My wife and I are in the process of buying some property. We are putting an offer in on 4 acres in central OH. It is flat former farmland. I am looking at used tractors to see what kind I might need (probably won't be able to get one until next year unless I find a good deal). I want diesel, a mid mount mower at least 60", the ability to add a loader (so prefer 4WD), and have at least a 5' bush hog. I prefer the John Deere models. What hp size or models should I be looking at? It will be used and hopefully under $5-6000. I have seen some 650s in this price range, but I am worried they will be too small with only 17hp.

Thanks,
Nick

 

5-6000 is limiting your selection big time, sorry, just alot of good mini-tractors cost alot more than that. i wouldnt go with a belly mower for 2 reasons, 1 if you got rough ground, you'll beat it and yourself to death, 2 they are more of a pain to take off. a rear mount finishing mover is much better. where in central ohio are you moving.

 

Will you be doing the lawn with it as well? A buddy has a 750 JD and I am in the market for a 650, ironically enough. They are good machines. In a medium/small lawn, however, the gear drive is somewhat difficult to work around and most 650/750's didn't come with power steering, making things even more fun in tight quarters. A 650 will do a TON of work, it just might take a bit longer...and a 4' rough cut mower is more in the ballpark--even for the 750. I've been back and forth for a couple years now on what I need for my 3 acres and have settled on either a 650 or a b7200 Kubota. The 'bota has optional hydro drive in the later models and, after working with a few, it pretty darn sweet, especially for loader work. Most 'botas will have a joystick control for the loader. 650/750 has 2-lever control from the factory...and it's a huge pain once you get used to the joystick. My humble recomendation is to look for a bare 4x4 unit with a loader. It's gonna cost more, but adding a loader is BIG bucks...and the smaller the tractor, the bigger the bucks, it seems It's more of a pain, but you can add a 3pt finish mower after the fact very cheaply when compared to a belly mower. Loader is the deal breaker and 4x4 is a must when dealing with compact and sub-compact units that are too lightweight to git-er-done in 2x4 with a loader.
my .02

greg

 

Agree about the loader and finish mower. I have a Kubota 4X4 B7610 (24 HP) with loader and man can that thing work!!! My step dad has the B2200 and it looks like a toy but it will surprise you. Whatever brand you get, be sure you have a good dealer nearby just in case you need something. I don't know anything about JD's but I assume they are top notch machines just like the Kubota.

Matt

 

We have a Kubota L3130. Love that thing. It works hard; use it all the time on about 3 acres. Kubota's are GREAT little machines!

 

Logan, I live in Newark now and we are moving to the Johnstown area.

The land used to be a field, so it is pretty flat. A rear finishing mower would be ok too, and the 4' bush hog would work as well. I was figuing on cutting the lawn with the finishing mower/mid mount mower.

I see a brand new JD790 can be had in 4wd for about $11k and a slightly used one for under 10k (with implements of course). But I wouldn't mind a little older (80s-90s) model.

So will a 650 work with a 60" rear finishing mower? If I go much smaller on that, I might as well get a zero turn or regular lawn mower for that part and just rent a tractor for the other tasks. But I would like 1 machine to do it all, even if it takes a little longer to do the work.

 

Same here
This 'little' JD 430 spins a 60'' mmm at 1/2 throttle with no problem. It's a 3cyl. Yanmar diesel...a little brother even to the 2 cylinder in the 650, though it does have more HP at the crank, the 650 engine has gobs of torque. I'd say it would spin a 72'' finish mower if you kept up with the yard work

This little Yanmar has almost 3400 hours

 

jd 4200 that what i got and love it 26hp diesel , 72" belly, front bucket. back hoe, back blade, ballast box got almost 1000 hours on it and its a 2000


o it has 3 way pumps on it so i can have the bucket and mower and hoe or back blade ballast on and still can mow yard if i have 2

my tractor is a hydro.(auto in tractor world)

tractor runs like a champ

look for a 2000 its one of the last good years that they built a heavy duty deck on it. the newer ones are weaker.

if you have any questions about my 4200 ask away

 

i hate john deeres, personal beliefs, if it aint red leave it in the shed, so i would go talk to your local deere dealer and see what they could find for ya, or pick up a Fastline, its the Autotrader for tractors. if your willing to drive i got a friend thats a salesman at Five Points John Deere here in Hillsboro, he might be able to find something through a dealer network.

heres all the ones in ohio:

Carmichael's Farm & Lawn Inc.
Gress Equipment Co
JD Equipment Inc.
Liechty Farm Equipment
Shearer Equipment
Smith Custom Service Inc.
Anderson Tractor Supply
Bohn Implement Company
Boone's Power Equipment
Cahall Bros. Inc.
Cope Farm Equipment
Cope Farm Equipment, Inc.
Creeger Implement Company, Inc.
Elder Ag & Turf Equipment Co
Finton Equipment LLC
Findlay Implement Co.
Five Points Implement
Fred Ott, Inc.
Kenn-Feld Group, LLC
Koenig Equipment Inc.
Koenig Equipment Inc.
Kuester Implement Co.
Leslie Equipment Company
Lefeld Implement
Polen Implement
Parrott Implement Company
Stull Implement Co.
Voss Brothers Sales & Rentals
Wyandot Tractor & Implement
Xenia Power Equipment
Do Cut Sales
Kennedy Kunn
Nortrax
Northwest Tractor

 

Hillsboro is about 2 hours from me. Like I said, I can't buy yet, but wanted to start looking at get an idea of what I should be looking for. Thanks Logan for the list. I have looked at JD Equipment (online), they seem to have a decent selection since they have so many locations.

So it seems like a 650 might be enough if I got a smaller bush hog and it would still handle a 60" mower maybe even 72". Would it be enough for a small loader? The new deeres (the smaller ones) are 24 hp or so.

 

Kubota if you can find a good deal. Don't get just a mower, you'll end up wishing you had gotten a tractor.

 

Under 25 horsepower and i would worry about a 72 in tall grass your liable to bust a shear pin or kill the tractor. several kids i went to college with lived in Newark, ive been there a couple times, when your spending that much money, i would drive about anywhere to get a tractor, about like a truck, alot of money to spend, JD is a good dealer from what ive heard, they got a dealer in Lancaster.

 

i've never broke any thing with my 72" deck and i have a 26hp i dont know if 1hp makes a difference or not
but i have mowed 6" tall grass and dont have a problem with it

 

i was meaning like the 17 horsepower one.

 

I agree about driving to get a good deal, a 2-400 miles probably at most unless it was an exceptional deal, just because I wouldn't want to drive all day for a piece of junk. After reading, it seems maybe 20hp 4wd should be my minimum unless I come across a great deal. I think a 750 John Deere or better would work (20hp), or 755, 770, 950.