I think it may be time for us to invest in a new tractor. We have a tiny Mahindra that has done its job but has become a mechanical nightmare the past couple of years and not many dealers still around to service it. I think we want to go with a Kubota this time, probably the most options for dealers in this area. Main purpose is for rototilling a native arena (clay with some sand mixed in). Don’t really have a need for any other attachments or lifting rounds bales. Need a bucket for the front. Any advice on what size to get or other tips?
How big is your property total? How big is the native area? And how big is the Mahindra?
What do you want to use the bucket for/how big a bucket do you want?
Will you be bushogging or towing a finish mower?
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Currently just a couple acres, hoping at some point to have 5-10. Currently don’t need a brush hog or finish mower. Bucket just for moving sand/manure/etc. Arena is probably 80x180. Mahindra is 22h and does the job fine but I think maybe all the tilling is too hard on it.
Mine is a 32 horse Kubota. We’ve had it 25 years. It’s been a good little tractor. It has a bucket, and a PTO. I rototill gardens with it, and brushhog pastures, and harrow arena with it. Pastures are quite rough, or they were when we moved here 14 years ago. Getting more civilized now LOL. I CAN move our small round bales with it, (600 lbs), and I do pick up a bucket of sand and gravel from our little pit for use where needed- but I’m pretty careful and slow when doing that, because it’s at the maximum capacity I think. We use it for raking the hay crop, I do all the raking, but it’s too small to run the rest of our haying equipment, and has no back hydraulics. Which is fine, we have better tractors for those jobs. It’s not the greatest for ploughing snow, but CAN do some, not as good as the bigger tractors. The good thing about the little Kubota is that it’s handy, tight turning radius. It fits into tights spots. It’s also economical to run. We had a smaller farm when we bought it, harrowed the training track and arena, brushhogged pastures. When we moved here, we thought it was a “pretty good tractor”. Quickly learned that it was just a baby tractor compared to what we need here. But it’s still useful. Recommended for what you want to do.
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I have a small John Deere 1025r that is a workhorse for what it is. I can’t move enormously heavy things but for my day to day it’s great. I use it for brush hogging, grading driveway, hauling stone, pulling my utility trailer, turns my muck pile.
It fits beautifully on my property and I drive it right down my barn aisle with no issues. I only need a bigger tractor for round bales and moving heavy stuff which I rarely do.
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Check your tiller size specs, they should recommend the horsepower you need to run your tiller. My five foot wide tiller says 25-50hp for tractor sizes. I would go a bit bigger than the lowest setting, so tractor is not straining to provide the needed power. Especially important if there is any cover crops or weeds, ground is really hard from drought. My other advice is to use the lower power setting, turtle picture. You get more power torque to go thru the dirt, turn it into a fine soil layer for planting. Yes low gear goes VERY slowly across the field, but the .tiller can do a MUCH better job of breaking soil into fine dirt at the slower setting.
I would suggest getting a quick-connect hitch for the loader arms. It does cost a bit extra but makes tractor more desirable when selling time comes. You may later wish to buy other attachments for the loader arms, to aid in unknown jobs. Have to say we use the forks for lifting pallets, logs rubber mats by the gates. Heavy components off the semi truck, for the hoop barn we put up. So many unexpected things they are useful for!! Perhaps you may change to using the big bales, round or square, will need a bale spear to move them around with. Quick hitch is handy for that too.
Keep tractor loader limit in mind. Kubota work hard, but they WILL NOT pick up more than what they say.
Good luck shopping, so much fun!! Check out farm auctions, sometimes bargins can be found. Fall is coming, people selling out. We got the 50hp Kubota that way. Everything else on thar farm was huge! Articulated, treaded or wearing dual wheels all the way around. 16 full size tractor tires! This tractor was the “lawn mower” for his large cattle pastures, didn’t do anything else. We love him!
Agree with the recommendations above, and that you’re looking for something in the 25 - 35 HP range. It sounds like the tilling will be the hardest use, so do check your tiller specs and let that be your definitive guide.
