Spec’ing a new tractor

[Rdrcr]

Personally, the L2501 or 2 could do what you need (add a $3 turbo kit - aftermarket - I'm just kidding about this!!!) The tractor will be slow but is very capable, IMHO.

The good thing about the LX2610 is you can use a front blower (that runs off the Mid-PTO; that the L2501 can NOT have).

Agreed. Well, kidding aside, the Turbo Kit makes the L2501 a very capable beast;

…and 35 PTO HP never hurts.

However, with the possibility of a front mounted snowblower…the LX might be the ticket. But, if the OP is concerned about size/weight, the Grand L (in its many forms) can be configured with a mid PTO and would be a very capable tractor for the OP.

Mike

 

[GrizBota]

Mid sized to large Grand L. Get’s you the optional mid PTO to run the snow blower. I think you’re right about the LX anything being too small.

If emissions bother you, a used 30 or 40 series Grand L won’t have the emission exhaust filters. A low hour unit (say under 1000 or 800 hours) that was kept under cover could be a good machine for you. And cost about half of a new 60 series Grand L.

Happy shopping. Let us know what you end up with.

 

[mikester]

Hi,

The wife and I bought 73 acres in Manitoba a few months ago. The land is mostly wooded with trails throughout and a 500 yd driveway. Got lucky with little snowfall this winter and was able to handle it with the plow on the side x side.

Currently shopping for tractors and looking for some input. No need for a finish mower (have a zero turn for the yard) but a rough cut mower for trails, FEL and snowblower for clearing that beast of a driveway. I’ll be using it to clear room for a shop , we’ll be getting a couple of horses at some point and other than that general maintenance work around the property.

The salesmen at our local dealers (looked at Kioti, JD and Kubota - leaning towards the Kubota) all recommended 25hp machines. In the case of the Kubota I quoted on an LX2610 with a FEL and front blower. My concern is that this might not be enough tractor for our purposes - hp or size/weight wise. I’m new to compact tractors and looking for some input from more experienced acreage owners! Thanks!

Jim

Read this

Zero-Rated Farm Equipment - Canada.ca

Zero-Rated Farm Equipment

www.canada.ca

Agriculture and Fishing - Canada.ca

Agriculture and Fishing

www.canada.ca

Framers are HST exempt (zero rated) on tractors over 60 PTO HP.

I wouldn't buy anything less than 60 PTO HP on a 75 acre farm.

 

[old and tired]

I wouldn't buy anything less than 60 PTO HP on a 75 acre farm.

He said nothing about a farm... "...The land is mostly wooded with trails..." and "Horses", you going to drive a big 60+ HP tractor in a barn to muck out stalls?

I would much rather have a nimble little LX with a cab instead of the open station 60hp beast, especially when blowing snow...

Still need to know what his budget is... he might have hit the lottery and looking to spend more after buying the land!!!

 

[nbryan]

Hi,

The wife and I bought 73 acres in Manitoba a few months ago. The land is mostly wooded with trails throughout and a 500 yd driveway. Got lucky with little snowfall this winter and was able to handle it with the plow on the side x side.

Currently shopping for tractors and looking for some input. No need for a finish mower (have a zero turn for the yard) but a rough cut mower for trails, FEL and snowblower for clearing that beast of a driveway. I’ll be using it to clear room for a shop , we’ll be getting a couple of horses at some point and other than that general maintenance work around the property.

The salesmen at our local dealers (looked at Kioti, JD and Kubota - leaning towards the Kubota) all recommended 25hp machines. In the case of the Kubota I quoted on an LX2610 with a FEL and front blower. My concern is that this might not be enough tractor for our purposes - hp or size/weight wise. I’m new to compact tractors and looking for some input from more experienced acreage owners! Thanks!

Jim

I'm a SE Manitoban on 119 acres, lots of forest, 1000ft of driveway.

Take a look at my profile equipment list, I couldn't be happier!

And with the forestry jobs I take on with cutting our own firewood and fence posts in the "back 80 acres" I can say the B2650 ROPS is a wonderful, capable machine!

I AM VERY GLAD I DID NOT GET A CAB!!! But having some good winter outerwear is a given.

Yes, it gets cold, but working around trees in the bush, blowing snow on the trails, etc would have me HATING a cab by now. Getting on and off the tractor all the time is a breeze without the cab doors swinging all the time. There's many a place I couldn't have accessed with a CAB attached, and would have probably busted it by now.

