So Many Ways to Go
- Thread starter BAR
- Start date
Main suggestion.
CLOSE ON THE PROPERTY first.
Nothing worse than having a 100HP tractor sitting in the city house driveway because something happened to the property sale.
From there, buy what you want. You are in America.
For those having the stroke over a 60K tractor, go take a look at the current breed of pickup trucks. I actually find tractors priced quite well.
CLOSE ON THE PROPERTY first.
Nothing worse than having a 100HP tractor sitting in the city house driveway because something happened to the property sale.
From there, buy what you want. You are in America.
For those having the stroke over a 60K tractor, go take a look at the current breed of pickup trucks. I actually find tractors priced quite well.
Bees seem to be only good for 20 acres based on what I have read. To be honest I'm worried about the first year after the ownership change. I've thought about the rental
Thanks. This thread is great. I've just been worried about bringing a knife to a gun fight in terms of which tractor I end up buying. I saw my buddy spin his wheels on a 50 acre setup just south of Elgin for almost a decade before he bought the right tractor but I do believe spending 60K on a tractor is a bit crazy now. While I do not plan on baling hay any time soon, I was concerned about buying a tractor for a considerable sum and then needing to buy another one in 3-5 years if I decided to do it myself. I've been reading about the Vermeer Rebel series that recommends about 60PTO HP and that seems like an option if I ever needed or wanted to do the work myself. The idea of an old 25-40HP tractor in the near term is where I am currently leaning. I can base a bigger purchase on more first hand knowledge about what I can do with the small old tractor and what I need or want to do with a larger unit. If I loose a couple grand on a sub $10000 tractor that I find out is of little utility on the property I rationalize it as a learning expense.Bar, Russell King and I both live nearby to you and your new place, for what it’s worth. You do not personally have to mow/bale hay to keep an ag exemption. Like others have suggested, the current guy who is haying there will likely love to hear you suggest he can keep doing so. (He probably needs the hay.). You will still have the ag exemption. And your future plan for cows will also keep that for you.
Not only that, your own sales tax exemption for hay production doesn’t even require you to report your sales (if any) so log onto the state website and apply for that.
Don’t jump in over your head buying tractors and haying equipment Until you get settled in and see what the current hay operator uses and recommends.
There are plenty of tractors with FELs on the market, be patient, you’ll find what you need. When I was looking I had my choice of 3 M4700s in the Austin area all for less than $20K, low time, with FELs, and one with a grapple. Manor area is a good locale to start looking.
It’s easier to buy too small than too big. I’d suggest you look at 50HP and up, and you might get by with only one tractor, leaving you some room for implements and that zero-turn mower you’re thinking about.
Congrats on your new “digs”.
Ha, yeah. I will close first unless I buy a sub 10K used tractor that is a compelling deal and park it at my friend's place. No need to explain any $60K transfers of cash or opening a credit line once you are rate locked and waiting for the appraisal and survey. Just formulating a budget and a plan. I have a 1997 Crew Cab F250 with a 7.3L so I'm good on the truck front. I did look at trucks at the Ford dealer while taking my wife's car in for service. They actually didn't seem that bad if you go with the new 7.3L gas and stick to the XLT with as few options as possible, but man if you want leather and all the options they are like 75-85K now. Crazy since they seem to depreciate so fast.
Rear finish mower. A large mower you pull behind your tractor, driven by the PTO.
My theory on mowing lawns is that for a given HP you can cut a certain amount of grass per hour. You can have a narrow cutting width and go fast, or a wide cutting width and go slow, but for a certain amount of HP you can cut a certain amount of grass. With a rear finish mower you can go a bit slower (easier on your body) but cut a nice wide swath of grass. Sure, you need to careful of scalping, so you might want a batwing or something else that terrain follows.
It's all horses for courses - a zero turn is good around obstacles and if you're turning a lot. A big tractor with a big mower in the back (like a school or a sports field would use) is great for reasonably open spaces that are reasonably flat. And, of course, since you'll have a tractor, if it's not reasonably flat you could just make it flat, then your life for ever after will be easier.
There is a big difference and huge long term implications between buying an asset that "stops going down in value" and an appreciating asset. Now if spending and/or borrowing to buy undervalued farms were your passion that in my opinion is a worthy pursuit. Jeeps/Tractors and debt not so much. I am not trying to hurt anyones feelings here. Reading those two books I referenced are a good step toward developing the "correct" mindset. I counsel rich folks on money matters for my living. Best of luck to you and Happy New Year.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
So,,, how much free time do you have ??? Honestly doing basic, minimal 'groundskeeping' (keeping weeds at bay, cutting grass, fencing,etc...)will be a CONTINUOUS job and that's the easy part of owning 50 acres.
