don't know what I don't know

I recently moved from St. Louis, MO to mid-state Minnesota. I purchased an abandoned 9 acre farm site that has not been occupied sine 1937. 4 acres are clear and will need mowing and the rest is a thick hedge where I will place my next home. I currently own a JD 425 Lawn tractor with a 5’ deck and 2-stage snowblower which everyone agrees, too small, I’ll be mowing for days so I’ll retain it for around the house.

I’ve purchased a professional manly-man 28” blade chainsaw to sever a limb or two, I will be clearing the 10-15” diameter trees to make ready the area for the house. So, I need a tractor with some pulling power so I can skid those trees out to a centralized area, some 2 acres away. Next, the locals tell me I’ll need something above 70hp to drive a brush hog for the mowing so it doesn’t bind, their example a Ford 9....too small. Also I’ll be purchasing a 6’ wide 3Point snowblower to tackle the normal 5 to 6’ snow drifts that everyone tells me are coming, not to mention the minus 30 to 35 degrees. Fun-fun.....

I am focused in the $5,000.00 range for the tractor. I’ve already seen 3Point Snowblowers and brush hogs in the local in the $500-800 range so that is ok but as for the tractor, any factual suggestions would be helpful. Key points - reliability, parts availability, 3Point hitch, power based on what I have written, suggested model numbers (please be specific, I’m slow on the uptake) and lastly within budget = $5,000.00. THANKS

I agree with many of the others that initially it would be better to hire someone with larger equipment to come in and clear the trees and mow down the growth. After that, you could maintain the property with a much smaller tractor. I would recommend something with a foot clutch, live PTO, preferably in a utility model, and in the 20-40 hp range. Some vintage tractors that might fit your need and yet still be within your price range may be JD 420 Utility, JD 435, JD 1010 Utility, JD 1020 Utility or similar. Each of these tractors will handle a 5 foot brush hog, 5' finish mower, 4' blade and most have a loader attachment available. I maintain 5 acres with a JD 40-W and 5 foot finish mower. It does not have live PTO but my property is flat and clear except for the bordering treelines.

Another option might be to purchase a small vintage dozer (JD 40, 420, 430). Use it to clear the trees and shape your property. Sell it and buy a small tractor like that mentioned above to maintain it.

Just my 2 cents.

Chooch

Personally, a good AC 185 might be had for 5000USD (and even that is stretching it)...but it doesn't have TRUE live power PTO, which in my opinion is a MUST for running a snow blower.

You might find a good IH for around 5000. It has been some years, but my Dad's 856 (with M&W turbo) went for 5200USD on auction. That was a steal in my opinion given the shape it was in (course it was a real cold blooded pain in the...).

An oliver might be another choice. Just make sure the over/under works. A 1655, 1755, or 1855 would be nice strong tractors and should have plenty of hp and have live PTO if I recall correctly.

Seen some larger Fords go for reasonable prices for the hp. Something like a Ford 6600, 7000, or 8000.

Secondly, a 6 foot snow blower is too narrow, unless you are going to move your tires on your tractor in to 6 feet (which I wouldn't recommend). The reason for needing a 7' or 8' snow blower, is so that your rear tires are not plowing/spinning in the snow that cannot be reached by the blower (or blade or loader bucket for that matter).

5' to 6' drifts are not necessarily common. Really depends upon location of trees, buildings, and of course amount of snow. I've lived in many parts of MN for all my young life (35+ years) and only about 3-4 times recall drifts so big.

As to the cold temperatures, unless you have animals that require a tractor to feed them every day, you generally won't need to be starting your tractor at anything 10 degrees below zero (doesn't snow heavy when it is that cold). It still is a good idea to have a block heater or a tank heater installed on the tractor just in case you need to start it. Depending upon age (and whether gas or diesel), they may not start too well below 30 degrees F.

And as to mowing grass, a 425 is pretty good. I have a JD 317 which I used for about 3 years (bought...extremely used) to mow about 3 acres of rather rough terrain...including pasture. I blew a hole in the engine, and ended up getting a deal I could not pass up on a JD 445 (2001). I can mow all those 3 acres and more in half the time as my old 317. Essentially the biggest difference between your 425 and my 445 would be the tires. The larger tires allows the 445 to go places your 425 could only dream of going. So depending upon terrain you may or may not be able to do every thing with your 425.

You can get bush hog decks for them and rent many, many other attachments; post hole diggers, trenchers, concrete buckets, smooth and tooth buckets, forks, booms, dirt pulverizer, etc. If you are going to be involved with the building of your house it will be invaluable.

If you are mowing only a few acres I don"t know why you need 70+ horsepower to bush hog unless you are going to wait for the trees to be 2-3 inches before you mow or pull a 15" bat wing mower. The first time around might be a chore...

That would be my practical suggestion. Now the collector in me says get a good running JD 520 with a #45 trip bucket loader and blade. For protection from the cold, a nice canvas heat houser is in order.

Might think about contracting a track hoe or dozer to do the clearing & getting something smaller with a loader for long term use.

Another good on-line source for those books is the ASAE. (American Society of Agricultural Engineers). Maybe Amazon.

Then when you select a tractor you wish, go to ebay or a dealer for that brand and buy a copy of the operator's manual. After reading that you will know more than the seller in nearly every case.

Tour your local dealers, ask them your questions to feel them out. No matter whether antique, vintage, working, or new, the dealer support is most important. Buying a brand where the nearest dealer is half a day away tends to work badly. And if the dealer doesn't like to keep parts for anything older than last week that makes it worse.

If cared for, old tractors don't have rotten reliability and often even hiring their repairs keeps them cheap compared to new equipment. You can pay for a lot of repairs with $15,000 to $45K price difference between 60s vintage and new.

Gerald J.