Good stuff

I only have an acre so mowing isnt my primary use but I've been thinking about these things for a while now too. Leaf collection with a vac trailer would be a big time saver but more so moving dirt/rocks/mulch.... around. I have a snowblower that does the job but I guess a blade might be useful. I thought about a Dingo or a small tractor with a loader, like an old b series kubota. Overkill for my needs but they are tanks and should last a long, long time.

I like the idea of renting a big machine for the once in a while stuff. Storing or operations a big machine can be a pain unless you have tons of space.

Here is a picture of the chipper/shredder. We were out this morning cleaning up the lines.

The thing eats belts. Frankly, it isn't worth the effort. One of those things better rented.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1432572252.jpg

Depends what you are doing. Not to dig a pool or septic system, but running pipe, leader drains, planting shrubs it would be fine.

Have a Woods backhoe on a 37hp Kubota. Works fine, biggest pain is swapping seats to move machine.

Keep in mind with a rear attachment, you need weight in the front, and visa-versa.

You probably don't need the hoe, I'd look for a used tractor with a brushog and front bucket.

30+- HP is nice, as is hydrostatic drive. Buy it right, keep it in good shape, and it will hold value.

Some comments above about a tractors center of gravity, specifically mentioned Kubota. Many have an adjustable width rear axle hub. Simple to do, plus you might be able to reverse the wheel dish. Wheel weights are a big plus. It was common years ago to fill the rear tires with fluid (calcium chloride + water) but you must use a brass or corrosion preventive valve.

Mowing-
Three point rear PTO rotary brush cutter for the rough stuff. Don't try using a 3 bladed finishing mower for the rough.

For an alternative combo / rough and finish mowing, consider a flail mower. Belly mount or rear 3 point. Uses a few hundred small blades that are pinned around a long horizontal main shaft. Centrifugal force makes the small blades fling but will safely give if hitting something really rough. The small blades are sacrificial.

Seahawk-
+1 on a zero turn mower. Huge time saver. The only neg is not having a comfortable ride. The short wheelbase and smaller diameter wheels can bring on fatigue.

Not sure if the design is still available, but the lower HP ZTR made by Dixon had a mechanical cone / clutch vs. an elaborate hydraulic drive. So simple and robust. But as mentioned, it was only on the smaller HP machines... thinking they had a Kawasaki air cooled engine.

I debated whether or not to get the backhoe on my Kubota B2320. It's been quite useful.

I hogged out a drainage trench across a part of my property that is an overgrown former pasture. Used it to dig out an old stump from a large shrub next to the house, used it (with thumb) to move and reset very large stones used as walkways around the house, plant shrubs. The wear and tear I've avoided to my back make it well worth the additional price of admission.

Transmission choice.

General purpose, mowing with not many obstructions a direct select gear / clutch is all you need.

Hydrostatic are time savers for maneuvers around obstacles and precise for slowly creeping in or around. Down side is they rob HP and they fail due to not keep them cool. Always a good idea to keep the finned housings and coolers clear of dirt build-up and grass clippings.

Shuttle trans. are my fave. Same gear selected for fwd. / reverse. They seem less troublesome than the hydro's too.

The calcium chloride + water really brings on the ballast but often more trouble than its worth. I don't who supplies Kubota with the rubber any more, (likely Japanese) but anyways the tubes valve might not be so good for it. Can't handle the corrosive nature and in a few years could have leaky mess including the rim rotting.

But even so and you go ahead with the fluid, consider running over something and a puncture. PITA

A stack of wheel weights might be a better option.

Lastly, there's also some who fill with small shot (non lead ;)

When I moved to a 5 acre farm (about 2 acres to mow) 21 years ago, I mowed it with a John Deere 216 with a 46" mower. It also had a snow blade, but even with chains and weights in the Winter, I was always getting stuck, it it took forever to clean my two driveway's drifts.

About 15 years ago I bought a used John Deere 955 with 33 HP, diesel, 4x4, foot control hydrostatic, 3 point hitch, 72" belly mower and a 52" front end loader. I have used it more and more each year that I've owned it and rarely a day goes by that I'm not using the loader for cleaning horse stalls, pulling logs from the creek, loading my truck with scrap metal, hay, or firewood, and mowing 2 lots. I love it and will never go back to a garden tractor.....well worth the money.

955 is a great machine. Want....
Maintain 8 acres with a Ford 600 automatic from around late 50's. Need 4xd though.
For the op, I'd look for a nice used 690 Deere or other 3 cyl yanmar tractor. All you need for what you have.

