Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

I know this is in the bow hunting section, but I didn't see anywhere else to post it and this is the busiest part of the forum.

I was hoping to get some help her sinceI know bow hunters do their fair share offlood plotsto get close togame, I am personally not a bow hunter yet, but hope to one daybe, but my brotherjust started this past summerand he loves it. He shotthree pigs andone doe and passedon a lot of reallynice young bucks so they can machure for the future.

We havebeen using a truck to pullour disk for our food plot planting, but know wewantto get a tractor forour property. I have heard the brands to go withareJohn Deere and Kabota.

Our family needsa tractor that can dig out ponds,do road work, hall rocks, disk, plow, mowing; Iguess weneed onepretty much to do a lot of work.

Any recommendations on what tractors to buy, horse power recommendations, etc.We have neverbought a tractorbefore and need some guidance,but guessing wewill need around 50 to 60 horse power tractor?

Thanks for any help,

TexasOaks

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Try the Wildlife Managmentforum under General Hunting. They might know more than us:D

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

No... Also there is a max of five people at a time in there... just no love for wildlife management forum.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Well in that case, i've heard that John Deere's are good and also Farmall's. We have a really old one up at the cabin to disk some rye and stuff. nottin big. then again she's from the early 1900's:D

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

TexasOaks, go to qdma.com and go to their forums. They have a thread going that answers all your questions about tractors. Lots of info. Many experienced farmers and plotters with tons of knowledge. My 2 cents would be to get more tractor than you think you'll need, get a 4 wd and color don't matter.:D

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

I appreciate it.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Not a problem Tex, the tractor thread is in the foodplot forum. Good stuff!

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Hello Texas Oaks, without knowing your budget, it's hard to give you accurate advice that will help you.

From what your describing as a workdescription, I would suggest a tractor with 70-90 horsepower. I personally only buy John Deere, but there are many quality tractors out there(Massey Ferguson, Case, etc.) that will do the job just fine for you. If your just planting food plots, and ditch cleaning try pricing a used John Deere 5525. It's 91 horsepower, which is more than plenty for what your doing. You can pull a 12' disk, and a 4 bottom plow with no problem. Deere makes a nice front end loader set-up for their 5000 series tractors, as well as a backhoe attachment. A brand new 5525 base tractor with 4WD goes for about 35 grand, add 4,500.00 and they'll throw in an air conditioned cab. The front end loader is about 7000.00.I'm not sure what the backhoe attachment costs but as you can see it's certainly not cheap. The good thing is they offer 0% financing.

If you don't want to go new, you could easily find a used Deere or another make with a loader and backhoe attachment included(I see them all of the time)on Tractorhouse.com

You definately can get by with a smaller rig, like the 5025, or for that matter anything in their 5000 series(their considered utility tractors)with both attachmentsfor less money, but I would look for somthing that would be versitile in this manner.......Ceck-em out on the Deere websight. (didn't mean to throw you offf with the bigger one, but sometimes the lighter tractors are limited, especially when you want to do as much as you have in mind.)

Good Luck.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

I was looking at this one:

http://www.deere.com/servlet/ProdCatProduct?tM=FR&pNbr=5203%20LV

Is this model to low of horse power?

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

That's a nice tractor. Your best bet is to go a dealer and try it out. Make sure it has what you need.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

It might be a little light, but you could still get by, you just would need smaller implements....(5' disk, 2 bottom plow)

How much ground do you have?

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

TexasOaks, the higher horsepower/fancier tractors can be nice to have sometimes, but they do tend to be more costly than smaller models. I have a Massey Ferguson 235 (41 pto hp) that I got new in 1976 and it has been a real workhorse. My neighbor has a similar but somewhat older MF 135 (37 hp).

Both of these machines have been very reliable and have seen a huge variety of service. The work they have done using a front end loader includes digging ponds,carrying rocks, plowing snow, packing round hay bales, lifting cows for butchering, and pushing in fence posts. General duty includes rotivating (48-inch), plowing (2-bottom), harrowing, seeding, cutting hay (9-foot swather), baling (square and round bales), and logging.

My opinion is that this size of tractor can pretty much do it all on a farm of a few hundred acres while the bigger ones kick in if you're farming a number of sections. As you mention, John Deere is also reputable but I know one local who has had some problems with his Kubota (maybe just bad luck). I hope this is of some help to you.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

I appreciate helping out a fellow hunter in need. Thank you

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

From a guy who grew up on a farm.........how often you will be using it and for the reasons you mention........you won't need the extra cost of 4WD unless you plan on being in wet ground. Though we had a small farm compared to most of today's farms, we never needed a 4WD. At least for farming purposes if it was that wet, we had no business being out.;) Of course the type of soil and location will help dictate that.

JD, Case International, Kubota, Ford, any of them should fill your needs.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

What does how much ground do you have mean? Acres?

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

I agree with most of this thread, but have to take issue with building a pond with a 60 hp (or less)tractor. How big of pond are you building and how much time do you have to dig it?

I've done tons of work (disc, plow, mow hay, bale hay, plow snow, etc)with an International Harvester 560 but don't think I would tackle building a pond with it. Just my $0.02.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

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.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Texas...What's going to "stump" you is the pond...If you are talking 10-12 food plots of about an acre apiece, a good 40-60 hp tractor or so will do all you need to do...You mentioned digging "ponds"...Is this one 1/2 acre pond or 2-3 10-12 acre ponds??? You might come out better finding someone with the proper equipment to dig the pond, than buying a tractor too big for your food plots or too small to be very efficient digging a pond...Most tractors are designed for tilling, planting, spraying etc...Adding a backhoe or a loader does not make them a backhoe/loader...It just lets you do a little light work with them....The frame is made differently and the stress put upon it are different for different applications....

Most of the ponds I see made around here are done with a bulldozer and pan.

RE: Please I Need Some Help! Tractor Help that is...
 

Thanks guys... I am defineately getting a more of an idea of what to do. We have around 200 acres btw.