Discussion
I've been given so much conflicting advice so I'll turn to the oracle.
I'm in the process of buying a new house, which comes with approximately 10 acres of land, around 7 acres of which is paddocky (?) type grass. Seems that this might be too much for a ride on mower, so I'm exploring the tractor/topper route.
So far, I've been told 'get a cheap Chinese one' , 'don't get a cheap Chinese one', 'get a mini/midi/standard one', 'get a new-ish one', 'get a vintage one', 'get some sheep'.
Having bought a few magazines, I reckon I fancy a '60's Massey 135, as they look like what a tractor should look like. Don't suppose I'll be doing any ploughing, I just want the place to look tidy-ish. Any advice?
I'm in the process of buying a new house, which comes with approximately 10 acres of land, around 7 acres of which is paddocky (?) type grass. Seems that this might be too much for a ride on mower, so I'm exploring the tractor/topper route.
So far, I've been told 'get a cheap Chinese one' , 'don't get a cheap Chinese one', 'get a mini/midi/standard one', 'get a new-ish one', 'get a vintage one', 'get some sheep'.
Having bought a few magazines, I reckon I fancy a '60's Massey 135, as they look like what a tractor should look like. Don't suppose I'll be doing any ploughing, I just want the place to look tidy-ish. Any advice?
Edited by AdeTuono on Friday 4th March 09:05
Go & find your local tractor fixer man, ask what tractors the parts & service items are readily available for, then go down that route.
The Chinese ones are great if you buy the older style ones, these are generally copies of previous gen mass produced Fergies etc so parts are readily available. Make sure you know what it really is a copy of.
The Chinese ones are great if you buy the older style ones, these are generally copies of previous gen mass produced Fergies etc so parts are readily available. Make sure you know what it really is a copy of.
LivingTheDream said:
Find your local farmer -
Equally they might be prepared to rent the land from you to graze livestock. This is what we have done with our rough grazing. Agreed that they will maintain the fencing and still pay us some rent. Not a lot, but better than having to pay for a tractor/topper and fuel.
Personally I would go for a Massey, I'm on my second now they have been great machines.
If your looking for something the size of a 135 (which is a good choice if you want to go down the classic route) but new I'd pick the MF 3600VSF, the power range is 69BHP to 100BHP.
http://www.masseyferguson.com/EMEA/GB/products/tra...
John Deere also make some good compacts but they are not as powerful and can cost a bit more.
But to be honest there is as much choice for compact tractors as there is for hatchbacks. I would try to get to a dealer and see whats on offer.
HTH
If your looking for something the size of a 135 (which is a good choice if you want to go down the classic route) but new I'd pick the MF 3600VSF, the power range is 69BHP to 100BHP.
http://www.masseyferguson.com/EMEA/GB/products/tra...
John Deere also make some good compacts but they are not as powerful and can cost a bit more.
But to be honest there is as much choice for compact tractors as there is for hatchbacks. I would try to get to a dealer and see whats on offer.
HTH
We have about 18 acres here. You're right, 10 acres is too much for even an expensive domestic lawn tractor, especially considering the paddock areas are likely to be tougher and rougher grass than a bowling green lawn.
I would have a think of what you want your tractor to do - do you literally just want it to mow the grass, or does it need to tow a big trailer / have a loader or back actor / harrow / rotovate / roll / spread and seed and so on. Older used commercial machines are waaaay cheaper than newer domestic machines which is a big bonus, though the irony is a compact tractor is more expensive horsepower for horsepower than a smaller agricultural one.
In terms of size, compacts are ace as they can and will get in and around the house, any narrow sections of land, dodge between trees etc which a larger one wont't (nor will they produce massive ruts in the lawn which a bigger heavier tractor could well do), but conversely even with a loader fitted they obviously can't lift the same sort of weight or use the same sort of size machinery...
