Have you spent a few minutes and figured out what you want to do with the tractor. Besides snow plowing, what else do you do with a tractor? How much snow plowing do you do? Do you do it with the loader bucket or a plow? What is your budget? What are your mechanical abilities? What is your tractor operating experience? Figuring out these things before looking at tractors can help you narrow down the size and age of tractors to look at. Also, tractor prices can vary by region of the country. Keep asking questions on here, lots of good people and advice here. Don’t get discouraged by the few crotchety, know it all ones that will give you harassing answers.
Well, like a lot of guys I've probably actually spent too much time thinking about it. The main thing would be moving snow. Sometimes it's just too much for the Ferguson and sometimes it would be really nice to be able to move a big pile without high speed ramming it. I don't have a bucket. I also can't plow uphill which would be nice. There have been a few storms where the Ferguson just couldn't do it and I had to call someone. I do get it done 90+% of the time though. It just seems to beat up on the old tractor because I often have to use momentum when I simply don't have the traction.
One of the main things I'd like to be able to do is go anywhere I need on my land in the winter. In NW Wisconsin we can get a lot of snow and sometimes I'm bound to the few areas I've plowed with the the Ferguson. A couple winters ago I had to retrieve a vehicle from behind my shed and tried to pull it out with my Ferguson in 2 feet of snow. I nearly destroyed the tractor and the vehicle in the process. Had my neighbor come over with his 4WD tractor. We hooked the chain up and he just walked it out no sweat.
Also, I've been seriously considering getting cattle again and I feed out round bales in the pasture (helps the pasture a ton). There were some winters when this wasn't even possible. It would also be nice to be able to lift the bales up without pushing the limits of the tractor and also stack them with the loader.
I also have ruts and erosion that I would like to fix, dirt/gravel/sand to move, sheds to straighten, heavy things to lift into the loft, and probably a bunch of things I don't even know about 'till I buy one.
Field work (I don't do a ton, but a little here and there) and maybe brush hogging will be done with the gear-drive Ferguson. It was born for that. I've had it here on my 50 acre hobby farm for almost 20 years and I have a lot of hours on the seat.
I'm not sure what size utility tractor I'd need. I suppose, like when you build something, it's always better to go a little bigger and avoid regret. My budget right now is not super high (hence the high-hour one I linked to). But I may have to alter that if I can't find what I need cheaply.