A Ventrac or Steiner might not be a bad choice. The people who own them love them. I've never personally owned or ran one. A lot of municipalities use them for property maintenance. If you've got some coin to blow a Bobcat Toolcat 5600 is an awesome machine with all wheel steer, a boom that will lift 1500 lbs, has a dump bed capable of handling about 2000 lbs, takes almost all bobcat attachments has enclosed cab and air. You can find an older one with around 1400 hours for around 24K. I guess it ultimately depends on what your primary use is and what your budget is and what your primary use is. Personally I've got a Hustler Super Z for mowing and I use a Bobcat for everything else. I should mention I sell skid steers so I'm not exactly unbiased but a Bobcat is about as handy a tool as you can buy when you consider you can get about every attachment you can imagine at a rental yard. If you're going to do some land clearing that requires some dirt moving I'd go skid steer. If your primary use is mowing with some light lifting a compact tractor would be a good choice.

Seahawk's comment about engine vs PTO horsepower sent me to the web to do some research on how power is rated for compact tractors. They apparently aren't subject to the Nebraska test protocol, so we're back to the bad old days if you're compact tractor shopping. Compact tractor dealers can report horsepower in any way they want. There is a lot of bad information out there about the subject however. For instance, I came across this gem:

"Horsepower is a common method by which to gauge a tractor’s size. In the old days, tractor horsepower was spoken of in terms of drawbar horsepower, meaning how much power the tractor transferred to the ground. As time went by, marketing departments of the manufacturers decided that PTO horsepower should be used, simply because it’s a higher number. Therefore, if a salesperson was describing his tractor with drawbar horsepower, the competing dealer would use PTO horsepower, a higher number, for the same size tractor."

That is nonsense.

Even before the state of Nebraska established a standard test protocol horsepower was reported as both belt (when pto replaced belt drive it became pto) and drawbar hp. The Nebraska protocol was established specifically because dealers were quoting fictitious or misleading numbers. Through the 1950s you couldn't even sell a garden tractor without it being subject to the test. Now apparently anything under 40 hp is exempt.

That Toolcat looks awesome. I suspect it might not be nimble enough and have enough ground clearance for tractor jobs, but I can see it being useful on a bigger farm that also had a real tractor. Reminds me of the Ag Jeeps and Ag Powerwagons that they tried in the '50s.

The Toolcat is crazy awesome. Problem is new I think they run in the 60K range new. I sold two of them used last year and got 34K for one and 32K for the other but both of those had around 400 hours. You can actually lock the rear axle turned to crab steer. Nice thing is they don't mark the yard up like a skid steer and best of all the newer ones go around 18 mph in high gear IIRC and have independent front and rear suspension. You can buy them with road package making them street legal. I believe a rear PTO can be added to them.

tractors are fun...get one...a diesel ...with hydraulics.....I like green..

This thread is bad news for my wallet.

I had been looking at an older Kubota but now think a yanmar might do the trick. Not too much $$, simple, parts around... plus JD and others have basically stuck their name on them for a while. :)

I picked up a running Yanmar 155D ( 4x4-15hp) with bucket and box scrapper for $1100. Put in a new radiator, serviced everything, 5 new hyd hoses and was good to :) Still under $1700 in it:)

Great deal! Put me in line for the next one. :)

Need's got nothin' to do with it

Except for seahawks those are all toys, if you want to bushhog you want 50hp diesel minimum. Mine is 60hp FWD White 2-60, which really is a Fiat 640DT
Get a dedicated mower first, I have a JD X320

If you are handy get a solid older model, easy to work on without all the tier4 crap.

This is experience talking, done my share of messing around with the toy tractors, never again.

Family was in the biz and franchised dealer starting in '58 and with taking on Kubota around '76. Initially, lots of anti-sentiment towards a Japanese made tractor but they ran circles around tractors much larger. The compact size and robust reputation made them big in the states.

Nowadays you've got to be very careful which model to pick - new or used. From John Deere, Kubota to Yanmar, there's lots of crap and over (er' under-) engineered components on them. They have automotive designer mentality in them.

Too many little light duty castings, flimsy lever's, small sealed balljoints, tiny couplings, weak shaft splines, crap fittings, clogging air tunnels, sheet metal guards bits and hardware, plastic, etc.. Once its starts little leaks of oil, they attract dirt and accumulate everything, which clogs them up and hence overheat components.

Parts prices are atrocious. Worse yet, when the machine breaks down, distribution is short on parts. You might wait half a year for some part. This goes for all brands including JOHN DEERE.

My guess is 80% of owners abuse the machines. I lost count on how many trade-ins we took in with the owner pre-washing the tractor thinking we'd believe it was well cared for. First thing we'd do is open the pre-cleaner. Always jammed clogged! Next was the fuel filters. LOL