Look at JD 850, 950, etc. on the used market. Recommend belly mower for easier control around obstacles.

A zero turn would be nice but not nearly as fun to play with as real tractor.

Of course you COULD get fancy and look at newer tractors with nice features like hydro trans.

Tractorbynet.com IIRC is the place to talk tractors. Fun stuff.

Buy the Kubota if its been maintained. I've had several tractors, and in order of importance: 1) diesel 2) 4wd (even if just on wet hillside) 3) loader.

Quality Kubota's are excellent, desireable machines. JD is largely marketing hype, their best compacts have Yanmar motors anyway.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1270559808.jpg

This would work w/ a mower deck and a few other attachments, brush hog would be nice as well. 45 HP Kubota

We're looking to buy some property between here and Austin. No doubt we will be picking up a few implements of construction:

A D5 or D6 Dozer
A Backhoe loader
A Tractor of some sort

Everything will be quite used

The plan is a mininum of a 1/4 section with lots of trees.

Or better yet two dozen goats:D

I have 5 acres and I got rid of my Kubota and got a Exmark with a 60" deck for mowing. All the Exmark will do is mow, but it looks better and is a lot faster than a tractor. If your just cutting grass a zero turn is hard to beat. See what the local commercial mowers are using.

Where I'm looking to buy, you HAVE to have some animals, crops, etc, or at least lease out a portion of the land, or you will be KILLED on taxes.

Depending on how handy you want to be, you could do well with a zero turn mower or a real tractor. I handle about 5 1/2 acres of grass (all bermuda). A 54" front deck mower and 72" rear finish mower on a Kubota cut the acreage in the same time. However, if I had to do it over again, I know I could handle an 84" deck or larger with my 25hp at the PTO. The real killer is the trimming. Trimming around the trees, fence posts, and pond is a lot of work. I highly recommend one of the lightweight trimmers (something around 20-25cc) with excellent balance.

The tractor is a lot more expensive, but more durable and holds value very well. If you get a loader, watch out for the honey-do projects. I have an L3130 Kubota, hydrostatic transmission, turf tires heavy duty loader with quick attach bucket (can install forks). It is the cat's meow. I really love the machine. The only thing I long for it more horsepower and a spare set of R4 tires. Otherwise, this thing is perfect. The newest Grand L-series have auto throttle. That'd be nice to have, but not enough to justify trading up. That said, a well equipped tractor is pushing $20k.

I am a huge advocate of buying used and not paying retail. However, with zero percent financing and high resale values, there was little advantage to buying used.

That property looks gorgeous. Go for it.

Thanks guys, all good info. I forgot too mention, the propoerty does come with a tracktor

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1270584866.jpg

A darwin tractor! Known to kill the stupid!
Normal people are fine on it but if you or your loved ones are stupid then sell it.
Wait....maybe I'm wrong! They ARE safe with it!

I have 25 acres but I only cut 2 or 3.

I just got a Dixie Chopper (0% FOR 48 months) and it is a nice mower, but I would not want to have to mow that much grass.

Mine is rated at over 4 acres an hour, but that is football field smooth and flat. Bumps are bad.

I vote for the tractor.

Sorry about that, computer issues did not let me finish.

The picture above is the style, the actual tractor is operational, but does not look as nice but it is great nonetheless.

The zero turn would be great, but I'm leaning toward the tractor given the ability to do other tasks. I'll see what the seller wants for his, hopefully we can reach a fair deal as it would be great to have everything in the barn on day 1.

Thanks to all for your comments.

v/r
Wayne C.

Before you make an offer, please make sure that the tractor is really what you want.

I have an older, larger MF tractor that I never use because I have two of these (my are 5 years old):

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Both have a 70" belly mower and one has a front end loader. Both can run a smaller bush hog, blades, etc. on the 3 point hitch. Both are 4x4, which in this area you cannot live without. I also use them to drive a PTO drive generator that I plug into the house and run everything except the HVAC. They are simply the best tools I own. Zero problems...one has 670 hours, the other 550.

They are so efficient, powerful and useful that my larger tractor just sits. I am thinking of trading it in for some attachments for the little guys.

Trust me, once you've gone hydrostatic, you never go back.

And before some launches in the green paint verses other tractor diatribe, the MF dealer was 35 miles closer and gave me a screaming deal.

Wayne, I've been doing this for a long time and made many mistakes, better if you can learn from mine. Do not buy that old tractor until you go look at some more modern, smaller units. Kubotas are great as are a whole host of other models. Shop.

Also, you will qualify for the old road diesel price. Find the guy in your area that sells it. Same as regular diesel with road taxes.

We've got a Gravely commercial 60" zero-turn. 9 acres takes 3.5hrs. Looks like a golf course. It's not flat either.

Sorry,...forgot the picture
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If you have twelve acres and mow 70%, that's eight acres?? A 60" deck??? Please, look at used golf turf type equipment, a rough type mower Toro, Jacobsen widths like eight feet (5 X 21 inches) on a Toro grounds master, and it can do close trim fairly well!

Bough mine for $3500.00.

PS these are almost impossible to roll. We use it to trim the tee & green slopes etc...

Or Jacobsen HR5111, Eleven feet wide!!!! But more $$$

My runway is around 5 acres and then I have about 3 1/2-4 acres of grass in th hangar and house yards. For the wide open places I use an old 1941 Ford 9N (paid about $1500 IIRC about 10 years ago) with a 6' 3 bladed PTO driven finish mower and staggered out from that is a cheap Swisher self engined 5' finish mower (around $1200 at Northern Hydraulics about 7-8 years ago). I also have an old 4' chopper for the tractor but don't really use it anymore.

For the yards, I bought a locally built simple hydrostatic 5' mower with an neat front deck that flips up for easy cleaning/blade sharpening. A more modern tractor would be better for you, but I have a 4 wheel drive ATV for snow and an old Bobcat for when I need a loader.



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I have 4 acres, 1 of which is yard with trees. I bought a '47 Ford 8N with a 6' Woods belly mower for $2500 about 3 years ago. I make due without the 4x4 even in the Wisconsin winter and use a 6' rear blade for snow removal. I can cut about 2 acres an hour with my rig. Even though the tractor is 63 years old I can still get new parts for it. I only wish I had the Ford Jubilee which came with the live PTO.

$20K is a lot of cash to lay down on something which tops out at 16 mph. When you look at the ratio of $/MPH or $/(acres/hour) the used, fully depreciated tractors are hard to beat.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1270605336.jpg

(not mine, but the same rig. My tractor's paint is a little less shiny but runs like a top, starts even at -20F)

Speedy:)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1270605714.jpg

Here is my tractor.

Speedy:)

I just bought a Mahindra tractor. Man, is it freaking powerful in comparison to the other colors I tried. Brand new diesel, front loader, bush hog. I have done a months worth of land clearing in 3 days. I used the bucket and just shoved 4-6+ inch diameter trees right over, grabbed the roots with bucket...and tree is gone. Better yet...no sore back. I got 0% for 5 years.