seeking cut recommendations

[heppeone]

Hello,
Looking to see what make, model, HP ect people will recommend for me to get. a small 22 acre farm coastal south carolina with horses on them, my wife and I are taking over 8 acres of it that has been let to grow on its own. there are some very large pine trees put of a lot of shade, and we plan on doing some serious pruning to get some sunshine on the pasture. our soil is a mixture of very sandy on top with clay underneath, but very flat. My father in law has a mf 135 2x4 no loader, no ps that is very strong and good for most things, but here are my questions:

I'm looking to get into composting and some worm farming. I may go to other farms to pick up horse and cow manure and don't want to spend all my time shoveling it up. a compact loader seems to be the ticket. we also hope to be having material dropped off at the farm to be mixed into the compost. this will not be a large operation, but more than just a hobby.

I believe I'm gonna have to have topsoil & compost trucked in to start off with and disk it in to the field so we can get good grass for new horse boarders. This is very compacted soil right now. Not planning on doing the whole 8 ac at once, maybe one or two. The mf 135 will stand as back up for mowing ect for now.

Not looking for new, can't afford it. But don't someone else's headache either. I'm mechanically inclined I don't mind to drive to get a good deal. I'm ready for all your suggestions.

thanks in advance,
Scott

[pie captian]

if all your going to do is use the loader, you might want to look at some skid steers. they can do just about anything a tractor can do, (with the exception of pulling implements.) and they are much more nimble than a tractor.

[heppeone]

Thanks PC,

Not going to just use loader, planning on updating 3 point attachments for "new" tractor and keeping the 135 as is. The old girl is almost 40, still young but want to update a little.

3 point updates will eventually include a tiller ( maybe a rental ) and box blade. Would also like to have the possibility of earning some extra cash with the tractor when I go around some of these farms to pick up the manure.

Thanks for the advise

[Grand Sierra]

Id check CL in your area if your on a tight budget a Yanmar if you have a little more $ to spend Kubota makes a great bang for the buck. Good luck GS!

[heppeone]

Thanks. Have been checking cl in my area plus the surroundings ones too. Really looking for advise on the make, model and horse power ratings to see which ones will be suitable for the jobs described above.

Thanks for your reply though, all advise is totally welcome and appreciated.

[Team_Green]

It all depends on your idea of Not a hobby but not a big operation.. A JD2210 (23hp) can do what you describe, I used mine for cleaning out cattle shelters for a couple years BUT.. It took some time. My 4520 (60hp) does the same work a lot faster plus a whole bunch of other worth that again the 2210 could have done but the 4520 is so much faster and not worked as hard doing it. I felt the smaller one was being worked to hard and sent it on its way.. I would look at something in the size of the JD2720.. pretty good little work horse but not the size where a trailer to haul it needs to be huge. I'm Not sure of the sizes of Kubota's and others so i wont toss out numbers for those manufactures. One thing to keep in mind the smaller the machine the bigger the bumps feel...

[heppeone]

Thanks for your input, good advise. I do prescribe to the bigger is better formula on most occasions, but I don't want to over do it un this case. I can see myself stressing the machine at times.

Sence you seem to be a jd guy, I'll ask you about them. Is there a way to tell hp ratings from the model numbers ect.? Do the numbers represent anything? How about age? Are there some years of manufacture to just stay clear of?

BTW, I do not want gas. Only diesel.

[SonnyT]

JD Model numbers identify the series and the size in that series and to help with parts. HP is not identified that way. You have to know that a certain Model has xx amount of hp. Sorry.

[Shack]

the JD 855/955's would be a good fit and can generally be found reasonably priced. I'd check with Blanchard and see if they know of anything, they may even have something on the lot. A good relationship with a dealer, whether you buy from them or not is a must.

[chaosracing]

Kubota 2620 or 3030 would be a good fit for you as well. These are newer machines so they shouldnt be racked up with high hours on them. You can also check out http://www.machinefinder.com/ along with CL for used equipment. Look under both agricultural and residential & commercial areas.

[JFordBronco]

Massey Ferguson 1532! but I am biased : )

[merlynr]

Kubota L3800. The first two numbers on Kubotas is generally near hp rating.
I'm partial too,but worked around a New Holland this week(4wd and FEL)and was impressed. It was a little smaller than my K.

[JFordBronco]

Massey Ferguson 1532 : ) I love mine!