alesha_m

We will be dryland cotton farming in 2012 in the Amarillo/Lubbock TX area. For our initial first two years we will be farming 265 acres (came out of CRP last year, farmed for one year and broken up already). We gain 900 acres our third year, which will be fresh out of CRP and will need to be broken up. Initially we were looking at 175 HP to motor tractors minimum (it is hard to buy something too small starting off and be stuck with it when we need something much larger). We only really need a tractor this next year to pull a plow and sand fighter plus other minor work and heard of a guy on the land next to us that always leases 100 HP tractors. Is 100 HP enough (especially during our first two years of small amount of land)? Does anyone have any advice for this situation as to what sort of HP we should be looking for?

Thanks for your advice in advance!

Country Boy

You might be better off renting or leasing a tractor at first until you get an idea of what size you will need. How much power you need will greatly depend on the type of soil you have in your area. Here, I have solid red and blue clays that pack like concrete and require a lot more horsepower to pull a plow through than something like sandy loam. We rented a 485hp Versatile to plow this year, and it had all it could do to pull a 9 shank disk ripper at 12" deep. That tractor should be able to play with a 12 shank ripper no problem. I'd ask around at your local implement dealers and see what they recommend for implement size and horsepower rating. They should have a better idea of conditions in your area seeing as they sell tractors and implements to farmers there all the time.

This was sure fun to drive, but it really goes through the fuel. It was burning 25 gallons per hour under load.

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'76 IH 1066 Turbo Diesel, '73 IH 766 Diesel, '72 IH 574 Utility Gas, '56 IH 350 Utility Gas, '46 Farmall H Gas, '08 Bobcat Toolcat 5600 Turbo

Nobody puts that "C" word in front of MY International!

PSJ

I used to spray defoliant with an aircraft on cotton around Lubbock years ago. Been away from it awhile and new techniques have come into view. I agree with Country Boy on leasing a tractor until you figure out just what size you will need. Just a suggestion but, when you buy, get a tractor one or two steps larger than you think you need and you should be safe, for a while.
As you grow, the need for a larger tractor will more than likely come into view. PJ