Clearly a very exciting purchase. In my experience, don't consider the 25HP machine. You can almost guarantee in the future when using a power hungry attachment the lower power machine will disappoint. The 50HP machine will give you confidence that the machine will do anything you throw at it. 25 HP is little more than a large ride on mower.

Its great that you can try before you buy, now that is the mark of great service from the dealer. It will be interesting to see what you go for in the end. Thanks for posting

Be very careful with security, if you have valuable machines like this tractor left on the farm overnight whilst you are not living there, and even when you are, the deterrent effect to certain sectors of the population is minimal as they consider themselves to be above the law.

The larger unit will be better, as the pto will be under less strain, which will save you money in the long run also, things will develop where you will need more power, keep the videos coming 👍

The one thing I wish I had spent money on when I bought my tractor was a cab , you know what the British weather can be like and in the summer the dust can get very annoying

I think you will find the bigger tractor more suited the smaller one will be like a big ride on mower.

As as far as weights go, when loaders first came in, farmers would make their own, fill old oiled drums with concrete, bar through the middle, top link attachment higher. Small ones can be fashioned as well. If you are needing weight on the front, imagine it won’t be often as the loader will do that and could always be filled a bit. I remember at 16 on an old tractor carting heavy round bales with the front wheel’s rarely touching and steering with the brakes to get them home 😅. Also when scraping out on slippy yards when the tractor didn’t want to turn! Traction, you have a banky field by the looks of it and the bottom could get wet. Imagine you could use the dumper to pull yourself out but it’s weighing up the pros and cons. If it takes off down the hill, don’t panic and brake hard but try to ride it out and aim fairly straight down. You don’t want the rear overtaking the front and it rolling. Hopefully it also has a dif lock to lock the back wheels. If one wheel starts spinning, the dif won’t transmit power to the other wheel without it being locked… Power wise, hopefully will get tested early on but ability to lift and handle large dumpy bags seems to be very important, although I’d have thought you might be getting bulk loads of sand etc in the silage pit and use the bucket on the loader.

Exciting times ahead. Looking forward to it.

I’m enjoying these regular updates!

Really enjoying seeing your updates. I used to enjoy your house but this is even better

Sounds a good place you came across will be good to see how you get on with the demos

MORE POWER! (Grunt like Tim the Tool Man) My parents had a farm. Ford Tractor. Let me tell you...with the terrain and mix of ground type you seem to have (my parents had everything, flat, hilly, boggy, rocky, wooded) you will be shocked what you can get stuck in. My mother kept a large part of it bush hogged (to keep it from going to forest) but managed to get it stuck more than a few times. We also had a "farm truck"...an old beat up Chevy we used for everything around the farm. Used that tractor to bush hog, plow and disc the garden, grade the roads and ditches, dig post holes. My Dad also had a backhoe (Case).

Wow Tim ye have really moved forward, great stuff as always

We previously owned a forklift and Dexion racking. Makes life so easy. Love your work 👍

Great research ahead of time Tim! It sounds to me like you asked good questions of those that work with these machines. You asked the folks that matter. I have no experience with tractors and cannot suggest this one or that one. Taking one on loan for a week was brilliant!

Oh you tease you. All the chat with just a glimpse of the real thing at the end. Can't wait to see you put this machine to work.

No doubt you will find out for yourselves - but my advice would be 50hp won't be too much. I would think that over time a 26hp will have to work much harder to cope with everything you will throw at it - if you can afford it - go big as you can. Good luck

I can hear my grandma in my head shouting at that lad with his hands in his pockets while talking to you about tractors😂

I have a bcs alpine and it’s absolutely brilliant, 13 years old and faultless, 35 hip and so versatile

Interesting video. No doubt something you have already considered: big shiny blue tractor + kids = horror stories. Having an almost industrial working area immediately outside your back door must be new to you & the family. 'Nuff said.

Lovin the video thanks. A word of caution.There is an element of individuals who may want to relieve you of the tractor without your permission. I wouldn't show where you store/garage the tractor. Sorry to dampen proceedings but we hear about it all the time up here in Ayrshire. We are semi rural.😊

As you’re getting a loader (worth every penny) good idea is to make a rear counter balance essential for safe lifting. Most compact tractors have shorter lift arms on the three point lift this is to increase the lift capacity but won’t lift as high as say a 35 so the transport box won’t tip out to the same degree (I modified mine lowering the bottom link points to allow it pick it up higher) The smallest of uneven ground can make a compact tractor unsteady I always think you need to magnifying the unevenness 3x as the tractor is 3x smaller.

