Horsepower or Bucket

I have a total of 12 acres, about 2 acres are landscaped around the house, the balance is wooded.

I hve the possibility of buying either of two tractors for the same price. One is thirty engine horsepower with 26 PTO horspower but no loader bucket. The other is the same weight, has a loader bucket but is 25 engine horsepower, 20 pto horsepower.

Will the difference in horsepower make a difference in the speed at which I could mow the field?

Will I ever notice teh horse power difference when I am mowing?

Thanks

The engine shows considerable wear and previous work probably a few owners ago. Things like bolts instead of studs. I have never rebuilt an engine before, and am not sure that is what I really want to do. This I just feel like the TO-35 will continue to need more than just maintenance no matter how much I rebiuld it.

And I would not put a loader on a TO-35 as it does not have the hydraulic system to handle the loader the newer loaders have.

I think you said your wife had difficulty with the clutch. Does she also have trouble steering the tractor? If she's not comfortable using the tractor, and you want to get one she can use, then I can fully understand wanting to make a switch.

I would recommend getting a tractor with at least equivalent horsepower so that you don't wind up regretting the purchase because you've gotten an underpowered unit. I've found that if you spend a little more time evaluating the purchase and making certain that you get what you want, you have a lot less headaches later on.

for bush hogging, unless your land is a lot smoother than mine, ground speed is limited by how bad the tractor is bouncing, my 35 hp tractor handles 60 inch bush hog even in tall wet stuff

I would love a loader but would not like lugging it around for mowing

keep the TO-35 and buy the loader

The question to me is the value of the higher horsepower and when will I see the difference?

But if I will notice much of difference when mowing, I want the horsepower

Of the two Fords we had(a 3 cyl.2000 of about 30hp and an 800 of about 40hp)you could tell the difference on a 5" bushhog in heavy cutting.

steveormary