Food Plots Equipment question

muddyboots

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
11,748
Location
savannah, tn., usa
I have a John Deere 3038e, 5 foot bushog, 5 tiller, and a 50 gallon sprayer. I bushog several acres and plant corn and about 10 acre fall food plots. This stuff works. Just takes several nan hours. 3 payments and it's done. I'm thinking of upgrading. Should I trade tractor, Bush hog and tiller for next size bigger tractor, bigger hog and no til drill. Keep my sprayer. Or should I just buy a 2wd tractor and no till drill to add to my equipment?????
 

huvrman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
906
Location
TN
You will regret getting a 2wd tractor. 4wd is a necessity in more ways than one. If you upgrade, get a tractor with a front end loader and keep your existing equipment. My tractor is 5ft wide as are my implements. I know if I can put the tires between trees or stumps, the implements will fit as well. May take a little longer on large plots, but I'll take the extra time over having the versatility of a smaller tractor and not hanging up my implements.

Oh and did I say 4wd is the bomb? And a FEL? Best choices I've ever made. Btw, if you get a FEL, you pretty much have to have the 4wd.
 

waynesworld

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
3,212
Location
Shelbyville, Tennessee
I would 2nd about going down to 2wd is not a good choice and having a loader is great. If you could find a 6ft bush hog you could try it. Your tractor should be able to handle it as long as you are doing normal cutting. I would not do fields of small trees with it but grass should be fine.
 

jetwrnch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2003
Messages
2,976
Location
Kingston
FWIW, having more than one tractor is always a good thing unless you already have a backup plan. Sounds like you have a pretty nice setup. I enjoy the man hours though. I would probably just rent the drill for 10 acres. If the ground is level I don't see why you would need 4X4. Seems weight an HP would be more important. I'd get the 4X4 if buying new though.
 
Last edited:

JBell

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2015
Messages
1,654
I have a 2wd and front end loader. My property is gently rolling so no need for 4wd. I don't regret my choice. Never had it stuck or couldn't pull my 4wd out when it was stuck in my field yet
 

Grnwing

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
622
Location
West TN
How much bigger would you go? I am kind of in the same situation, but when I sat and calculated the time I would save from going up, I realized I would need to go much larger to really cut down my man hours in the seat. I spend majority of my food plot time in the planting phase after spraying and then tilling 2 to 3 times. You maybe able to change your planting style to help save time. Not sure what your method is now but maybe look at a 2 row planter.
 

tellico4x4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
3,662
Location
Killen, AL
Kubota L3400 & MX5200, both 4wd & fel. 3400 is 5' implements all the way & great in tight areas. 5200 is 6' stuff & really shines with any soil engagement, especially like the 20" disk blades. Best part is I always have a backup!
 

Andy S.

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 26, 1999
Messages
23,617
Location
Atoka, TN
You will regret getting a 2wd tractor. 4wd is a necessity in more ways than one.
Serious question here. I hear this from basically everyone these days, but know guys in the bottoms and the hills who have survived years with a solid 2WD tractor, as long as it has adequate HP, and they practice sound judgement. I understand "wants" versus "needs", and it seems to me that a 2WD would do what most guys on here need, most of the time. What am I missing? Would like to hear opinions from everyone who says 4WD is a must.

For perspective, I have a 4WD daily driver truck. I can get by with a 2WD 99.9999% of the time, so no way I could rationally justify my 4WD. It is strictly a "want", and not a "need".
 

JCDEERMAN

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
17,482
Location
NASHVILLE, TN
Serious question here. I hear this from basically everyone these days, but know guys in the bottoms and the hills who have survived years with a solid 2WD tractor, as long as it has adequate HP, and they practice sound judgement. I understand "wants" versus "needs", and it seems to me that a 2WD would do what most guys on here need, most of the time. What am I missing? Would like to hear opinions from everyone who says 4WD is a must.

For perspective, I have a 4WD daily driver. I can get by with a 2WD 99.9999% of the time, so no way I could rationally justify my 4WD. It is strictly a "want", and not a "need".
All I have ever driven were 2WD tractors and that's what we currently have (2 of them). I will say that I have been in several hairy situations that I needed 4WD. Several situations that required a chainsaw, a come along or another tractor to get back in a safer position. Sometimes you just need a 4WD for added weight in the front. We have a 78hp and it is not working out for us with our new drill. Well, it is but it is putting ALOT of wear on the front of the tractor. We actually are having to replace the hydraulic cylinder and lines this week, as it ruptured from adding 500 lbs of weights on the front of the tractor. All in all, 4WD's are just more heavy duty it, at least that's the way it appears to me.

That's our situation, but agree that a 2WD will get most folks by.
 

DoubleRidge

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
9,621
Location
Middle Tennessee
With enough hp and weight 2wd will absolutely get the job done...but with a 4wd you can get more done with less hp......with that said....we pull an 8 foot bush hog and 7 foot disk with a 50hp 2wd...no problem.....the problem arises when the operator of the 2wd pushes outside the limit of the machine....have I ever stuck a 2wd tractor bad...like buried it....you bet.....was I somewhere I had no bussiness being on any tractor...yep, no doubt.....know the limitations of whatever tractor your on and you will be fine....get outside those boundaries and you get in trouble quick.....my next one will be 4wd....not mandatory....but a want....I want more traction when working on sloped areas and while working with front end loader....I'm suffering with new tractor fever now and they keep sending me these no interest offers....it's like they know I want a new one :)
 

1jamey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2020
Messages
462
Location
Hawkins County
As long as you know the tractors limitations 2wd is fine. I've never used a 4wd but if I had the opportunity to own one I wouldn't turn it down. My little Ford 2000 does just fine for me. No complaints!
 

Chaneylake

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
41,491
Location
on the wings of a snow white dove
I wouldn't be without 4wd on our farm. Bottom land, hills, and front end loader work require it often. Cows have to have hay, when it is sloppy and you have a 1500 lb bale on the speer, you don't want to go to sliding on hills or getting stuck.
Working in mud/snow is an entirely different challenge.
 

huvrman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
906
Location
TN
I've had 2wd and 4wd. 4wd is a must have if you load up the front, such as with a FEL or hay spear. (as previously mentioned.). In the hills and slopes of upper middle Tennessee, with ground that is prone to slippage, either from rock or mud, 4wd is a must for me.
 

poorhunter

Well-Known Member
2-Step Enabled
Joined
Aug 19, 2015
Messages
8,896
Location
Hickman county
Mine is 2wd and I have some steep hills to climb. Problem isn't going up but going down in when it's soft and wet, usually in the winter. There's times 4wd would be nice but my tractor is 65 years old and does all I ask it to do.
 

Pioneer1789

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2016
Messages
619
Serious question here. I hear this from basically everyone these days, but know guys in the bottoms and the hills who have survived years with a solid 2WD tractor, as long as it has adequate HP, and they practice sound judgement. I understand "wants" versus "needs", and it seems to me that a 2WD would do what most guys on here need, most of the time. What am I missing? Would like to hear opinions from everyone who says 4WD is a must.
I was raised running 2wd tractors. I now have a 4x4 of my own. My place has some steep slopes. Steep enough that going downhill starts to unload the rear tires even with fluid in them. In a 2wd, you'd transfer the majority of your weight to the front axle which has no drive line connection and no brakes. Your only choice would be to load the front end up with a lot of ballast weight and drive up to the top and circle back down to the bottom on a shallower slope. The old timer that had my place did it on a little 2wd Ford, but it would have been sketchy as hell and taken a long time.
 

Latest posts

Top