two reasons I would get a Deere at this point is that the dealer is a bit closer and IF I were to get a belly mower, it is drive over and auto connect.

I will likely buy used if I can get one. Since I expect to use it a lot over the first couple years of owning the property and don't want to deal with the hassle of rental.

Loader, box blade, flail mower, and grapple are on the list of attachments and maybe an auger.
My only advice is from my limited experience. We bought a medium size Kubota tractor, along with a brush hog, rototiller, front bucket/blade.and a grader. and it was great. If I bought another tractor in the future, I would get an automatic transmission for ease of use.
The only reason I would get a John Deere tractor is because of service. There is a Deere dealer in my town and at the time there wasn't a Kubota dealer for 80 miles. This matters, of course, when you need servicing and the transportation of it was really hard (at least for me)
 

RhodyRams

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I have no opinion, but sounds like a good topic for @Mister Sin maybe?
 

RamFan503

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Here's a screen shot of info my brother sent me.
Screenshot_20230615-084158.png
 

CeeZar

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17
Sorry @CeeZar but all I can think about is the Tractor Story from Seinfeld. The one where Jerry’s gf got gonorrhea from riding a tractor lol.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ73NKS3B1c

This is so true and not just for tractors. My wife got gonorrhea from my neighbor's motorcycle seat when he took her for a ride around the block when I was out of town for a weekend. Be careful out there.