OK a diesel tractor that has been well cared for with 6500-7500 hours on it can easily run another 3k-4k hours. Heck my BIL who takes terrible care of equipment ran a 826 IH over 11,000 hours from new to first rebuild. And a 4-5 bottom tractor on 50 acres isn't going to get a lot of hours put on it year. I can do 10-12 acres a day with a 23 hp 8N and a 2-14 plow. With a 60 hp tractor I can pull a 4-16 plow a mile or 2 an hour faster. Jump up to an 80-90 hp tractor I can pull that same 4-16 plow even faster yet or add another bottom or 2 depending on soil conditions.
Width in cut times MPH = acres a 10 hour day. A 4-16 plow = 5.33 times 4 MPH=21.3. At the same figures a 12 foot disk time 4 MPH means that you can till 70 acres both plowing and disking in less than a 4 days. Going to a small tractor and plow like an 8N translates into about 10 acers a day plowing 10 hours a day and another 20 a day disking with a 5 foot disk. SO with the 80 HP tractor you should be running about 40 to plow and disk, another 10 or so to plant. so what 50 to 60 hours a year? Even at 100 hours a year a tractor with 3500 hours remaining should run about 35 years. I know guys who are putting 300 to 400 hours a year on thier tractors if not more. But they are farming way over 50 acres.
Here they figure 2 foot of disk for every 10 HP. So an 80 hp tractor should pull a 16 foot disk.
So the question goes back to how much money do you want to spend VS time you have to spend farming. You also have to take into account profitability. Value of the harvested crop minus depresiation of equipment minus inputs minus repairs. Inputs for corn or soy beans can run in the 200-300 per acre range just to get seed in the ground. It's going to cost me about 200 an acre to put in alfalfa next spring with a nurse crop of oats. So don't expect to make a ton of money on 50 acres.
Rick
This post was edited by oldtanker at 04:28:52 09/15/12.
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