Tractorpoint Login

print < Tractorpoint Login

Tractorpoint

Forums
- Search
- Forums
- New Posts
- Photos
- Manuals/Links
Parts
Support
Account

Search for =

Topic

I have a JD 4100 which I think is in same horsepower range as the 790, 20 HP? I debated a long time over the disc/plow combination versus a tiller. In talking to many farmers in my area they felt that if you were working small acreages, less than 10, you would be better off with the tiller since you would not have enough traction to pull much of a plow or to dig real deep or turn sod with a disc. So I bought a 54 inch tiller. I have tilled up to 5 acres with this, takes about 1 1/2 hours per acre to till full depth with my mostly sandy soil. If I don't need to till full depth every time, I can get it done twice that fast. I would caution that if you have heavy soil a tractor in this HP range would be underpowered with this size tiller. When my soil gets sloppy wet or I till sod I have to go real slow or wait til it dries out more. I think it is still quicker than watching the wheels spin trying to pull more than a 1 bottom plow or a disc. Here's a true story and kind of funny. I was tilling about 2 acres last spring right next to a field my neighbor farms. He was driving his large 150 Hp Steiger 8 wheel drive tractor at times right next to me and my 4100 with tiller. I think he was pulling about a 36 foot wide disc. I felt like one wrong turn from either of us and me and my tractor would be imprinted into the soil. When he got done he walked over and said he was real impressed with how fast and how nice my little rig did that 2 acres, and in only one pass you get a finish good enough to plant a lawn! He agreed that with my small tractor don't fool with a plow and disc.

PLOWING AND TILLING
John Deere Tractors
Replies 32 Post by Bruce Z

Folks, I'm new to this board and new to this whole thing about owning larger than lawn sized equipment. About 7 years ago I purchased some acreage and built a house. I went through many scenarios about what the best equipment might be. <br>
<br>
As I've heard said many times on this board, it depends on what you use if for and how fast you want to get the work done, how true. Here's how I resolved my problems. I have 75 acres. I needed something that could do light excavating, do my own landscaping, help build the house, mow a 1 acre yard, grade the driveway, plow 1500 foot driveway, haul fire wood, plant/till/spray 2 acres of food plots, plant/till 5 acres of pasture, bush hog trails all over the place, plow an ice rink in the winter, get me and my stuff from place to place on mixed wooded/open/wet land, and seems like I'm constantly moving dirt around for one reason or another. <br>
<br>
Wow! Now that I write it all down, I've done a lot with my equipment. I wanted to find one machine that would do it all. I wanted one machine to store and maintain. <br>
<br>
Well, didn't work out that way. I spent an entire year deciding and opted to buy a JD4100 tractor equipped with 54" mower deck, 48" bush hog, 54" tiller, fertilizer spreader, small dump trailer, and rear blade. Notice I did not get a FEL. Instead, I used the extra 10 grand you'd spend on the bigger machine to buy a used Skid Loader. <br>
<br>
That's my FEL. And believe me, especially if you're going to do your own landscaping there is no way a compact tractor with a FEL can compare to what even a medium sized Skid Loader will do. And once you have the skid loader, you'll find all kinds of dirt you want to move. My tractor is used for doing everything but the dirt digging. <br>
<br>
A real plus here is that I can use the tractor to pull a dump trailer while the Skid Loader is used to load the trailer. I moved about 500 tons of fill this way once. I feel the advantage to me in going this route is that the 4100 is small enough to be light on the grass when mowing, more maneuverable than the bigger machines around trees, it is 4WD so it serves as an ATV for hauling around the place and during hunting season, and runs all the other equipment I listed above just fine. <br>
<br>
For light snow I use the tractor and back blade but when the snow gets real deep the Skid Loader does the driveway. Believe me, even a 4300 sized tractor won't move our deep Minnesota snow with a blade. And one reason you might need a 5 foot bush hog with the bigger tractor is that trails through a woods need to be twice as wide to navigate as compared to the 4100 size. <br>
<br>
The ideal choice for deep snow is the tractor with snow blower. I can't afford one yet but I think the 4100 will do just fine once I get one. <br>
<br>
Sometimes I would like to have an extra 5 or 10 hp to get some big field jobs done quicker but that's one of the tradeoffs. I bought my 4100 in 1998 and if I bought now I'd get the 4115 which I think has 25 hp. That would be ideal. <br>
<br>
Other than the slight wish for more power I've never regretted buying this size tractor to do what I do, and I'll never get rid of my Skid Loader. The two do everything in a very balanced fashion. <br>
<br>
Forgive me for comparing tractors only in the context of JD 4000s but that's the only series I'm familiar with. I feel I got a lot more capability out of these two machines than any single compact tractor would provide. I know that when it comes to machines bigger is better, but I compromised. Isn't the right answer for everyone but perhaps someone else can benefit from my situation. <br>
<br>
By the way, I bought the Skid Loader first for use while building the driveway and house and then bought the tractor when it was time to maintain the place.

Kubota Grand L3130
Kubota Tractors
Replies 16 Post by Bruce Z