The day after we moved in ours we bought a 1980s yanmar 1802 18hp 2wd. From an old boy down the road. main use is grading and rolling arena but I love the little thing so basic turns on the spot japanese inport so still right hand drive. We had no I dear what we were doing when it comes to tractors 10 months on still a great buy for us. If I was bying again 4wd front bucket more weights. If your mowing a lot size it time get as bigger as practical. Looking forwards for your review. So many more toys loving it

Got to give my full respect to anyone who does this. The family obligations must go straight out the window. So driven and a little selfish. Good luck and hope it’s all worth it in the end.

Very informative video

Loving the adventure

Tracked skid steer are the way to go.

For the time being, until you need to do more tractor related tasks. Have you considered an Avant or MultiOne? Hundreds of attachments for it, including log splitters, over size buckets, toppers etc etc the list goes on, and incredibly very well priced, they also have high lift meaning unloading lorries and loading up dumpers would be easy. Our Mid to large size on lifts over a tonne so much more versatile.

Shiny fings !

Tim you’re looking tired mate. Don’t forget to take a break too 👍🏻

100% the bigger one , also what about a cab ?

I just had a look at the 50hp version with the cab and it looks like a nice machine, yes more expensive but it will save you money in the long term. I know it doesn’t have the quirkiness and looks of an open tractor but that does wear thin very quickly. Can you use a flail hedge trimmer on a open cab with chunks of wood flying at you? Working for hours in the cold, wet and driving rain? Breathing in all the dust from working the ground and grass etc and finally better safety.

We all Luuuurv a nice Shiny New Tractor .... I remember as a kid in the 50's, we used to get lorries loaded up with little Bright Red & Bright Blue little Massey's coming through our village on a regular basis .... Used to Make My Day seeing them trundle through .... No wonder Jo could be seen holding back a little 'Excitement-Wee' at one point ... On ONE LEG TOO!! .... That was impressive 😂🤣😂

That looks a cracking tractor and should do you well. And while I know very little about tractors, the 26 looks a better size compared to the 50 which looks more small farm than small holding. It's very easy to fall into a trap of bigger is better, and you end up spending a fortune (upfront and ongoing) on capability you might never use, or just use once every couple of years for the more ambitious DIY projects. And for moving DIY materials around site, you can always split the load and do multiple trips. Not only safer, but more likely to be better matched to what you need for a day's work anyway.

Running a 26hp Kubota with a front loader for the past 7 years looking after 12 acres with hills no problem. Bit slow topping on the hills but it's light on the ground, run a muck spreader, sower, spring time Harrow topper, runs all day on a tenner of red (last year prices).

Hydrostatic drive is power hungry and would advise you go for a geared unit with a manual shuttle forward/reverse 👍

That's a nice little tractor but I think you'll soon wish it had a cab.

This is only advice please don't think I am being that person With the smaller 30-60hp market garden/ compact tractors we would honestly stick with non brands kubota,NH,MF and jd don't touch anything else dealer support is shocking the main brand use quality parts and hold alout of stock in the UK. Pluss kubota's are mainly made in USA so delivery is quick though Japanese,MF are made in France,JD USA or Germany,New Hollands UK. The cheaper tractors are cheep for a reason just saying they will fine for 3 years if your lucky! Then they will go bad quickly the dealers will tell you all the stuff you wnat to hear and as soon go's wrong will blame you for everything then try sell you a new machine.

Buy the biggest you can afford and don't forget to get the cab 😉

We had a 50 or so horsepower IH tractor, we found that it wasn't up to real work, we've got a 70 hp + IH which is up to cultivations, muck spreading, big bale handling etc on a 10 acre mainly flat smallholding. 50 hp will probably be a minimum if you wish to do serious work with it.

Great ! A new toy 😀

Buy a digger as well. Best thing I ever bought. Gotta say, Jo didn’t seem as keen as you at the tractor shop.

New toy day is always fun until the bill comes in... I love old equipment but... There is allot to be said for new. I really like the small tractors but here in the US the next size up is the same price but more capabilities. Also agree on the tires for you the R1 is the best choice. Hydrostatic is also allot better for loader work which is 95% of what most will use it for. If you are only plowing fields then go with the shuttle shift.

you will regret getting the lower powered model, especially if you plan on using the PTO a great deal. Also knowing the UK weather a cab would be a good idea

I'm not too clued up but make sure you apply for your Rural Grants and Farming Investment fund

Kilworth Machinery in Derbyshire are fantastic

Thanks

Ag pattern tyres every time unless your building a golf course

Get a bigger tractor oh and get one with a cab ... Dont forget it rains in England A LOT !!

