Hey all, after MANY years of wanting a property where I could have a tractor (yes, this was a life goal
) we're finally building a house on a 5 acre field and I have a "need" for one. There are going to be a lot of jobs on the property, including seeding a lawn, dealing with fallen trees, moving top soil and crushed rock, maintaining a 400ft gravel driveway, planting a garden (well tilling for one anyway), moving smoker and fire wood, landscaping (putting in stone, gardens, other things I'd like to do myself), removing snow from aforementioned driveway, etc. Basically anything that needs to be moved, placed, maintained. It's a long lot, over 1000ft deep, so I won't be moving things around easily with just a wheelbarrow and a shovel.
I am not buying it to mow however. A mower deck costs the same as a 3 series zero turn, and a zero turn will apparently do a much better job, much faster, and will be easier to deal with. Just doesn't make sense for me.
I also don't feel I need a backhoe. Let me rephrase, I don't feel I need a backhoe for $9000 CDN. That is likely a lot of mini excavator rentals (which is apparently better anyway), and everything I need trenched is already trenched. I may be building a shed with a power run, or a water line out to a garden, but I can do that with a rental. And 1/3 of that $9000 will buy me a nice trailer. The dealer actually told me not to get it because it's too expensive. I was surprised by that, but he's not wrong.
I decided to go with a 2025R for several reasons: Weight, ground clearance, tire size, price, and driving position. Comparing with the 1025R I am just happier with it. The controls sit higher up in the 2025R which to me gives it a more engaging feel. The tire size is much larger which will no doubt make for better traction, and add weight when filled. Not a huge difference in ground clearance but not insignificant either. Finally, the price difference between the two is a few grand. For me, this makes it a no brainer.
I considered a 2032R but the price difference is huge. It also may be a lot more than I need. The added loader capacity might be nice but at what cost. I am still considering it though.
When building the tractor, I found all of the possible options on the tractor a bit confusing on the web site, and I didn't know what some were. I felt like I could be missing things. For example, I selected wheel weights but didn't add the mounting hardware because, in my mind, why would you not include the hardware you need to mount the weights when you sell the weights?? But this is the high level sheet I put together for what I mostly know from my enormous number of searches on this forum.
| Tractor | Comments | Option Code |
| 2025R | This part is important | |
| iMatch Quick Hitch Cat 1 | Adjustable top hook (because adjustable seems like a good idea) | LVB25976 |
| Factory Installed Loader with Bucket | 120R w/MSL | 1701 |
| Tires Filled | Fill rear tires w/liquid | ? |
| Rear Wheel Weight, 60 lb (27.2 kg) | Weight! | BM17965 |
| Attaching Hardware for Rear Wheel Weight, 60 lb | Obviously | BM17987 |
| Ballast Box | Filled with concrete | BW15073 |
| 3rd SCV or Mid | Big question here, do I need more hydro?? | |
| Premium LED Work Light Kit | I could see this being useful and I like light | BLV10673 |
| Engine Coolant Heater Kit | Because Canada | BLV10640 |
| Engine Block Heater Adapter | Because Canada | AM134805 |
| Auto-Throttle Kit | Do I want this? | BLV10784 |
| 3-Point Hitch Tractor Receiver Hitch | Likely useful for a trailer… | LP25001 |
| | |
| Attachments | | |
| Loader Forks | AP10F vs 11F? 42" seems like a good idea | |
| Tiller | For tilling. This one has gears, 6 tines, etc. Can't buy King Kutter in Canada, going with Frontier I guess | RT3049 |
| Snowblower | Not plowing, I live in the snow belt | SB1154 |
| Spreader | SS20B iMatch w/agitator. This is an option... but I feel it will be very useful. Unless there's another, cheaper option for spreading seed, fertilizer, and other things across 2 acres of grass? | SS2067B |
| Box Blade | Will be very handy for the driveway, land, garden? | BB5060 |
I am trying to roll as much into the 0% finance as possible so I am adding whatever I can now that's reasonable. I am not looking to light money on fire, but if it makes sense I'd do it.
I have sent this to the dealer to get a quote, and to review, but I have some questions:
1) Is there anything I am missing or given my use case I might want? There's so many little options on the web site I feel I might miss something.
2) I considered the 2032R... as I am not mowing, it's an option. But my god is it expensive! And might be more than I really need. Any thoughts on this? Is this a "no you dont need anything like that for 5 acres" or "yeah considering what you're planning to do and without mowing, if you can swing it, do it".
3) Do I need more hydraulics? The 3rd SCV option is there but it's almost $1000. What do people use it for? If I got a grapple, depending on price, honestly I'd probably just get an electric one. How hard are they to install on your own afterwards?
4) What is the consensus on the auto throttle kit? Any downsides?
Anyway, I am really excited to get this tractor, expected delivery is allegedly around July but who knows. We take possession of the house July 20th and I won't realistically need this until Sept. which is when I want to seed some of the lawn. If I get it early I will probably use it to drive around my driveway, just because
I'll probably have to clean up builder mess as well.
-J
