Looking at subcompact/compact tractors.

[cannuck]

I get into the size debate, but should comment that I bought an 1440V M-F (Iseki) very low hours but with an engine issue - thinking I could just walk into the dealer and buy parts for some kind of reasonable price. Holy crapola was I wrong! First of all the dealer prices were eye watering (how about a single paper gasket for $110???) but worse than that they simply didn't have ANYTHING and couldn't get some things....that I needed. The comment from M-F customer service was they are only required to support equipment for 10 years, so after that you are on your own.

Before you buy anything head for the dedicated sites for your chosen models and ask a lot of questions before committing to purchase. I ended up spending over 5 grand on parts that took me months to find to do a simple top overhaul with new pistons.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

Anything under 25hp diesel is a lawn mower, not a tractor. Also, 4 wheel drive if you have a loader.

Tell that to an old time farmer whose workhorse was a Ford 9N.

 

[Firebrick43]

Tell that to an old time farmer whose workhorse was a Ford 9N.

The context of the thread is new tractors

Plus Hp in the 9n days was actually measured by an independent third party (U of Nebraska) at the drawbar or pto, not the crank shaft like it is in modern small tractors.

In the 1940 Nebraska tractor test the pto hp was 23.56 hp. A 9n would put out close to 30 hp at the crank if measured the same way as modern small tractors are.

 

[AC-WC]

Please do, as I'm genuinely confused

Filled with blue DEF slightly smaller than the one on the 1740.

 

[PCustoms]

Filled with blue DEF slightly smaller than the one on the 1740.

Who told you that is DEF?

What year are these tractors?

Where is this tank located?

Can you get better shots how that connects to the engine?

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but that sure as heck looks like the coolant overflow/reservoir

 

[AC-WC]

The manual and I think it says it on the tank? It sure ain't windshield washer fluid
Around 2017/18?
I won't be back over until Fri/Sun but it's on the engine off to the side-ish. You can see the black valve cover fill plug just to the right.

 

[Firebrick43]

Who told you that is DEF?

What year are these tractors?

Where is this tank located?

Can you get better shots how that connects.tonthe engine?

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but that sure as heck looks like the coolant overflow/reservoir

2:40 time stamp, 2:46 you can see the hose going to the radiator neck

 

[PCustoms]

It sure ain't windshield washer fluid
.

Never said it was

 

[PCustoms]

2:40 time stamp, 2:46 you can see the hose going to the radiator neck

So......not DEF

Unless I'm really missing something here...

 

[finn]

Tell that to an old time farmer whose workhorse was a Ford 9N.

I’m more than familiar with the old 9N and 8N tractors. My friend in high school grew up with one, my uncle had one 20 years ago, and another friend had one in the eighties and nineties.

They were ok in their day, for what they were., and a lot of people used to restore them as hobby projects, They are no match for a modern Kubota, Deere, or Kioti, though, and weren’t really competitive with the IH, Deere, etc contemporaries back in the fifties for real work.They don’t have HST, the loaders available were primitive, no power steering, very light weight ( my friend’s 8N would bounce off snowbanks when he tried to plow after a minor storm, even with chains), and the PTO is unsafe unless you add an overrunning clutch.

The good news is they’re cheap again, if you’re looking for a project, since the bottom seems to have to dropped out of the antique tractor market. They often show up at estate auctions, mostly “ran when parked”. A lot of them were partially restored twenty years ago, but haven’t been used in years.

You’ll see them sitting alongside barns now , with a brand new four wheel drive tractor, usually with a cab, always with a real loader instead of a trip bucket, actually being used for work. The old Ford ends up covered with weeds, with flat tires.

There are still some collectors left, but their numbers are dwindling as the old timers gradually pass on.

