Going to buy a tractor !!

[Biglets Mummy]

Hi All,

Wonder if I could pick brains again !! Finally moved into my new house after the move being delayed after it being flooded out and inhabitable for the past 6 months and as a result have very messy ,overgrown paddocks and land.
After waiting for various people to come and quote for fencing , topping etc etc and never showing up or being too busy we have decided to buy a small tractor and do the maintenance ourselves so wondering what tractor any of you would recommend to use on 4/5 acres.
Needs to be able to have a harrow , topper , bucket etc attachments.

Thanks in advance

 

[Red-1]

Ours was very overgrown when we came here, we had a farmer do the first cut as it really needed heavy duty equipment. We then took over the care with a lawn tractor!

There are loads of compact tractors that would do all that you wish, have a look on ebay for a good variety. There are loads of dealers on there and it is good to see how much range there is, plus you could pick up a nearly new one.

 

[Bob notacob]

I would go for a massey ferguson 135, Simple to use ,parts readily available ,and hold their value.

 

[Micky]

Get something big enough that when topping harrowing rolling etc, doesn’t put too much strain on the tractor, better to have slightly bigger and last forever than smaller and straining..we’ve got a Ford..sadly it’s my hubbys ‘thing’ so I couldn’t tell you the breed ��

 

[Biglets Mummy]

I would go for a massey ferguson 135, Simple to use ,parts readily available ,and hold their value.

Thank you Bob - Looking now !

 

[Biglets Mummy]

Get something big enough that when topping harrowing rolling etc, doesn’t put too much strain on the tractor, better to have slightly bigger and last forever than smaller and straining..we’ve got a Ford..sadly it’s my hubbys ‘thing’ so I couldn’t tell you the breed ��

LOL Micky ! Breed !! Thank you thats good advice - the land is a bit of a mess so think it will need something with teeth.

 

[pennyturner]

I have a MF35, which is basically an older, prettier version of the 135, and can't recommend it highly enough. Do go for the 3 cylinder perkins engine, not the 4cylinder ford one. Apparently the latter are reluctant starters. The 3 cylinder is fantastic. Starts even when the battery is almost flat.

 

[tda]

If you might want to move round bales make sure you get something that can. Lots of the hobby tractors don't have the guts
I used to have a David brown, okay but old. My brother now does my maintenance as he decided he wanted a tractor 😁
He had a Kubota, but just traded it in for something bigger

 

[paddy555]

I think before you decide if you want a compact or the slightly larger alternative of DB, MF 35 etc you need to work out exactly what you are going to be doing. What is the loader expected to carry? are you towing a trailer and if so how heavy will the load be. Are you going to use it to clean the dung in which case you need something easy to get on and off, that sort of thing and most of all are you fields flat or steep for how much "guts" the tractor is going to need.
I have a New Holland 24 cc which is a compact. It harrows, rolls, pulls the field cleaner and acts as a wonderful mobile "wheelbarrow" carrying fencing and everything else around. It appears to be a small cc size but does everything on steep ground. It is also hydrostatic drive which means it has no gear leaver just put your foot on the accelerator to go and take if off to stop. That means a lot less work on a small acreage if you are constantly getting on and off. It is also lower and therefore easier to get on and off.

I have also had a David Brown 880, never again and other makes. I found a compact tractor was much easier and more pleasant to drive and also leaves far less marks on the field. They are however also more expensive. If you are looking at a compact make sure it has tractor pattern tyres not grass ones if your fields have a slope.

 

[turnbuckle]

A bit depends on budget. If you are feeling flush, good quality modern compacts such as Kubota will be great. I'm normally fine with cheap and Chinese but in this case I woudl avoid.

If budget is tight, MF135 or it's like is the way - fixable with a hammer, excellent spares, lots of mechanics who love them, and they won't really depreciate. In fact they may go up in price!

 

[Esmae]

We have a 20hp John Deere. We have topper/spreader/harrow etc for it. Marvellous machine. Ours is hydrostatic which makes it very easy to drive and manoeuvre. Thoroughly recommend it.

