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  • PRO

    Mitchel, we run several compact tractors, a manual on agricultural tread tyres and a hydrostatic on turf tyres in our business so have years of experience..

    Being realistic, the jobs you describe are the horrible, potentially machine breaking jobs that no-one really wants to do. Topping and flail mowing can be brutal on kit and is generally pretty poorly paying once expenses have been taken out. Fence posting without a fully hydraulic knocker and stock fence tensioning set up is possible but mind numbingly noisy and slow (and knocks the tractor linkage to bits quickly).

    30-40hp is overkill in my opinion and too heavy to trailer easily, so would likely have to be driven site to site, which is slow (top road speed often only 10mph or so).

    We do lots of mowing, (rotary and cylinder) some flailing, ground preperations (ploughing, rotovating,seeding), flail scarifying of large lawns etc, also paddock maintenance works such as aeration, subsoiling and fertilizing.

    If you think compact tractor work is a way into big money, sorry to disappoint but it isnt.

    Initial investment of circa £15-£30K would get you a half decent set up but its not going to pay itself back all that quickly.

    An inexperienced operator can quickly break belts and burn out clutches or snap shear bolts leading to lots of downtime.

    From experience one round bale wrap hidden in long grass a pulled into the flail mower can take an hour or two to untangle and as for fifteen metres or so of barbed wire - less said about that the better!

  • I run a 35hp new Holland, hydro on turf tyres it can be put on a trailer and tower behind a big 4x4 which I used to do, but factoring I’m loading strapping down etc unloading and trying to get a vehicle and 16’ trailer parked up I now drive it down the road at 13mph. Within 10 miles it’s stilk quicker than trailering it about, but painfully slow! It isn’t the best tractor in the world but runs a 6’ flail, and I have a malone post driver too (about to be upgraded for a fancy Protech) it handles all this quite well, but 100% agree a bad operator is a recipee for disaster. I also have a saw bench and log splitter although more for my own use, but occasionally gets used for reward. I find it can be quite profitable but farmers with 100hp+ Tractors will get the job done much quicker and often only charge 25-35 per hour, but often don’t offer good service or can’t be bothered with less than 2-3 acre areas so work can be found that is profitable. 

    Kit is expensive and difficult to find second hand in good condition but does hold value quite well, repairs can be very expensive if you are not comfortable with diy repairs.  

    Flail mowing and log splitting could easily be achieved off a 20-25 hour tractor but anpost driver worth having is heavy and would need a bigger tractor, mid mount decks and collectors are available on many smaller tractors and could be an option for larger lawns

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