UTV vs compact tractor

[fu2lmao]

I own 170 recreational acres of land.  I have been tossing the idea of purchasing a UTV with intents of buying a few attachments to maintain trails, up keep food plots etc.  The other option I considered was investing in a compact tractor instead.  The tractor would also allow me to eventually develop and expand the trail system.  Any thoughts?????

[wdswtr]

Tractor without question.  Lots more use especially if you get a loader and many more attachments available, plus more durability.

[fu2lmao]

Was leaning towards a tractor as well, next question I guess is any specific tractor recommended? Do any come with an automatic transmission? What should I be looking for in a machine?

I apologize for the basic questions but I don't know much about them

[noahmstone]

I would go with the tractor. My father bought an older utv for a really good price 2 years ago. Last year he bought a brand new John deere compact tractor and has watched Craigslist for attachments and has gained quite a few for good prices. He gets a lot more use out of his tractor. The utv is basically reserved for berry picking trips and hauling tools and other things from the house to work locations or areas for family gatherings on their property. The tractor is a work horse and is used for a little bit of everything.

[yukonhunter]

Tractor for work..utv for fun. Depends what you want it for

[wdswtr]

Was leaning towards a tractor as well, next question I guess is any specific tractor recommended? Do any come with an automatic transmission? What should I be looking for in a machine?

I apologize for the basic questions but I don't know much about them

 

Hydrostat is the automatic transmission for lack of better words.   I am really not a fan of them but have several buddies that will not buy a geared tractor due to ease of operation.  I work mine pretty hard and harder than its really intended for.  I had a loaner while I was repairing mine and it was a hydrostat, I was using a 2 bottom plow with the same hp tractor as mine and it would just stop moving forward when it got to tough to plow, with my geared one you just goose the gas and she goes.  Each has its place and a geared one is not like a vehicle where your shifting through gears, what is nice about the hydrostat however is the ability to control your RPM's to run your PTO and be able to control your ground speed better, with a geared one you run your RPMS at the desired level and select the best gear speed and deal with it.  As far as manufacture goes its the old ford chevy dodge debate.  The best thing I can say is if your mechanical fixing abilities are limited, or you need warranty work the best tractor might very well be the brand the closest dealer to you is.  Nothing like paying $250 bucks to have one trailered to a dealer over a distance to fix a 50 dollar part.  There is some great 0/60 financing available right now with some as well.  Cant beat that at all.  Be prepared for sticker shock, tractors hold there value extremely well on the used ones as well.  I almost traded in 4 years ago on a JD 5045 and after trade in I was looking at 12k I stopped in last week and looked at it again when getting parts and the identical one after trade in is now 21k.  Lost only 1 grand on trade in value.  Inflation is unreal.  There are a lot of old tractors out there just do some homework on parts availability, the oldies are still goodies if you find the right one. 

[fu2lmao]

thanks everyone, some good points I did not consider

[thphm]

Atv / Compact tractor, I have both. I maintain both Artic Cat  with auto trans. ( and I have pulled a 1000 pound rated trailer full to the top with bluestone.) no problem still running strong. Compact tractor JD 790, 4 wheel drive, stick shift.  ( Junk ) not really a JD. Overseases Junk with a green paint job.Just a front end loader, 3 point hitch and weight box in back.In back used a post hole digger, and York rake.Front diff. rebuilt 3 times under warentee and once by me.Do not but a compact tractor. Buy a real full size tractor.Even if it is a used one.And as a side note, I do not live on flat land, it's all Up and Down Hill.

Edited September 17, 2013 by lurking

[fu2lmao]

lurking my land is pretty hilly as well, thanks for the input

[sits in trees]

Tractors sink in marshes.

[thphm]

Ha Ha , You had to say that Mine did and had to get pulled out by another one.

