The best way to find the right implement for your tractor, for you, is to hone in on the most important criteria. This will help you sift through the product specifications and features to find the best piece of machinery for your needs and your land. One of the best features to start is with horsepower. Here, we’ll discuss how much horsepower you actually need.
Tractors are classified into three basic groups: compact tractors, utility tractors and farm tractors. If you have a one acre block and plan to use your machine primarily for mowing, you’ll do just fine with a compact tractor, which generally has 25 horse power (referred to as “HP” from here on out).
If you plan to use your tractor for mowing/slashing in addition to other basic farming tasks, like materials handling, a compact tractor with 25 to 45 HP will cope . Compact tractors are convenient and easy to use. Their small size also allows you to store them in a garage or shed.
If you have ten acres or more, or if you’ll be travelling over moderate or rough terrain, you will need a utility tractor. Utility tractors have 45 to 100 HP and are better suited to attachments like rippers, offset discs, mulchers, sprayers and spreaders. Ultimately, this means you can do more with your tractor, potentially getting more bang for your buck. Utility tractors also have heavier duty transmissions, larger hydraulic flow and larger lift capacity.
Lastly, farm tractors 100 to 450+ HP are the only choice for full-scale farmers, large blocks of land and rough terrain. Naturally, they’re the biggest and most expensive and are made with top features like comfortable seating and heating and air conditioning.
More Horsepower Than You Think You Need
The less-is-more rule doesn’t apply to tractors and machinery. For example, if you have less than 25 HP, your implement options are limited. This is an area where available horsepower becomes a critical factor, mainly in the following areas:
Tip – as far as any machine with discs is concerned there is no substitute for weight per disc. If the machine is light it will “ride out” of the ground and fail to penetrate.
For example: with slashers and mulchers it’s important for the rotor to maintain momentum – that means having enough available HP. Also will the machine be used on grass or will it need to deal with prunings from time to time. Do you have hilly country? It takes HP to drive a tractor and machine up the hill. You’re now fighting gravity as well as getting the tractor to deliver HP to the machine.
This doesn’t mean you need to splurge on 100+ HP, but if you have purchased a machine at the bottom of the range, your tractor will strain to complete routine tasks. This can cause your tractor to fail or lead to expensive, frequent repairs. Also if the tractor is light, putting a relatively heavy machine on the three point linkage and going uphill, is a dangerous combination.
When you discover how much easier your tractor makes outdoor tasks, you may want to do even more with your machinery. The size of your tractor will influence which projects are achievable.
So how much horsepower do you really need? Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer. We wouldn’t recommend going below 25 engine HP, but aside from that, you need to assess your land and your needs.
If you need to do basic mowing or slashing on flat terrain a compact tractor with 25 to 30 HP will do the job. Typically this is a property of less than 20 acres. If you need something more substantial for cultivation and property maintenance, you’ll need machinery that is best suited to tractors in the 45 to 100 HP range. Usually that is properties 20 to 200 acres.
For full-scale farming machinery choice is generally driven by getting effective results in a given time frame. Measuring daily productivity and being able to capitalise on opportunities then becomes a prime consideration.
By now you will have rightly come to the conclusion that there are multiple variables to consider and thorough research is needed when purchasing machinery. Your machinery dealer should also be able to assist you with your decision making. They can offer you their own experiences and knowledge, as well as being able to access knowledge from a manufacturers specialist product representative.
Contact us on 07 3277 5388 and speak with one of our sales team
