So I am in the market for a small to midsized general purpose tractor that I will be using at my new farm area. My wife has horses and really wants to be able to lift a round bale of hay so that would be a plus. I figured maybe the LA series would be the best, but what do you all have and or recommend?

I figure I’ll also need a snowblower and a mow deck. I mostly need to rough cut as it is all pasture grass so should I go rear pull behind vs. belly mower? And what about snowblower? I have read that many people go rear attach snowblower though that seems awful having to back up to blow snow the whole time all the while twisting the back and neck.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
So I am in the market for a small to midsized general purpose tractor that I will be using at my new farm area. My wife has horses and really wants to be able to lift a round bale of hay so that would be a plus. I figured maybe the LA series would be the best, but what do you all have and or recommend?

I figure I’ll also need a snowblower and a mow deck. I mostly need to rough cut as it is all pasture grass so should I go rear pull behind vs. belly mower? And what about snowblower? I have read that many people go rear attach snowblower though that seems awful having to back up to blow snow the whole time all the while twisting the back and neck.

The "LA" designation is for the FEL, not the tractor. Their tractors usually come with the FEL that is weight rated for the machine. You would want to know the weight of a round bale, and then pick the tractor that can lift it. It is probably better to think about putting the bale spike on the 3 point hitch, as it usually can lift more than the FEL on any given tractor. Do not forget that any weight rating (FEL or 3point) is at the pivot point. Putting a round bale on either one will move some weight further away from the pivot, thus needing more capacity.
 
The belly mower is a finish mower. Sound like you need a rear "brush hog" for your mowing.
 
The biggest snowfall I have seen since moving to AZ 20 years ago was 1/4", so I cannot help you with the snowblower.

How many acres to mow? We have a cabbed L4610 which is 46 HP. and weighs around 4000 lbs with cab and loader. You can't beat a loader for versatility. It's like a hired hand for many jobs on the farm. Are you going to get into haying. The cab is great for protection against bugs, hot and cold. This horsepower range will handle a 6' rear mower which will cut out your tracks. 5' foot may not and is too slow. We had horses and you may get into a lot of equipment. Manure spreader, hay mower, baler. Saves a lot of money over the long hall in owning horses if you can grow your own hay but takes time and equipment. If you are going to buy hay from a neighbor that's a different deal. I was a city kid and have had a good life in the country with horses. I wouldn't trade it for anything but I enjoyed the work. Good luck!

I don’t know anything about the Kubota line, but can offer my experience with a JD 3046R.

As henryaz noted, you’ll probably want to be lifting off the 3ph. My 320R loader would be maxed to lift a medium sized round bale. It also takes a lot of ballast to lift that much weight without tipping or stressing the front axle.

In the JD line, you can get a front mounted 59” snowblower. In the past, the mid-PTO needed to run it was not available in the 4 series.

At the minimum, I suggest the Kubota MX series. It is not super fancy and has the strength to do work on a horse farm. My sister has horses and uses her MX6000 for pasture mowing, tree planting and heavy lifting.

yeah, as said above, those big round bales can get pretty heavy, I would be looking at a rear hitch bale spike. You may want to take a hard look at their MX series.

I don't know how people live without a tractor.

I have a 1976 L2000.
I got it originally to plow with.
I now have a string of implements for it and I have to say I wish I had bought one years earlier.
It's 25HP but nothing will stop it. I drag cut tree trunks with it for firewood. I have a driveway scrape(box scrape) A 3 blade finishing mower for my shooting range.

Sometimes I wish it were a little bigger but it does the job just fine.


Oh I have a PTO generator that will power my whole house.
This thing has saved my bacon many times here in the mountains when the trees take out power lines.

Henryaz has his facts down on the loader. You’ll definitely lift and carry the bale easier on the three point but if your unloading off of the side of a trailer or stacking bales then your loader will need to be able to lift it. Round bale weights can vary greatly from 900 to 1,500 lbs. If you have a choice, I prefer big squares. They stack and store easier, are easier to feed with and are lighter (600-1,000 lbs).