[wdswtr]

   Is yours the Yanmar version?  All one has to do is look at the serial plate by the PTO shaft and it will say who manufactured it.  The front end is little to be desired on the JD790, 850,950,1050.  Motor is oversized for the chasis with a loader on those models.  If you have a load in the bucket and hit a stump, rock or anything with the left front while turning equals a busted hub. Not a cheap part either by any means.  And Yep I have done the bucket shuffle many times to get out of a muck hole.  I have put my JD through complete torture and its still going.  Its run just about every day throughout the year, from skidding logs up to 30+ inches in diameter, turning over the foodplots, plowing snow, dirt removal, hauling firewood, pulling sap wagons, running the pto wood splitter, brush hogging fields and the list goes on and on.  30hp with turbo charge and great on fuel. 

Edited September 18, 2013 by wdswtr

[orion]

Unless you need a compact sized tractor (garaged or whatever reason) I would go with a full/regular sized. When we looked at tractors the compacts were just as much or more in price.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Unless you need a compact sized tractor (garaged or whatever reason) I would go with a full/regular sized. When we looked at tractors the compacts were just as much or more in price.

 

When looking to buy a new tractor, this is the time of the year when deals can be made. Dealers are looking to move inventory and are willing to knock thousands off to move those tractors that are coming due. For this reason, a utility ( regular size} tractor, many times can be purchased for near compact tractor prices.  Their is a far better market for the compact verses the utility models, thus lowering the price on them.

 

[Lever action]

If you decide on a tractor, buy one that has a front end bucket loader and is 4 wheel drive.

[thphm]

If I had it to do over again I would just spend the extra money and buy a Bob Cat or Cat. version of it. With tracks.For where I live and what I use it for all year long.

[G-Man]

tractor, geared transmission. lot of good brands out there. look for 3 things. loader lift capacity, 3pt lift capacity, and overall weight. I dont support one brand over another but as an example (i went looking with a neighbor last year) a kioti 38 hp, has a lift capacity of 2000 lbs. while to get same lift capacity from kobota you need to go to a 50 hp model. capacity is usually a factor of gallon per minute on the hydrolic pump. there are big price driiferences to go up in hp.. how much do you need? 2 bottom plow 30hp, or 15hp per bottom (mulboard plow if your not sure what a bottom is) 5' bush hog 20-25 hp gear box on most that size. 8' disc 35 hp or more. the heavier the tractor the more traction you get(. think of putting weight in back of your pickup in winter.) if the tractor weighs a lot to begin with you may not need to load the tires costing you extra money. if your going to push trees 12in or so over, or do large plots 5 acre or more 55hp and up is what you would want to start with so u can use bigger equipment. good luck and dont get caught paying to much for a brand name!! get a utv or golf cart to tour your well groomed trails when your done!!

[WesternNY]

Hydrostat is the automatic transmission for lack of better words.   I am really not a fan of them but have several buddies that will not buy a geared tractor due to ease of operation.  I work mine pretty hard and harder than its really intended for.  I had a loaner while I was repairing mine and it was a hydrostat, I was using a 2 bottom plow with the same hp tractor as mine and it would just stop moving forward when it got to tough to plow, with my geared one you just goose the gas and she goes.  Each has its place and a geared one is not like a vehicle where your shifting through gears, what is nice about the hydrostat however is the ability to control your RPM's to run your PTO and be able to control your ground speed better, with a geared one you run your RPMS at the desired level and select the best gear speed and deal with it.  As far as manufacture goes its the old ford chevy dodge debate.  The best thing I can say is if your mechanical fixing abilities are limited, or you need warranty work the best tractor might very well be the brand the closest dealer to you is.  Nothing like paying $250 bucks to have one trailered to a dealer over a distance to fix a 50 dollar part.  There is some great 0/60 financing available right now with some as well.  Cant beat that at all.  Be prepared for sticker shock, tractors hold there value extremely well on the used ones as well.  I almost traded in 4 years ago on a JD 5045 and after trade in I was looking at 12k I stopped in last week and looked at it again when getting parts and the identical one after trade in is now 21k.  Lost only 1 grand on trade in value.  Inflation is unreal.  There are a lot of old tractors out there just do some homework on parts availability, the oldies are still goodies if you find the right one. 