 

[pec]

We have a Massey Ferguson 165, its a bit bigger than a 135 and with a loader on the front will move a bale of haylege. We also have a back spike to move bales on the back. We get through about 90 big bales each year and that includes moving the bales into a ring feeder in the field. Always starts first time even in the middle of winter, not bad considering it's 50 yrs old. It has actually gone up in value since I bought it. doesn't look much but does the job. Most of the farmers round here have an old Massey as one of their tractors.

 

[Hack4fun]

I have two tractors for our small area. The most useful is a Fordson Major Diesel - 65 years old probably but runs well and parts are easily and inexpensively obtained. If you get a good one that has been rebuilt then that's good. With quality machines age is not important. What is important is how it is maintained. If you get a Fordson and you want to use a topper then get one with live drive. That enables you to have clutch control for the PTO fo the topper separate from the clutch for forward motion. All the later Fordson Majors and to the best of my knowledge other tractors have this, but not the early ones. I do recommend power steering which not all machines have but try before you buy. This is important if you are going to handle round bales on a loader as they increase the weight on the front axle.

If you are going to have a loader and round bale spike please think about safety very carefully, particularity with a smaller 3 cylinder tractor. Why? A round bale lifted high changes the centre of balance. A careless turn on a slope could tip you over with catastrophic results. A roll bar or, better still, a cab will keep you safer. A rear weight will also balance a light tractor with a round bale on it. This is really important.

You could go for a smaller tractor, around 20-30hp. John Deere and Kubota are good makes. You can get them with loaders and buckets but they may not be good for a round bale. I am less convinced by other makes, and don't know how easily parts can be obtained. Whatever you get I do suggest the the loader bucket can be tipped hydraulically from the driving seat. The mechanical trip levers on older loaders are not so good in my experience.

Please think about fuel. Where and how will you get diesel. You can use red diesel for agricultural uses (but keeping horses for pleasure is not agricultural). Alternatively, if you declare SORN and do not use the tractor on the road at all then you can use red diesel. You can easily buy some containers on eBay and buy red diesel from a marina - just tell them it is agricultural otherwise they have to sell it at the white diesel price. You can get 55 gallon drums of red diesel delivered but these work out the same as buying it from a regular garage due to delivery costs.

You do not need four wheel drive I suggest, and two wheel drive tractors usually have tighter turning circles than their 4x4 brethren. Use normal tractor tyres and not grass tyres in my opinion. Better grip.

Make sure that hydraulic hoses are in decent condition. They are not expensive to replace and someone can come out and make and fit them. High pressure oil not only could make a mess but can cause very serious injuries.

If you use a topper then learn how to start the blades spinning. It is easy to break shear bolts by accelerating them or braking them too quickly. They are not difficult to replace but it is irritating. You will get the hang of it.

Oh - my other tractor - a case 1394 which I use for topping. Bigger and more powerful than I need, but it tops with minimum strain on the engine.

Hope that is useful. Sorry for the long post.

 

[thetroublesomecob]

Make sure you buy something common so that there is good parts availability for it.

Personally I would stick to Massey Ferguson or John Deere. Our Massey is 21 years old and I can still buy every part to build a new tractor direct from Massey if I wanted to (at a price) as well as lots of aftermarket parts. While you can get parts for other brands it's not always as easy depending on what you need.

Also make sure you regularly grease (every 20 hours / once a month minimum) all the points on the tractor and implement of whatever you get (especially the front axle pivot, steering joints and pto joints). Don't think it'll be ok cause you don't use it much. Change the engine oil and filter every year and the transmission oil and filter every other year and it should go on forever. Again just because it hasn't done a lot of hours doesn't mean it won't have filled up with water or dirt.

And whatever size you think you need get a bigger one, you want to be comfortable not worrying that whatever you've got on the back might pick the front up (or vice versa) or that it is struggling to run the topper through long grass.

Finally I have no idea what you are budgeting but an older small farm size tractor is often cheaper than a smaller tractor. We were looking in the 40-50hp range but found it cheaper to get a 107hp low hour 'proper' tractor and it just laughs at the 9 foot topper. A synchronized transmission is also a bonus.

Be prepared they are old complex machines and you do need to maintain them.

 

[Patchworkpony]

We did the same - fed up with being let down!

 

[case895]

I went to my local tractor dealer and told them what I wanted to do. Empty muck tipper trailer, bucket, spike bales, harrow, roll, etc. and he had one coming in as a part ex. He serviced it first and delivered it.

