Which mini tractor?

[Matthew Storrs]

What about the classic 2wd tractors, grey fergie, MF135, international b275, ford 4000 and that kind of ilk? Can get plenty of decent ones for well under £5k and they are a bit of character too, also good turning circle and generally quite a bit of horsepower 35+. Downside is they don’t generally have much in the way of aux hydraulics but fine for PTO work...

[Ferguson system]

Kubota b7100 hst. Mine has front pto, front lift, mid pto and it lifts 500 kgs at the rear. I have added a front weight, removed the front pto for better ground clearance and bought 4 new tyres for it since that picture was taken.

[sandspider]

I've got a Yanmar YM1600 to mow, carry etc. round my 2 acres of paddock / orchard. It's 16-18 horsepower and doesn't struggle with a 1.1m topper mower. Does a reasonably neat cut but is not much good in tight corners. It's 2wd which is fine for me - diff lock gets it out of most sticky situations, and if it's really wet I just won't use it - don't want to cut the ground up. It's an ancient import so no roll cage etc. and it can be a bit hairy - most of my paddock is on a slope. It was fine for the first year, but have had coolant leak problems this year which I don't seem to be able to permanently fix - I just use it with a weep of coolant, which I probably shouldn't, but it keeps going! it also need front wheel bearings and some other bits and pieces.

Oh, and it sips diesel - probably uses about 0.5 litres an hour! A bit more when mowing maybe.

Cost me about 3K to include a mower and a link box if I remember right. Tempted to get a log splitter for it one day, but in retrospect I should maybe have spent a bit more and got one a bit newer!

[sandspider]

If I had more space and more acreage I'd have gone for an old international of some sort. Compact tractors are expensive compared to bigger tractors, but I don't have space to store a bigger tractor, nor really a need for one. And they're thirstier.

[MattyF]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253842651905
Would be my choice.

[Baldbloke]

I’ve got a 4WD Shibaura with low hours. Around 550.it could be for sale. It has an American topper, a post hole borer and there’s a single furrow plough too. Bad points are the Seat is needing replaced and the original tyres sidewalls are cracked but have great tread80-90%. No air loss £3000 the lot. Trailer not included!.