Second the Deere 1025R. I’ve had mine for 8 years. I don’t use the bucket as much as I use pallet folks. It pulled a 60 inch box blade while I graded my new dressage arena myself, moving an estimated equivalent 20 dump truck loads of topsoil and then spreading it on pastures. I also use it with a mid-mount mower every week (even in winter as I have winter forage grass) to mow pastures. The only thing I find lacking is the vertical lift height of the loader, and limited lift height of the 3-point due to the small tires. In hindsight I might have gone with a 2038R to address those things, but the 1025R has 1400 hours and no problems.
I was ready to buy a Kubota BX initially, but when I went to the local Kubota dealership with a check in hand to buy, I was ignored for so long that I just walked out. Deere was right down the street and the dealership was helpful and pleasant, and I bought the only 1025R on the lot not 15 minutes later.
Oh, and I use it every day with a 60 inch Dragn’Fly arena groomer. Absolutely no problems.
And 25HP or less HP tractors did not require the EPA mandated dreaded diesel emissions setup with regeneration. That may have changed but I know that my good friends with a next step up Kubota bought around the same time have had a ton of problems with the emissions gear on it leading to a lot of down time and expense.
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I have a little 25hp Massey with a FEL. Bought it used and it’s been a great little tractor. Though not pertinent to your current situation I like I can mow my pastures pretty high (5-6 inches) with my 60” belly mower). When you buy make sure you can get it serviced conventionally locally. I am very fortunate to have an older neighbor who is brand agnostic tractor genius.
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When the BO moved to her new farm in 2000 she bought a Kubota that was big enough to handle the equipment she needed to hay a 30+ acre field. It was a lot cheaoer than a JD. It had a bucket, no backhoe, and wasn’t “full size.” She had round bales spears for the front and back. There were about 45-55 horses on an 80-acre farm. There was a diesel tank by the little barn so refueling wasn’t a problem. I was impressed by the reliability. It never broke down and we were there for 21 years. She didn’t let anyone drive it period under any circumstances.no not ever. Except for her 2nd husband after he moved in.
Our Kubota L2900 has worked for 25+ years. Bushhog and tilling the arena is all it basically does so the PTO is always engaged.
As other people have noted - buy a tractor that you can get serviced by a good service department. I have a Mahindra that I bought used (15 hours) and the Mahindra dealer’s service department sucks. I have another alternative now which I hope stays in business forever. I don’t want to go back to Mahindra service department.
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still the break point at 25Hp, that is why there are several small equipment models with 25Hp rated engines even if the engine might have the ability to produce greater than 25 Hp
and That is the why older tractors without the mandate are being priced out of sight (plus those older tractors can be worked in by any one)
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Tagging on with Mahindra stories…
We also bought ours used. It’s not that old, but it was rode hard and put away wet before we got it, with a good number of clock hours and a lot of deferred maintenance.
It’s a good thing my husband is handy because something breaks on it darn near every time you use it. I don’t know what we would do if we had to take it to be serviced every time something broke!
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Kubota L2501 for the win. I have 7.5 acres. Dump bucket, roto tiller and box scraper. We also have an Arena Rascal Pro that I can use on the tractor 3 point hitch. No interest financing is great.
If you do not plan to do tractor servicing and repairs yourself, finding a good local dealership with a great service department is paramount. In my town Deere is good, Kubota really sucks, and New Holland is somewhere in between. My Kubota friends trailer their tractors right by the local dealer to another dealership thirty miles further away. Your location may be completely different regarding service quality and availability.
And I would avoid any tractor brand sold by TSC or any other store with no local service and parts facility in your town.
Another observation. If you buy from a big dealership with a lot of sales to Ag users, the Ag equipment will likely be given preferential treatment during harvest times. If the dealer is big enough to have a separate lawn and garden equipment service facility for things like utility tractors and ZTR’s then that will not matter.
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