What tractor for 26 acres?

[BlueMule65]

I just bought an LX2610 for my 2 acres but came across a deal on 26 acres and am having second thoughts on my purchase. I was thinking of upgrading but wasn't sure if a L4701 or a MX5400 would be better for that amount of land. I'll probably end up baling a lot of it and have a lot of loader work to do to clear some of the land. I want something that can run an 8'+ bush hog, square baler, and pull a hay wagon safely on some moderate hills. It's only a $5k difference between the two, so I am leaning toward the MX5400 right now.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Sounds like you've made up your mind and others will say 'bigger is better', though I remember when 2 horses would work 50 acres...
The smaller tractor would give you $5K to help buy the bush hog,baler and hay wagon.......
options, there's always options...
grab a piece of paper and pencil ,make a 'spreadsheet' of the pros and cons of each tractor, be sure to include service costs,fuel,speed, etc.
For instance,I don't know if the 54 will run a baler faster/cheaper than the 47 ?

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I just bought an LX2610 for my 2 acres but came across a deal on 26 acres and am having second thoughts on my purchase. I was thinking of upgrading but wasn't sure if a L4701 or a MX5400 would be better for that amount of land. I'll probably end up baling a lot of it and have a lot of loader work to do to clear some of the land. I want something that can run an 8'+ bush hog, square baler, and pull a hay wagon safely on some moderate hills. It's only a $5k difference between the two, so I am leaning toward the MX5400 right now.

Welcome to my world. I have a B that is used mainly at my home (small woods), then I have another larger property similar to what considering and I am trying to add to that and I use an MX most of the work there. A B will do whatever you want except it is limited by the weight of things it can lift/move and I obviously it takes smaller bites of the elephant…so pending your free time it may be fine. For some of your thoughts you mentioned for tasks, maybe also give an M a look. Its a lot more machine for the money IMO.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I want something that can run an 8'+ bush hog,

If that's a firm requirement, I think that's a deal breaker for the 2610. 5 foot would be the recommended size for that tractor.

If you can downsize your bush hog and take more passes, that's another story. When it comes to getting work done, many jobs can be done by smaller machines, but it takes longer. You are trading HP for time.

How much time do you have?

But then, depending on the job, sometimes there's just no substitute for brute force. For example, if you want to lift large loads, you just need enough HP to get the job done. You can't do any time/HP swapping there.

 

[JasonW]

8’ bush hog is 60-70hp range to be effective speed wise. Do you already have hay equipment? Might be cost effective to have a local farmer to bail it.

 

[fried1765]

Sounds like you've made up your mind and others will say 'bigger is better', though I remember when 2 horses would work 50 acres...
The smaller tractor would give you $5K to help buy the bush hog,baler and hay wagon.......
options, there's always options...
grab a piece of paper and pencil ,make a 'spreadsheet' of the pros and cons of each tractor, be sure to include service costs,fuel,speed, etc.
For instance,I don't know if the 54 will run a baler faster/cheaper than the 47 ?

"service costs, fuel" ???
Really???
If a person needs to consider "service costs, fuel" for tractor use on only 26 acres......
They really cannot afford to even buy a tractor.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm... say he gets hay off 20 acres, 100 bales/acre ,so 2,000 bales. What's a bale of hay sell for ? $10 ??
$20K is a nice income but....really need to calculate the actual cost to make the hay.Tractor fuel,repairs, twine,etc.
I'd think a smart farmer will spend 1/3 of his 'farming' time doing actual farming and 1/3rd will be 'books'. The other 1/3rd will be sittin on the front porch watching the sun go down, sippin a cold one.

 

[BobInSD]

hmm... say he gets hay off 20 acres, 100 bales/acre ,so 2,000 bales. What's a bale of hay sell for ? $10 ??
$20K is a nice income but....really need to calculate the actual cost to make the hay.Tractor fuel,repairs, twine,etc.
I'd think a smart farmer will spend 1/3 of his 'farming' time doing actual farming and 1/3rd will be 'books'. The other 1/3rd will be sittin on the front porch watching the sun go down, sippin a cold one.

Talked to a lot of hay-guys at the red diesel pumps this summer . Fuel cost was a definite concern.

 

[fried1765]

hmm... say he gets hay off 20 acres, 100 bales/acre ,so 2,000 bales. What's a bale of hay sell for ? $10 ??
$20K is a nice income but....really need to calculate the actual cost to make the hay.Tractor fuel,repairs, twine,etc.
I'd think a smart farmer will spend 1/3 of his 'farming' time doing actual farming and 1/3rd will be 'books'. The other 1/3rd will be sittin on the front porch watching the sun go down, sippin a cold one.

