I have 2 acres and bought a Kubota BX23S. It's got a loader, backhoe, 3 point hitch, rear PTO for implements, mid- PTO for mower deck, and front PTO for more implements. I wouldn't exchange it for anything.
Why the 23S instead of the standard tractor in that series, the BX2380? I needed the backhoe. My lot was mostly wooded and I planned to clear a lot of it by cutting down trees, and using the backhoe to dig out the stumps. Sure I could rent a tractor or excavator for the stumps, but at local rates, I only need to use the tractor 2.5 days/month to make the payment cheaper than renting - PLUS it's on my schedule, not "you can't pick up until 8 and it must be back by 5 or you get charged another day". Why not a stump grinder? Same reasons as above...plus I don't want to grind them. I want them gone.
Implements are another matter; we plan to put a large garden in so I wanted a tiller, larger than a walk-behind. The 3 point hitch and PTO make that a snap. I've got a dirt/gravel driveway, the loader and box blade make upkeep easy. I left several large pines that deposit a metric sh*t ton of needles, easily handled by the landscape rake. I'm always carrying things around, and the industry-standard skid-steer quick disconnect bucket lets me have the bucket and pallet forks exchanged in 30 seconds (and that's counting drive time to maneuver the tractor from one to the other). When I'm ready to mow I can have the loader AND backhoe off in under a minute, the 60" mower deck on in 5, and the cut quality is great.
Why the BX series, instead of the slightly larger B series? When I am completely done clearing, the tractor's main job will be working as a lawn mower and the BX & associated mowing deck carried better consumer ratings than the B series. Have I wished for a larger tractor? Occasionally. There's always a job where a bigger tractor will make it easier. That larger tractor wouldn't have fit through walk through gates into yards though, and is heavier so my selection of trailers goes down, as does risk of driving over any septic drain fields. Oh, and the B series was about $5k more!
The BX23S has handled everything I've thrown at it. I've taken down trees, dug out stumps, moved logs, de-rooted and tilled an acre-ish of land for grass seed (that I now cut), etc. The trees I've taken down include pine, oak, ash and mimosa's from 10'-40'+ tall (recently found a method that I've used to simply push over the bigger trees, makes getting the root ball out even easier). I've got a tooth bar on the bucket that lets me rip out brush and weeds almost effortlessly. Overall the thing has been an invaluable investment and literally saved me multiple months of work in the year and a half or so I've had it, and I've put a little over 260 hours on it.
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