 

[Biglets Mummy]

I have two tractors for our small area. The most useful is a Fordson Major Diesel - 65 years old probably but runs well and parts are easily and inexpensively obtained. If you get a good one that has been rebuilt then that's good. With quality machines age is not important. What is important is how it is maintained. If you get a Fordson and you want to use a topper then get one with live drive. That enables you to have clutch control for the PTO fo the topper separate from the clutch for forward motion. All the later Fordson Majors and to the best of my knowledge other tractors have this, but not the early ones. I do recommend power steering which not all machines have but try before you buy. This is important if you are going to handle round bales on a loader as they increase the weight on the front axle.

If you are going to have a loader and round bale spike please think about safety very carefully, particularity with a smaller 3 cylinder tractor. Why? A round bale lifted high changes the centre of balance. A careless turn on a slope could tip you over with catastrophic results. A roll bar or, better still, a cab will keep you safer. A rear weight will also balance a light tractor with a round bale on it. This is really important.

You could go for a smaller tractor, around 20-30hp. John Deere and Kubota are good makes. You can get them with loaders and buckets but they may not be good for a round bale. I am less convinced by other makes, and don't know how easily parts can be obtained. Whatever you get I do suggest the the loader bucket can be tipped hydraulically from the driving seat. The mechanical trip levers on older loaders are not so good in my experience.

Please think about fuel. Where and how will you get diesel. You can use red diesel for agricultural uses (but keeping horses for pleasure is not agricultural). Alternatively, if you declare SORN and do not use the tractor on the road at all then you can use red diesel. You can easily buy some containers on eBay and buy red diesel from a marina - just tell them it is agricultural otherwise they have to sell it at the white diesel price. You can get 55 gallon drums of red diesel delivered but these work out the same as buying it from a regular garage due to delivery costs.

You do not need four wheel drive I suggest, and two wheel drive tractors usually have tighter turning circles than their 4x4 brethren. Use normal tractor tyres and not grass tyres in my opinion. Better grip.

Make sure that hydraulic hoses are in decent condition. They are not expensive to replace and someone can come out and make and fit them. High pressure oil not only could make a mess but can cause very serious injuries.

If you use a topper then learn how to start the blades spinning. It is easy to break shear bolts by accelerating them or braking them too quickly. They are not difficult to replace but it is irritating. You will get the hang of it.

Oh - my other tractor - a case 1394 which I use for topping. Bigger and more powerful than I need, but it tops with minimum strain on the engine.

Hope that is useful. Sorry for the long post.

Thank you so much Hackforfun ! I hadnt even thought about fuel !! Brilliant advice - really appreciate it x

 

[Biglets Mummy]

Thank you so much everyone for the great advice - you have really helped a lot and I think we have narrowed it down a bit now !! Thank you for taking the time to help ! xxx

 

[autumn7]

We have a Massey 135 (1965) and I do all paddock maintenance on our four acres of grazing. We have a tine harrow, chain harrow (soon for sale), slitter and a muck spreader as attachments. Seeding, fertilising and spraying are carried out from a Kawasaki quad bike as this is easier to get in and around the odd trees and copses we have in the paddocks.The quad and a small trailer is used at least twice a day to muck pick and take hay around the track (horses kept year round on track system). Couldn't live without either of our vehicles. The Massey is not licensed for road use and it looks extremely ropey although has never let us down in the fifteen years we've had it, during which it has had one major overhaul in The fork lift attachment on the front also gets used for lifting pallets of bedding, etc which get left at the end of our drive as lorries can't get up to our storage place.
Fuel-wise we just take cannisters to fill with diesel at a petrol station. It doesn't use much fuel considering all the jobs it's used for.

 

[honetpot]

We have Ford Dexter which is about the same size as a MF135, but a lot cheaper to buy. We bought ours with a loader for £1500. We have a topper that came with a small Kubota that was just to small and we sold on. Buying a proper tractor means there are a loads of bits you can by cheaply and its also a calling card to all the local farmer who grew up using them, and a reason to go to auctions.
If you want a day out to compare tractors all in one place.
http://www.cheffins.co.uk/auctions/cambridge-machinery-sales