what compact tractor

[GreenGui]

hopefully now in the market to get myself a compact tractor, main use will be paddock topping/grass cutting, hoping to use 4 foot mower, so any thoughts on suitable machine, ie hp, 2wd/4wd, will also double up to run post knocker/possibly rotorvator/stone burier etc, loader to come at later date or maybe package with loader ?

looking to spend 7k ish, any thoughts/experiences/pros/cons/makes/models:thumbup1:

cheers mike

 

A lot of people knock the chinese tractors.

 

I have run a 30 hp one for 10 years and put approx. 2,200 hours on it so can talk with experience. I use it with a 1.2m flail mower regularly cutting 4 acres. A finger bar mower, 2.2m belt rake and 1960 low density bailer for hay making (600 bails this year), ploughing and rotary tilling for tree planting and veg growing each year, post hole borer for fencing, towing a trailer and lugging building materials with the back box sufficiently filled to raise the front wheels off the ground!. Mechanically they are tough but old technology and require regular maintenance and understanding by someone with mechanical sympathy (in this case me but I am a trained engineer). The electrics are rubbish (all gauges replaced with mechanicals) and the hydraulics required all the sealing washers replacing, likewise the fuel hoses needed replacing as they collapse. But make no mistake it is a workhorse.

 

I am not flag waving for them but to simply view them as "crap" is grossly unfair. The biggest issue really is with support (non-existance once the importer had sold it to me) and spares backup. I would NOT pay the new prices being quoted for them today. You pay your money and take your chances

[doobin]

A lot of people knock the chinese tractors.

 

I have run a 30 hp one for 10 years and put approx. 2,200 hours on it so can talk with experience. I use it with a 1.2m flail mower regularly cutting 4 acres. A finger bar mower, 2.2m belt rake and 1960 low density bailer for hay making (600 bails this year), ploughing and rotary tilling for tree planting and veg growing each year, post hole borer for fencing, towing a trailer and lugging building materials with the back box sufficiently filled to raise the front wheels off the ground!. Mechanically they are tough but old technology and require regular maintenance and understanding by someone with mechanical sympathy (in this case me but I am a trained engineer). The electrics are rubbish (all gauges replaced with mechanicals) and the hydraulics required all the sealing washers replacing, likewise the fuel hoses needed replacing as they collapse. But make no mistake it is a workhorse.

 

I am not flag waving for them but to simply view them as "crap" is grossly unfair. The biggest issue really is with support (non-existance once the importer had sold it to me) and spares backup. I would NOT pay the new prices being quoted for them today. You pay your money and take your chances

 

Really? I had a Siromer 20hp model once, thankfully it got stolen I couldn't see it lasting 2200 hours even without abuse.

 

Didn't the 30HP ones come with an Iveco engine? Perhaps the rest of the build quality is also better.

[doobin]

I think I would look at a 4600 ford or similar with a cab not the smaller fords which are made under licence by the japs we had one and the rear windscreen was £475. A big little tractor

 

4600 is probably a lot bigger than the OP was thinking, a 4ft topper would be lost between the back wheels!

 

What about a baby International or David Brown? Cheap and small.

[GreenGui]

Really? I had a Siromer 20hp model once, thankfully it got stolen I couldn't see it lasting 2200 hours even without abuse.

 

Didn't the 30HP ones come with an Iveco engine? Perhaps the rest of the build quality is also better.

 

Mine gets loads of abuse, that was my point. It gets lots of attention regarding maintenance too.

 

The engine is Dongfeng, did they make Iveco engines? The ancillaries as I outlined are crap, no doubt in my mind. The mechanics have been copied off other old, well proven marks - its what the chinese do. Their longevity may be open to question by many all I can tell you is my own personal experience based on the time, abuse, hours run and maintenance during ownership.

[Matthew Storrs]

Of course the beauty of a compact tractor is you can pull one to site on a trailer with a few attachments too. What's the biggest 'compact' tractor? Anything up to 50hp I suppose?

[GreenGui]

Of course the beauty of a compact tractor is you can pull one to site on a trailer with a few attachments too. What's the biggest 'compact' tractor? Anything up to 50hp I suppose?

 

Good question.

 

I have been thinking exactly the same thing myself. I would like a second machine that can perform exactly the same duties as my chinese "crap" tractor can do, still fit onto my trailer and be towed, fit between the rows of my tree plantations and work in my veg plot, make hay etc. Its a tough one to answer. All the second hand reasonably priced machines seem to fit into the large 1970/80's machines (good but too big). The Kubota 20hp type machines are too small (IMO) or the more modern JD etc. way too expensive.

 

A chinese machine of 30 hp is not worth 7k£ but what fulfills the same function at a similar price?

[MattyF]

We swapped a kabota for an AGT a lot more versatile.

 

 

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[wrsni]

A chinese machine of 30 hp is not worth 7k£ but what fulfills the same function at a similar price?

 

You'll comfortably get a nice ST30 for that and have change for an implement or two to get you going. The replacement is the STV32, finding one of them at £7k would be tight going but off-season you never know.

 

The ST/STV were european market only and have the advantage of a bit more power but no bigger than most 20hp stuff. Ours is about 4ft 6in with wide grass tyres, would be comfortably under 4ft with agris on it.

[miker]

ive thought long and hard about full size and compact,being able to put it on a trailer won it really,drive to site and you have a breakdown youre stuck on site was another factor, so i think compact it is, a 40 hp would be good,dont really want to go below 30hp

[difflock]

Perhaps the key difference between a baby Ag type tractor, and a Far Eastern compact is mechanical or hydrostatic transmission.

For the smaller stuff I dont imagine I would consider a mechanical transmission, hydro all the way, reason, say cutting rough grass, simply "play it by ear", backing off the "go" pedal as the revs drop, and moving more smartly through the lighter bits.

Also fabulous for loader work.

And no clutch to perhaps fail prematurely.

I would also consider a Kioti.

or kubota (prob more about so a better choice)

cheers

m

PS

I would say you are "on the money" HP wise btw.