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Re: I gotta farm now i need tractor
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Posted by Gerald on April 17, 1999 at 16:31:15:
In Reply to: I gotta farm now i need tractor posted by Nick on April 17, 1999 at 15:34:52:
I prefer the JD4020. Sure there's an Oliver here and there but there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of 4020 for every Oliver that has survived. If you grow row crops without chemicals you will need to cultivate and the taller the tractor, the later you can cultivate and the greater that last cultivation's benefit. JD gets $475 for ROPS to fit the 4020, Oliver may not have one for under $1800 in the aftermarket, if there are any available at all. A 3020 isn't bad, but 2/3 the power of the 4020. The 20s are a bit better than the 10s and up to a dozen years younger. Your land may be flat but there are still road ditches, corners, and gullys that make a wide front a bit safer. You would probably do well to hire custom work a year or two to learn the ropes and find equipment gently instead of getting everything up front. You have to decide on conventional til, no til, organic, or Roundup ready everything. Takes different ground meeting equipment for each situation and the no till or Roundup ready takes a good spray setup, plus certification to handle chemicals. There aren't many chisel plows or good field cultivators even 4020 size, most are larger. While I prefer the 4020, there are other tractors that will come close to doing the same work, for about the same money. Parts and repairs are important factors to consider. As you pencil out equipment costs you may well find it more profitable to rent the land for cash rent or on crop share than to take the lumps of equipment cost. You could easily spend over $10,000 for tractor and a few implements and still have to hire combining in the fall. On 80 acres there's little future in owning a combine except using it as a money and work sink fixing things that have rotted setting. Unless you are in need of mechanical toys to work on, avoid the combine. Seed can easily cost you $1800, fertilizer and conventional chemicals as much as $6000. That free land ain't FREE! Combining about $30 an acre. Hauling on top of that, all for $1.90 corn and $4.35 beans. If you as much as whisper aloud that you might cash rent or crop share you will have a line of suitors outside your door within hours. Even if you decide to farm it yourself this year, you will have rental offers. Gerald
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