I have over 1200 hours on it, over 200 hours a year. And sure am happy that I didn't get a larger machine. This one handles the WORST kind of soft ground/muck/snowdrifts/etc. with its R4 Industrial Tires just fine, no added wheel weight or tire fill.

There's advantages to having a lighter machine.

Now if you see needing to fork lift large size round bales then there's a place for a bigger stronger tractor for that.

I really haven't ever wanted for something bigger, which it seems goes against a lot of the OTT member suggestions here, unless there's really a need for pulling real heavy implements or lifting over 1200Lbs on the loader.

Plus it uses less than 2 liters per hour of fuel, that's under load!

I friggin love my B2650HSD, et al.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

But having some good winter outerwear is a given.

Like we say ice fishing, "There's no such thing as bad weather,....Just bad gear".

The cold don't bother me, it's the heat that does, so I could see the advantage if it had air in a really hot place.

If I had a cab, I probably would have ripped it off by accident already.

At minimum I would have busted some glass out.

But for some, I do see the advantage of a cab.

Different strokes, for different folks I guess.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I first bought a B2301. It’s was a great tractor that sometimes didn’t have the oomf I wanted. So I upgraded to an L4701. There are advantages to starting small: initial cost is less, the smaller one may suit your needs just fine (or better), you learn how to use and get the most out of the power and weight the machine has.

If you find it isn’t getting the job done and upgrade, you won’t ever have to wonder if you should have gone smaller. When my tractor is annoyingly large, it doesn’t bother me, because I truly understand the ways bigger is better, and it’s worth the trade off to me. Sure, I lost some money selling the B, but it wasn’t that terrible a hit. And boy, I really appreciate my new tractor’s capabilities when I’m in a situation I think the B would have struggled.

Not to mention, some folks find their tractor so useful and worth the money they keep their smaller when they buy bigger!

So if I were you, I may spend the $20-30k on a B/LX, use it a few years, trade it in at a $5-10k “loss” (aka rental fee), then spend the $50-60k (minus trade in) on an MX or Grand L.

Good luck deciding! And congrats on the property.

 

[fried1765]

I first bought a B2301. It’s was a great tractor that sometimes didn’t have the oomf I wanted. So I upgraded to an L4701. There are advantages to starting small: initial cost is less, the smaller one may suit your needs just fine (or better), you learn how to use and get the most out of the power and weight the machine has.

If you find it isn’t getting the job done and upgrade, you won’t ever have to wonder if you should have gone smaller. When my tractor is annoyingly large, it doesn’t bother me, because I truly understand the ways bigger is better, and it’s worth the trade off to me. Sure, I lost some money selling the B, but it wasn’t that terrible a hit. And boy, I really appreciate my new tractor’s capabilities when I’m in a situation I think the B would have struggled.

Not to mention, some folks find their tractor so useful and worth the money they keep their smaller when they buy bigger!

So if I were you, I may spend the $20-30k on a B/LX, use it a few years, trade it in at a $5-10k “loss” (aka rental fee), then spend the $50-60k (minus trade in) on an MX or Grand L.

Good luck deciding! And congrats on the property.

"$5-10K loss (aka rental fee)" ....?????

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Hi,

The wife and I bought 73 acres in Manitoba a few months ago. The land is mostly wooded with trails throughout and a 500 yd driveway. Got lucky with little snowfall this winter and was able to handle it with the plow on the side x side.

Currently shopping for tractors and looking for some input. No need for a finish mower (have a zero turn for the yard) but a rough cut mower for trails, FEL and snowblower for clearing that beast of a driveway. I’ll be using it to clear room for a shop , we’ll be getting a couple of horses at some point and other than that general maintenance work around the property.

The salesmen at our local dealers (looked at Kioti, JD and Kubota - leaning towards the Kubota) all recommended 25hp machines. In the case of the Kubota I quoted on an LX2610 with a FEL and front blower. My concern is that this might not be enough tractor for our purposes - hp or size/weight wise. I’m new to compact tractors and looking for some input from more experienced acreage owners! Thanks!