So it all comes back to what you want it to do... We have a Massey MF1235 compact with 4-in-1 front loader, which weighs just over a ton, has 35hp, and all sorts of attachments which we have added over the last year or so: hydraulic log splitter, 3-ton trailer, dethatcher, spreader and so on. Ace machine, but show it a 1 ton bag of sand and it has problems - yes the loader has the power to lift it, but being as the tractor weighs about the same as the bag, it's tipping over time! On the other hand, it's blinking useful for oh so many tasks, yet still has a 60" commercial cutting deck under it made out of monstrously thick steel, PTO driven so has oodles of power, and we can mow at 20mph!
The more we've used it, the more I wish I'd bought a bigger machine, purely for the size and weight rather than power, but then conversely I wouldn't be able to get it into some sections of the land as the access is too narrow - my ultimate conclusion is that at some point in the future I shall probably add to it an older somewhat larger machine for the heftier jobs. Any old excuse for more machinery... Currently we have a little domestic outfront cut machine which sits in the shed unused, an elderly Countax with a siezed and rusted cutting deck which serves as a utility and ikkle-child-towing toy, and the Massey which does everything else.
If on the other hand however all you ever want to do with it is mow, then again a commercial machine makes sense - diesel, bomb proof, designed to work all day, every day in all weathers, and you'd be horrified how much petrol a domestic machine can munch through. When we first moved here we hired a couple of different machines to try out, and found that despite some of the 18 acres being lake / woodland, it was costing us £18 in fuel to mow everything.... madness. A little diesel outfront cutting machine would be brilliant: a 60" or even 72" cutting deck, very manouverable to go round corners and trees on the lawn, yet with heft and size to do the paddocks fairly swiftly.
One thought attatched to that is whether you feel the need to collect any of the grass - maybe not on the paddocks (we don't on our rougher stuff), but the lawns you perhaps would...
Apart from that, the only other variable is price - there's an awful lot of stuff on Ebay, and quite a lot of very powerful machines end up going for daft money compared to new domestic - a "big" new Countax is £5-6k depending on spec, whereas a ten year old commercial outfront machine might be £3k, or a compact tractor with loader and trailer topper might be 5-8k depending on size and spec...
Finally: Tractors are ace!
I would have a think of what you want your tractor to do - do you literally just want it to mow the grass, or does it need to tow a big trailer / have a loader or back actor / harrow / rotovate / roll / spread and seed and so on. Older used commercial machines are waaaay cheaper than newer domestic machines which is a big bonus, though the irony is a compact tractor is more expensive horsepower for horsepower than a smaller agricultural one.
In terms of size, compacts are ace as they can and will get in and around the house, any narrow sections of land, dodge between trees etc which a larger one wont't (nor will they produce massive ruts in the lawn which a bigger heavier tractor could well do), but conversely even with a loader fitted they obviously can't lift the same sort of weight or use the same sort of size machinery...
So it all comes back to what you want it to do... We have a Massey MF1235 compact with 4-in-1 front loader, which weighs just over a ton, has 35hp, and all sorts of attachments which we have added over the last year or so: hydraulic log splitter, 3-ton trailer, dethatcher, spreader and so on. Ace machine, but show it a 1 ton bag of sand and it has problems - yes the loader has the power to lift it, but being as the tractor weighs about the same as the bag, it's tipping over time! On the other hand, it's blinking useful for oh so many tasks, yet still has a 60" commercial cutting deck under it made out of monstrously thick steel, PTO driven so has oodles of power, and we can mow at 20mph!
The more we've used it, the more I wish I'd bought a bigger machine, purely for the size and weight rather than power, but then conversely I wouldn't be able to get it into some sections of the land as the access is too narrow - my ultimate conclusion is that at some point in the future I shall probably add to it an older somewhat larger machine for the heftier jobs. Any old excuse for more machinery... Currently we have a little domestic outfront cut machine which sits in the shed unused, an elderly Countax with a siezed and rusted cutting deck which serves as a utility and ikkle-child-towing toy, and the Massey which does everything else.
If on the other hand however all you ever want to do with it is mow, then again a commercial machine makes sense - diesel, bomb proof, designed to work all day, every day in all weathers, and you'd be horrified how much petrol a domestic machine can munch through. When we first moved here we hired a couple of different machines to try out, and found that despite some of the 18 acres being lake / woodland, it was costing us £18 in fuel to mow everything.... madness. A little diesel outfront cutting machine would be brilliant: a 60" or even 72" cutting deck, very manouverable to go round corners and trees on the lawn, yet with heft and size to do the paddocks fairly swiftly.
