Tractors...

Took delivery of a big tent today, barely able to do it. Vertical box was a real pain and the bottom was broken so it wasn't stable, did not enjoy moving that one down the highway from my business to these containers. had to have help crossing the road as I couldn't see a thing as I was driving.

If you don't have forks on your tractor, what are you even doing! These things have saved my butt moving big logs and let me handle commercial deliveries, saving more than they cost, without question. They are close to my favorite attachment I own!

 

Going to be in the market for a tractor shortly. Long story short, we live off-grid on 21 acres. We have a farm with lots of animals. I need something that will do a variety of tasks. Front bucket, forks for unloading hay bales (1500-1700lbs on average), Backhoe, auger (fence work), plow (snow removal), box blade (road maintenance), tiller (crop planting), etc. Pretty much every attachment will see use in what we do. We are looking at preparing 1-2 acres for growing our own alfalfa and grains for feed for the animals. Lots of digging and moving dirt as well (we are on about a 2% grade property wide with some areas seeing 4% or higher with dips, etc. I rent a mini-ex on occasion because that is the max the Tundra will tow. I have operated large machinery (backhoe, Trackhoe, bulldozers, etc) so i'm no stranger to operation and upkeep. My concern is how "Big" of a unit do I need to realistically not ride the ragged edge on capacities with the hay bales being the most use for the tractor followed closely by dirt work.

 

I think you are at least around 40hp, and to make your work easier I think 50-60 should do everything you want, and do it strongly. Make sure to pay attention to total tractor weight, the more the better! I have a 40hp with 30ish at the pto. I do most of what you do besides growing grass, but my fields do that and I mow them down with the brushhog. If you had a 50-60hp that could lift 2k or more, I think you'd be able to cruise through most chores. I love tractorbynet.com for my tractor forum.

My tractor could come close to doing everything you want at 38hp and about 4k lbs with weighted tires, but I could do it happily stepping up to a more ag tractor than hobby tractor I have.

 

I appreciate the input and the link to the tractor forum. I am looking at something like a Kubota L6060 or a John Deer 5060E which come in around 60hp / 50ish at the PTO. I prefer a little buffer so I'm not riding the ragged edge all the time.

 

Those Kubota's are excellent machines. I'm a huge fan of them. I agree that you should go bigger than you need if you can swing it.

 

Just finished a little side job that I picked up through my normal side job. I haul scrap to make extra money, and I picked up a load from a couple that were trying to clean up the woman's parent's house and property. After picking up the metal they asked me if I knew anyone who did field mowing. Through a little negotiating I worked a deal to borrow my dad's Ford 3000 and brush hog and take care of the field. I'm going to call it a learning experience. On the plus side, I'll never turn down seat time on a tractor and the pay was alright. The learning side though is that you always need to establish the property borders BEFORE you work if they're not clearly marked, and that weeds can push hair pins out allowing things to fall off.

To the first learned lesson, I ended up cutting close to 10 acres over two Saturdays. Before I began cutting, I was told that a white capped T-post marked the northern edge of the property. What I didn't hear was that it also marked the east edge. So, I went along my merry way running the mower, and cut both parcels, even though I was only paid to cut one.

The second lesson was much more of a pucker moment. To haul the tractor (see the first picture with my daughter posing on grandpa's tractor on the trailer) my dad uses a hitch receiver mounted in the front, with a chain and binder. It works well, holds the tractor steady during transport and is fast. What I didn't realize is the tall weeds (Between 3-5' tall) had enough strength and mass to push the hair pin out of the hitch pin. On one of my U-turns, the receiver fell out. On a subsequent U-turn, I found said receiver with the brush hog in a very loud and terrifying fashion. Surprisingly to me, the mower ended up winning the battle. I cut for another 3-4 hours after hitting it.

The weather was rather uncooperative, hence taking two Saturdays to cut. We've gotten a lot of rain in the last two weeks here in Colorado, and scheduling around thunderstorms has been a challenge, as has the soft ground in the fields.

Time will tell if I do this again but it sure was fun turning diesel into smoke and noise and cutting some weeds down.

 

I will be using my L2502 this weekend spreading lime if we don't get rained out

 

4wd 57 HP Kabota for the win

 

Back in business.... ran the brush hog for a bit and then went and got the box blade... going to work on leveling the dirt in the barn a bit more so I can order the first round of flooring...

 

Tractor put in proper work today fellas. I’m impressed it pulled the engine and trans together!

 

A little counter weight goes a long way! The little tractors are always impressive in their capabilities imo.

 

Yessir. Hydraulics are amazing

 

Dammit!!!
Just stumbled across this thread again!!
Dammit now I want another tractor and I'm living in the Burbs!!
Someday soon...someday...

 

Made myself a driveway drag the last few evenings. Damn UPS/ FedEx/Amazon think my driveway is a race track it's a 800 feet long and chatter the hell out of it. The box blade works but you have to really pay attention when doing it. Tried it out last night before I painted it today and it works awesome.

 

Never stopped my dad...

 

Adding some TS LED's to the ROP

 

That is the most awesome thing I've seen today!

 

Yea, it's rather funny now that Dad doesn't have the family farm to work on equipment. He gets some weird looks when he pulls into suburbia with his equipment. But it won't be for much longer. Dad turns 70 in a few weeks, and the more often I talk to him about it the more he says this may be his last year haying. At this point its solely for money and keeping active but a lifetime of this and blue-collar work is starting to show significantly.

On the plus side though, I am set to take over his Ford 3000 when he hangs up the haying. I wish I could take the rest of the hay equipment and keep it going around my place, but I just don't have the time or infrastructure. I've got 2.5 acres and storing the big 856, a swather, rake and baler plus the Ford and my Farmall 400, and all my other motorized hobbies, I think my girlfriend would have an aneurism...

 

The holes I used are done at the Kabota factory.There are 4 holes.2 holes towards the top of the ROP and 2 near the bottom on right and left side all covered with a sticker the same color as the ROP. These are there for the mounting of accessories.My L2502 also has pre wired electrical connections on the left side fender for lights.... No drilling

 

I generally use a york rake on the drive and parking at our business. But probably twice a year it calls for the rippers and a land plane. If you don't rip the holes, they'll be back next rain! Probably should have done it two weeks ago, but its been so dry I wanted it to loosen up a bit. Had about an inch over the weekend and went for it. Happy with the results. I used to put the rake back on and get rid of the little lines from the sides of the landplane, but its a never ending process to get "perfect" and with people driving in and they get erased naturally in 2-3 days.