Compact tractor recommendatons

[Doublebit]

Gentlemen,
My wife and I retired a while ago and are in the process of moving to a place in the Shenandoah Valley. I have about 4.5 acres of lawn to mow, a garden to till, and about 200 yards of gravel drive to maintain. I am looking for a small tractor to take care of these chores.

Obviously a belly mower is in order. Since I will be doing some building on the place and I want to keep my back in working order, I would like a small front bucket. The tractor should be able to power a rear mounted tiller (maybe) and help with handling firewood.

I grew up on a small mountain farm but its been 30 years since I was on a tractor.Do you all have recommendations / suggestions? Thanks,

LT

 

[Targets Guy]

JD 1025R. Can't praise it enough.

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3 point hitch, 60 inch mower, front bucket. Mower deck and front bucket easy to take off and on. Drive the tractor over the deck to attach the mower.

I mow almost four acres, trim and maintain over 100 trees and have two driveways of over 130 feet each to take snow drifts off of when necessary.

Without the loader I never would have gotten the two 20G crocks on the top shelf nor the porch swing up in the rafters

 

[dave holl]

I have a 990 JD "utility" tractor, 45hp, 3 cyl Yanmar diesel, 3 pt hitch, and front end loader. Cost approx $20,000. Don't know what I would do without it. John Deere and Kubota seem to be most popular around here. There are many models from which to choose. Enjoy the search.

Belly mowers do a great mowing job, and the newer models are easier to install than before, but they get in the way if you have to do much work with your tractor other than mowing. Working in a woods for example, or using the loader. For your mowing requirements I would recommend a 3pt mower, either a finish type or bush hog.

Other handy implements are 3pt tiller, post hole driller, grader for our long gravel drive, rear blade.

Holl's Law: You will forever regret buying too small of a tractor.

 

[dave201]

Deere 4000 series compact, 4 wheel HST Drive
Anything smaller with a loader is pushing the limits
A snow blower is nice
Look on Fastline, Tractorhouse
Deere wants and arm and leg at their dealer lots
I bought a nice 4600 off Tractorhouse in Ohio
Really a good deal.. You just have to watch the adds
Picture is my 150 HP with loader and 10 FT snow blower
Weighs 22000 lbs This is Not a compact tractor

 

[Glashaus]

+1 on the John Deere compact tractor. Before relocating to Texas I was on five acres outside of Warrenton Virginia, I had a John Deere 2210, great little tractor, 54" belly mower on a mid mount PTO, rear PTO , three point hitch, loader, 4 wheel drive. Was great for cutting grass in the summer and pushing snow in the winter.

 

[dave201]

Here's an all in one deal
TractorHouse.com | 2015 JOHN DEERE 4105 For Sale

 

[Diamondtreo]

Here's my choice, a Kioti CK2610 HST with loader. I pull a 3-point finish mower (72" wide) over my 1.5 acre lawn. Additional implements include a plug aerator, post hole auger & weight to offset the loader. Kioti de-tuned their 35hp engine to meet the cat IV emission requirements without having to add any computerized fuel management doohickies so this is a simple distributed-injection design that runs real strong for 26hp. They also have monthly deals like throwing in the loader for free if you supply your own financing or $500 off if you finance thru their system. CK2610 HST Compact Tractor | Kioti Tractors

 

[Tyrod]

Chon Dear!

 

[Grayfox]

The first thing to look at is the dealer. Well established, good reputation, good service, parts availability? The best tractor in the world is useless without good support. You don't want to buy something that if it breaks down, parts or service would take months.

JMHO, but I consider Deere to be over rated and over priced.
Personally, I'd be looking hard at Kubota.

BTW: I used to fix these things for a living.

 

[ky wonder]

if buying new i would strongly suggest a Kubota tractor and I own two mid size john deeres, will never buy another. the john deere of today is not the one of old

as far as the lawn is concerned I would go with a zero turn mower for the grass you will find it much more efficient and much much faster than a tractor mounted mower, belly or rear

 

[SC_Mike]

We have a JD 3025E that's been great so far, after about two years of use.

