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I have an uncle with 45 acres in CRP, and I do the bush hogging for him. (Like it has been said, some states frobid you from mowing, others require you to mow CRP land) I would stat with establishing a "budget" for your tractor. What can you afford to spend on one? I would attempt to find something in fairly good shape, late model (1970's or newer) diesel, live or independant PTO, wide front end, power steering, and decent rubber. If you can afford beyond those basics, go for more Horsepower... I would shoot for 45 to 60 HP. That would let you mow with a 6' to 8' mower, at a reasonable speed. I would assume you don't need to mow the place in an hour...A 7' bush hog, on a 60 HP tractor would mow that kind of acreage in 10 to 12 hours, under most conditions. ( I do commercial bush hogging....I keep one, and some times two tractors running full-time during summer months. I use 60 HP with 7' mowers. I mow one place that is 29 acres of flat, clean ground. It takes about 9-1/2 hours at a brisk pace) The general "rule of thumb" for estimating bush hogging (on a commercial basis) around here is about $16 an acre for bigger plots of land. That goes up as the size of the ground decreases. ( I try for $60 an hour) I run one tractor with a 15' batwing. That gets roughly the same price per acre, but hourly, it bags as much as $135. That should help you in establishing a reasonable budget as far as what you would spend hiring it out, as opposed to buying a tractor and doing it yourself. Good luck! John
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