Food Plots Tractor Talk

[DntBrnDPig]

I have about 5 acres that my house sits on. Since I bought it I've been wanting a small 4wd tractor with a FEL to do things around the property. However, with my wife's desire to get a minivan - all the saving I've been doing for that tractor are now going to that. My Grandfather gave me a Ferguson TO-30 before he died. Its a little rough, but runs. I'm going to put some money into it to get some missing performance back, but it looks like this is what I will have for a few more years.

TractorData.com shows that it only has around 28-29hp at the PTO and people say that it can't run a tiller or implements that are over 4' wide.

How can a new tractor matching the same HP at the PTO run a tiller when my TO-30 supposedly cant? Isn't horse power.. well horse power?

 

[Boll Weevil]

I'm of the opinion that you could indeed run a right-sized tiller with several variables being draft control, soil type, PTO RPM, soil conditions, and the tractor's forward speed.

I think you can absolutely get by with a smaller tractor just don't get in a hurry, and know you won't work as much ground as a machine with more grunt.

 

[JandSCattleCo]

IMO - For 5 acres, unless its straight up the side of a hill, you dont need 4x4. Save the money there and put it towards more HP.

Follow the guidelines on HP and implements. Dad bought a round baler that would run on our 40 HP 1980 JD 2240. It WOULD make a bale, as long as it was going down hill. There was no way it would make a bale going up a hill, much less turn it. If it says it for imiplents less than 4' wide, Id follow those guidelines.

As for new vs old, well its new vs old. You wouldnt expect an old truck to be able to do the same things a new one would be capable of doing would you?

 

[Hunter 257W]

Typically if you go far enough back, the older tractors were bigger and heavier for a given horsepower compared to current tractors. This makes it hard to just use horsepower as the only factor when comparing one tractor to another. As a general rule, the older tractors had more torque than the newer ones for a given power and that means they will do more than the newer tractor. Of course this assumes the old tractor is in good condition. I know my Farmall M was only rated at about 35 horsepower but it will pull way more than a modern 35 hp tractor mainly because the engine makes 275ft-lbs of torque and it weighs 6,800lbs with all the weights I have on it.

 

[DntBrnDPig]

My property is very hilly and theres a creek on it that I have to cross to get to part of my property - which is why I was thinking 4wd.

That's another reason the TO-30 kinda scares me as it doesnt seem to like the hills and I'm very nervous about rolling it. But I guess any tractor is going to have that same issue, I just feel like the TO-30 is taller than some of the newer compact tractors.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[JandSCattleCo]

Does the TO-30 have the option of "spinning out" the tires? My grandfather had an old Massey that you could do that on and made it WIDE. It was a 2x4 and would hug the hills. Thats a option to look at too.

 

[DntBrnDPig]

I saw that I can widen the front tires on it. There are 2 bolts on each side that can be removed, widen the tire stance, then put the bolts back in. Not sure what spinning out tires means.

 

[JandSCattleCo]

In essance it was mounting the tires on rear axle "backwards." Instead of the wheel facing in, it faced out and made the stance wider.

 

[DntBrnDPig]

Ah interesting! Would definitely give it a wider stance.

 

[BigAl]

I have 5 acres and a 34HP tractor that's 29 at the PTO. My tiller is either 5 or 5.5 feet. It runs it just fine. But I don't have hilly or rocky soil. Like someone said, lots of variables to consider. I chose that tiller width to get the til right outside the tires. Some have offsets to help you accomplish this on smaller tillers.