 

[finn]

I get into the size debate, but should comment that I bought an 1440V M-F (Iseki) very low hours but with an engine issue - thinking I could just walk into the dealer and buy parts for some kind of reasonable price. Holy crapola was I wrong! First of all the dealer prices were eye watering (how about a single paper gasket for $110???) but worse than that they simply didn't have ANYTHING and couldn't get some things....that I needed. The comment from M-F customer service was they are only required to support equipment for 10 years, so after that you are on your own.

Before you buy anything head for the dedicated sites for your chosen models and ask a lot of questions before committing to purchase. I ended up spending over 5 grand on parts that took me months to find to do a simple top overhaul with new pistons.

Be careful if using those sites, Tractor By Net in particular. There’s so much brand bashing and ********, it will make your head spin.

Plus, everything spirals down the political drain. They have rules, but no enforcement, so it’s a disaster.

 

[Firebrick43]

So......not DEF

Unless I'm really missing something here...

I haven't heard or seen a tractor under 75 hp with SCR catalyst nor have I seen one. I am pretty sure anything between 25 and 75 has some form of DPF filter and/or DOC cat but neither require DEF

Massey is even making the MF4707 that for all practical purposes is the same tractor as the MF4708 tractor, just the engine is detuned to 70 hp so they don't have to use SCR and therefore DEF.

 

[PCustoms]

I haven't heard or seen a tractor under 75 hp with SCR catalyst nor have I seen one. I am pretty sure anything between 25 and 75 has some form of DPF filter and/or DOC cat but neither require DEF

That's pretty much what I found 2018-2020 when I bought my 35hp. Dpf yes, DEF no.

Not trying to come across as a ****, and really hoping I'm overlooking some special model sold in CA or something, but it really looks like he's dumping DEF into the coolant based on some erroneous information.

I know, at least anything recent, DEF caps are typically blue. And sealed.

 

[Firebrick43]

That's pretty much what I found 2018-2020 when I bought my 35hp. Dpf yes, DEF no.

Not trying to come across as a ****, and really hoping I'm overlooking some special model sold in CA or something, but it really looks like he's dumping DEF into the coolant based on some erroneous information.

I know, at least anything recent, DEF caps are typically blue. And sealed.

Massey furguson uses the same blue caps on the Def box

Sort of curious what 210 degree urea does to a radiator or engine block?

 

[PCustoms]

Massey furguson uses the same blue caps on the Def box

Sort of curious what 210 degree urea does to a radiator or engine block?

GC1723e coolant change

@3:28

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Anything under 25hp diesel is a lawn mower, not a tractor. Also, 4 wheel drive if you have a loader.

All the small brain guys say that.

Hop on my riding mower and I'll hop on my 22hp tractor. We'll see who moves 5 yards of topsoil faster.

Then hop on a tractor with a belly mower and I'll hop on a zero turn. We'll see who's done first, and with a better cut.

 

[Snapped-off]

Topping off your coolant leak with DEF is a new one...

 

[finn]

A Def tank will have a blue tank cap, ,electrical connections, a level sensor, and there will be a pump and injector in the system.

I see none of that on his coolant recovery tank.

 

[472scout]

OP, are planning on clearing out that brush in the background behind the open areas and pond or leaving it? For the grass I don't see too many obstacles to go around so a pull behind or belly mower is an option.. A zero turn would be faster, but they aren't cheap.

If your roads are already decent you might want to get a land plane instead of a box blade. The later will collect and move a lot more earth around which may or may not be an advantage.

 

[JOE.G]

I have a BX25 with a Backhoe and loader that I use around the main property so i don't teat up the yard. I don't use it for mowing and never would purchase one of these machines for that purpose. I have a set of debris forks for it that I use to clean up the hay around the round bales that the horse make a mess with. I can plant trees, move mulch and saw dust with it and clean up around the barns, It is limited and I need to use other tractors for doing fence posts and moving round bales and what not. The BX is great for around the yard and in tighter spots. It is a strong reliable machine.

 

[My Old Tools]

Tell that to an old time farmer whose workhorse was a Ford 9N.

