Do I need a tractor?

[hillyhomesteady]

Hi folks,

Thanks for having me here. To make a long story short my wife and I finally bought the homestead we've been saving for. We'll be on 17 hilly acres in central Pennsylvania - just a little upgrade from the .08 acre postage stamp our city home sits on currently.

I grew up on a small farm, and my dad always used a Kubota, from mowing to plowing snow to skidding trees. He finally sold a mid-70's compact that never failed him, but he had a hard time getting parts for. His new model has a hydrostatic transmission and is comparably a JOY to operate, in the limited capacity in which I had the opportunity to do so.

I'm not positive about this, but I'm thinking that a tractor would be a good addition to our homestead. My needs are a little different than dad's, however, and I hope that some of you knowledgeable and experienced folks could help steer me in the right direction for what I should be looking into as far as a few models and accessories go.

Of the 17 acres, about half is a woodlot, last managed about 40 years ago. I intend to heat our home primarily with hardwood grown on the property using existing (though hardly recognizable) switchbacks cut into the steep hillside. I'm going to be spending a lot of time felling and skidding this winter just to get to the good stuff.

In addition to helping me manage the woodlot, another major job is going to be moving snow from the gravel driveway, which is about 600 feet long and averages about a 9% grade, with a few steeper spots.

Finally, the major portion of land that isn't wooded is overgrown (hilly and steep in parts) pasture. I'm sure we'll end up with some goats somewhere along the line, but in the coming years we're also planning to farm several acres: fruit trees, vegetables, and some grains.

There will be very little, if any grass to mow that can't be easily taken care of with a push-mower- So a mower deck isn't at the forefront of my mind. I'm mostly nervous about when the snow falls on that steep, gravel driveway. Dad had a rear blade on the 3-point, but I don't know if rear or front would work best for my situation.

I'm all ears for any advice you could take the time to share with me, and I'd much appreciate it.

[lindym]

Congratulations, hillyhomesteady! You have your work cut out for you! We have a 40 acre mountain side that sounds a lot like yours minus the pasture land and trade out the hardwood for pine and fir.

No ideas on a tractor. We have a small John Deer that will be used mostly for snow control. We can only get so far up our hill side by vehicle of any sort. The logging skid trails are way overgrown so there is a lot of fire wood we will never be able to reach. Hubby uses his 200' of cable and the truck to pull down what he can reach.

Enjoy your new adventure!

[Woodpecker]

Welcome hillyhomesteady, I don’t have an answer for you, but I’m sure people will jump in to help, once they read your post.

[mogal]

We bought a Mahindra, I think 30-35 hp, a few years back and it's handy as a pocket in a shirt. It has 4 wheel drive, PTO and HST instead of a gear shift (I'm a girl--I can operate it very easily as it handles as easily as a passenger vehicle but don't know a lot of the names for stuff). It came with a quick attach 5' bucket and we already had a bush hog, 1950 ground driven IH manure spreader and blade that fit it. Our place is 65 acres with about half in pasture to mow, the rest woods where we harvest firewood or the house and yard. When we put up hay, our neighbor loans us a bale spike and we use the bush hog as a counterweight to move the 1000# bales. Today DH used the bucket to close a trench where we'd had to dig up the line from the well to the house. Anyway, it has the safety features lacking in our old 1953 Ford Jubilee and are common in modern tractors.  The rear tires are weighted too.  We've bemoaned the fact that we didn't have the extra $5000 an enclosed cab would have cost us for winter use but winter work is mostly clearing the driveway and paths around the yard.

The downside has nothing to do with the tractor itself but with the dealer who no longer sells/services the Mahindras they've sold. We have to go to the next town south, about 35 miles, for parts.

[farmerjack]

Think you would be amazed how much you would use a tractor. Four wheel drive and a loader are a must. As you age, the loader becomes even more important.
Have three bigger tractors and a smaller, four wheel drive, with loader. It actually gets used everyday, doing some chore around the place. Move snow with bucket and a back blade tho most moving snow is done with the John Deere garden tractor equipped with a blower.

[grannyg]

Love our Kubota...we only have three acres, but also four large lots where our longhorn resides...use ours for hauling bags of feed, shredding the lots when needed...scraping ground at times....hauling hay in round bales to our steer...ours also has a lawn mower on the bottom, so we use that alot...bucket hauls trash ...really do not know what we would do without ours...

[wolfmom]

My Kaboda was like a hired person that sure made life a lot easier. Of the things I miss most moving across country and downsizing, is my tractor. I still have tractor sized ideas that won't get done now on my little plot of land....

Make sure there's a place that fixes them nearby unless you have a flatbed to haul them to a dealer.

[mollymckee]

We have a small Kubota that we use around home and in the barn. It’s 4X with a bucket and other equipment. We use the bucket all the time, that and the snowblower are the two things I wouldn’t be without. We sold the rototiller because we have one for the tractors we use for farming. We have a mower that we do use some in the summer when the other tractors are in the field, but because we do have the bigger tractors we don’t need to duplicate a lot of the equipment. As Jack said the older you get the more important the tractors become. We didn’t think we would use the small tractor as much as we do. Some friends were moving to TX and the price was right. We would really miss it now if it went away. DH takes it in the woods when he cuts wood. He often cuts the wood to length and brings up the bucket full. In most cases a tractor with the right equipment is very useful if you can afford it, a a real timesaver.

[Melissa]

Welcome to the board!!!

And YES you have permission to get a tractor!!! lol

**You will use it a lot.