23 ACRE HORSE OPERATION
sherie2166
Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1 maryland |
2004-05-01 84920
yep, it's another o' those "what size do I need" questions.
I have approx 23 acres only 6 wooded with the rest being open. there are some hills but not severe. I am looking for the right tractor to accomplish the following. Mowing (before horses arrive) field maintenance (after they arrive). barn chores ie. manure removal and spread. Pushing snow on an 800ft driveway. moving dirt and small trees for light landscaping.
I have been leaning toward atleast 30hp, 4x4, hst, but the new price tag has been an issue. Suggestions are appeciated if this is the right area to look and what to look for used.
Help?!?
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23 ACRE HORSE OPERATION
harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY Pics |
2004-05-02 84935
30 hp sounds small to me for what you are going to need and want to do.
If you want to stay on the small side I'd look at 1 small 30-35 hp and a older larger grunt tractor $5-6,000. The larger one can handle spreader duties, the heavy field mowing, hauling hay etc. ....
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23 ACRE HORSE OPERATION
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2004-05-02 84950
It might be difficult to get a good 'one size fits all' tractor if some of the work requires moving big round bales around. Even the larger compacts don't handle the real big ones too well and a large compact likely would be great for some of the barn work. If you're going to buy hay and have it delivered I suppose whether it's a problem or not depends on how big the suppliers in your area make the bales. ....
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23 ACRE HORSE OPERATION
hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa |
2004-05-02 84992
Sherie; I was in the livestock business a long time, but never horses, just cattle and hogs so I really don't know a lot about horses, but it seems to me that enough feed is going to be needed and enough manure produced that a front end loader is going to be a must. In a compact that means that 4wd is a must. If you don't mind going with a used unit and can use a gear drive rather than hydro you can probably save enough over a new unit to find an "H" Farmall or a "B" John Deere that are in good enough shape to be dependable and a decent used spreader for 2-3000.00 for the tractor spreader pair. I don't know if you come from a livestock background or not, but most spreaders around here aren't traded or sold till they are junk, so if you aren't knowledgable about them find a friend or relative to go spreader shopping that is familliar with spreaders. Hope this helps, Frank. ....
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