Put anything under 25hp diesel in an over grown pasture pulling a 5 foot brush hog and you'll know. It will pull a 25 hp down. Then try to lift a full bucket of white rock with the loader. You'll quickly figure out 25hp is a pretty small tractor. I used a Ford 1710 for years. Always wished for bigger. It's also pretty easy to break the block where the loader attaches or where the front suspension attaches on these little tractors lifting too much. My granddad farmed with a Ford Jubilee, no loader.

 

[finn]

Put anything under 25hp diesel in an over grown pasture pulling a 5 foot brush hog and you'll know. It will pull a 25 hp down. Then try to lift a full bucket of white rock with the loader. You'll quickly figure out 25hp is a pretty small tractor. I used a Ford 1710 for years. Always wished for bigger. It's also pretty easy to break the block where the loader attaches or where the front suspension attaches on these little tractors lifting too much. My granddad farmed with a Ford Jubilee, no loader.

Not exactly true. Loader capacity isn’t necessarily related directly to horsepower. It’s more correctly related to what the manufacturer / design / marketing philosophy is and tractor frame size and loader design

For example, the 25 hp -40 hp Kioti CK series all have about the same lift capacity, be it the 25 hp ck2620 or the 40 hp ck4020, and that capacity is far beyond that of the notoriously weak Kubota BX series loader. The BX is a smaller frame SCUT rather than a CUT.

 

[LopezBart]

For loader work, you want a heavy tractor and a sturdy frame & loader. HP isn't particularly important. If you're using a brush hog, wood chipper, etc, more PTO HP is needed, but for mowing a heavier big tractor just delays when you can get into the softer areas.

Oblig image of our tiny 10 PTO hp Kubota we used w/ a 44" brush mower before we got the JD 110 TLB and it took over mowing duties.... the lack of an overrunning clutch made things a bit exciting at times w/ the Kubota; the HST on the JD is a big improvement, especially since we can back up into tight areas that way.

 

[njc41980]

About 8 acres between 2 properties

You probably need a bigger tractor.

In fact, most tractor buyers end up regretting not getting the next size up.

I have a John Deere 2025 (26 HP and 1,900 lbs). It's great for my 2 acres.

 

[njc41980]

BTW,
For my two cents, it's not really important to have a dealer close by.

A tractor isn't something that I take in for service often. I think I've only ever had the dealer look at it once in ten years.

 

[Dodgepu360]

I have 10 acres and bought an old 1999ish Kubota L3000DT about a year ago. It's great, it's low hours and 1 owner, the guy's widow was selling it on consignment at a nearby Kubota dealership. It's done everything I need shredding, spreading gravel for a driveway, and it was strong enough to lift the I-beams for my shop to get everything staged.

Do I wish it was bigger, heavier, more power, and a cab with AC, of course but I didn't want to spend that much.

I also bought one of those cheap Chinese micro excavators for digging, and its ok. Not really heavy enough, pulls itself around in hard ground. But it sure beats a shovel.

 

[35Ford]

Spend some time sitting in different models and series to get a feel for the size. I really liked the size of the JD 3 series.
I think it's impossible to get one tractor that will be perfect for every task.

 

[ATC]

You don't need a SCUT or CUT. There is nothing in those pictures that can't be maintained with a cheap mower from Home Depot/Lowe's. You'd be best with a zero turn with a hitch on the back to pull a small yard cart. That's it.
And whatever you get, stay out of that marshy area. Even if you don't get stuck, you'll rut the hell out of it and it will look like ****....much worse that it does now.

 

[472scout]

You don't need a SCUT or CUT. There is nothing in those pictures that can't be maintained with a cheap mower from Home Depot/Lowe's. You'd be best with a zero turn with a hitch on the back to pull a small yard cart. That's it.
And whatever you get, stay out of that marshy area. Even if you don't get stuck, you'll rut the hell out of it and it will look like ****....much worse that it does now.

