quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
One thing to think about. Are you going to be mowing 5-6 acres every week or two?

That's a crazy amount of grass/lawn to have to mow. You might consider "only" leaving an acre around the house to mow and let the rest grow to support ground nesting birds and other habitat. Then cut that down once each Fall.

The Ventrac I referenced would be ideal for this utilizing the front mower to take care of the yard every week then change to the cutter/brush hog attachment for the Fall mow. Plus there are all sorts of other attachments for these machines, but Ventracs are not cheap.

The next option I'd look at would be a subcompact tractor such as a Kubota BX2660 (or even B2601) with a mid mount mower along with a pull behind cutter/brush hog, and removable loader with QA bucket. My experience is that it's a lot easier mowing around a house and obstacles with a tractor having a mid mount mower than a pull behind mower, pull behind mowers are ok in larger areas. John Deere 1025R is another one and you can always find nice used BX and 1025R's on the used market as well.

Rather than have a larger tractor that just sits most of the time, plus a riding mower, you'll be utilizing a smaller tractor for mowing every week, and having the advantage of only one machine to buy, maintain, and store. This is what I chose to do when I had about 1 1/2 acre to mow along with a 3 acre meadow I cut down every Fall and it worked out very well for years. Unfortunately I ended up with more property and a lot more mowing (even though I let most if it grow all year as well). So now with mowing probably 5 acres (which is stupid!) I use a ZTR for that mowing and a larger tractor with a flail to cut the meadow and fields each Fall as well as loader work.

THIS IS AN OLD THREAD

After living on our new property for going on a year now, I thought I'd update the "do I need a tractor" question.

For those who suggested waiting a bit before purchasing a tractor, think that was the right decision for me.

Last spring I purchased a commercial grade zero turn mower to take care of the immediate mowing needs (Hustler 60"). Later in the summer I bought a used zero turn (Big Dog 54") for my wife to use. The second mower cuts the mowing time from 3+ hours by myself to less than 2 hours with us both doing it. I agree with those who suggested a zero turn mower over a bush hog. For our needs it seems to work best.

Now, as for a tractor. I decided on a 2023 Kubota LX2610. It has a standard L525 loader and a third function valve. I purchased a set of pallet forks and will likely get a grapple for it as well. It is 4x4 with the R14 tires. 80 hours on the meter. Out the door for less than $18k. More than I wanted to spend but it's a good tractor.

I'll have it delivered in the next week or two and look forward to making good use of it (I already have 3 large projects lined up).

So, thank you to everyone for your excellent advice!

The tractor:


The mower:



A view of my back yard:

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mojojojo,

Congrats on the tractor and zero turns.

DIY bush hog.

You have a beautiful yard there Mojo.

The LX2610 is a nice tractor and with only 80 hours practically new. I had its predecessor which was the B2650, and I believe PHPaul here has one as well.

Nice it already has a 3rd function so you're set to get a grapple. I use a grapple almost as much as the bucket.

mojojojo,
That's a nice looking Kubota!
Sometimes it does take a fleet of machinery for keeping a property looking nice.
Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
mojojojo,
That's a nice looking Kubota!
Sometimes it does take a fleet of machinery for keeping a property looking nice.
Enjoy!

Thanks! Yes it does. I also purchased a DR Power brush cutter for tough areas around the 2.5 acre pond and for clearing brush in the woods on the other side of it.

Congrats! We have a 2610 for our small horse farm and it works great for so many things from mowing to pulling a manure spreader to moving hay and various other material with the bucket/forks. Not cheap, but very very handy and effective.

I don't have a NEED for a tractor of any kind, but if I won the lottery, I'd buy me the BIGGEST, hugest, most humungously magnificent tractor that I could legally drive on the roads.

I had a drive of a VERY large John Deere a couple of years back at a country show. This thing had self-steering GPS, and used SATNAV to move around the field in accordance with the crop type and density. It raised the plough AND turned around without me touching a control, and the furrows like they'd been made by a robot. If course, they HAD.

£300K and it's all yours, the saleman said....sigh.....

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
A 4wd tractor with a front end loader.

… and a blade for maintaining drives etc.