Jim

cabs are wonderful in MB winters BUT can get very very expensive. Broken glass in not cheap to fix and given my experience in the S.E. corner of the province I have seen way to many people break glass. Sure the original owner takes care and makes attention in the ugly forests of blow downs, pine beetle deaths and fires, and the infamous low hanging branches all year long, but once the kids get on it (or others or even the owner) I see lots of broken glass that never gets fixed. Something you can consider giving your unique situation.

Also lots complain of rear snowblowers and having to look backwards. I be old and have no problems with this and gladly accept to also have my bucket on the front at same time. Snow plow wind rows of frozen ice left behind by R.M. graders, ice ridges left behind if you have metal roofs and the roof clears which happens multiple times every winter, etc... means I prefer having the loader on all winter while also being able to blow (YMMV). Rear blowers are also cheaper and sturdier IMHO.

congrat's an acreage and a tractor brings out a lot of smiles and as Manitobians are a tough group blowing snow when -30c, in whiteouts, while wearing a full faced snomo helmet is much more common than most think.

cheers

 

[mcmxi]

There are advantages to starting small: initial cost is less, the smaller one may suit your needs just fine (or better), you learn how to use and get the most out of the power and weight the machine has.

I'm not a fan of incrementalism but it's basically the path I took. In hindsight there was no benefit to that approach, but in 2016 I couldn't justify spending $50k on a tractor having never owned one before. It just seemed excessively expensive for a tool whose utility or usefulness was unknown. A BX25 seemed reasonable at the time, and a big part of my tractor journey was coming to realize that the bigger tractors are worth the cost of admission. I enjoy owning and using the MX and M way more than the BX, which translates into a lot more hours on those machines.

I'm always amazed at the recommendations that people offer without ever having experienced the very thing that they're advising against. I've made this point before, but how many have upgraded to more power and more comfort (e.g. cab) and then decided that it was a mistake?

 

[chim]

I'm not a fan of incrementalism but it's basically the path I took. In hindsight there was no benefit to that approach, but in 2016 I couldn't justify spending $50k on a tractor having never owned one before. It just seemed excessively expensive for a tool whose utility or usefulness was unknown. A BX25 seemed reasonable at the time, and a big part of my tractor journey was coming to realize that the bigger tractors are worth the cost of admission. I enjoy owning and using the MX and M way more than the BX, which translates into a lot more hours on those machines.

I'm always amazed at the recommendations that people offer without ever having experienced the very thing that they're advising against. I've made this point before, but how many have upgraded to more power and more comfort (e.g. cab) and then decided that it was a mistake?

I've walked in your shoes. As I've commented before, buy your 5th tractor first. The first tractor was a Cub 154 LoBoy and it could have been the one and only tractor here. So could the Ford 1210, the Kubotae B7500 and L3200. I could still be freezing / wet in Winter and breathing pollen dust and baking in the sun in Summer. My choice has been to go big and cabbed. I wouldn't tell anyone else what they need, but won't hesitate to say what suits me.

 

[mcmxi]

I've walked in your shoes. As I've commented before, buy your 5th tractor first. The first tractor was a Cub 154 LoBoy and it could have been the one and only tractor here. So could the Ford 1210, the Kubotae B7500 and L3200. I could still be freezing / wet in Winter and breathing pollen dust and baking in the sun in Summer. My choice has been to go big and cabbed. I wouldn't tell anyone else what they need, but won't hesitate to say what suits me.

I'm on my third and fourth tractors so the next one will be as Goldilocks said "just right!".

It makes no difference to me what tractor someone buys unless they're buying it for me, but I do think that more consumers under buy vs. over buy when it comes to tractors and I know that I did that twice. I should have started out with an MX6000 with a cab, although in 2016 that would have been an MX5800 with a cab.

 

[RWR]

Thanks for all the input so far! I agree that very rarely does someone complain about “too much” power but I also like the idea of a more agile machine. Budget is the toughest question of all! What I’d like to spend and what I’m gonna end up spending to get a quality machine don’t jive but I am of the buy once cry once mentality. Not what I expected when I started but I think I’m likely gonna be spending in the neighbourhood of 35-40k (Cdn of course).

 

[chim]

Thanks for all the input so far! I agree that very rarely does someone complain about “too much” power but I also like the idea of a more agile machine....................................

The size of the tractor may not produce the results you expect. Post #4 in the thread below is an example. After buying the L4240 we kept the L3200 around for a while, so the three tractors could be experimented with at the same time.

Tractor Turning Radius.

