Yes, how many acres do you have.

I live on a28 acre blueberry farm. I have 10 aditional acres that I plant food plots on, and another 8 acres of lawn and pasture that I maintain. All of the work is done with two 5525 John Deere tractors. One is a compact version for the berry rows(disk, spray, etc.) The other is full size, air conditioned cab, 91horse. It pulls a 15' bushhog, and is great for disking and plowing that 10 acre piece.

I know I wouldn't be able to be very efficient with a smaller series tractor. As far as digging ponds, I can relate to the previous poster. It depends how large it is. The backhoe attachment on the 5203 is tiny. There really only good for digging small holes. Anything sizeable would require a trac-hoe, and a couple of tri-axles to move the soil away.

Previously when you mentioned digging ponds, I thought you meant landscape type ponds(15'by 30'), with some rocks and boulders around them. If this is what you meant, than a small series tractor 50 hp w/ a backhoe and loader attachment would be sufficient.