He has more work in mind than just mowing grass as he mentioned in post #1 on getting a box blade and grapple. What however he hasn't said.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

Put anything under 25hp diesel in an over grown pasture pulling a 5 foot brush hog and you'll know. It will pull a 25 hp down. Then try to lift a full bucket of white rock with the loader. You'll quickly figure out 25hp is a pretty small tractor. I used a Ford 1710 for years. Always wished for bigger. It's also pretty easy to break the block where the loader attaches or where the front suspension attaches on these little tractors lifting too much. My granddad farmed with a Ford Jubilee, no loader.

The OP never mentioned a desire for a bush hog or the need to mow pastures. If mowing acres of pasture/fields was the need, I’d certainly agree with you. I use to bush hog with a 1st gen Ford 2000 (gas), without an overrunning clutch on the PTO- it took some operator skill.

I went 10 years on our 10 acre property making do with what used tractors we could afford. No one in my or my wife’s family had ever purchased a new tractor. I started with a Deere 112 garden tractor (10hp Tecumseh) with a mower deck, front snow blade and front snowblower, because the primary needs were mowing and snow removal. A used rototiller gave me the ability to prepare our garden plots. Next I added a Ford 9N, which took over snow plowing duties, powered a cordwood saw and three point hitch concrete mixer, and dragged logs out of our woods.

In 1991 I purchased my Deere 755 (20 hp diesel, 16 @PTO) with FEL and 60” belly mower, which has seen use over the past few days setting 400 pound paver steps on Mrs. YankeeFarmer’s latest landscaping project. I have never wished for more horsepower. I run a 4 foot rototiller for garden plots and converting former woods areas to cultivated areas. The FEL has lifted everything in its capability, and wisely refused to lift items outside its capability. And I am smart enough to move very slowly when the loader is at or near max capacity to avoid over stressing other components. In 34 years, I haven’t broken anything on the machine, although I do need to replace the tachometer cable and light switch. Below is a picture of the driveway I excavated with it when we built our addition. Most of the stones in the wall came from excavating the hill.

My 2 cents worth for the OP: My tractor with the 60” belly mower was my mower for about 28 years. It was a PIA to install/ remove the mower deck, so that stayed on from April to November, when it was removed for added ground clearance in snow removal and woods work. The rest of the year I had to be especially conscious of the low ground clearance. To make matters worse, I had to run my rear tires in the narrow position to clear the mower deck. With the mower deck removed, I reverse the rear wheels and the wider track provides much more confidence and stability on our hilly, uneven terrain. I know more modern tractors have easy on/off mower decks, so consider how that will impact your intended uses. (These modern tractors don’t feel near as stable as my old 9N did.) Finally, one of the most useful attachments I have added was a set of pallet forks that replace the front bucket for moving rocks, logs, and, occasionally, pallets.

 

[Sbusmech]

Kubota's are usually a great product. I've work for and worked on Kubota's, as well as other makes customers would bring in. You can find parts, wiring schematics for every Kubota ever made. Even parts discontinued from Kubota can easily be found aftermarket. I have a 2003 Kubota TG1860. It's a belly mower but I'm able to pull my small wood chipper with it. Crazy reliable. Just services, batteries, blades, tires needed in twenty two years of service.

 

[Snapped-off]

Put anything under 25hp diesel in an over grown pasture pulling a 5 foot brush hog and you'll know. It will pull a 25 hp down. Then try to lift a full bucket of white rock with the loader. You'll quickly figure out 25hp is a pretty small tractor. I used a Ford 1710 for years. Always wished for bigger. It's also pretty easy to break the block where the loader attaches or where the front suspension attaches on these little tractors lifting too much. My granddad farmed with a Ford Jubilee, no loader.

My BX2200 can lift a bucket full of Limestone. It sure as hell beats a shovel and wheelbarrow.

