So this weekend is finally the big day.. make the move out to Colorado. We bought a place in Littleton with 7 acres and its pretty flat and no trees.. so what grass and brush is on it will need mowed. I've never had more than an acre i needed to mow, so i always used a zero turn mower. I sold that as it's not going to get shipped to denver.. no real need/use for it there.
I want to get a tractor when i get out there. Being a city boy my whole life, I don't know a ton about them. I worked in excavation in college, but i was a laborer and only used dump trucks and front end loaders... rarely backhoes or any other equipment. I know Deere is a big name. New Holland I know too...Any one better than the others? I want a loader, belly mower, plow, and tiller attachment for it.

Who and what do you guys prefer?

Well, you are in Colorado, so you may as well grow the wacky weed on all those acres and save on buying a lawn tractor and all that mowing time.



On a serious note --- good luck with the move and settling in.

sounds awesome.

my brother has a Kubota B series and he's farming/maintaining about 25 acres. My FIL has 400 acres that he's farming and he has 2 Ford tractors (a 1910, and an 8970 - a BIG tractor)

for what you're doing the B series is really good (my brother has no complaints on his, but he does all the work on it) but if you can find a 1910 or similar Ford, you can probably get it cheaper and they aren't that hard to work on if you can get a service manual to walk you through some of the wiring diagrams on those old electronics.

how much is land out there?

Spock;1827878 wrote:how much is land out there?

Defintely more than ohio. I wonder if you get further from Denver it might get cheaper though? This house and land was probably 250-300k more than it would be in NEO.

^^ that is a good question. in wyoming i was looking at a 40 year old house, like 2100 SF with 9 acres and it was 440k. i bought a brand new house, 3340 SF with .35 acres and paid 275k. the moral being land is worth more than a house in Wyoming. I imagine CO is slightly worse in that regard.

I'm sure there some conservation grants you can look into to plant trees. You may want to keep all 7 acres without it, not sure. You could also look at leasing some of the acreage out for a farmer or whatnot. There may be some looking for a bit of extra land for crops.

For someone who isn't used to acreage, 7 acres will be a decent amount to take care of. A tractor is a big investment for just using it to mow here and there. I imagine you could plant some wildlife plots, get some hunters to pay you to hunt there, or utilize the grants or lease to utilize the acreage much better.

7 acres is pretty big. I would likely just use 2 of them to keep up with, let the others maybe grow out.

Spock;1827878 wrote:how much is land out there?

Shoot, come west and you'll see land! It's incredible how vast the country is when you really get out and see it. I thought I did decent travel growing up and into college. But, then I moved to South Dakota for grad school and started doing even more travel. Wow. Amazing land. Goes on forever.

Colorado is expensive though. Housing market there is ridiculous. Got friends in Denver and surrounding areas that tell me about it all. People are flocking there like crazy though. I imagine a lot of it did start with legalization of marijuana. But, it has stayed pretty steady because it's gorgeous area.

thavoice;1827889 wrote:7 acres is pretty big. I would likely just use 2 of them to keep up with, let the others maybe grow out.

well i mean it aint like ohio where you have a ton of lush green grass.. its pretty brown and spotty in places.. wouldnt be that same as mowing 7 acres here.

Start a little goat ranch on 3-4 acres; they will take care of it for you ..........and you can make a few bucks.

QuakerOats;1827898 wrote:Start a little goat ranch on 3-4 acres; they will take care of it for you ..........and you can make a few bucks.

There is a way too obvious joke here......

j_crazy;1827876 wrote:my brother has a Kubota B series and he's farming/maintaining about 25 acres. My FIL has 400 acres that he's farming and he has 2 Ford tractors (a 1910, and an 8970 - a BIG tractor)

for what you're doing the B series is really good (my brother has no complaints on his, but he does all the work on it) but if you can find a 1910 or similar Ford, you can probably get it cheaper and they aren't that hard to work on if you can get a service manual to walk you through some of the wiring diagrams on those old electronics.

a few guys i work with now have Kubotas. they seem to like them. Tractor guys seem to be like car guys though.. they have their favorite brands.

I will check to see if I have any link diesel equipment contacts in Littleton ... My personal preference is John Deere but what more important to you may not be brand but convent of dealership and the make and model they support.
Take a look at John Deere 1025R TL?... diesel

Don't know what your land looks like, but 1 acre landscaped would be A LOT. I'd consider mowing and landscaping 1 acre, and depending on neighbors/aesthetics let the rest grow wild....partially for privacy, and maybe start adding some trees and pines over the years.

QuakerOats;1827898 wrote:Start a little goat ranch on 3-4 acres; they will take care of it for you ..........and you can make a few bucks.

Hell, he should look into if there are any tax breaks for "grazing" and could get someone to plop a few cows down - they get free grazing, you take the tax break = win/win.

gut;1827960 wrote:Hell, he should look into if there are any tax breaks for "grazing" and could get someone to plop a few cows down - they get free grazing, you take the tax break = win/win.

realtor mentioned the current owners let a farmer use a portion for hay. I'll probably do the same. She knew you got a local tax credit but didn't know how much.

7 acres is not that much land .... House, small barn, yard, swimming pool and space between home and crop maybe 4 acres to farm with wheat or clover. Grazing is out of the idea depending on the area ( many factors ) rule is about 1 acre per livestock. Bottom line is a good tractor with attachments for 3 acres mowing, working attachment, snow plowing option. The likely hood of plowing field and harvesting crop is not gong to happen that a job for real farmers and equipment. Lease out the land for crop planting, collect the check and take care of your homestead.

ZWICK 4 PREZ;1827907 wrote:a few guys i work with now have Kubotas. they seem to like them. Tractor guys seem to be like car guys though.. they have their favorite brands.

Agreed. My brother grew up not farming and just acquired land as people around him started selling their farms as they passed away. So he was strictly looking for the most cost efficient new tractor. My FIL grew up farming and won't own anything other than a Ford tractor. I know other guys that won't own anything other than JD, other still that will only buy Case IH and still others that will only go with Massey Ferguson.

Best wishes on your relocation and new life.

...just beware of those drivers out there!

http://gazette.com/article/1591370?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Gazette_-_Colorado_Springs

Con_Alma;1827979 wrote:Best wishes on your relocation and new life.

...just beware of those drivers out there!

http://gazette.com/article/1591370?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Gazette_-_Colorado_Springs

Agree.... 4x4 4 sure....