Can I suggest you invest in a tracker service, Farm machinary theft is rife these days and its a lot quicker to retrieve rather than fanny around with insurance companies.

I have a 25hp Mitsubishi and she struggles with the flail mower. In my experience you cannot have too much power with a tractor. 50hp would be a minimum to do jobs at optimum speed

I think the small tractor won’t be powerful enough and it will be to light. Remember when you are moving large objects weight and size = stability. As you probably know most farms have gone to round bales as it’s more economical and time saving, you can also purchase silage bales if you don’t make your own, but I’m not sure if you would need them? My question is can your machine pick up and stack round bales 2 high, dumpy bags of sand and feed and how stable is it when you move them around unstable and sloping ground? Also Remember not all delivery lorries have loading cranes so can your front fork’s reach over the bed of the lorry or the products being delivered, ie can you lift a dumpy bag from its straps of the back of a lorry? I think you might be able to make do with the small machine but you will always be working on the performance and safety limit wishing you had gone bigger, that being said have fun with the machine.🚜👍

i think somebody is really looking forward to the tractor arriving, and it's not Tim 🤣

Not convinced that SWMBO ‘she who must be obeyed’ found the tractor shopping as exciting as you did Tim ? 😉

Are you allowed to fix it yourself or do you have to wait for a tech with a code reader?

How about a cab?

we've got a 42 hp kubota l series it's great but...... the lift capacity on the forks is surprisingly disappointing hanging a weight or the flail off the back helps but its very unstable with 20 bags of cement on the front. other than that it's a great size machine for our needs.

Check out tractor time with Tim, he covers all that

It’s a lot of money to shell out, but I’d recommend at least 35 hp and not hydrostatic

We went through the same when buying our small holding. Bought a 3 year old McCormick with 105HP and a cab. Could not have coped with anything smaller/less powerful. We run topper, roller, rotovator, post-basher, harrow, chipper, log splitter and can honestly say 25hp is way too small for most of those implements. Also, we stuck with agri tyres with 4 wheel drive and still slip around when the land is soft. There's nothing more dangerous than a tractor on soft ground !

Bloody hell, it’s car show room for farmers

Instead of a telehandler or forklift, you need a skidsteer. See farmerp's channel for how versatile a skidsteer is for him.

Who were you talking to that the name Solis kept coming up?

Remember ROPS only works if you keep your belt on at all times...if you are set on 26HP for the yard OK, find a 65 is HP ford or Massey 4x4 with a cab for working pasture.... Does the 26HP have DPF etc? That will be trouble in the future if it does

Suprised you didnt go for a Skid Steer over a small tractor.

What sort of warranty do these tractors come with?

This hobby tractor will prove too small in the long run. Something like a used bobcat with bucket, grab, forks, maybe a yard brush and flail attachment would serve you much better around the yard. Maybe Pick up a vintage fordson or something with a much larger topper / flail topper for field maintinance down the road, though less work and more cost effective to just let the grass keep out to the naighbours untill you get your own livestock.

Personally 26hp is too small Be fine topping, but you’ll end up swapping it for a bigger machine in a few years My Massey Ferguson 560 is 59hp and probably the absolute minimum to operate a loader etc

Everyone saying 25hp Isn’t enough…. We’ve managed 10acres of mixed arable/heathland/woodland for close to 40yrs with nothing more than a diesel fe35 and a t20… never been short on power. Lighter/smaller is often better.

I thought there was a law in the uk that stated tractors must be coloured red or covered in mud. 😜

Tractors are like diggers, you’ll always need a bigger one.

Ask Jeremy. Clarkson if you can borrow his, 🚜 lol

Total game changer , it will not be long until you can't understand how you lived with out it ..eh

No three point hitch or PTO though… you can get so many machines that power off PTO

Just wondered if your wife's legs are ok.. noticed she went into some kind of stretching routine 😅

Not a tractor like Jeremy Clarkson?

25hp and hydrostatic? Noooooo...it won't get up a hill in good weather yet alone pulling something...3 point and PTO will limit you. Buy you implements at farm sales as you need them..a budget pasture topper will fall to bits on heavy grass.

Best to take some advice from an experience farmer before you buy anything.

Gee, ye are turning into farmers, so small holder or hobby farmer ? but whichever I'm looking forward to what the future brings...

The sales guy need to be told to keep his hands out of his pockets whilst doing a sale. Looks like he’s not bothered etc