OK...... so......said "hay farmer" takes in $20K and spends $3K for fuel and maintenance.
If he bought a tractor with fuel and maintenance costs at only $2k he would save $1K.
5% less (of the total income) is not much, in the big picture of the 26 acre hay baling operation.

He should simply buy the tractor that he feels will do the best job making hay for him!
"Penny wise and pound foolish" is a trap that folks are frequently unwittingly caught in.

 

[PaulL]

If you can change with no penalty (tractor not delivered yet) then change. A B2610 won't do hay, and won't run a 8 foot cutter. The MX isn't that much more money, and it's way more machine. For 26 acres and the tasks you describe it would be much more suitable.

Having said that, I agree with others that making hay yourself is probably not good economics. So long as you're doing it for fun not for money, that's fine. Get an old square baler, fix it every year when you go to use it, it'll be lots of fun.

 

[jimh406]

I would go with a MX5400 or MX6000 with Cab. You'll appreciate a Cab haying. Since you want to hay, you pick up a few haying jobs, or mowing jobs to help pay for the implements and tractor.

 

[hedgerow]

I just bought an LX2610 for my 2 acres but came across a deal on 26 acres and am having second thoughts on my purchase. I was thinking of upgrading but wasn't sure if a L4701 or a MX5400 would be better for that amount of land. I'll probably end up baling a lot of it and have a lot of loader work to do to clear some of the land. I want something that can run an 8'+ bush hog, square baler, and pull a hay wagon safely on some moderate hills. It's only a $5k difference between the two, so I am leaning toward the MX5400 right now.

I would go for the MX but would probably bump it up and go MX6000. It will run a eight foot bush hog and a small square baler with no problem. Unless your going to put a lot of hours on in the winter pushing snow I would skip the cab its a big price difference to get the cab. I do a ton of spot spraying in the summer so a cab wouldn't work for me but my MX6000 sets in the shed in the winter. I push snow with my S-850 skid loader with heat and AC.

 

[mcmxi]

I would go for the MX but would probably bump it up and go MX6000. It will run a eight foot bush hog and a small square baler with no problem. Unless your going to put a lot of hours on in the winter pushing snow I would skip the cab its a big price difference to get the cab. I do a ton of spot spraying in the summer so a cab wouldn't work for me but my MX6000 sets in the shed in the winter. I push snow with my S-850 skid loader with heat and AC.

An MX5400 or MX6000 would be ideal for that property by the sounds of it, but having owned both an MX6000HST and currently an MX6000HSTC I would recommend the cab despite the added cost. Unless you have to move around and under a lot of trees I see no downside to a cab but plenty of upsides.

I use my MX all year round. I use it for cutting grass, pulling a trailer, moving logs/limbs, and moving dirt in the summer, and then moving snow in the winter with a plow and blower, but then again, I don't have a an S-850 skid loader with heat and A/C. It's always easy to spend someone else's money, but seriously, a cab is kind of awesome and something to think about unless you like being exposed to dust, mold, excessive heat/humidity, bugs, grass cuttings, excessive cold etc. I will admit though, being on an open station tractor when the conditions are nice is hard to beat.

 

[Rdrcr]

I agree with the MX suggestions.

Mike

 

[TX Chris]

I also pondered the L4701 vs MX and the MX just makes sense given the increased hp, tractor weight, larger size (more cockpit room for us bigger guys), at a marginal price increase over the L4701.

When you get it, have the dealer add two or three rear remotes and a third function up front.

When I bought mine, we lived on 8 acres and I felt I overbought a bit. We're now building a house on 49 acres and I wish I had the MX6000 or bigger. I'll get by with the MX5400 though.

Edited to remove photos. I mistakenly posted an L3901 instead of the L4701.

 

[NCL4701]

If you don’t have some limiting factor such as budget or physical size limit (which was the case for me) I’d go with the MX. Its just a bigger, heavier machine for not a lot more money and it’s pushing the lower limits of what you’re likely to need for hay. I do love my L4701 and have zero regrets choosing it. I would want something larger for hay, preferably a small M.

One thing I think some people miss about the advisability of running a small hay operation as an actual business: depending on your location and situation a hay operation that posts a loss every year may make you enough money and have enough other advantages to be worth doing. All of the guys I know in this area (which is transitioning from rural to suburban) that have small acreage hay operations lose money on their hay operation and they’re good with that. I have a tree farm, have yet to make a dime, and don’t care if I ever do. Why?

1. Haying ain’t easy but it is about the simplest farming that’s actual farming. So if you have open land, not a bad choice.
2. Farms get preferable tax treatment and have some protection from hostile takeovers in NC. Don’t know about other states or countries.