 

One thing you need to be aware of is hydrostatic transmissions depletes your HP, between 2-5 HP and on a small tractor  HP and Weight are vital!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    I would go with geared always, unless you are buying it for business that it's use would be loading with the bucket or pallet forks all day long.... then hydro is easier and makes sense.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Nothing meant to anyone here, but the general tractor buying public lack the skills to operate a modern "clutch" model tractor. Todays clutches are built with about 10% extra engineering and will not withstand much abuse. I agree, a hydrostatic driven tractor will use extra HP. to drive the unit., but are far more forgiving in power train failure. Hydraulic oil line leakage is also a problem with hydraulic driven tractors, no matter who the manufacture is. One other thing to consider about a hydro is the more you blow the high pressure relief cartridge,( high pressure saftey) the shorter the life span will be in that cartridge.They are replacable for a heafty fee. Hydros are very nice around the buildings and on the road, but not so good for much field usage.

[fu2lmao]

some great input, thanks all, after reading these I am thinking city folks should not play with tractors, while I would love to do the tractor thing I am thinking I will hire this part out to a local farmer and maybe buy a utv to keep up with maintenance, or even better just get both, we all gotta learn at somepoint

[G-Man]

your local county co-op should have classes on tractor safety and operation. farmer is good idea but eventually you will want to do it yourself and get immense satisfaction from it as well.

[stop em and drop em]

Compact tractor, but make sure it is large enough for certain attachments. You can buy used attachments for reasonable prices. ATV's are good also for wooded, hilly terrain where tractors don't have access.  

[mt624]

170 acres of land? Tractor would be a no brainer to me if you're there with any regularity.  UTV or quad I could get by without, but I consider my tractor mandatory.  If you're a hands on type at all, you will want one.  And with all due respect, I have to disagree on the negative hydorstatic comments.  I started with a Ford 850 (similar to jubilee or N series just slightly bigger) then picked up a John Deere 3010 (older ag type tractor in 60hp range) both gear, and now have a Kubota L5740HST-C that's hydro.  I used the 5740 for work then bought it when the company lease was up. Obviously due to age differences there's no comparison in other areas to my older tractors, but I've got time on lots of newer gear tractors too and had no problem going with the hydro after running it for the first few hundred hours. I've put about 350 hours on the Kubota total, 85-90% of that is dragging relatively heavy impliments through the ground all over the northeast.  The other 10-15% is mowing time. And the hydrostatic shines for mowing!  If you talk to the mechanics, I've found very few who have had any transmission issues on the hydrostatic tractors.  It depends on if you're going new or used, hp requirements, etc. but don't rule out the newer hydros, they are mostly bullet proof. Nothing wrong with gear or hydro.  But with that kind of acreage I would think a tractor would be almost mandatory... Better yet, go used and buy both! Seriously though it all depends on what you want to accomplish long and short term. As someone already mentioned, you won't lose much money on a tractor if you buy it right. The UTV's aren't much good for work imo, compared to a tractor and won't hold their value as well unless you buy used. If you're looking to just go out and have fun riding around though that's a different story. But then you'd cover 170 acres pretty quickly!

Edited September 24, 2013 by mt624

[WNYBuckHunter]

If you are looking at UTVs for work, check out the diesels. We use a Kubota 900 diesel for tilling food plots, and it works great. Drop that sucker in 4wd low gear and its an absolute animal. Step on the diff lock pedal, and it will go through just about anything, and pulls like crazy. You can get plenty of attachments for them, even hydro chainsaws, pole saws, etc. That being said, a tractor has way more in the attachment department. If you are just doing occasional heavy brush hogging, and large scale (2+ acres at a crack) plowing, the UTV should be just fine, as you can hire someone to come in with the tractor once a year or every few years. If you are doing more than that, go with the tractor. It all depends on what exactly, your goals are.

[fu2lmao]

thanks everyone for the great input, I spoke to a few neighbors and all suggested not to buy a tractor as I could borrow theirs whenever I needed one, I have been checking out the Kubota's for a while, I like there reputation but I don't find their design aesthetically pleasing ( I know this shouldn't be a factor), I am partial to the JD and Polaris Rangers (mostly for looks as otherwise have no experience with them), my land has a lot of hilly, rocky areas (foothill of the ADK's), WNYB did you get to test the 900 on a hilly area?