[mab]

I need to get a/some new vehicles now that I've got a real smallholding but I'm having trouble deciding what. I could use some other peoples thoughts. Bear in mind I'm on a limited budget and low running costs are required. Also bear in mind I'm quite new to running a holding of this size and have a rather vague idea what I'll need.

For on road:-
I currently have an Astra estate 1.7 diesel - nice & economical and OK for work and general road use.

Occasionally I'm going to need to tow a decent sized livestock trailer (also need a livestock trailer); and as I'm in the Welsh hills, 4x4 would be useful in the winter. Was thinking my options are:
1. stick with astra, get snow chains, and a trailer that is within the 1400Kg towing limit.
2. Get an old landy (Tax exempt) with restricted mileage insurance (so annual running costs are low) and use only when needed (have previous experience of keeping these).
3. Trade in astra for newer 4x4 , but then I have to buy fuel for gas-guzzler all year round.

no. 2 is my favorite ATM but that may be  'cos I want an excuse to get a S2A landy. 


For work around the holding:-
would like something for general lugging stuff around (an on-road 4x4 could do this in some places).
Ideally could do with something I can attach a topper/flail  to for pasture maintenance and overgrown land clearance (and poss.a post-hole borer).
As the land is steep (and boggy at the bottom) I would need 4x4 and very stable - are miniature tractors any more/less stable than full-size?

My feeling is that a miniature tractor would be best as the limited amount of land that's not too steep to drive on would limit the usefulness of a full-size.

in the pic the two green pastures on the left are mine (and the foreground) - and are probably driveable - the land goes down to the bottom of the valley (def' not driveable).

Any thoughts ideas welcome.

mab

[shropshire_blue]

Hi mab,

I'm no expert (although I do love dreaming about what vehicles to get next) but I would be tempted to keep the astra, and getting an old full size tractor and use that to tow your livestock trailer.  But don't listen to me, as I don't really know what I'm on about

sb

[lachlanandmarcus]

Landy would be good but beware the prices for oldies have shot right up. even my 2001LWB is worth the same today or more than what I paid for it 5 years back! and worse with the older ones. Mainly I think because the Landy as we know it cant be made anymore from 2013 due to EU safety rules :-(

Makes me wonder if the series 2 we converted to a mobile water bowser might get converted back at some point!

[robert waddell]

land rovers are brilliant to the point you don't give a stuff about there problems you have to really buy a bag of nails or are not cut out for landies to hate them
old ones are more likely to be shot with rust and assembled from a thousand Donner's not all ligite so vosa and plod take a keen interest in them    they are just big meccano kits and can give hours of satisfaction stripping and rebuilding fuel consumption was never there selling point so disregard that part       the newer ones fitted with electronics are the cheapest and give the most problems    depends on your mechanical aptitude get a freelander or two  with a knackered 1.8 petrol engine (the heads go on them but i think you can get replacement engines) and a decent set of tyres you can go out in your fields as well e bay is littered with good freelanders with knackered engines  also check that the drive is connected to the rear axle the cheap fix is disconnect it and you will get over 30 mpg  and a lot quieter than an old leafer
tractors well depends on your budget your cheapest entry is a traditional tractor an international they are the cheapest to start with and progress from there but depends on your budget 

[mab]

Hi mab,

I'm no expert (although I do love dreaming about what vehicles to get next) but I would be tempted to keep the astra, and getting an old full size tractor and use that to tow your livestock trailer.  But don't listen to me, as I don't really know what I'm on about

sb

I never even thought of running the tractor on the road - presumably it would need to be taxed, tested and insured though - wonder how mush that costs...

Landy would be good but beware the prices for oldies have shot right up. even my 2001LWB is worth the same today or more than what I paid for it 5 years back! and worse with the older ones. Mainly I think because the Landy as we know it cant be made anymore from 2013 due to EU safety rules :-(

Makes me wonder if the series 2 we converted to a mobile water bowser might get converted back at some point!

Yes,that's the downside  - esp the LWB ones - then again I could look at it as an investment - probably better than money in the bank right now.

I did note all the freeloaders on ebay - but they don't have the 3500Kg towing capacity of a landy. (I also noted the cheap (and rotten) discos. I know I can weld series-landy chassis, but wasn't sure about thin disco bodywork (or reparing their modern engines).
 

tractors well depends on your budget your cheapest entry is a traditional tractor an international they are the cheapest to start with and progress from there but depends on your budget 

I wasn't sure if I'd manage with a 2wd though - there is a 2wd zetor for sale nearby for 1800,but for a bit more than that I could get a 4wd Kubota 6000?

I am mechanically able - I was looking at getting a non-runner landy, if I can arrange transport out to here. And could do the same for a tractor - though I don't have heavy lifting equipment for moving full-size tractor parts, and I don't know about price & availability of parts for the various tractor makes.

I also read in another post that implements are cheaper for full size tractors which is a factor to consider

[robert waddell]

tractors on the road      tax nil   insurance depends on the value and the company you get insurance from  running it on the road is a bit of a grey area   tacho derv and record of drivers hours is the worst   no testing at present for tractors
land rover is about the only bunch of vehicles that can tow 3.5 tons  with the exception of the freelander and the evoque
series motors 90 and 110 all hold there value when rotten piles of flaky rust they are rebuilt  rangies and discos  nobody wants to know them you can get new galvanised chassis for them like the others but it is the A B and C pillars plus the tailgate that rots
even zetors are rising in value  but are they changing hands at that price e bay is full of tractors that you would need to have your head buttoned up the back to buy them at the asking price   either that or i am to old remembering when you could get a new tractor for a grand
when you start to buy parts and machining services that is when your money runs away i have been there

[mab]

Hmm.. so using the tractor on road might well be the cheapest option - good thinking Shropshire Blue  - though it's a few miles to market, and I hate to think what a new set of tractor tyres would cost.

