mowing vs landscaping tractors. Do I need 2 tractors?

[sdk1968]

read the whole thread.....

had 2 tractors... sold 1 & instantly wife said we needed 2 again... been kicking it around..

in all honesty? NEED vs WANT is the key.

im working over 15 acres of heavy woods, cutting trails, bushhogging, stumpgrinding, wood chipping, snow plowing... & doing it ALL with a B2601.

THOUGHT i needed a bigger tractor & was headed that way... then spent another whole day on the 2601 & realized that actually i DONT need another or a bigger one. just WANT one.

it might take me a hair longer to clear a trail than it does with a bigger tractor, but its very easily doable.

the deciding factor for you should really be all about that back hoe. are you gonna play with it? like most people do with a BX? some trees, some rocks, some ditches, bury some animals....

or are you gonna actually WORK it? footers, stumps, basements....

if you are gonna do the big work? SURE go 2650 or bigger. weight is your friend then.

if you are gonna just mess around & dont wanna tear up the yard? keep that BX & get you toothbar. go look at my trails thread & see what a small tractor & a little patience can do.

now when it comes to mowing? im gonna go away from the usual gang here. I love my Kubo......

but a good ZT mower that is designed for hilly/rougher terrain will mow circles around any tractor with less yard damage & way more speed.

 

[bluelou212]

read the whole thread.....

had 2 tractors... sold 1 & instantly wife said we needed 2 again... been kicking it around..

in all honesty? NEED vs WANT is the key.

im working over 15 acres of heavy woods, cutting trails, bushhogging, stumpgrinding, wood chipping, snow plowing... & doing it ALL with a B2601.

THOUGHT i needed a bigger tractor & was headed that way... then spent another whole day on the 2601 & realized that actually i DONT need another or a bigger one. just WANT one.

it might take me a hair longer to clear a trail than it does with a bigger tractor, but its very easily doable.

the deciding factor for you should really be all about that back hoe. are you gonna play with it? like most people do with a BX? some trees, some rocks, some ditches, bury some animals....

or are you gonna actually WORK it? footers, stumps, basements....

if you are gonna do the big work? SURE go 2650 or bigger. weight is your friend then.

if you are gonna just mess around & dont wanna tear up the yard? keep that BX & get you toothbar. go look at my trails thread & see what a small tractor & a little patience can do.

now when it comes to mowing? im gonna go away from the usual gang here. I love my Kubo......

but a good ZT mower that is designed for hilly/rougher terrain will mow circles around any tractor with less yard damage & way more speed.

sdk1968,
I'd rather not have any tractors or mowers at all. But, I really can't stand paying up for operator day rates when I can be the operator.

Really, it's the mountainside + constant stone work, trenching, hardscaping, brush hogging, and clearing that's got me. I'm swinging a mattock every warm weekend and at 51 y.o. that's not something I want to do much longer. I didn't buy the BX for that type of work but that's the direction we're going in. The BX just doesn't have the weight or clearance for that kind of work.

Does that mean L is better than B? I could care less. I just want to get the right machine this time around. As for the mowing part, I'm not sure about a ZT vs keeping the BX. I'll lose on the trade-in + tax on the ZT and end up maybe $4k ahead for that trade. I'm sure my dealer will love me, tho.

RE: the hoe. I would just sub out everything if I didn't get the hoe+thumb. I paid someone to clear 30 ton of fieldstone out of < 1/2 acre out of 30 acres to level the lot some and because we needed the stone for a large patio + chimney. I've got another mile of stone walls we'd like to recycle. Also, lots of planting going on. Maybe I could use the machine for a few years and then sell it.

I forgot to mention, we've got another cabin on the property and large pond which we rent out for the weekends. Maintaining that is a whole other set of projects.

 

[sdk1968]

YES. feel your pain.. im right at 50 & doing the same things...

YES you will take a bath on the BX only being a year old. so if you dont have to sell it? keep it & have a lightweight run about set up & your heavy set up.

not a tractor expert like lots of the guys here are.... i only know what they teach me.

they have held my hands & pulled me through everything i do on this little farm....

the "deluxe B" does everything you can realistically ask of it without being greedy. & if you want to stay out of the emissions & such? then 2601 or 2650 is for you unless you go back to an older tractor(maybe a B3200?)

the next thing is SPACE. you got land like mine... so im guessing you want your trails & space to be useable & fun .... so the B is smaller & fits between trees much better than the Big L's.

if you really are gonna work it hard & can get your money out of the investment? then let Sheepfarmer talk you into that Grand L 3650!!
THATS A TRACTOR!!
she had me setting at my dealer begging for one...

fortunately my beautiful dealer lady (Lesa) helped convince me to take the 2601 out for 1 more day & "work it hard".... she said i would be surprised at what i could do with it. she was right.

can it pick up a 1000lb round bail & stick it on my roof? NOPE.
but i did find out it can clear 5' wide by about 600' of briars, sapplings, rocks, boulders & dead trees very quickly. we have wood chipped 36 55gallon drums of branches & now im getting ready to start on stump grinding with it.. all it did besides WORK... was add a couple scratches to the ROP bar.

look forward to reading what you get & seeing you enjoy it!

 

[bluelou212]

YES. feel your pain.. im right at 50 & doing the same things...