As you can see here, it's outstanding in its field, (for about two weeks now):

I blame myself not the tractor. I don't do anything half way...

 

[NYlakesider]

We have a JD 3025E that's been great so far, after about two years of use.

As you can see here, it's outstanding in its field, (for about two weeks now):

I blame myself not the tractor. I don't do anything half way...

Very nice job!

Get a couple friends that have drones and hook them up to the rollover bar. (ROPS) Should pull you free real easy.

PS take pictures!

 

[Muley Gil]

Reminds me of a time when my dad & I went shooting. Got his station wagon stuck. Went and got the neighbor's tractor. Got that stuck. Got another tractor and stuck that one too. Got my '52 Buick to haul ropes, chains, shovels, etc. Yup, it got stuck as well.

Dug out the biggest tractor and used it to pull out the other vehicles. Had a convoy coming out of the woods that evening.

My folks wound up outside of Winchester, Virginia and my dad bought a Kubota 4x4 tractor. He used the dealer on Rt 522.

 

[Ballistic147]

My dad bought a Kubota L3901HST 4WD a couple years ago with the FEL and rear tiller. The tiller is absolutely amazing and does a wonderful job preparing the soil to plant. The loader does pretty good, I think it would do great in good dirt but their 8 acres has rocks like you wouldn't believe. The bucket digs well until you hit a rock and forward motion just comes to a halt. Like I said, don't blame the tractor at all because the rocky land is the problem. We have been able to move some very large rocks with it. It has so far been an excellent tractor and definitely saves both time and work.

For mowing, it's hard to beat a good zero turn mower. Far faster than a tractor and does a better job with less soil compaction.

 

[Faulkner]

Obviously a belly mower is in order.

No, no, no . . . a belly mower is not the obvious choice. If you plan to do other things with your tractor you will regret the belly mower. I know you can take 'em on and off, but a 3-point hitch finishing mower is much more user friendly (in my opinion). With the use of some of the other 3-point hitch implements you'll end up taking the belly mower off anyway because it gets in the way.

I have a Kubota B2710 27HP diesel 4WD with hydrostatic transmission, and although I bought it originally for mowing I find I use it for much, much more than that. For mowing I use a 3-point hitch LandPride 72" finishing mower that is easy for me to take on and off, especially with the installation of Pat's Easy Change 3-Point Hitch System on the tractor. I also run a 5' brushhog with it, a 5' box blade, and a 4' PTO tiller.

I don't have a front end loader, but I do have a 3-point hitch platform that I use to carry all kinds of stuff, mainly firewood from the main woodpile to the front porch wood rack.

Although I like my Kubota, I don't get all hung up on orange or green or blue tractor brands, just remember to buy as much tractor as you can afford, one size too big is much better than one size too small.

 

[Faulkner]

Oh, and for those of you not using Pat's Easy Change devices you are missing out making 3-point hitch implement changes a snap.

 

[bullmack]

That's a lot of suction to break out of.

 

[dben002]

Just a thought........

 

[Whitwabit]

that's a lot of grass to keep up with .. over 200,000 sq ft .. have you thought of turning an acre into a wooded area for wild life ?? wild flowers and fruit bearing shrub like sand cherries for the birds .. some nut trees for you and the squirrels ??

Just a thought !!

EDIT : I have 88,000 sq ft of grass and with a 50 inch mower it takes me between 2 and 3 hours according to time of year and how tall the grass is .. if you get behind because of spring rain even a few days it will take twice as long to mow when you are able to .. this spring it has rained 17 days in March .. so you can see how quickly you can get behind .. ..

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My Brother has a mid-sized 35 H.P. diesel Kubota 4x4 tractor with front end loader and 5' bush hog, he has a 60" zero turn Kubota (diesel) he bought for the wife to mow with, but her carpel tunnel syndrome forced him to buy a Kubota 4x4 diesel) lawn tractor also.. Lesson learned, if you are mowing pasture fields, use the largest tractor you have with a three point mower (brush or finish), so your kidneys don't get pounded!

Mowing and farm chores are your biggest concern, snow removal is way secondary!

Ivan