dbd33

Note that at the time of the children wandering off, I lived in Toronto and their mother in the suburbs, they drifted back and forth between the houses. Their departures weren't connected with my later moving to the country (nor with their mother repatriating).

The daughter in Vancouver has a partner who's family live in Alberta. His parents have rented a place in Vancouver for a year so they can easily visit, they say that if they can deal with the weather they'll buy a place there. I find this idea to be creepy as all hell. Children are supposed to grow up and have lives, parents shouldn't stalk them.

Almost Canadian

Ahh

Thank you

dbd33

Ah, I have one of those harrows. Nothing to harrow at the moment but it came with the last (rural) place and I hung on to it. Never enough machinery ...

Almost Canadian

OH is obsessed with harrowing. She turns it up side down and uses it to harrow the pastures. When I asked her why she said that it knocks the crap out of the horses' poop. Quite why that is necessary is beyond me. The horses of our neighbours appear to manage perfectly well with piles of manure.

Do you know much about tractors?

DandNHill

Oh dear is that what it sounds like???

I think in our case it's two fold. We feel life is passing us by being in such a quiet remote part of NS and with one son in Toronto, another thinking about making the move and the other two still living at home it seems like a good choice.
Of course if the boys then move to other parts of the country we wouldn't follow but at least being near a major airport it is easy to visit or go visit. Currently we have 3 1/2 hours to drive before even boarding a plane!

dbd33

Not a lot. Most of what I know follows:

- primary criterion is whether or not you'll deal with round bales. If so you need a big tractor, if not, or rarely, then a "compact" or "estate" tractor will likely serve.

- tricycle tractors are extremely dangerous. Actually, everything to do with tractors is dangerous but those are terrifying.

- I need it to work. A driveway clearing device that won't start is worse than useless so I have a new tractor. I'm sure a more knowledgeable person could pay less for a slightly used one.

- All tractors come with long term 0% financing deals. Lowest cost for capacity around here is probably Mahindra, Kubota, New Holland then JD. I previously had a JD and now have a Mahindra (big loss of field cred there).

- The quick attach device is well worth the money.

- A shuttle transmission is way better than a manual.

- Dealers make more on the attachments than the machine so get a package price for everything at once.

More if I think of it.

Almost Canadian

Thank you.

I do not intend to ever have to handle round bales.

The quad is fitted with a blade and, with the exception of one instance, coped admirably last year with snow clearing. One of our neighbours has a huge bobcat with an articulating blade that we could call upon if needed.

We only wish to use the tractor for baling square bales and general pottering about. I appreciate that, the minute we buy something, we will find 100s of other uses for it that it is not powerful enough to perform.

I am learning about hp and ptos. It seems to be relatively straightforward. Am I missing something or do those on tractor forums like to compare their machinery as much as people on this board like to compare their vehicles.

I am fairly mechanically minded, but I have no intention of spending my days tinkering with crap. If it needs proper knowledge, I will pay someone to look at it. I would like it to work or only require basic knowledge to effect a repair.

I seem to be hearing that a 30-40 hp compact will suffice so long as it has a 25 hp or so pto. I do not intend to bale and pull a trailer at the same time. I am happy to cut, then rake, then bale in separate operations.

Any thoughts?

dbd33

Worse. Like comparing phones. Some people just have to the Itractor because it looks right.

Sounds right. Don't consider a machine without a bucket, it's not specifically needed for the jobs listed but it is for everything else.

Almost Canadian

Thanks

Is there anything particular I need to know about buckets and the front end loaders? I appreciate that some will be more powerful than others. I don't believe I will need a particularly powerful one (unless you suggest otherwise) but, for the most part, I assume they assist with landscaping and picking things up and taking them from A to B.

I have seen front end loaders stored off the unit itself. Is that simply a space saving thing or do they need to be removed for other reasons?

MarylandNed

Right - and it also means your kids have a 3.5hr drive to get from your nearest airport to you.

dbd33

I don't think there's much to know, it can pick things up, carry them, dump them, smooth gravel and so on. It can also apply great force gently. 100s of uses.

I took mine off the JD once because it blocked the headlamp beam and I wanted to mow at night. Despite access to the manual and the internet I had to phone the dealer to find out how to reattach it. I didn't do that again. Lights mounted up on the ROPS would be a good idea.

Almost Canadian

Excellent. Thank you.

If you are ever over this way, I owe you a beer or two.

MillieF

Thank heaven you asked AC...I'd already Googled it!

R I C H

Harrowing the horse manure is good for the pasture. When I owned an equestrian facility here in BC I had as many as 50 horses producing poop, it's a huge volume, and manure management a big job. If your able/willing to collect it, make a manure heap which is regularly watered, the resulting compost is excellent. I used to spread the manure on my hay field a couple of times per year.

WRT tractors, 30hp is adequate enough for a small acreage. I had a JD 30hp (get your rear tires filled with calcium chloride for added weight/traction, it makes a huge difference, particularly in the winter) and it coped fine with 32 acres to deal with. My tractor had about 800Hrs of commercial use per year put on it - choose once with the best hydraulic pump rate you can afford. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting for your loader to respond to your lever input, and if you ever need to move heavy items you'll be glad of the power.

Taking care of horses, I'd recommend getting a pto driven auger for making the task of fencing far easier. They're relatively inexpensive as implements go. A rear mounted blade, and your loader on the front makes snow plowing/removal a breeze.

Almost Canadian

We have 3 horses and, essentially, 10 acres fenced off into pastures that they currently graze upon. It would appear that the previous owner dumped his horses' manure into a big pile in on of the pastures. He had 6 horses each time we looked at the property when we were purchasing it. The manure pile has composted into stuff that is very good, and my wife uses it for her bedding plants. But, without a tractor, it seemed to me to be an awful amount of work (without a tractor - he had one) to pick this up from only 3 horses to make another manure heap.

Thank you. I will bear this in mind. As an aside, did you have our own baling equipment or did you get someone in to do this for you?

We will need to replace most of our fences at some point. They are horrid whitewashed things that are some way past their sell by date. I intend to replace them with what our perimeter fence is which looks like similar sized round rails to the round uprights. I didn't realise that implements that you have suggested could be run from a tractor, although I knew similar implements could be run from a bobcat.

How are tractors delivered? Does the dealer perform this or does one have to have some sort of low loader?

I guess I need to bite the bullet and visit a few dealers. I think it is going to be rather spendy.