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 moved from the dry, hot, flat lands of Oklahoma to Ohio'er a dozen+ years ago. The first winter here we had a foot of snow on the ground for 5 months and single digits with a week of -25 deg. Quite a difference for this old okie coming from mabey 1 snow fall of 6" lasting a day and no thermo's that have markings below +10*F.

Tractor wise, You will be running that snow blower in reverse. My experence with older (60's) equipment is reverse wasn't meant for creapin. May want to find something with a hi/lo range. Not to many JD 3020 & 4020 are going to be found your price range (good ones anyway). Don't confuse the 3010 (which can be in your range)with them. Its a 4 cyl, rated at 60-65hp, is the upper limit. The 6 clys in 3020 and 4020's have a little to spare. 7000 AC's can be great tractors. They also can be a real PITA. The 301's (engine) had head issues. I have access to two (7010 & 7020) Both are real work horses and for the money great machines. Just make sure you have access to a good dealer/service center. I currently run a Case 970 but it can be finicky in cold weather. All wet clutches driven with hyds. Just about any older diesel will need to have a heater, but where you are I bet most of the gasser's will need it too. At -10 my D-19 gas will not start, PERIOD. My preference, cab is a must. Provides wind block at a min, plenty of shade on sunny day, and knocks down on the dust factor. I don't run my heater in mine. PITA - Get all fixed up to work out in the cold, strip off while in the tractor, just to put it back on to work out in the cold. Blocking the wind is more than enough.

What to get, good question. Might look at some of the following.
Ford 76 & 7700 series
AC 7, 8,000 series
IH X06 series (hopefully converted to spin on filters)
Case X70 & X90 series
Just about any JD with a 6 cyl

Look here to compair prices.

• price resource

Go to Ebay and search for Allis (sort by highest priced items first). There is an Allis 190 (80+ HP) gas tractor for under $4000 that nobody is bidding on. If it is close enough, that would be the tractor you should have.

Good luck in your decision.

The taller tractor with taller tires goes through drifts the utility tractor has to get plowed which can be very handy in the winter.

Gas tractors generally start better in the winter, though their fuel efficiency tends to be poor. Diesel tractors need heat for a few hours to start most of the winter.

You don't have to plow the drifts until you HAVE to go to town and if you've retired there, that can wait a couple days. I've learned in Central Iowa that digging or plowing as soon as the drifts show up is too soon, the wind will fill any size of gap I've made in 1/4 the time it took to creat the gap.

Snow fences, whether trees, brush, or real snow fence can control snow much of the time to save on plowing.

Gerald J.