Good morning guys! I was looking for additional information about a few tractors which might help my buying decision. I'd like to compare the turning radius, uncut circle and verify the cutting height. Any help would be appreciated! Note: The GR2120 spec sheet says the minimum uncut diameter...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[PaulL]

For a first tractor, I'm a fan of buying used, and buying a beat up one. It's not expensive to change if you got the wrong size, and you can make all your machinery mistakes (we all make them) without breaking up a good machine. Once you know what you're doing and what you want to do, buy a good one that's the right size.

My first machine was a beat up old BX2350. Mechanically sound, cosmetically awful. When I banged it into things, dropped things on it, cracked the plastic, bent the rear frame by lifting the 3ph too high, none of it mattered. Then I sold it for what I paid, and bought a new B2601, knowing that was the machine I actually needed.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

"$5-10K loss (aka rental fee)" ....?????

Sorry, wasn’t clear. I mean, one way of looking at using a tractor for a few years and loosing a few thousand when you trade it in, is it wasn’t really a loss, it was the cost of having the machine and using it for a few years.

My B2301, I think I bought for like 17 or 18k, and traded in for 14 or 15k a few years later. At first I was bummed, but then reassessed. My new perspective is I spend a few thousand dollars to have a tractor for a few years. And I’m okay with that, personally.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I'm not a fan of incrementalism but it's basically the path I took. In hindsight there was no benefit to that approach, but in 2016 I couldn't justify spending $50k on a tractor having never owned one before. It just seemed excessively expensive for a tool whose utility or usefulness was unknown. A BX25 seemed reasonable at the time, and a big part of my tractor journey was coming to realize that the bigger tractors are worth the cost of admission. I enjoy owning and using the MX and M way more than the BX, which translates into a lot more hours on those machines.

I'm always amazed at the recommendations that people offer without ever having experienced the very thing that they're advising against. I've made this point before, but how many have upgraded to more power and more comfort (e.g. cab) and then decided that it was a mistake?

I totally hear what you’re saying. I generally agree with “buy once cry once” (I have Duckloe windsor chairs, Benchmade knives, a Delta Unisaw, a Weber mandolin, etc., all things I expect to outlive me).

If I had known at the beginning what I know now, I could have just gotten the bigger tractor to begin with. But I didn’t know it, I learned it by using the smaller tractor first. Maybe it’s too high a price to pay for the lesson, but I don’t think for me it was.

And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure if I had started with a larger tractor, I would have wondered if I bought bigger than I need.

Price of hindsight I suppose.

 

[fried1765]

I totally hear what you’re saying. I generally agree with “buy once cry once” (I have Duckloe windsor chairs, Benchmade knives, a Delta Unisaw, a Weber mandolin, etc., all things I expect to outlive me).

If I had known at the beginning what I know now, I could have just gotten the bigger tractor to begin with. But I didn’t know it, I learned it by using the smaller tractor first. Maybe it’s too high a price to pay for the lesson, but I don’t think for me it was.

And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure if I had started with a larger tractor, I would have wondered if I bought bigger than I need.

Price of hindsight I suppose.

I bought my ( bigger) Ford 3400 TLB first,...
Kept it, and bought a 32Hp Ford 1920 FEL.
Then bought my Kubota L48 TLB.
The Ford 3400 departed shortly after the Kubota arrived (I bought the Kubota as an upgrade from the Ford TLB)
The wonderful little 1989 32HP Ford FEL will be with me until I croak.
My tractors are in nearly pristine condition, but I have never bought a new tractor!

 

[mcmxi]

Sorry, wasn’t clear. I mean, one way of looking at using a tractor for a few years and loosing a few thousand when you trade it in, is it wasn’t really a loss, it was the cost of having the machine and using it for a few years.

My B2301, I think I bought for like 17 or 18k, and traded in for 14 or 15k a few years later. At first I was bummed, but then reassessed. My new perspective is I spend a few thousand dollars to have a tractor for a few years. And I’m okay with that, personally.

I've seen a lot of boats coming up for sale with very low hours and priced at a significant loss. I see tractors for sale with low hours and again, priced at a loss. The cost of ownership for equipment not used is high, but there are some here that seem to think that shiny low hour tractors are a badge of honor. I'd much rather see a faded, high hour machine that has been used and well maintained rather than a safe queen. Tractors are tools, and tools show sign of use in my world, and a tool not used has little purpose.