| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 6:19:48 PM
Do any of you lucky farmers out there have tractors? We have around 17 acres, and hire out all of our tractor work, but I have as of late been eyeing almost every one that chugs by the front road with envy.
If you have them or have thoughts/information about what type, size, etc. OR if you have any great alternatives, I'd love to hear them!
Everyone I talk to seems to say, "the bigger, the better," but, not ever having one before, I don't know how big is big enough.
Any ideas?
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Buttercup |
Posted - Jun 27 2006 : 03:25:26 AM
Libbie,
So glad you posted this thread because I am wondering the same thing. I am pretty sure I want one just which one and then do I want a tractor or ATV with attachments. Then there are times I think I want to use draft animals instead because though you have to care for them more then a machine, I may be able to grow and produce what I need unlike a tractor needing to buy oil and gas and...? I read an article in Mother Earth News in the April/May 2006 issue comparing different models which was helpful to me because I have next to no knowledge on tractors...if you can barrow fr Library or make a copy of that article (if not availible online) it might help? ... Anyway keep the info comming please...I am enjoying learning all I can from those that know and live it!!! 
"If we could maintain the wonder of childhood and at the same time grasp the wisdom of age, what wonder,what wisdom,what life would be ours" |
| Annab |
Posted - May 27 2006 : 08:17:28 AM
Ours is a 48 HP New Holland with a front end loader. After 38 plus years the Massey Ferguson finally died 2 years ago. We have 13 acres and farm about 8-9. Our cash crop is watermelon, so a new tractor was definitely in order.
No complains thus far, although pity for the money. We sure could use a tiller and bushog attachment. But hubby felt the front end loader was $$ better spent.
So for larger fields that need tending, we are able to call on a friend for assistance.
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| LJRphoto |
Posted - May 17 2006 : 1:30:48 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Mari-dahlia
It is sad that it took a foreign import to bring us a reliable easy to run and financed tractor before an american company would get with the program.
Kubota makes a lot of their tractors in the U.S. as well and I know that John Deere is also global now and that some of their stuff comes from overseas. It's so hard to differentiate now that I wouldn't even feel the least bit selfconscious about buying a Kubota. In fact, it's what my husband and I would love to have some day.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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| MullersLaneFarm |
Posted - May 17 2006 : 11:42:50 AM
My husband is the draft animal guy - when he lived outside Denver, he'd take his team where ever he could to mow vacant lots & fields. My gardens were always small enough to be able to handle them with my Troy-Bilt tiller.
DH always jokes, "Do you know why tractors replaced horses??? Because they're better."
When farming with draft animals, you don't have the luxury of time. It always takes longer, the machinery you use still breaks down (and it's not as easy to get replacement parts for old horse drawn equipment).
We use the drafts when the weather & time allows. If we're looking at rain on downed hay, the tractor comes out to bale it in a hurry.
Another downside with draft animals, you have to feed and vet them year 'round. With a tractor, you only need to add the gas & oil when you use it. The rest of the time you can store it in the shed and forget about it. The horse would complain if we did that with them!
We try to get them out at least once a week, even if it is just to harness them up & ground drive them.
Cyndi
Muller's Lane Farm http://www.mullerslanefarm.com
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| Mari-dahlia |
Posted - May 17 2006 : 06:48:20 AM
Anne,
Our farm has 100 acres but we only manage about 10-15 of those acres. The rest has been over grown and we will need to reclaim it.
We have put in fences posts with the tractor, bushhog the brushy areas, move manure and rocks, push over trees and lift them to move them in a burn pile, rototille 3 planting areas, put gravel down for farm roads and driveway, plow snow, move hay for cows, leveled the side of the house to put in a patio. The usage is endless and so are the attachments. WE never would have accomplished what we have in three years without it.
Marianne |
| Phils Ann |
Posted - May 17 2006 : 05:56:45 AM
We're also tractor folks. My father in law grew up on a farm and absolutely loved tractors. His tractor village gradually became ours. First one was a 1940's Ford (now resting but almost operational), then when FIL died, we bought his large John Deere and Mid-size John Deere. The large one incidentally was bought to pull the smallest out of the pond, where grass cutting went wild. The large one has a fork lift, which my husband uses a lot for moving heavy stuff. My MIL used a small Kabota for the mowing and had a homemade trailer for hauling yard tools and brush. When she couldn't use it anymore, I took over the mowing... and love this little tractor. The ability to haul manure with the trailer instead of using the wheelbarrow alone is priceless. So far, my husband has done all the routine repairs, except for having the radiator on the Kabota fixed. Now, the price of fuel is another matter...
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
| garliclady |
Posted - May 16 2006 : 8:06:38 PM
Even though we were given the old ford tractor we were so glad we bought the new one. At the time , we were both working full time and weekends and evenings were our only time to do farm work. With the old tractor being so unreliable and time being so precious, we invested in a new tractor (we often wasted a whole weekend because the tractor wouldn't start.
We did look at used ones before we decided to go the route of new. A really good used one can be almost as much as a new one and still will need more repairs.
