New tractor buyer

[busdriver]

Hey all, I just purchased an 8 acre parcel in new meadows, Idaho. My excuse to buy a tractor. I have about 500 yards of road to keep snow off plus around the home, shop, barn and a few out builds. The road is dirt and gravel. I have approximately 1 acre of pasture. The rest of the property is forest. So I’m thinking about a Grand L6060 with these implements, L1055 loader with L2296 bucket and bolt on cutting edge tl1748. L4479 snowblower with these parts, L8387 mid pot, L4431 comp kit, L4455A frt quick hitch, L4483 driveline ( with 8 hrs install) LAN BB1272 boxblade. I’m I going way over kill on this tractor? Every out here say the more horses the better. Out the door 85.5K. Is it worth throwing the no sales tax in Or. at a dealer in Boise area? Also looking to add a pallet fork, I like the TITAN PRO DUTY forks. Planning on Kubota insurance and is an extended warranty.
. Been enjoying the forum and trying to get educated of all the stuff. In the past I’ve operated skid steers and some backhoe work.
thanks to all’ya

forgot to add comes with the R4 tires, and adding 200 per back tires for ballast, bio stuff.

 

[Elliott in GA]

Unless you have other needs (mow 1 acre, maintain 500 yard drive/road and blow snow off 500 yard drive/road), you are buying way too much machine. Nothing wrong with buying something just because you want it, but you will not be getting your money's worth.

Look at the LX line (they have the mid-PTO too); there are several choices with cabs up to 40 HP.

You might want to look at JP Outdoors' youtube channel to see what he does with his smaller engine LX - lots of road work and snow blowing.

 

[busdriver]

Hey all, I just purchased an 8 acre parcel in new meadows, Idaho. My excuse to buy a tractor. I have about 500 yards of road to keep snow off plus around the home, shop, barn and a few out builds. The road is dirt and gravel. I have approximately 1 acre of pasture. The rest of the property is forest. So I’m thinking about a Grand L6060 with these implements, L1055 loader with L2296 bucket and bolt on cutting edge tl1748. L4479 snowblower with these parts, L8387 mid pot, L4431 comp kit, L4455A frt quick hitch, L4483 driveline ( with 8 hrs install) LAN BB1272 boxblade. I’m I going way over kill on this tractor? Every out here say the more horses the better. Out the door 85.5K. Is it worth throwing the no sales tax in Or. at a dealer in Boise area? Also looking to add a pallet fork, I like the TITAN PRO DUTY forks. Planning on Kubota insurance and is an extended warranty.
. Been enjoying the forum and trying to get educated of all the stuff. In the past I’ve operated skid steers and some backhoe work.
thanks to all’ya

forgot to add comes with the R4 tires, and adding 200 per back tires for ballast, bio stuff.

Unless you have other needs (mow 1 acre, maintain 500 yard drive/road and blow snow off 500 yard drive/road), you are buying way too much machine. Nothing wrong with buying something just because you want it, but you will not be getting your money's worth.

Look at the LX line (they have the mid-PTO too); there are several choices with cabs up to 40 HP.

You might want to look at JP Outdoors' youtube channel to see what he does with his smaller engine LX - lots of road work and snow blowing.

ok I’ll look into that line, what about the L4060?

 

[busdriver]

How do you fill about 3 cylinder vs 4 cylinder?

 

[Elliott in GA]

The L4060 cab is only about 5K more than the 40 hp Cab LX (which is 15K less than the L6060 cab) - so see if the extra features of the Grand L are worth the money. There is also the 40 HP Grand L LE (very minor differences from the full Grand L) that is only a few thousand more than the LX.

Of course, it would be best if you could see them in person

 

[Elliott in GA]

How do you fill about 3 cylinder vs 4 cylinder?

I do not think it makes much difference. I have a 3 cyl., and it is great.

You might care that the LX is Turbo Charged, if you are at high altitude.

 

[mcfarmall]

I think you're on the right track. "My tractor has too much power and capability"- said no one ever.

I have an M5660 on 2 acres, with 40 out of town that gets a visit a few times a year.

 

[PortTackFarm]

Wnen someone on this forum suggests you might be thinking about way more tractor than you need, I'd listen. We all like spending someone else's money so most suggestions are bigger tractor / more power. In this situation, I think @Elliott in GA is offering good advice. The compromise suggestion of the L4060 LE is certainly worth looking into. It's a bigger tractor with most of the bells and whistles as the L6060 and will get your jobs done a bit quicker than the LX, but it's also a lot cheaper than the L6060. The few items missing on the LE can be easily added. You can use some of the savings to add 3 rear remotes (highly recommended) and the 3rd function up front (also highly recommended). You can use the rest of the savings to buy some really good bourbon to sip on and relax with after you've cleared all that snow.