What education/experience do you have for livestock ? You do KNOW they require you are 24/7 unless you PAY someone to feed,water,cleanup, etc....? You really need to put down on paper the daily chores and 'projects' you think are needed to be done and an honest 'time allotment' for each one. Sure hope you're sitting down !
I sure wouldn't buy a 'big EXPENSIVE tractor' on day 2....maybe, maybe 5 years down the road look into it...
Nobody has asked about condition of the barns, drive sheds,laneways let alone the house. I bet a new roof on a house is 5-10K,so again 'put it on paper'. Say the current roof will last 10 years. You HAVE to put $1,000 away EVERY year for the next ten,just to pay for that new roof(oopsy, forgot about inflation and Covid-19-2,-3 and -4 ). Hopefully you're young, healthy and have HELP. You'll need it. Without an extra pair or two of 'hands' things will take 2-3 times longer. You can't be bushhogging and milking cows at the same time, or go after a runaway horse..... if you're handy,you can fix broken equipment, other wise figure $100/hr and downtime . Stuff breaks...fact of farming.
What education/experience do you have for livestock ? You do KNOW they require you are 24/7 unless you PAY someone to feed,water,cleanup, etc....? You really need to put down on paper the daily chores and 'projects' you think are needed to be done and an honest 'time allotment' for each one. Sure hope you're sitting down !
I sure wouldn't buy a 'big EXPENSIVE tractor' on day 2....maybe, maybe 5 years down the road look into it...
Nobody has asked about condition of the barns, drive sheds,laneways let alone the house. I bet a new roof on a house is 5-10K,so again 'put it on paper'. Say the current roof will last 10 years. You HAVE to put $1,000 away EVERY year for the next ten,just to pay for that new roof(oopsy, forgot about inflation and Covid-19-2,-3 and -4 ). Hopefully you're young, healthy and have HELP. You'll need it. Without an extra pair or two of 'hands' things will take 2-3 times longer. You can't be bushhogging and milking cows at the same time, or go after a runaway horse..... if you're handy,you can fix broken equipment, other wise figure $100/hr and downtime . Stuff breaks...fact of farming.
You should amend your last line to "Stuff breaks constantly...fact of farming" . The rest was perfect!
Meh. They're right, but you don't have to make your farm into a millstone. If you've got enough money to buy it, and you're not using it to make a living, then you just do as much or as little as you want. People all over the world have hobby farms, it's not like you're breaking new ground here.
If it were me I'd leave it in hay and keep the guy maintaining it for at least 1-2 years. I'd get on top of the bits of it that I want to mow, the driveway, the house. You need a tractor for that, and I reckon an older mid-size M is the pick (in the Kubota range - there are plenty of other good machines out there).
5 acres is a lot to mow - are you sure you want to mow that much? Texas is pretty dry, so surely it won't be a beautiful lawn anyway - it'll be brown and patchy? Do you have access to enough water to irrigate it? Otherwise I wouldn't make a lawn any bigger than you actually need, and I'd be thinking about what sort of trees you can put on that to make some shade (and hold some moisture in the soil).
I do agree about livestock - don't get them until you're definitely ready. Once you have livestock you have a lot of work - 10 cows aren't a lot less work than 100 cows, and you still need to learn every process (dehorning, breeding, disease management, grazing management). Dogs and a horse are a bit easier to deal with.
If it were me I'd leave it in hay and keep the guy maintaining it for at least 1-2 years. I'd get on top of the bits of it that I want to mow, the driveway, the house. You need a tractor for that, and I reckon an older mid-size M is the pick (in the Kubota range - there are plenty of other good machines out there).
5 acres is a lot to mow - are you sure you want to mow that much? Texas is pretty dry, so surely it won't be a beautiful lawn anyway - it'll be brown and patchy? Do you have access to enough water to irrigate it? Otherwise I wouldn't make a lawn any bigger than you actually need, and I'd be thinking about what sort of trees you can put on that to make some shade (and hold some moisture in the soil).
I do agree about livestock - don't get them until you're definitely ready. Once you have livestock you have a lot of work - 10 cows aren't a lot less work than 100 cows, and you still need to learn every process (dehorning, breeding, disease management, grazing management). Dogs and a horse are a bit easier to deal with.
I ended up buying a L3301 HST 4wd with loader, a land pride 5' rotary cutter, a land pride 5' tiller, a quick hitch and a box blade. I found a deal on a used one with 200 hours and paid 21,000 cash for it. If I need a bigger tractor later I will be able to sell L3301 if I need to without taking much if any hit. Thanks for the advice all.