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| brightmeadow |
Posted - May 16 2006 : 3:47:40 PM
It is a running joke between my husband and my father - my dad had a John Deere 4030 (I think) with air-conditioned cab that he needed to sell because he gave up farming due to physical problems. When my husband and I started dating, I would not allow him to buy the tractor because all I could think about was "what if something goes wrong with it?" I didn't want to mess up our budding relationship over a tractor. Well, my dad sold the tractor really cheaply, along with a bunch of implements.... and then later I found out more about my DH... He has two old tractors on the farm he inherited from his grandparents, a Farmall "M" from the 40's and a Ford "N" from the early 50's. He goes to the farm and takes great delight in getting his tractors stuck in the mud and breaking the plow so he has to get out his tools and fix them - that is play to him - he is a mechanical engineer. Had I only known, we would now have a comparatively new John Deere to use to pull the antiques out of the mud!!!
As far as tractors go, when you really use them for farming, my experience (really, my father's) has been that they break down when you need them most and the parts are far away! But farming without them is a lot, lot harder.
It's best if you can learn to do some of your own maintenance, especially basic things like changing oil and keeping the battery charged. If you have to pay someone for basic maintenance on your tractors it will eat into your budget rather quickly.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
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| Libbie |
Posted - May 16 2006 : 3:28:05 PM
I had another friend give a good report on the Kubota tractors, too. How many acres to you farm with it? Again, I'm just trying to get a handle on horsepower in relation to ploughing needs and acreage. Is there some sort of table for that information that any of you know about? Thank you so much for all of the input - I am so excited to move forward (albeit slowly) on this one!!!
Draft horses sound so much like a dream come true to me. I know that my great-grandfather farmed the land that I'm on with a pair named Molly and Nell - my grandmother has such great stories about these strong and gentle beasts. Another pair I know of are Clyde and Dale - they are just darling, too. I would just love to farm with horses, and I think, at least for me, that may be something I have to move into once I get a handle on the crops and land itself.
Cyndi - did you start farming with your Belgians?
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| Mari-dahlia |
Posted - May 16 2006 : 06:35:37 AM
Cyndi,
I have always wanted a pair of Belgians but my husband is a tractor guy not a horse guy. We have a Kubota, 50 horse power. He bought it before we even closed on the farm. Because we were buying the farm and he had never really been exposed to that culture before, Kubota was the best move for us. It is user friendly and you don't have to know much about tractors to run it. They also have their own financing which made it easier. Right now a lot of tractor companies have jumped on board with that also.
It is sad that it took a foreign import to bring us a reliable easy to run and financed tractor before an american company would get with the program. |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 15 2006 : 2:00:21 PM
Did any of you ladies purchase your tractors used? I'm guessing the Farmall was used, but it could've been your families'... I was just wondering the best, most reliable way to do this. I'm leaning toward new, because my mechanic skills are not the greatest - but I know it's possible to find some great used machines out there...
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| MullersLaneFarm |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 10:29:39 AM
We have an old (1930's era) Farmall M. When the time & weather allows, we mostly use our Belgian draft horses though (except for bailing hay).
Cyndi
Muller's Lane Farm http://www.mullerslanefarm.com
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| garliclady |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 09:37:13 AM
We also have a John Deere we bought new 8 years ago. Ours is a 770 and is considered a small tractor but will pull a plough and disk although we usually use an old 8n ford tractor for that. We have a tiller for the JD and also have a bedder. Our JD has a bucket and it is used alot! The old ford doesn't always start, has no bucket and won't run a tiller (but it was given to us by a family member). We love the dependablity of the JD but my husband wishes it were a bit bigger. We love it though! Here is a picture of my husband with a bucket full of fresh harvested garlic The second picture is with the bedder my husband made on the back  
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| Libbie |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 08:35:48 AM
Oh, yes, Julia!!! I am now green with envy!  Does that size enable you to pull a plough or disk? I want Jane's sister!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| julia hayes |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 07:03:01 AM
Libbie, My darling husband gave me a new John Deere for my 40th birthday. I was completely over the moon. In fact, there were times when I wanted to go out to the barn and cuddle with it! Its just a little thing (25 horsepower)but its just right for me. I can move all the attachments by myself since nothing is too big or bulky! We have only 10 acres so I think its perfect for everything I want to do. I have several attachments for it too.. LOVELY.. I call her my Jane Deere! I can not, can not, can not believe how much easier she has made my life..especially when it comes to hauling bark in the gardens. I just scoop and load and plop it down and spread it around. VOILA! I'm also building a walking labrynth and moving rocks, so I've been loading rocks in the bucket and moving tons of them at a time..not using a wheelbarrow to do this task is a slice of farm heaven! It has been worth every single penny.. My husband wanted to go with something new and with a dealer since he simply doesn't have the time or energy to tinker with an older one. He'd like to but with everything else he does he didn't want to add this to his plate. Instead we have a nice relationship with the Jane Deere people and they take very good care of us...Nice.. Hope this helps inspire you!!
Happy tractoring!!! Julia Hayes
being simple to simply be |
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