# Not sure what I need for new yard



## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

OK so I been looking for awhile now and almost time to make the leap and buy something so want to get some advice from guys that rele know what they're talking about. OK so I'm moving out near morgantown PA and my new yard is a hair over an acre and pretty hilly with half covered by woods so I've been looking at the JD 650 and even the 750s mostly because I want 4x4 but don't rele want something that big and most recently been looking at a 430 gt and a 455 gt just curious how they would be plowing snow up a steep driveway that's probably about 100 ft long mabe longer. I don't wanna buy a 2wd and get stuck on the hill in the middle of a snowstorm lol wouldn't be to happy but I found a 430 no attachments and very clean for 2800 and found a loader fairly cheap on eBay and also found a mint 455 with mower deck and plow for 5k what do you guys think? And I appreciate whoever helps me out with this lol I'm not sure what the best road to go


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Well, if I had the coin, I'd get the JD 650, but if you don't want anything that big, go for the 455 GT and get yourself a set of chains. 
Other than the drive way, what else do you have in mind for your tractor? Are you going to be cutting wood and clearing some of the trees off your property? Is there lots of lawn to cut?
Think about a snow blower attachment for the driveway at some point as well.


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

I guess to most its not a ton of grass probably like 3/4 of an acre grass and the rest trees and brush that I eventually want to clear out to build a bigger garage


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

Take the "mint" 455 !


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah that does seem the best bang for my buck that I have seen so far just wish I could buy one now lol gotta wait to make settlment on the house first tho or taking that much money out will delay the mortgage process... Lame lol but here's a pic of the 455 and 430


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Is there any others out there that can give me some more input on whether these garden tractors would be able to do what I want?


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

I'm about 45min away from you. Trust me when I say you do not want to plow snow, especially on a hill. You will run out of places to put it very fast. Snowblower at minimum. It gets wet, heavy, and doesn't melt before it comes again. My father struggles plowing it every year, the driveway gets narrower and narrower as the winter drags on, and he has a 150' driveway. If your driveway is wide, it's even worse. For that reason, I bought my '71 new holland S-14 with 48" single stage snow-thrower, paid $800 for it about 4-5 years ago. I have a plow as well, but only plow the slush that comes so it doesn't ice over.

As far as non-snow removal, it depends on what you want to use the machine for. An acre isn't very large, so mowing shouldn't justify something with a 60" deck. Do you plan to remove tree's? Move dirt?

I think you will get the best bang for your buck with multiple machines.

Here's a great snowblower: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/grd/5118473860.html
If you want JD, and hydrostatis trans: http://lancaster.craigslist.org/grd/5122576831.html

Personally, I'd go hydro if you can. Makes snowblowing much easier. You can find multiple attachments for both tractors fairly cheap, they both have blower and mower.


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Nice ill keep them both in mind and i like the jd seems like a tough little tractorbut the 430 is to tempting lol and Yeah I was kinda checking out the 2 stage blowers for the 430 JD also. with 2wd its probably just going to spin the tires trying to push snow with a plow and yeah one acre is not much to keep up on. kind of y I wasn't sure if a 650, 655 was really nessesary ( even tho it would be a fun toy lol) but I am going to be doing a good amount of tree and brush clearing for a bigger garage and mabe some minor leveling out so being I've never really been around the tractor side of equipment I wasn't sure if the 430 is up to the task of tree and root removal and hilly terrain being that's kinda what I am wanting now or mabe something similar but would prefer a diesel and something that has hydraulics for attachments


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

And yeah good point with running out of room fast when using a plow lol didn't rele think about that so blower attachment is a must


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

You're not going to clear or level anything with any of those machines. None of them have the weight or power to pull out a shrub, or run any significant attachments. A plow won't grade anything other than loose dirt. If you want to do these things, you're going to need the right tools for the job, and that means a bigger tractor. I have a backhoe for my tree removals, and really it's the only way it should be done. Everything else is a waste of effort. If you want to grade, get a big tractor with a grader blade. It's not all about power, it's about weight too. my 30hp TO-30 weighs about 5000lbs and I still lose traction before I lose power. I'm moving huge amounts of dirt right now to level my back yard.

