What tractor do I need?

We have 7 horses right now and feed large round bales of hay. Currently we have a neighbor who carries over a couple of bales, and puts them in our dry lot for us. We are paying extra for the hay and his time to do that. What we are wanting to do is get a tractor with enough power and with a front end loader so that we can stack the round bales, and put them in thelot ourselves when we need. This will also allow us to clear our own drive of snow etc.

So here is what I am looking for. Something that can handle a front end loader and is large enough to handle hay bales (they are usually around 122 lbs, but I have seen bales as large as a ton. I also would like something that I can fertilize the pasture, maybe mow the pastures etc. Lastly I would prefer something with a PTO and 3 point hitch so that I can add an auger for digging fence post hole etc.

I am fairly handy, but I dont know a thing about tractors, I have only driven one a couple of times, and really dont know much. Having just raised horses on a small acreage, this is new to me. I dont know what manufactures, or models to look at. I would just like to be pointed in the direction of a few modles that would work, and preferably ones that would have alot available.

Thanks for your help.

We were gettin' along so darned good too! :>)

Now, who's doin' the pot-stirin' anyway?? :>)

Allan

FTM

Round baler can be had for $3000 - 8000 for an ok one. Big square balers are $50,000.

Round bales store outside it a damper climate like here in Minnesota. Big squares are just mush outside.

Handling big squares seems odd to me - they are kinda small so you make a lot of trips on the field. Bale handlers are spendy.

Always thought the only good thing of the big squares is trucking, and few do that around 'here' - everything else is a pain with them.

Just a different view, not a quarrel. :)

--->Paul

I just don't ever recall hearing the words "need" and the "h-word" in the same sentence. Must be some kind of a computer glitch thing going on or somptin' :>)

Allan

thats all ok with me. just watch when I getcha back.

that really is disapointing though...I thought I might actually get rid of one of the suckers.

If you are planning to expand this horse business, soon you will be looking at spreading some manure, eliminating labour in clean up around stables, paddocks, etc. If that is the plan and if I were doing it, I would start off with one of the 35 hp utilities, yes maybe a light loader, but plan to do all bale handling with 3 point hitch. Then at some point, buy a skid loader to go with the tractor. You can then stack bales two high quite easily, get rid of the tractor loader. Then when you want to spread manure or just haul it away, put tractor on spreader or trailer and do loading with skid steer. It's not much fun loading a spreader or trailer then trying to hitch onto it.

I would also speak with hay suppliers and insist they keep their bales under 1500 # if they want your business. I bought a round baler in 1976 that would make 5x6 bales up to 2000#. I had a 40 hp skid loader and a Farmall 560D with IH 2000 loader. (200 holsteins) Wasn't long, probably 2 days into first year baling, we were breaking floors, making ruts, etc. I told my baler operator to cut bale size to about 4.5' diameter on 5' long bales. This gave 1200 to 1400 #. Here is the interesting part, two years later the 2000 IH loader was off 560 was packed away in shed, never used again. The 560D went back to being a drawbar tractor as it was designed for in the first place and a second 40 hp skid loader was purchased. All loading operations on farm were done by skid steers, on a farm that had 7 tractors from 20 to 150 hp.

Using a front loader to handle round bales is kind of a big job. One can get oneself hurt in a hurry without experience.

Is there some reason you need to stack these bales high? A 3pt lift like a sturdy fork lift; or a 3pt bale spear puts the weight on the rear axle of the tractor, where it is much, mouch more stable & safe & limited in how high you can go & the tractor rear handles the weight much better than the tractor front...

If you need to stack the bales 2 high, a Fred Cane or similar type of sissors 3pt lift can get the job done too.

Any reason to have to lift a 2 ton bale up high? That takes a very heavy tractor to keep it from tipping. Not so much hp, but _weight_ . Lots.

If you only need to transport bales, then the 3pt options are alot easier & safer.

--->Paul

casey in SD

parts availability is really good on the farmalls,deeres, fords, and A-C's and decent on the others. A comparable John Deere will usually be priced a little higher as they hold their value really well.

You can get by with alot less but I would hink something along the lines of say 770 or bigger Oliver,506-606 or bigger IH, 165-180 A-C, or something around a 2520? or bigger Deere would work really well.

If you are thinking about something newer look into a Kubota,New McCormick,Long, or new holland along with the others.

What do you think I will need to spend in order to get soemthign like you have mentioned here that will do the job?

I will let you know how my search goes, although I think that it will be a couple of months before I have cash to buy something.

thanks again.

I would strongly suggest looking for live PTO and power steering. These are two little luxury items that make a world of difference.

I have a JD 2510 with a Farmand F11 front end loader (3,000 capacity), grapple bucket, 54 horse, great tractor with more than enough power. A JD 3020 would also be a good choice, a little heavier and more power, but with JDs they tend to be a little pricey.

When you spot something you are interested in, post back and the guys here will be able to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about it and more!

Dug