Well perhaps I should get a tractor first and see if I can do without the landy.

Am I being reasonable in thinking it's worth the extra for a 4wd tractor? - I know the older 2wd models are cheaper, but...

Thanks for the input folks!

mab

[suziequeue]

Last week we bought a lovely old 4WD Landy pickup fully taxed and MOT'd on eBay for less than £2K. There were only two bids and ours was the winning one. Owner was spitting tacks at the price as we (and presumably - he) had seen similar Landy's in the south east and midlands going for 4-5K

We waited a few weeks for the right one to come along and my husband is a bit of an eBay and second hand car ninja. This one didn't sell because it was in Cornwall and it wasn't optimally listed so would have been missed on a superficial eBay search.

He drove the beast (nicknamed Shrek) from Cornwall to mid-Wales without missing a beat.

The bargains are out there if you know where to look but it takes time and can be frustrating.

Apart from DH's "project" cars we now have an economic runaround each, the Landy pickup and a large van.  It's taken us three years of trial and error to get to that combination but I think we've hit the right spot now except that we could do with an alpine tractor plus all the trimmings but that's lottery win territory!!

Good luck and take yr time to find the right vehicles for your particular needs.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Bear in mind that if you only use the tractor on the farm you can have a red diesel tank and use that, but if you use it on the roads you will be done for it.

I would find a Landy for the road and get a oldie tractor for on the farm. Tractors suitable for road work are really the newer faster ones, the old ones would take for ever and ever to get anywhere more than half a mile away.

We also found our Landy on eBay, we didnt mind it being an ex utility white, slightly battered one with solid sides.

NB if it is solid sided, the tax is a lot less, about £280 for the year as it is classed as light commercial and not PLG.

[tizaala]

We have just got a seccond hand Subaru forester , it will pull a small trailer over a damp field and a twin axle on the road with 54 small bales of hay without any problems. we find it a good compromise. but still need a tractor.

[benkt]

We went for a 4x4 pickup (cheap quite knackered mitsi L200) and a 4x4 compact tractor (kubota). Combo works for us, but being in the fens the hills aren't a problem!

[Fleecewife]

The vehicles we have found most suited to our needs are: a Siromer 4wd tractor (flat pack and cheap - does everything except the baler), a David Brown which was a gift and does the baler, two Landies - a 1951 80" and a later LWB series 3 and a Subaru for the road.
The 80" we imported from NZ - sounds ridiculous but there are plenty out there, they don't use salt on the road and importing it cost less than trying to find a rust free one here - it was also quite fun doing the import (you can see it on our website).  We use it for all the little runaround jobs in the fields and for local trips such as towing the trailer to the abattoir, but wouldn't want to do more than about 50 miles in it.  The series 3 does all the feed fetching and carrying, bringing in things like fencing supplies.  Both can be used to take a sheep down to the vet in the back, that sort of thing, and both can tow a trailer but we don't have a huge livestock one.
The tractors are used at haymaking and general cultivations, and at the moment the Siromer is being used, or its front loader, to lift heavy beams into place on a building we are putting up.
In reality we can't justify having two Landies, but they are his and hers  nor if we were buying both could we justify the two tractors, but as the DB was given to us it doesn't cost us anything.

[mab]

Bear in mind that if you only use the tractor on the farm you can have a red diesel tank and use that, but if you use it on the roads you will be done for it.

excellent point - back to landy & tractor.

I've seen a working Zetor 5545 4wd for less than £2K not too far away...

The 80" we imported from NZ - sounds ridiculous but there are plenty out there, they don't use salt on the road and importing it cost less than trying to find a rust free one here

Interesting - I'll look into that..

[hughesy]

Regarding LandRovers. If you're going to do any even semi serious road mileage steer clear of old leaf sprung series jobs. Even a coil sprung defender is pretty spartan if you're used to cars. Best compromise is an older diesel engined discovery. Does everything a so called "proper" landy can do, including towing up to a 3500kg trailer, will go anywhere with a set of decent tyres, and above all is comfy,  cheap as chips to buy and a piece of piss to fix if it goes wrong. When the rust finally gets it it'll be worth as much for spares as you paid for it in the first place. You can't go wrong.

[mab]

Regarding LandRovers. If you're going to do any even semi serious road mileage steer clear of old leaf sprung series jobs. Even a coil sprung defender is pretty spartan if you're used to cars. Best compromise is an older diesel engined discovery. Does everything a so called "proper" landy can do, including towing up to a 3500kg trailer, will go anywhere with a set of decent tyres, and above all is comfy,  cheap as chips to buy and a piece of piss to fix if it goes wrong. When the rust finally gets it it'll be worth as much for spares as you paid for it in the first place. You can't go wrong.

I used to have a 1972 Series 2A -  did 30,000 miles in it - so I know what i'm getting into  Disco's are certainly cheap to buy, but the road tax will offset the purchase cost of a series after a few years, and, as I'm better at welding thick metal than thin, I'd rather weld a series chassis than disco seatbelt points.

Good news - I talked to my Farmer neighbour and he's happy to collect a tractor/landy on a trailer for me  so I can get an mot fail landy.