Gas vs diesel at that level is simply a matter of which fuel is more readily available. Diesel is a bit more economical, but honestly I had both, and don't see much difference other than having to keep two types of fuel cans. Now everything is gas, and I just keep 4 5gal gas cans, and it's easier.

I've fought with tree's and shrubs and grading for years. Then I picked up the right tools for the job. Any other way is wasted effort, time, and money.

This is how you remove tree's:









This is how you move and grade:


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Ah I see....well that's a bummer haha I was hoping between my truck ( 96 ram 4x4 dually ) a smaller tractor with some attachments and a nice chainsaw I could pull it off but mabe when the time comes I'll pick up an old Ford like the one you got and sell it when I'm done with it but thanks for all the advice man


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

That's exactly what most people do, buy an old machine, do what htey need, and sell it when they're done. Older machines don't lose much value, if any at all over the course of 3-5 years.


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Hey guys looking at a yanmar 147d the guy is asking 4000 obo comes with a 54" mower deck and a hydraulic plow he says it has close to 500 hrs on it and looks very clean and its 4x4 with the power shift trans now my only concern is its a 14 hp 2 cyl diesel and puts out 10 pto hp now I know diesels are all about tourqe but is that enough to run a loader in the future or a Snow blower ?and how are these yanmars I know they built the sub compact jd's back in the day and JD still uses there motors but just curious how these are built and what to look for if anyone knows about these


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Here is a picture


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## rrnut-2 (Feb 7, 2006)

Yanmar's are good tractors, just make sure that you can still get parts for the one you are looking at. I had a YM240 for 25 years, but bought a newer JD4200 just for getting 4wd. The Yanmar I had was only 2wd. In my opinion, 4wd, and a front mounted snowblower is a must for the long driveways. Our driveway is 350ft long. We have the JD4200 for the front end loader and backhoe, basically bigger stuff and a JD277 for mowing the lawn and small snowblowing (walkways).

Jim B
NH


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## danmorea (Sep 19, 2011)

I have a jd 2210 scut I plow steep hills with a plow all winter It is very stable on hills,I have plow,fel,deck,forks I can change loader with plow in 10 min deck is easy to remove All I want to say that the newer scuts are easy to add/remove implements


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

Yeah there a little out of my price range lol but i do like the 2210 alot hopfully i can afford something nice like that down the road but the place I was buying had a failed septic system and they didn't want to replace it so I moved on now but found a few propertys with flatter yards but still over an acre so that will work more to my advantage might be able to consider a 2wd then with a snowblower or loader for snow removal so probably going to put all this on hold or might just get the yanmar since he dropped the price to 3500 but just concerned with getting parts so might wait for a nice JD


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

OK so I missed the yanmar but found a decent 322 JD with a turbo collector on it has 1000hrs he wants 2300 and found a nice snow blower for it for 600 that's my one option. Option 2 is a 1975 JD 400 very clean with a hydraulic plow,a set of filled bar tires with chains and a set of turf tires has 560 hrs and is asking 2600 and option 3 is a 1990 JD 430 new tires suspension seat frame and new seat and has 2200 hours he wants 3600 also all of them have mower decks but i m going to buy a Buford Bucket as well so could someone give some input on pricing and hours I really love the 430 but think I'll be OK with the 322 because of all the attachments and maneuverability but want the posi lock and two speed diffon the 430 for the hills and traction during snowy season and the durability of the diesel just not sure if 2200 hrs is high for the tractor


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## Jimbo8v92 (Jul 13, 2015)

OK well I finally got one I picked up a JD 430 with 1200 hrs on it I got it for 3300.00 I can't wait to pick it up next weekend but here's a quick shot I got when I looked at it








Thanks again for whoever gave me some info on what to get.


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