 

[Elliott in GA]

FWIW, Messicks video about the Grand L LE models.

 

[mcmxi]

Hey all, I just purchased an 8 acre parcel in new meadows, Idaho. My excuse to buy a tractor. I have about 500 yards of road to keep snow off plus around the home, shop, barn and a few out builds. The road is dirt and gravel. I have approximately 1 acre of pasture. The rest of the property is forest. So I’m thinking about a Grand L6060 with these implements, L1055 loader with L2296 bucket and bolt on cutting edge tl1748. L4479 snowblower with these parts, L8387 mid pot, L4431 comp kit, L4455A frt quick hitch, L4483 driveline ( with 8 hrs install) LAN BB1272 boxblade. I’m I going way over kill on this tractor? Every out here say the more horses the better. Out the door 85.5K. Is it worth throwing the no sales tax in Or. at a dealer in Boise area? Also looking to add a pallet fork, I like the TITAN PRO DUTY forks. Planning on Kubota insurance and is an extended warranty.
. Been enjoying the forum and trying to get educated of all the stuff. In the past I’ve operated skid steers and some backhoe work.
thanks to all’ya

forgot to add comes with the R4 tires, and adding 200 per back tires for ballast, bio stuff.

From where I sit I don't think you're going overboard. Way more people buy too little as opposed to too much, then they take a lot of time telling everyone how great their choice was, and using phrases like "it just takes longer". I would never buy anything smaller than an MX6000 and I'm only on 20 acres and have similar needs to you. As for three cylinders vs. four .... heck no! I'm not going back to three cylinders in a tractor.

If you buy an L6060 it will very likely be the last tractor that you ever buy because there's overhead if your needs change. What you'll find is that your list of things that you can do and want to do expands once you see how capable a 60hp tractor is.

 

[dclauria]

I have a GrandL4060 and bought it used with the L4479 snowblower. I have added many implements since.
I have approx. 300' of driveway but also snowblow at my dad's down the road. My only limitation is horsepower if the snow is too deep.
Approx 4" is fine but if it's 12" I have to go very slow. The commercial guys around here all run GrandL6060's for snowblowing in town. Just my observation - about 3 years experience with this tractor

 

[BAP]

If I am reading your write up correctly, you have a total of 8 acres, but only 1 acre of open land and the rest forest. Plus 500 yards of road. Unless you plan on working in that 7 acres of woods, a l6060 is overkill for 1 acre of pasture. Most on here will tell you to buy bigger because they use size to compensate for either lack of time or lack of operating skills. You really need to determine 3 things!
1) what you can truly afford
2) what do you actually need to do with the tractor
3) how quickly do you need to get accomplished the things that you need to use the tractor for.
Answer these questions to yourself and then decide what fits best. Go to a dealer or 2 or 3 and sit on the tractors and drive them.

 

[busdriver]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info to mull over. I'm at 4000' elevation so turbo is a must. I'm trying to get the shop built before the snow flys here this coming winter. New Meadows gets about 100 plus inches per year. The home will be built next year. My 1 acre of pasture is a disaster, all the top soil is gone, it might take a few years to bring it back to life. I do like saving saving money, more parts and other stuff. My initial work for the tractor is removing trees and vegetation, for the excavator work, same for the home next year. Besides keeping the road clear of snow.

 

[Elliott in GA]

Well, now your are adding tasks, and that impacts your choice.

When you say removing trees and brush, what do you mean? Mowing down saplings and brush can be done by a tractor, but trees present a real challenge to any tractor. I reclaimed a small pasture (about 3 acres full of weeds and more), and that involved cutting down 2-4 inch trees (probably 30 of them) in a band of head high briars and multiflora rose. The band was probably 20-30 yards thick by 75-100 yards long. I cut off the trees flush with the ground using a pole saw, and I left the stumps to rot in the ground. After I cleared all of the brush (clawed down and dragged out with my grapple), I was able to mow everything with my rotary cutter set to 5 inches. I chipped the trees.

If you plan to have the stumps gone, you will need to hire that out to a land clearing company, and they will come with bulldozers and/or forestry mulchers.

 

[SDT]

Hey all, I just purchased an 8 acre parcel in new meadows, Idaho. My excuse to buy a tractor. I have about 500 yards of road to keep snow off plus around the home, shop, barn and a few out builds. The road is dirt and gravel. I have approximately 1 acre of pasture. The rest of the property is forest. So I’m thinking about a Grand L6060 with these implements, L1055 loader with L2296 bucket and bolt on cutting edge tl1748. L4479 snowblower with these parts, L8387 mid pot, L4431 comp kit, L4455A frt quick hitch, L4483 driveline ( with 8 hrs install) LAN BB1272 boxblade. I’m I going way over kill on this tractor? Every out here say the more horses the better. Out the door 85.5K. Is it worth throwing the no sales tax in Or. at a dealer in Boise area? Also looking to add a pallet fork, I like the TITAN PRO DUTY forks. Planning on Kubota insurance and is an extended warranty.
. Been enjoying the forum and trying to get educated of all the stuff. In the past I’ve operated skid steers and some backhoe work.
thanks to all’ya

forgot to add comes with the R4 tires, and adding 200 per back tires for ballast, bio stuff.