YES you will take a bath on the BX only being a year old. so if you dont have to sell it? keep it & have a lightweight run about set up & your heavy set up.

not a tractor expert like lots of the guys here are.... i only know what they teach me.

they have held my hands & pulled me through everything i do on this little farm....

the "deluxe B" does everything you can realistically ask of it without being greedy. & if you want to stay out of the emissions & such? then 2601 or 2650 is for you unless you go back to an older tractor(maybe a B3200?)

the next thing is SPACE. you got land like mine... so im guessing you want your trails & space to be useable & fun .... so the B is smaller & fits between trees much better than the Big L's.

if you really are gonna work it hard & can get your money out of the investment? then let Sheepfarmer talk you into that Grand L 3650!!
THATS A TRACTOR!!
she had me setting at my dealer begging for one...

fortunately my beautiful dealer lady (Lesa) helped convince me to take the 2601 out for 1 more day & "work it hard".... she said i would be surprised at what i could do with it. she was right.

can it pick up a 1000lb round bail & stick it on my roof? NOPE.
but i did find out it can clear 5' wide by about 600' of briars, sapplings, rocks, boulders & dead trees very quickly. we have wood chipped 36 55gallon drums of branches & now im getting ready to start on stump grinding with it.. all it did besides WORK... was add a couple scratches to the ROP bar.

look forward to reading what you get & seeing you enjoy it!

In fact, we're looking at the B's and the L's. I've got prices on a few Bs and just waiting on one more L price, for the L3901. There's almost $5k in dealer incentives if we move before year end so we have the motivation to settle this in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted ; )

 

[bluelou212]

sdk1968,
BTW, where in Ohio? My family is from Chardon (30 mi east of Cleveland) and my wife's family owns a bunch of farmland near Toledo, right on the Michigan border. We both grew up around construction/ag (asphalt paving, homebuilding, farming). But, the current stuff is pure hobby for us.

 

[sdk1968]

sdk1968,
BTW, where in Ohio? My family is from Chardon (30 mi east of Cleveland) and my wife's family owns a bunch of farmland near Toledo, right on the Michigan border. We both grew up around construction/ag (asphalt paving, homebuilding, farming). But, the current stuff is pure hobby for us.

im in 45631... southeastern ohio..

but im from South Point Ohio.. the absolute most southern point... overlooking Wva, OH & Ky all at the same time.

moved "up" to southeastern Ohio.

thats a Buckeye joke that other people wont get...

 

[prof.fate]

there's of course the 'want'.. and then there's the 'need'..we can easily justify a need and usually a want as well.

Can you rent what you need for those odd jobs? Bobcat of Pgh will rent anything to anyone, delivery and pickup included.

For those times I've needed an excavator it's been THE way to go - $250 for a 3 day weekend..I can get A LOT done if I plan properly. Usually only need to do this every 3 years or so.

My girlfriend has been hiring out a lot of stuff - one being brushhogging her horse fields.

Here's the math- $400 3 times a year, $1200 - TOTAL. She can pay that for decades before it reaches the cost of owning a tractor.
Vs buying a $20-25,000 tractor, storage and maintenance, etc.

Now she's hired out other stuff..so the $1200 is no doubt higher, and she's at the mercy of those she hires - when they can come, etc. BUT her time isn't tied up mowing either.

She's of course given up other things - she's mowing some of the area with a heavy duty lawn tractor and it's more than it was designed to do..so there's down time and maintenance/repair costs on it (hence her apprehension at a more expensive tractor).

Now with the L175 we can level dirt/the driveway, pull posts, soon plan them as well - so things can be done that she would have LIKED to do but couldn't afford or justify hiring out. So, well, you could say having a tractor had made more work for us... LOL

The tractor was a whole $700...the attachments are gonna rack up $2k or a bit more...so even this modest investment will take a couple of years to 'justify' itself.

Now she wants Hi-T fence and was planning to hire it out. I'm suggesting we do it..convinced her to do one paddock and test how much time and effort this takes. I've never used a powered post hole digger of any kind...it was suggested we rent a bobcat with that and a post driver - bigger than our tractor so it will go faster and easier. And since this is a one time deal...

So while I WANT all sorts of things, it's often more logical to rent/beg/borrow or hire it out.

And yes, a smaller tractor works slower than a bigger one..but it's cheaper than a big one and still faster than a pick axe and wheel barrow!

Also consider the learning curve..i'm learning to use a box blade..i've got 4 or 5 hours and still learning what I can, cannot do and how to do it...hiring a pro gets it down faster and right the first time.

 

[bluelou212]

Update. So, here's what I ended up with. Kept the BX2670 and will use for mowing and my wife wants to use for gardening. Also, bought an L3901 TLB and some attachments. Just signed on Friday. Here's the final setup on that:

Tractor: L3901 HST 4WD TLB with standard ssqa bucket and hoe with thumb.

Attachments:
Land Pride SCG 10 61" grapple
Land Pride 72" brush hog
Bobcat pallet forks

Wish list:
Skidding winch
PTO chipper


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[sheepfarmer]

Perfect resolution!

 

[bluelou212]

Perfect resolution!

Thx sheepfarmer. Merry Christmas!

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