[WhiteHorses]

We have 5.8 acres in West Lothian, Scotland, of which approx 1 acre is house and gardens. The remaining 4.8 acres is heavy deep wet soil on a gentle slope with a plague of marsh grass and buttercups.

Currently I can't find anyone to top it etc and going forward we need to manage it ourselves anyway. However I know nothing about tractors. Hence a cry for help to you lovely people
The tractor's main tasks will be topping, harrowing and rolling, plus towing a trailer of horse manure. I'd also like the option of s muck spreader and if it is feasible using it to cut the grass in the larger garden.

Please can you suggest suitable make/models/HP and how much we need to budget (money as always is tight as buying the house has eaten up everything) Plus where is the best place to buy from and finally what to look out for.

Thank you!

[stufe35]

Well i could write you an essay on the answers to your questions, give me a bit of time and ill have a stab at an answer....can you give any idea of what you are thinking of spending... difeerent people have different ideas about what running out of money is......... i dont want to spend a load of time advising you how to buy a 60 year old fergie that will do the job for £1500 if youve got £10000 to spend on something shiny and new !

Regards Stuart

[WhiteHorses]

Thanks Stuart! Spend wise ideally not more than £5000 including the basic implements to cut harrow and roll.

[Still playing with tractors]

Try going to the lanark sales thursday of every month, most are trade ins from main dealers so try to find them, beware there are dodgy ones too so usual rules about auctions apply if your not sure DONT!

Also try George at Dykes in Thornhill Stirling and Stewart Macdonald plant same.

if you need any more help just ask.
Alasdair

[WhiteHorses]

I have precious little knowledge of tractors, I could confidently buy a land rover but not a tractor at auction. So any further help as to make /size etc would be great

[Still playing with tractors]

Hi, PM sent.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Tractor wise you could make do with a compact but that would limit you to implements that are made for compacts which tend to be relatively expensive and harder to find. Also might struggle with a heavy roller.


So I would go for an older standard size tractor. Not a vintage (will be over priced for show restoration types) and not a modern one (too costly and too many electronics) but something unfashionable in between.


Eg we bought a 1976 John Deere 75hp 2030, Fully restored and with a Quicke front loader and with two large trailers, a hay bob and a few other things for about £4k. They're not old enough to be classics and cos they are US, not popular with show exhibitors of tractors who like to be patriotic. IT IS ONLY 2wd tho so no good for steep slopes but fine on gentle ones. No cab but the 2040 does have a cab. Ours runs everything including a baler which is hard on smaller tractors. Try and find something of at least 50hp, it will last longer, and at least 75 if you will ever need to bale.


A new small topper 6ft cut (eg Fleming) might be £600, or less if 2nd hand - these are fine if your land isn't too stoned (if it's all rocks it will forever be shearing th shear bolts that protect the mechanisms from damage)? Of very rocky the heavier and more expensive flail mower would be needed, but it doesn't sound as tho it would be needed for your land (it is for ours but that's Aberdeenshire granite boulder strewn uplands....:-)!


Harrow roller and muck spreader I would get secondhand. eBay is fine if you buy something locally so you view it and only pay once viewed. Harrows are cheap, rollers surprisingly expensive and muck spreaders cost depends on whether you go for old chain driven type (we have an old Bamford one) or a cylinder one that flings it out the sides. But each would be a few hundred second hand (harrow the cheapest, couple of hundred )


An old hay mower would give you a close cut for that garden for a few hundred pounds, but it won't get into the corners...maybe a ride on mower instead for that?


Hope this Helps a bit!

[WhiteHorses]

Very helpful - thanks!

[stufe35]

Here are some guide prices for gear bought second hand at sales or off ebay. Also some of my thoughts for your situation.

