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 | David Barber
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1999-07-11 5871
I own 50 Acres of Land. Most I rent out to local farmers but on 10 Acres I built a house which has a half-mile driveway leading back to it. The driveway is gravel and is pretty much a straight shot with only a slight incline. There are farmed fields on both sides of the driveway. The house sits on a small hill with the 10 acres around it; all of it is in grass, few trees for now. Now, I live in Wisconsin about 8-10 miles away from Lake Michigan about 30 Miles North of Milwaukee. If you know anything about this area we get what is called Lake Effect Snow in winter. In other words, if some area inland gets 6-8" we will get 10-15". Winter starts in November but does not get really bad until January and usually ends in March. The last 2 winters it was about 30-60 degrees below zero in January and almost constantly had 2-4 feet of snow in the driveway.Now, I have been lurking out here on the Compact Message Board for about 6 months. First I was all set to buy a JD but the closest dealer is about 40 miles away. Also I have been reading about all the problems people have been having with the new models and the availability problems. I checked into NH Boomers and have 3 dealers within 10 miles. The NH Boomer seems to be the tractor for me. Now the question is size. I am trying to decide between the TC25D and the TC33D. The TC25D has 25HP Gross and PTO of 20HP. The TC33D has Gross of 33HP and PTO of 27HP. In winter I am looking at a snow blower in front and a blade in back. In summer a mid-mount mower. Eventually(when my wife's back is turned) I would like a front-end loader as well as a few other toys. What size tractor do I need?Thanks for Your help and opinions
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| Sam Porter
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1999-07-11 5872
It seems to me that you should re-think your tractor size! A half mile of snow removal seems a big task for so little horsepower. You may also decide later to start doing some of that farming yourself and you'll be sorry you didn't buy something more capable. If you compromise now, you may regret it later. Look at the Kubota "M" series tractors and you may be surprized at the cost and value and at the resale value later. It has been my experience that if something is just marginal, it gets boring very quickly and if I'd only purchased what I'd really wanted in the first place I'd be much happier in the end. Good luck ! ....
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| Hans Top
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1999-07-11 5874
I had the same dilemma as you did. The engine for the 25hp and the 29 hp are the same. All 3 tractor have the same physical dimensions. My final thought was you can never buy a tractor with too much HP. If you are going to snow blow you will need the horsepower. I chose to go with a 72-inch rear mounted Bush Hog mower instead of the midmount. There were several reasons for this. You can reach into corners which you cannot do with a mid mount. The rear unit is also cheaper. I think that installing / dismounting the mid mount is harder (a hard surface is required to move the unit in and out from under the tractor) than a rear 3 point hitch. I also bought the loader and with the work I have to do the mid mount mower would not give me the ground clearance that would be required. I also bought the supper steer option. This is really nice and I have yet to have the lawn scuffed with the front wheels. The turning radius is very good. The turning radius is better than 36" since I can go around a well tile and always have the rear wheel scuffing the well tile wall. At this tight radius there is some scuffing of the rear inside wheel being dragged slightly due to the width of the wide turf tires. So if you go with the super steer / hydro static and the mid mount mower you will have very good maneuverability. If cutting grass is your only chore during the summer than midmount would be the way to go. With the rear mounted mower you cannot cut close around some thing as the mower is hanging out from the rear. This leaves about a 2 foot circle of uncut grass around the object. If this object is a small size tree then with a tractor this height the branches of the tree will interfere with the tractor ROP cage so you will have to give some room for the tractor to get by. These thoughts have come from using my machine. My final word is go for the bigger size horsepower you will not be sorry. ....
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| mike
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1999-07-11 5880
EE OH AH a LOO AH, Bigger is better. I own 3 tractors (varying HP) and many other power toys. I have never been disappointed when I took a chance at the extra cost and purchase extra HP. Last winter I used a JD 4300 with a 59" snow blower on the front and was very impressed. While we only had one snow of +20 inches (nw iowa) this thing went through it like hot knife. Throws +50 feet regardless of the snow type (slush or powder). you will be very happy with the extra HP. ....
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