Tractor size should start with the L or Grand L if lifting with the loader and to the larger end of either of those. The L2502-L3902 tractors all have the same loader and lift capacity (1,155 lbs AT THE HINGE PIN) and can handle a large square but not so much a round bale. If going with the L3560 Grand L, be sure to chose the larger LA814 loader option. The L4701 and L6060 should handle round bales unless they are on the heavy end. Consider the MX series as well. They are a great value but like the standard L series (02) they do not have a mid PTO option. Whatever tractor you use, the loader is all but worthless without the proper rear ballast.

None of the tractors discussed have a belly mower option. If you go with Square bales the LX Series would be good. It has a mid PTO and can accept a belly mower. While the Grand L’s have a mid PTO they cannot accept a belly mower. However a rear brush cutter will likely suit you better.

For a snowblower if you go front mount you will need a mid PTO to drive it. Erskine makes a front mount blower that is powered off of the rear PTO that uses a gearbox and has the PTO shaft run the length of the tractor. Pretty spendy (north of $12,500 last I priced one before COVID). I’d avoid that. Front blowers are by far more desirable to run but they too have a higher price tag than rear mount, nearly double with all of the extra components. You may want to strongly consider a rear pull type blower. Landpride now offers one, Metal Pless and a few other brands. Yes you drive over the snow but it’s a non factor unless you have a Buffalo type event that dumps 4’ of snow. It’ll scrape right down so it won’t leave any more snow on the ground after driving on it than any other blower. I’m in MN/WI and this is what all of my snow Contactor’s buy from me without ever a complaint about their effectiveness. Again, the price point is up there more than a rear facing blower. It also eliminates the need for a quick hitch which simplifies things.

Feel free to email me if you have specific questions. I can even price out a tractor setup. I’m in MN and can ship but I’d suggest you stick with one of your local dealers and form a relationship with them. Kubota’s are very reliable but at some point you’ll need some support. A dealer 1,000 miles away can’t help you and you’ll be lower priority and will get no special consideration from a local dealer like you may if you buy locally.

My ugly little Kubota

^^^ The ugly Kubota makes YOU look better though.

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:
^^^ The ugly Kubota makes YOU look better though.

AAAHAHAHAHAHAH! Why yes it does!

There is a HUGE amount of great info on YouTube on this subject.

Including pre-purchase considerations, annual reviews, instructional tutorials, after market accessories, up keep, maintenance and safety issues.

I'd recommend about thirty hours of you tubing.

All good stuff guys thanks a lot for the thorough responses! So yeah I have a lot to learn. I still don’t understand the nomenclature like “FEL” and “ballast”, etc. I should have stated that the tractor I looked at was the LA 526 and LA 535. I was told it’s like the L2502. They were rated the guy said to pick up up to 117lbs, but not sure still if that means with the bucket or a bale spike and it sounds like it matters as physics suggest the further out the iPad the more pressure I am assuming.

Honestly, if it can’t do a round bale it’s not the end of the world, especially if we have to move up to a much more expensive tractor. I can get round bales delivered probably, it would just be nice to have the ABILITY to do whatever I want and maybe buy once and cry once as they say.

Sounds like I don’t need a belly mower. I have maybe 4 acres of mowing, most inside the different fenced paddocks, though I have ditch and some open filed in front as well. No lawn type grass do a finish mower is I guess unnecessary at this point. Later I’d get a zero turn for the lawn if we get one of established I suppose. I just didn’t know if the tractors that accept the belly mower had a longer wheelbase and were thus more stable and more capable.

Maybe I’ll watch some videos as well. I’m still not sure about the rear snowblower. A pull behind May work so I can still go forward. Also, maybe just a a blade? Or do people use the bucket for snow ever?

Seems like Lego’s I could get 10 different attachments if I wanted though then I need the space to store them!

The OP doesn't state where he lives and that could a play a factor in tractor selection. If the OP lives at high altitude (e.g. Colorado) then he'll definitely want a turbo charged engine.