Chain harrows usually make about £100 -£150
Roller about £800. - I borrow one from a neighbour for peanuts-is this an option ?
Toppers always make £500 plus if they look any good, often they can be over 20 years old, yet as mentioned above you can get a new Fleming (well established British make) at 5ft width for about £700. I would suggest buy new.
If you want to mow lawn areas for a nice cut you need a finishing mower, these are more expensive, but if it saves on buying a ride on you are quids in, can you access most of your lawns on a tractor and do the edges/awkward bits with a normal push mower ?    I have recently bought a finishing mower to save work for the ride on, it gives a great finish, but also I have successfully used it as a topper by holding it at a higher level on the hydraulics of the tractor.   So possibilities ?
A 3 ton tipping trailer you can get tidy ones for 700-800

So that leaves a tractor,  if you don't know what your looking at you really could do with finding a friend who knows what they are looking at. There is detail which you won't fully appreciate at this stage like has it got a pick up hitch, a hydraulic outlet for tipping your trailer, live drive pto and position control hydraulics.

I would suggest if you want to run on your garden an MF 35, ford dexta, international 434 size machine is where you want to be, they will easily do all you have mentioned And are light. A quick add up of the above leaves you with about £2500.  This should be achieveable.

All traditional makes are strong well made and long lasting, parts are generally cheap and readily available.

Avoid foreign makes where this wont be the case.

If you buy something bigger than mentioned, make sure it has power steering or it will be a nightmare to manoeuvre in tight spaces.
Hope this helps.

[stufe35]

Lachlanandmarcus,

I agree with your comments about mid size tractors which are now too small for farmers but don't attract collectors, there are some good buys out there.

I'm interested in why you say 75 hp is needed for baling, are you on about a round baler ?

The  hayday (forgive the pun !) of the conventional baler was the 1970s during which time hundreds of acres were baled using MF 135s and the like at  40 hp ish.


Regards. Stu

[cumbriandan]

Have to agree about the 75hp for round baling, we bale with round baler and 60hp but is really pushing it even on level ground. Can be a battle of wills to open the door and let the bale out !!    You need much less for conventional as stated!

[WhiteHorses]

Thank you all very much for your information and advice and also to Brewster Agri who has talked me through things.

What a lovely helpful lot you are! I'm quite excited about tractor shopping soon

[lachlanandmarcus]

Lachlanandmarcus,

I agree with your comments about mid size tractors which are now too small for farmers but don't attract collectors, there are some good buys out there.

I'm interested in why you say 75 hp is needed for baling, are you on about a round baler ?

The  hayday (forgive the pun !) of the conventional baler was the 1970s during which time hundreds of acres were baled using MF 135s and the like at  40 hp ish.


Regards. Stu

No small square baler!  but as the sort of 75hp tractor I'm talking about, is now 40 years plus older than it was made in the 70s :-)) we don't expect quite so much from it as a nearly 50 yo than the farmer did when it was new. Also the OP and our land is on something of a slope which adds to the burden. Having some extra power means eg you don't have to take off one attachment to use another power wise, Eg we can keep the Quicke loader on and still bale fine at the back, which might be possible too with a 40hp but it has to be putting a bit of strain on.


A 40hp MF may well do the job but round my way they actually cost a good bit more in good nick than a 75hp JD! because of the patriotic factor and also the restore to show market as mentioned above. Rough off farm ones no, they're cheap enough, but anything in good condition is dearer than something more powerful but less fashionable. So for something to use day to day and have flexibility to handle the heavier equipment, I do think a bit more HP is a sensible option to maximise longevity, ESP when it doesnt cost any more ££.

[stufe35]

Agreed better to have a bit more hp so your tractor is on top if its game....but I think your original post saying a minimum of 75hp is required could mislead people using this forum who are not familiar with machinery. 

I would say any 60 hp would be well on top of baling, I have used a John Deere 710 in the past, it was a fine machine and unstoppable, I think they are about 55-60hp.

About 7 years ago I used my 37 hp 4 cylinder MF 35 to bale straw in a sloping field with a bale sledge on, she's still going strong !

I agree with your point, just think the 75hp mentioned is a bit over mark.

Cheers. Stu

[Victorian Farmer]

Well said folks i do like youre pic of tracters me a david brown so simple