I don't have an overgrown pasture to knock down though, so I haven't needed larger frame tractor yet.

 

[Next]

OP, are planning on clearing out that brush in the background behind the open areas and pond or leaving it? For the grass I don't see too many obstacles to go around so a pull behind or belly mower is an option.. A zero turn would be faster, but they aren't cheap.

If your roads are already decent you might want to get a land plane instead of a box blade. The later will collect and move a lot more earth around which may or may not be an advantage.

I will eventually. That area was a picture after it flooded. I live on a river bank. That is a creek feeding the river.

Looked at a TYM yesterday.

Can get a T25 with everything for about $30k, drawback is the backhoe/subframe.

 

[cannuck]

Just a few comments on power. My Cub Cadet has 25 HP and weighs in around 550 lbs. for 22 lb/hp. My 1440v CUT moves 3,000 lb. with 40HP = 75lb/hp. A Ford 9N is about 2400 lbs. for 24HP, or 100 lb/hp so not really a big difference between a 9N and modern CUT in gross, drawbar, PTO or pwr/wt so I wouldn't say any bad things about the 9N. I have only owned one and it did everything we asked it to do, took it's time about it but worth remembering it was older than ME!! I could be argued that a modern garden tractor is ridiculously over powered, but when you consider how much mower deck they can run, not entirely crazy. Just for comparing and having a bit of a laugh: My D5H LGP weighs in around 34,000 and gets everything done with 120 HP = 283 lb/hp (that should make the bow ties guys happy)

 

[AC-WC]

So......not DEF

Unless I'm really missing something here...

You guys are right it has no DEF. Thanks for letting me know!!!

 

[PCustoms]

You guys are right it has no DEF. Thanks for letting me know!!!

So.....

You flushing radiators now?

 

[AC-WC]

I'll definitely drain the overflow tank I poured it in!

 

[PCustoms]

I'll definitely drain the overflow tank I poured it in!

I thought this was the 2nd time you did this?

I'd seriously consider a flush and fill. Pretty sure it's corrosive and who knows how it mixes with the antifreeze

 

[jblnut]

I've got a 2000 series JD with both a belly mower and a rear flail mower. I use the flail 90% of the time and a zero turn for the lawn. It would have been cheaper to skip the belly mower and only get the zero turn but I thought I wanted the belly mower for most things. I like how it cuts, but lift height can be a problem if mowing unmanacured lawn.

On a side note, I've also got a 9.5k mini and a 82hp bobcat for my 2.25 acres . I do some side jobs here and there and occasional maintenance on some forest property, but I'd keep them all even if they never left the property. Just too dang handy to give them up.

Agreed on all this. If budget allows get multiple tools that will each do their task very well instead of one tool that will do them all sort of half assed.

I also have a 331E mini, S300 and S185 skids, Deere 2038r and lots of larger tractors on the farm. The 2038r gets used for anything it can do in a timely manner before hopping in either skid. SO much handier to get on and off and it doesn’t rut the grass up like the skids.

I ran a buddies 2032r with a backhoe and was very frustrated at the experience. It was better than using a sand shovel but painfully slow compared the using a mini-ex. I helped the same buddy out a few weeks ago when he ordered six 12yd loads of crushed concrete for his driveway and called asking if there was a way to increase lift capacity of the loader so he could move around plump full buckets of dirt. I wandered over with the S300 and gave him a hand lol. Use the right tool for the job. He’d have gotten it done but it’d have taken days instead of a few hours.

Anything under 25hp diesel is a lawn mower, not a tractor. Also, 4 wheel drive if you have a loader.

38hp lawnmower with 4wd and a loader.



Get two right away so they can be buddies and you can race them.

 

[Mandres]

Imo you really don't want a belly mower on a tractor with a loader and backhoe. I understand the swiss army knife appeal, but the hassle of taking the loader/hoe on and off constantly will drive you crazy.