Tractor vs ATV for smallholding

[The jiffle king]

Looking for some help / opinions for our decision about doing some work around our 15 acre equestrian home.
We currently have a Ford 4600 tractor, a little Bolens tractor to drag the manege, and a mower without the cutting deck to drag the flail mower and sprayer.

What we want to do is:
Cut the paddocks
Pull a roller
Pull a harrow
Tow our sprayer
Tow a muck spreader
Ideally have a way to move 250kg bales but can pay a farmer to do this
I will use a separate digger for fences /ditches

Looking for advice on Tractor vs ATV. We only have 5 horses, are not a commercial operation and have a local farmer make hay from 6 acres every year. Spoke with a retailer but they tried to sell me a John Deere 5075E which feels Ike way too much tractor. I've seen the John Deere 4066M which looks plenty for us but then saw ATV options and wondered:

Any advice based on friends or experience of having an ATV? We are not wedded to a brand of tractor or ATV although Honda and Polaris look good.

Very happy to answer any questions but cannot seem to find someone independent to give a view on if an ATV would suffice .

Our land is clay soil, can get very wet in winter and is grazed and rested. We currently own a Wessex flail and a sprayer so would not have too many attachments to buy. We just don't know if an ATV would do the job

[ATG]

Do ATVs have suitable PTOs and/or hydraulics? I assumed they were a bit like a mini pickup truck; handy for getting around and carrying tools about the place. I was under the impression that the "Swiss Army knife" option would be a compact tractor with 3 point hitch, PTO, hydraulics, but that's just based on a bit of reading and no first hand experience, so I'd be really interested to hear from those who know what they're talking about. I'm after something that can do a bit of ground work, some mowing and possibly end up doing some work in a bit of woodland if we ever get ourselves organised.

[sidekickdmr]

Do you mean ATV or UTV?

ATV:



UTV:



I've had 2 UTV's before for my woodland, a Polaris ranger 6x6 which was junk and a Kawasaki mule SX which was great.

Looking into a Honda Pioneer next I think.

Great for quickly flying around with tools/logs/hay/feed, or on the road from place to place, no good for PTO or plowing, so completely depends on the needs to be fair

[Mark Benson]

I had an ATV for our 3.5 acres (paddock to top, trees felled and transported for firewood, animals to be fed) because it was cheap(er).

Within 6 months I'd bought a small Kubota 3cyl tractor. PTO and 3 point linkage makes all the difference.

Edited by Mark Benson on Monday 2nd November 16:15

[The jiffle king]

I meant ATV as I want to pull things more than carry. Lots of things like my flail have their own engine hence the question.

[sidekickdmr]

The jiffle king said:

I meant ATV as I want to pull things more than carry. Lots of things like my flail have their own engine hence the question.

Do consider a UTV though, they have a better towing capacity more power and will carry a 250kg bale with ease, plus you stay dry and warm

[The jiffle king]

sidekickdmr said:

Do consider a UTV though, they have a better towing capacity more power and will carry a 250kg bale with ease, plus you stay dry and warm

I'd not considered one so will do more research on them tonight. I had wrongly assumed they were for moving things around rather than being more of a workhorse. I don't really know anything about them so will research.

Thanks for the advice

[Mark Benson]

The jiffle king said:

I meant ATV as I want to pull things more than carry. Lots of things like my flail have their own engine hence the question.

I suppose the question then is - do you think you'll need the use of a PTO or a 3 point linkage? If you don't need the flexibility then ATV will happily pull things, but it's amazing how versatile even a small tractor is.

[anonymous-user]

We have this on 5 acres, pulls chain harrows and roller etc would run a small topper but have a friend with 100hp tractor who pops by for topping and hedges. Same as you plan to I use a 2.7t excavator for knocking in fence posts and general digging out etc

I'd quite like something a bit bigger for towing a tipping trailer on the road but without the loader on the fergi is so manoeuvreable I'm unsure which way to go. Certainly happy with it for what I paid and saves trying up lots of £.

Also looked at things like 5075 like you, if I was going that route I'd go Case as was a better machine for less but like you realise that its probably just too much machine at the moment. They sit idle a hell of a lot unless your a commercial farmer and its amazing how many times 'getting a machine out' seems as hard as just doing the job manually. Also like modern cars modern tractors don't like being sat and will happily throw up faults and warning lights.

