I have a lot of thoughts on this topic, but have chosen not to engage because I didn't have time for the arguments that will ensue...
But it's finally a slow day at work, so here we go!
I've got about 6 acres at the new property, mostly wooded. Been wanting a tractor to help maintain and do around the house projects, mostly bucket work. What's everyone running? Was considered a John Deere 1k or 2k series tractor due to the fact I can get a drive on belly mower as it would be my primary mower. Dont mind the payment, would obviously prefer not to have one, But who knows. Not trying to make any money off if it working side jobs. Not trying to lift round bales or anything crazy. Any advice is appreciated.
It sounds like you are in a similar situation that I was in when I bought my property. It was 100% wooded. First thing I bought was a Massey 35 (35hp old tractor). It was great for scraping the driveway and dragging stuff, but pretty useless for clearing trees, getting stumps out, or grading. There was nothing to mow on mine, so no need for a bushhog either. The next progression was dads old backhoe (which
@shawn bought from me). Used it to rip up lots of small stuff with a chain and the hoe, and dig out some larger trees and get the stump out. But it sucked needing a second person and was slow. Then moved on to the 9k pound dozer and got a lot knocked down, but realized I needed something more maneuverable and got a wheeled skidsteer with 4n1 bucket for dirtmoving/landscaping/burnpile loading/etc. Various progressions through the years led me to later get a mini excavator, then a tracked skidsteer, then a better tracked skidsteer, then sell the dozer. Now I have the tracked skidsteer, mini-ex, and still have the old Massey 35. I literally NEVER use the old tractor. It is at a friends house, because its one of the first things the wife and I bought together, and for him it beats the hell out of maintaining a driveway by hand. Were it not for the sentiment, I would have sold it long ago.
With that said, a tractor isn't useless. It depends greatly on what YOU need it for. My neighbor bought the Kubota L4400 from
@Croatan_Kid and I use it from time to time when I need to till the garden, but if I didn't have a skidsteer and mini-ex, I would have a buy a newer 4x4 hydrostatic tractor with a bucket. For yard and driveway maintenance a tractor is hard to beat. It doesn't tear up the ground as much, and you can travel faster while singing She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy. For bushhogging pasture, I'd take a tractor any day. For clearing brush and thinning woods, my skidsteer with the brush cutter is easily 5x more efficient and can do larger material and fit it tighter and more awkward places. If I need to rip stuff out of the ground or load logs into the chipper, I'll hop on the mini-ex because it is 5x more efficient than the skidsteer at that stuff. This is a good summation:
Sub compacts/compact tractors are like Swiss Army knives. They aren’t particularly good at any 1 thing but do an OK job at most everything.
If I were just maintaining a homestead, a 4x4 tractor would be hard to beat. If I wanted to clear trees, cut dirt, and make extra money here and there, nothing is more versatile than a skidsteer for all of those things, but in a lot of ways, a mini-ex is actually more versatile than a skidsteer because of how you can move material or an attachment without ever moving the machine.
@APJeeps I read back through the thread and couldn't get a clear idea of what you intended to do with it, other than it being your primary mower, and if that is the case, a zero turn and a cheaper older tractor would be even better. With that said one of my best friends lives in a neighborhood in south Charlotte on about a 1/2 acre and has a ~20hp John Deere 755 4x4 tractor with a FEL and belly mower, and its how he cuts his grass. I'm really not sure why he has it, other than he is kinda retarded like me, and likes things to be overly industrial and overkill for the application.
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