HELP, I need a tractor
 

Having moved to Tennessee and having about 7 acres of grass to mow I need help from the brain trust here. I need a tractor. I have been partial to John Deere and I have found some used ones but I am not sure what to get.

I think that I need a full size one and have found a 2014 5075E with a cab and an MX7 rotary cutter that only has 70 hours but he wants 41K for it. I can't find any free sites that tell me the values of used John Deere equipment.

Any advise you guys can offer would be awesome.

Dave

You're on the right track.

Do not buy new machines!

I don't know about Deere. My machines are Orange. Start watching Craigslist and dive into Tractorbynet.com for starters.

You will find new John Deere tractors are only slightly more expensive than used for the smaller machines. A 5075 is way too big for 7 acres. Look at the 2 series machines with a belly mower. Rear mounted rotary cutter will not leave a nice finish.

I think you will be happier with a mid mower, not a pull behind gang reel, or 3 point mower. I have a much smaller John Deere 955 (4x4 35 HP)with a 52" front end loader, and a 72" mid mounted mower. With the foot controlled hydrostatic, and the power steering, it is almost a pleasure to mow with it (especially compared to most riders or garden tractors).

The 3 point mower takes some getting used to, and planning to mow up close to objects in the yard....whichever way you steer the front tires, the mower goes in the opposite direction, and is big anough no to care what it chops down. The gang reel mowers are great for wide open areas with no trees or obsticles.

There are so many nice used outfits out there to choose from, let somone else take the big depriciation hit.

+1 to the above comments. 7 acres is mid compact territory.

Are you really going to mow 7 acres, or do you want to whack it down a few times a year? If you want to mow it, consider that after a year or two you will change your mind. If you want to keep it under control, you need a bush hog (rotary cutter). For 7 acres I would have at least a 35 hp tractor and 6 foot cutter. You pay a premium for John Deere paint. I would get a Kubota. They are less money and just as good if not better.

Kubotas have more American parts than Deeres. 35hp minimum. NOBODY hardly ever trades down. So don't be them. Go big. Danger is you'll fall in love with dirt and bushes and grass and pole barns and whatnot.

I changed gears from Porsche to Kubota and have NOT saved any money.

If you are ONLY going to mow, you don't need a tractor. There are zero-turns and other much more efficient and fast mowing machines.

If you want to shove dirt around, plant/harvest something, do some landscaping, maintain a road or whatever else you'll want a tractor.

There it is.

If it is just grass there are much better options.

Sounds like there is more, though. Clue us in!

I have lived this dream, as have others, and we are all happy to help guide you directly to our equipment prejudices!

Not prejudices, experiences.

MachineryTrader.com | Backhoes for sale, skid steers, excavators, dozers.

and

http://www.tractorhouse.com/

As far as tractors, it really depends. LS makes/made tractors for several companies. Theirs seem to hold up. Stay away from Chinese and Russian. I know good and bad deeres. Small ones are made by different companies. Open the hood to see if you are buying a Yanmar/Fiat/LS/other. Some Case/NH are good, others are made in Turkey and have a bad reputation. I like the older Masseys if you are good with working on equipment. The old Perkins diesels and gas engines were tops.


What are you really needing to get done on 7 acres?

Just mowing? Zero turn hands down.

You can get a VERY nice commercial Hustler zero turn for less than $10K new. I am partial to Hustlers, have two. If you REALLY want overkill get a Hustler 104 for about $28K new.

Need to mow mainly and want to put in fences or otherwise later? RENT a skidsteer, no need to pull maintenance just buy fuel and pay for the hourly use.

Do you have hills? A zero turn is MUCH more stable on hills! I sold 60 acres which was mainly hills. Tractor was scary!!!! We mowed with zero-turns. 10 acre horse pasture is mowed with zero turns.

For information, 200 acre and 80 acre farms. One JD with 105 HP at the PTO (family), HATE it. One Case 60HP at the PTO, love it. Two Hustler 60" zero turns, one Big Dog 60" (family). 15 foot batwing, 8 foot and 5 foot pull behinds. We use the zero turns for most of our mowing needs. Easier to drive, stable on hills, MUCH cheaper to operate, less fuel. For the 200 acres of cow pasture I hook up the 15' batwing as there is just no other way.


IF you are dead-set on a tractor get a front end loader. Know what your weight requirements really are. Some tractors cannot safely or otherwise handle the weight of a round bale for instance. Tractors are horrible in comparison to using a skidsteer for putting in holes. It all depends upon what you will be using the machine to accomplish.

Are you going to cut all 7 acres?
I have 23 acres and I only cut about 2.5 around my house.with a 54" JD lawn tractor, cost $5K new.
I bushhog the other open fields twice a year with my mid-size white/Fiat tractor, cost $6K used that came with a bunch of implements.
To me for a hobby farm tractor you don't need a cab, although it's nice if you use it in the winter.

Try SearchTempest: Search all of Craigslist nationwide & more Set it for 450 miles. Look in "Farm and Garden" and use keyword "tractor". I would buy a Kubota, Ford, or Deere. You'll find a lot of Fords in the central valley, which are OK, but you'll have to tow it over the grapevine. You might also call the rental yards such as US Rentals, Hertz, or Pape. Bakersfield is actually ground zero for construction equipment auctions. Used construction equipment capital of the world. And there is a large Ag equipment show going on right now in Tulare, CA. And if you are in an area that has grass fires, I'd disc the field, not mow it. And get a box scraper to make fire breaks closer to the house. You want to leave zero fuel for at least a 60' fire break.

Nice, David. Hope all is well. Shoot me a PM.

I have a total of 14 acres. 7 are field that the prior owner bush hogged. 1 acre is grass and I have riding mower for that. I figured that with the woods and the other things I plan on doing I would need a loader on the front. The neighbor told me the the prior owner bush hogged every other week. There are some small elevation changes but nothing outrageous.

I don't want to spend 5 hours mowing that is why I figured at least a 6 foot rotary cutter.

Thanks for all the help and input.

Dave

Yep. I agree with OP.

You do need a tractor.

I'd look at the jd 1025. I have 8 acres with lots of woods and big grade differences and it's been great.

Some of the fields I have I stopped mowing and let go wild. The trees are coming in nicely...

You are absolutely on the right track. Good luck, and have fun.
I would start planting trees to minimize the mowing of the 7 acres, but I'm lazy. I planted a 1 acre native prairie to eliminate some mowing and do something interesting. It looked great (to me - the neighbors called it my weed patch) but after about 10 years the goldenrod took it over. I mowed it down and have been mowing it ever since.