[dlks151]

At 15 acres a UTV is probably a bit of an overkill but its worth taking a look at the UTV's out there and I know a good few folk that use then in equestrian environments. As suggested the Pioneer is a good tool for the size of your place.

I use the Kubota RTV900, its much more a work vehicle than the likes of the Polaris or the JD Gator. Mine has full enclosed cab so I cant use the weather as an excuse for not getting out there and getting things done (believe me it beats sitting on a quad in the p**sing rain) but if I was buying again, as I plough snow and spread grit with mine during the winter, I'd spec a cab heater.

Its worth noting that the Kubota has hydraulic take off so you can power various accessories off it.

[LooneyTunes]

We run a 50hp New Holland for the horses. Standard PTO, 3pt linkage, front loader. Has enough power for anything equestrian related and drags wide enough equipment to tidy the paddocks quickly. Relatives use a smaller (25 or 30hp I think), again with pto, linkage, and loader, plus a Kawasaki Mule. The mule is good for carrying things across field (e.g. for fencing work) but their tractor is really a bit too small. Personally I think a front loader is essential (gets used more often than anything towed).

Watch out for PTOs if you’re tempted by a cheap tractor (I.e. not one of the big brands) as one or two of them turn the wrong way!

[Darkslider]

If I were you I'd buy a 3CX or other backhoe loader.



Not necessarily because it's the best option you understand, I've just always wanted one since I was a little boy

They are ultra versatile machines though and you'll never be out of paying job offers if you've got one

[Landie90]

I've got both. Started with a Honda 420 and Logic flail. Added a small spinner that sits on the rack and a sprayer that also sits on the rack. We mucked out into a none tipping trailer that needed emptying every other day.

I never found the Logic that powerful and handballing muck every couple of days was a pain, so I upgraded to a Leyland 384. Decent size and weight, simple but reasonably powerful BMC engine and it powers a bigger 175 flail and can tow a tipping trailer which was the best thing I bought. It doesn't have a loader but I have a bale spike for the back and the farmer takes the muck heap away.

Edited by Landie90 on Monday 2nd November 21:10

Edited by Landie90 on Monday 2nd November 21:11

[smifffymoto]

I use an Iseki TM 3265 with a Cochet loader.It will just about lift a 450kg bale off the floor enough to move it to the feeder.It will run a 158cm flail but ideally I should have bought a smaller one.
Where it does win and win by a huge margin is paddock damage in winter.There is very little as it is a 1/4 of the weight of a full size tractor.
We did have a Polaris Ranger which was brilliant for carrying tools,fence posts etc but got shut as the tractor did the same job,just a slower.

[The jiffle king]

Thanks for all the replies. I need to mull things over as we only really use the PTO on the 4600 for the topper and out ground is really a bit rough for it in places
Being just for horses we use the flail a lot but with access to a digger we can do fence posts and ditches without the need of a machine.

We’re going on Wednesday to look at a few things as it helps to get your hands on them

[LooneyTunes]

smifffymoto said:

Where it does win and win by a huge margin is paddock damage in winter.There is very little as it is a 1/4 of the weight of a full size tractor.

Turf tyres can also cut down on damage too. Well worth considering if you don’t have serious mud to deal with.

[biggiles]

A front loader is one of the best advantages of a small tractor - useful for carrying things (e.g. tools), moving things, lifting bales, everything. I wouldn't consider getting a compact tractor without one. Our is a 25hp Kubota, but I think for lifting 250kg bales *safely* (on the front loader) you'd be looking at a size larger (L, 35hp?).

Edited to clarify lifting on the front loader. As Mark Benson says, a small tractor should easily lift a 250kg bale with a rear spike.

Edited by biggiles on Tuesday 3rd November 09:43

[Mark Benson]

You could probably use a rear mounted bale spike for 250kg bales on a smaller tractor.

[Spurry]

If you want to purchase a machine that will do almost anything (with an attachment) it may be worthwhile having a look at Avant Techno.
We certainly could not have done the work we have, without our machine.
https://www.avanttecno.com/uk

[BatForcePC]

We have 7 acres and currently just an old Honda ATV with a trailer. It's brilliant but we need a topper and looked at an ATV topper, because we're in South Wales - i.e. very hilly, we realised a 350 cc ATV with dodgy brakes isn't going to manage, so next year I'll look for a small 2wd tractor with a front loader...we'll keep the ATV as it's useful for quickly getting hay to the sheep and doesn't churn up the ground when wet. Hope that helps!