If the OP lives at "normal" elevations turbo vs nonturbo only matters on PTO driven implements (eg. rotary cutter). Some manufacturers have the exact same frame tractor (i.e. same front lift and 3-point lift capacity), but will offer the same motor with and without turbo. I can't think of any Kubota off the top of my head, but in the TYM line the 494 (48 hp non-turbo) and 574 (55 hp turbo) is an example. You might have access to a great deal or already own a PTO driven implement where the 7 hp difference in horsepower matters.

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:
Kubota’s are very reliable but at some point you’ll need some support. A dealer 1,000 miles away can’t help you and you’ll be lower priority and will get no special consideration from a local dealer like you may if you buy locally.

On a similar thought, don't get hung up on a brand until considering the local dealer location and reputation. Long-term service over the course of many, many years needs to be factored. Hypothetically, there was a New Holland dealer 10 miles, a TYM dealer 15 miles, a Deere dealer 20 miles, a Massey dealer 25 miles, and a Kubota dealer 100 miles. If the closer dealers keep very limited parts inventory in stock, but both Kubota and Deere were well stocked then a Deere would make a lot more long-term sense than any of the other brands.

BRL and Suppressed have it right from the posts I read. Big Kubota guy here. You will be happy. Carry bales up front on a spike is preferable to doing on the 3ph if you buy a big enough tractor. Otherwise the 3ph works good. MX is where I would start. But they are not small. Definitely buy a 4wd tractor.

If moving large bales you want an M. L’s are nice if you don’t need the extra capacity, but the M will get more work done. If you don’t need a cab consider the m5660su it is a nice basic open utility tractor. But any M will do what you are talking about, except belly mowers, you do not want to finish mow with a tractor that can comfortably lift a ton in the loader.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
All good stuff guys thanks a lot for the thorough responses! So yeah I have a lot to learn. I still don’t understand the nomenclature like “FEL” and “ballast”, etc. I should have stated that the tractor I looked at was the LA 526 and LA 535. I was told it’s like the L2502. They were rated the guy said to pick up up to 117lbs, but not sure still if that means with the bucket or a bale spike and it sounds like it matters as physics suggest the further out the iPad the more pressure I am assuming.

Honestly, if it can’t do a round bale it’s not the end of the world, especially if we have to move up to a much more expensive tractor.

FEL stands for front end loader, which you'll want. To the front of the loader you can attach various things such as a bucket and pallet forks being the most common. If you have an extra hydraulic function added to the tractor your FEL will also be able to operate attachments that require an additional or 3rd function such as a grapple, tree puller, etc.

Think of ballast as added weight to counter or offset what implement you are using. For instance if your base tractor has an FEL with a bucket, that adds more weight on the front axle, and any of that weight that is forward of the front axle also lightens the rear. With the bucket filled that adds even more in front of the axle. In this example you would want to add weight to the rear by having an implement (rear blade, box blade, etc) or ballast box on the 3-point.

If I were going to handle round bales I'd be looking at something at least the size of a Kubota MX series for the added weight, size (stability), and lift capacity. If I had a small farm or estate with maybe a garden, field, and a few horses I'd buy my hay in square bales and go with a smaller, lighter (cheaper to buy and operate), tractor such as an L3902 or L3302, both should be able to pull 6' cutter or mower. The L2502 is the same size and weight tractor and will lift the same, but with less power should run a 5' cutter/mower.

I don't know about their tractors, but I have a few generator sets with Kubota V1505 engines. Those things are rock solid. Some have over 10,000 hours and don't leak oil. Not! One! Drop!

Tractors, garages, tool boxes, safes, trailers, and a host of other objects share a common trait. Although there are some instances where smaller is better, there are far more where you wish you had larger.

My neighbor has a brand new 30 HP JD, but often comes over to borrow my 35 HP Bobcat because I have forks and lifting capacity that he doesn't. We've moved some round hay bales with it, but you have to be careful because that's at the limit of what mine is capable of. Something in the 40HP range would be ideal for him.

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