The GL 6060 is a wonderful tractor and you will love it. You will also appreciate the HP when blowing 500 yards of snow multiple times each season in Idaho.

Only you can decide if it is too big or too expensive for your needs and desires.

I loved mine. I also loved three other Kubota machines which I did not "need."

 

[busdriver]

Some are saplings others will meet up a chain saw and be drug out. The more I can do before the excavator shows up the better. I might rent a small excavator to help with that problem. Also I'll need it for electrical and water trenches, 48" to get below frost line. I don't care for the backhoe setup on these tractors. Also I need another 24 hours per day to get it all done. Lol the red line represents approximately where the shop will be.

 

[yorkies77]

Hi neighbor, I live in Cascade and have 5 3/4 acres and a BX23s. It's small and takes more time to do some projects but always get it done. We just built our home and have used it for everything. Its been a log skidder, excavater, bulldozer, snowblower, etc. We would have not gotten anything done if we didn't have this little tractor. This is our second one we traded out first one for our current one when the warranty was out and it had over 600 hrs on it. It would be nice to have more fel lift as they say it will lift 700 lbs however I believe it is closer to 400 lbs. I never thought that I would use a backhoe but I use it all the time and is a very useful implement. The dealer we use is Idaho Tractor in Nampa and they are very nice and helpful. It is family owned and if I remember correctly have been a Kubota dealer since 1959,

 

[chim]

No experience with 4,000' of elevation with regard to HP, but I'm sure many here do. Based on a trip to Ecuador years ago I CAN tell you that at 9,000' I didn't operate as well as I do at around 400' I can say that I'd be looking at something with a cab and A/C. Most any cab has heat but not all have A/C.

 

[busdriver]

Hi neighbor, I live in Cascade and have 5 3/4 acres and a BX23s. It's small and takes more time to do some projects but always get it done. We just built our home and have used it for everything. Its been a log skidder, excavater, bulldozer, snowblower, etc. We would have not gotten anything done if we didn't have this little tractor. This is our second one we traded out first one for our current one when the warranty was out and it had over 600 hrs on it. It would be nice to have more fel lift as they say it will lift 700 lbs however I believe it is closer to 400 lbs. I never thought that I would use a backhoe but I use it all the time and is a very useful implement. The dealer we use is Idaho Tractor in Nampa and they are very nice and helpful. It is family owned and if I remember correctly have been a Kubota dealer since 1959,

Yes I’ve been talking with them. More food for thought. Our Original intention was to buy a home with the shop on it, but it’s difficult to find without CCRs or HOAs, so here we building. So I can’t peddle fast enough. Good to get some info from a neighbor, thanks

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Good day.

It sounds and looks like a nice place from the overhead view.

I am not really familiar with your weather or terrain flat or hilly?…I am assuming not flat?). It’s just my opinion, but to me number of acres matters very little with sizing a machine…it depends really on what you want and how you plan to use it. Do you know if you plan to get a HST or geared machine? If going HST and you land is hilly, IMO there is some lug or feeling of bogging down going up a steep grade with HsT, so a little extra oomph might not be a bad idea…same with elevation maybe. I am not familiar with that much but maybe some members have some idea.

in terms of work (lift/pull/pto) I’d figure out those capacities and add some safe working limit. Anyway I’d think about how much you want to be able to lift with the FEL, and then add some safe working limit to it…so once you figure that amount out, the. It’s not really a good plan to plan to haul the max lift around…will it lift that, sure it will. Can you safely move it / transfer it where you need to? Maybe, maybe not. The look at the loaders on the machines you are considering. That’s one data point.

Then also I’d think about what you want to be able to pull…weight is your friend…if you will need to move you logs uphill (most driveways go up) the. Again weight is what is going to give you traction. Most tractors will run out of traction before they run out of HP.

Then also think about what implements and what size you like to use. Those three things should help narrow down some choices.

if you think forward any idea on future plans in next 5-10? What does that suggest you might need? (Any plans for animals or needing to haul bales of hay or totes of water? Those are chores that require weight)

how do you plan to handle snow? Plow or push box or a blower? If a blower you want front or rear? Those choices may narrow your machine choices.

Good luck and share some pics back what you end up with.