One thought attatched to that is whether you feel the need to collect any of the grass - maybe not on the paddocks (we don't on our rougher stuff), but the lawns you perhaps would...
Apart from that, the only other variable is price - there's an awful lot of stuff on Ebay, and quite a lot of very powerful machines end up going for daft money compared to new domestic - a "big" new Countax is £5-6k depending on spec, whereas a ten year old commercial outfront machine might be £3k, or a compact tractor with loader and trailer topper might be 5-8k depending on size and spec...
Finally: Tractors are ace!
tractorguy said:
Personally I would go for a Massey, I'm on my second now they have been great machines.
If your looking for something the size of a 135 (which is a good choice if you want to go down the classic route) but new I'd pick the MF 3600VSF, the power range is 69BHP to 100BHP.
http://www.masseyferguson.com/EMEA/GB/products/tra...
John Deere also make some good compacts but they are not as powerful and can cost a bit more.
But to be honest there is as much choice for compact tractors as there is for hatchbacks. I would try to get to a dealer and see whats on offer.
HTH
Ace looking machine, but dear god that's a lot of money for a "garden"...If your looking for something the size of a 135 (which is a good choice if you want to go down the classic route) but new I'd pick the MF 3600VSF, the power range is 69BHP to 100BHP.
http://www.masseyferguson.com/EMEA/GB/products/tra...
John Deere also make some good compacts but they are not as powerful and can cost a bit more.
But to be honest there is as much choice for compact tractors as there is for hatchbacks. I would try to get to a dealer and see whats on offer.
HTH
RedLeicester said:
Ace looking machine, but dear god that's a lot of money for a "garden"...
A lot new machines are now, i'm looking to replace my 5455 at the moment. I was tring to think of tractor that can do every possible job in that sort of area, a lot golf courses, stables and houses with large grounds etc round here have similar tractors. To be fair the sub 50BHP versions would be more then enough for this type of work.
If you fancy a second hand one try, http://farm.autotrader.co.uk/.
tractorguy said:
A lot new machines are now, i'm looking to replace my 5455 at the moment.
I was tring to think of tractor that can do every possible job in that sort of area, a lot golf courses, stables and houses with large grounds etc round here have similar tractors. To be fair the sub 50BHP versions would be more then enough for this type of work.
If you fancy a second hand one try, http://farm.autotrader.co.uk/.
Aye there's some horrifyingly expensive machines out there - I think the golf courses themselves are to blame - they "can" afford it, so the manufacturers price accordingly, yet you go to private estates and the like and the machinery is much more multi-use and older / rustier / battered as they can't justify the cost of shiny newness. It still scares me that our MF1235 including the deck and loader were nearly £30k new... a figure we'd never have afforded.I was tring to think of tractor that can do every possible job in that sort of area, a lot golf courses, stables and houses with large grounds etc round here have similar tractors. To be fair the sub 50BHP versions would be more then enough for this type of work.
If you fancy a second hand one try, http://farm.autotrader.co.uk/.
tokyo_mb said:
qually they might be prepared to rent the land from you to graze livestock. This is what we have done with our rough grazing. Agreed that they will maintain the fencing and still pay us some rent. Not a lot, but better than having to pay for a tractor/topper and fuel.
This, costs you nothing and potential to make a little cash.To hell with the lawnmower or grazing.
7 acres plus one of these
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2502258.htm
7 acres plus one of these
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2502258.htm
Is your ground flattish or banky? We're on the side of the Cotswolds, so we needed something capable of dealing with steep slopes and bumpy ground. We ended up with an Italian articulated 4WD job, designed for use in vineyards and the like. It's only 26hp, but what it lacks in power it makes up for in its ability to go anywhere. Full 3-point and dual hydraulics, proper PTO it's a very nice bit of kit. Best of all, it's a Ferrari! Shame it's not got a V12, it's just a 3 cylinder Lombardini, but what the heck...
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