A city that used to be miles away now abuts our property on three sides. Developers (2 in particular) are continually scheming to run us off. The city leaders are on their side and I’m sure would love to decrease my allowed usage of the land and grossly increase my taxes by annexing it involuntarily and rezoning it from agricultural to residential. They already started the involuntary annexation process once and realized very early that they just can’t. If they could, it would take them about 2 years to run my property tax from $9K/yr to $75K/yr. If I was a land owner just minding my own business, they would have already done it.

But I’m a tree farmer, and I don’t care to leave my farm. I have a forestry management plan that the nice folks at the NC Forest Service wrote up for me after a site visit and I follow it to the letter. The city can’t annex any part of our property without our written permission. The property tax is based on present use (tree farm), not best use (apparently cookie cutter houses on postage stamp lots). Equipment required to follow the forestry plan is a business expense. Diesel is a business expense. Depreciation on expensive equipment like tractors is a write off as well. We haven’t had a harvest yet so my tree farm hasn’t made a profit yet. We will have to harvest in accordance with the forestry plan when the time comes and we’ll show a profit then most likely.

Maybe a unique situation, but several guys I know in this area have small hay operations for the same reasons. It’s basically the only way to keep the Huns at bay.

I apparently suck at farming because all I do is lose money, but I’m a tree farmer. If you don’t believe me just ask the tax dept or the city planning dept or a couple of slimy a$$hole developers in central NC.

Anyway, if you decide to do hay for fun or profit or to ram a cattle prod up the butt of a developer you’re fighting with I’d go with the MX5400 out of the two choices. But I’d prefer a bit more HP on the PTO so I might size up a bit more.

 

[mikester]

If you have rough ground bigger front wheels will be a blessing

 

[jimh406]

L4701: View attachment 95546

That's not a L4701. It's either a 2501, 3301, or 3901. The L4701 has a different loader and larger frame.

 

[jyoutz]

If you don’t have some limiting factor such as budget or physical size limit (which was the case for me) I’d go with the MX. Its just a bigger, heavier machine for not a lot more money and it’s pushing the lower limits of what you’re likely to need for hay. I do love my L4701 and have zero regrets choosing it. I would want something larger for hay, preferably a small M.

One thing I think some people miss about the advisability of running a small hay operation as an actual business: depending on your location and situation a hay operation that posts a loss every year may make you enough money and have enough other advantages to be worth doing. All of the guys I know in this area (which is transitioning from rural to suburban) that have small acreage hay operations lose money on their hay operation and they’re good with that. I have a tree farm, have yet to make a dime, and don’t care if I ever do. Why?

1. Haying ain’t easy but it is about the simplest farming that’s actual farming. So if you have open land, not a bad choice.
2. Farms get preferable tax treatment and have some protection from hostile takeovers in NC. Don’t know about other states or countries.

A city that used to be miles away now abuts our property on three sides. Developers (2 in particular) are continually scheming to run us off. The city leaders are on their side and I’m sure would love to decrease my allowed usage of the land and grossly increase my taxes by annexing it involuntarily and rezoning it from agricultural to residential. They already started the involuntary annexation process once and realized very early that they just can’t. If they could, it would take them about 2 years to run my property tax from $9K/yr to $75K/yr. If I was a land owner just minding my own business, they would have already done it.

But I’m a tree farmer, and I don’t care to leave my farm. I have a forestry management plan that the nice folks at the NC Forest Service wrote up for me after a site visit and I follow it to the letter. The city can’t annex any part of our property without our written permission. The property tax is based on present use (tree farm), not best use (apparently cookie cutter houses on postage stamp lots). Equipment required to follow the forestry plan is a business expense. Diesel is a business expense. Depreciation on expensive equipment like tractors is a write off as well. We haven’t had a harvest yet so my tree farm hasn’t made a profit yet. We will have to harvest in accordance with the forestry plan when the time comes and we’ll show a profit then most likely.

Maybe a unique situation, but several guys I know in this area have small hay operations for the same reasons. It’s basically the only way to keep the Huns at bay.

I apparently suck at farming because all I do is lose money, but I’m a tree farmer. If you don’t believe me just ask the tax dept or the city planning dept or a couple of slimy a$$hole developers in central NC.

Anyway, if you decide to do hay for fun or profit or to ram a cattle prod up the butt of a developer you’re fighting with I’d go with the MX5400 out of the two choices. But I’d prefer a bit more HP on the PTO so I might size up a bit more.

The MX6000 is only a few thousand more than the 5400 and has 51 pto hp.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I knew a local trucker(pre amerchin virus) who hauled flatbeds of hay down to NC or SC for horse feed. He usually made 2 trips a week. Struck me crazy that someone could make hay here, haul that far away AND make money.
Local farmer I know makes LOTS of big rounds and a 1/2 barn of small squares, all presold as lots of horses nearby (racetracks...)