 |
Buying Your First Tractor
by Darrell Sims - Cavalier International
Your back is tired and your hands are sore. You know your life would be easier
if you had a tractor but youre not sure where to start or what you need. The
first thing that many people do these days is to look on the Internet. After
several hours of searching, clicking, and reading, youre probably more confused
than when you started. All these tractor terms, models, and sizes have your
head spinning. What does all this stuff mean: live PTO, hydraulic independent
PTO, mechanical independent PTO, constant mesh transmission, FST, GST, HST,
compact, sub-compact, and utility? How can I possibly pick the right tractor?
At Cavalier International we help our customers find the right tractor by
removing the confusion about the terms, then fitting the equipment to their
needs. The first step toward finding the right equipment is to take a good look
at your property. When it comes to tractors, bigger is not always better. If you
have a lot of tight maneuvering, a smaller machine can save you more time than a
larger one.
A Typical Scenario
Lets start with a typical scenario. You have 8 acres of land that is mostly
flat with a small pond. There is one acre of lawn around the house that you want
to keep well groomed. You also have a couple of acres that you want to keep in
field/pasture, but you would like to keep that cut down and looking neat. You
have about 300-400 yards of gravel drive that you want to keep maintained, and
the remaining land is wooded with small undergrowth and saplings. We can now
take each area one at a time and determine the equipment that works best to
maintain it.
Lawn
Since we want to keep the acre around the house well mowed, we need to look at
some mowing options. The main thing to consider is the amount of maneuvering
that is required. Is the acre around the house open, or does it have a lot of
shrubs and flowers? If the area is open we can go with a 5' or 6' wide cut. On
the other hand, if we need to do a lot of maneuvering, we would want to stay
with a 4' or 5' wide cut. If the area has a lot of tight maneuvering a mid-mount
mower will make the task easier because it is more compact. But, if the area has
some ditch banks, ponds, creeks, or low trees/shrubs, the rear mount will work
better. The rear mount enables you to back the mower under low vegetation or out
over a pond to keep those areas neat with less hand-work.
If a rear-mount mower is chosen, there is also an option of side discharge or
rear discharge. Side discharge gives you a cleaner, more vacuumed cut and allows
you to move leaves in the fall. Rear discharge gives you clean sides to trim
from, and will cut taller grass without leaving a windrow. For our scenario we
will choose a 5' rear discharge grooming mower because we have the edge of the
pond to mow, and the flower and shrubs are well spaced out in the yard.
Field
Next, we need to look at the 2-acre field/pasture. How nice of a cut do you want
on this land? Most people will use a rotary cutter to keep a field cut down,
but if you are looking for a more groomed appearance, you can use a rear
discharge, grooming mower. If you set the wheels up high on the mower it will
give you the same height cut as the rotary cutter, but a lot cleaner cut. The
rear discharge will also spread the grass out evenly and not windrow. However,
the grooming mower cannot handle tall grass as well as the rotary cutter, so you
need to mow more frequently. For our scenario, we will use the 5 grooming
mower chosen earlier to keep the field cut.
Driveway
Now lets look at the driveway. If the driveway is flat, a rear blade will do a
good job keeping the gravel shaped up, and it can also be used to move snow. If
the driveway is on a hill, a grader box will work better for pulling the gravel
back up the driveway when it washes off. In this example, we have a flat
driveway, so we are going to use a rear blade. To determine the proper blade
size, we will measure the width of the tractors rear tires and add a foot to
get proper length. By adding a foot to the tire width, you will be able to cover
your tire tracks when the blade is angled.
cont...
|
|
