Tractor or ATV (mowing and firewood)

Just curious looking to get something that can mow the lawn and haul firewood out of the woods. Thinking about an ATV with trailer for wood and mower deck for the lawn. Or tractor with mower and trailer.
Never used an ATV mower deck setup before, any thoughts and recommendations?

I would recommend the tractor, especially with a bucket for firewood. You can also put forks on the bucket. It seems to me tight turns mowing grass with an atv would suck.

Get a tractor or you will regret it as an ATV is not built for the kind of pounding you intend in wood and mowing. If I can let me give you some expensive advice to save you money.
My idiot brother in law would not listen when we told him to get a Farmall H or M when they were going for 300 dollars to open his road and mow things. Since then he has gone through 3 riding lawnmowers and deals with a hand snowblower or 7000 dollar waste of money as those old Farmalls would still be running.
I bought a WD 45 Allis Chalmers as I really needed something, but had no experience with AC's. That was my mistake in those tractors are more garden tractors. That was a 3000 dollar mistake.
I asked my neighbor who moves snow for us, what he thought of new tractors and he said, they were all pretty good. He has a Kubota, New Holland and a John Deere. The Deeres are expensive, but the others hold up good he said, just as my other neighbor runs Case and they are good too. The Kubota is the least expensive of the tractors.
My uncle had a Belarus and he liked that.

The tractor you can get a wood splitter for, run a generator off of it if the power goes out, will do the lifting of wood for you, and are amazing for picking up deer too. The ATV is not versatile.
If you are dripping money, get front wheel assist, a loader an a cab. You won't need all the bells and whistles of a Deere, but having a cab and a loader will not turn you into a petrified broken down geezer.
One more thing, if you where it gets Arctic cold, get a tank heater as a warm engine starts easier and wears out less.

I hope that helps.

I don't know enough about the subject to give advice but decided to read out of curiosity. But I've got to say....this guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

I vote for the tractor as well. Most times a package deal with the bucket on it is less money then buy it after. Belly mowers can be a pain to take on and off so make sure the one you get has enough clearance to not have to for timber work.

A tractor is a tractor. An atv is not a tractor. Asking an atv to do tractor work is asking for it to fail and you to be dissatisfied.

I have worked with both for decades. I have a wildlife services business and grew up out in the country working with this stuff. I replaced two tractors last year, bought a new commercial zero turn, a new brush hog, some other equipment, have two atvs, and a side by side. They all work hard and have different jobs. This stuff is expensive and you better learn how to operate it safely so you don’t hurt yourself or others, and get the work done.

Send me a private message if you have questions,
.
Best wishes.

I have not used a mower deck to mow the lawn but I pull a rented brush mower around to mow trails, food plots, weeds, with my Polaris 500. Works great for me. I also use the ATV for so many other things including hauling a load of firewood out of the woods. I would never need a tractor and they cost a ton more than an ATV which has many other uses. I have several attachments for the 4-wheelers which I use for food plot, including disk, seed spreader, sprayer, drag, etc. While pulling the disk I wish I had a tractor, that's the only time. Pulling a lot of weight is hard on an ATV. A 4-wheeler gets around in the woods when cutting firewood better than a trailer. I only have a small property, but I suppose if I had a lot of land a tractor might be a better fit. But for me right now the 4-wheeler is the way to go for me. It has so many uses that a tractor can't do. Without knowing more about your situation, it's hard to say what would be best for you.

a tractor I've seen to many people like star flakes said

I make a lot of firewood and I mow a fair amount.....tractor hands down.

Like the others have said, get a tractor. It will hold up much better in the long run.

I have both a tractor and atv. They both have their strengths/weakness. Keep in mind if you are going to mow your lawn with the tractor that will kind of limit how aggressive of a tire you will be able to have on your tractor or it will reek havoc on the lawn. The flip side of that is the less agressive tire won’t go as well in the woods without chains. I have a Kubota L3450 with a front loader and a 60”
Rear finish mower. It is great for clipping out wide open spaces, but you have to watch out for the bucket in tighter spots. I use a regular cheap rider to trim around the house and buildings so that I’m not swinging the bucket near the house and buildings. Most people will say if you watch what you are doing the bucket isn’t an issue. Trust me sooner or later it WILL come in contact with something not intended. I use my atv to drag my trees down to a landing for sawing and splitting. I also have a 44” swisher pull behind mower that I use for mowing access roads, food plots, and steeper ground where I don’t want to take the risk with a tractor, but it is not the quality of cut as the 60” mower on the back of the Kubota.

I have also hung them both up several times and would much prefer pulling out the atv over the tractor.

Forest-
I have what you described, a tractor, an atv & trailer, plus a side by side.
I wouldn't be without a tractor when cutting trees & firewood.

With tractor, I drag logs to wood pile or landing. Then cut to length & split. That's the big thing for me. I can drag logs where I want to cut (safely on flat, clear ground).
Bucket on my tractor can haul rounds or splits. Bucket can push over brush to make safe cutting. Bucket has 3 hooks welded to top for dragging logs with chain.

You will fine more uses with a tractor and bucket other than firewood.
I do take bucket off for mowing grass. I use a 62" belly mower. I have a diesel, 4x4, compact tractor.

Talk with some family members or friends that own a tractor. They should help you with what you need.

I didn't "need" a tractor, until I inherited a 30hp Ferguson. After plowing my garden, hauling wood, plowing snow, dragging logs, brush hogging..... I couldn't live without one.

Then, I 'inherited" a 2010 JD 2520. I didn't "need" live hydraulics, power steering, a front end loader, diesel engine, 4 wheel drive... now, I don't know how I lived without it.

You will limit yourself by what you purchase. Don't think about the minimum threshold, think about the possibilities.

Tractor first!

Thanks for the help. A lot of good advice and knowledge. Seems like tractor is the best option.

My parents just bought about 50 acres in up state NY. It has 3 acres of lawn, but mostly woods and is on a slope. My father told me to keep my eyes out for something we could mow the lawn and haul firewood out of the woods with on Craigslist or Ebay. A snow plow might be a good addition too. (I’d also like to haul deer out with it).
My father is an experienced mechanic, so I'm looking for something older and easy to work on. I know he’s done work on an old Ford 9n and Deere before.

The reason I was considering the ATV option was because the woods are on a hill, and there are some marshy spots at the bottom. But it seems like the tractor option will be better based on the replies above.

for what you want to do, I vote for the tractor first.

If you want to do any serious work moving firewood out of the woods, consider a 4 wheel drive tractor with agricultural tires with chains on the rear tires. And look into a skidding winch. Wallenstein makes a great one in Canada. It is powered by the pto and mounts on the 3 point hitch.

A friend of ours has a Case 580E backhoe for big tree work that we can use.

Tractor hands down. I have both and the ATV sits.

WS

skid steer.....most versatile "tool" you can get.

Any machine that is really good in the woods won't be so good in lawn and vice versa, that said, a small tractor is a fair compromise. ATV? use your car or motor cycle they are just as well adapted to this kind of work.
I haven't seen one adapted for lawn mowing, how does that work?

I live in NNY. Go 4 wheel tractor if you can swing it.

I don't have an ATV but I really don't see any advantage of one over a Tractor.
I've got 2 tractors, one a good sized compact Deere (43 hp) with a grapple, bucket, flail mower and tiller. and a small old wheel horse ( think old lawn tractor) with a 14hp Kohler engine. Contrary to what others say here I use my old wheel horse in the woods for getting wood. Its smaller, easier to get around. I pull a small trailer that I load with wood (it'll carry more wood than the big tractors bucket). The wheel horse has chains mounted on it at all times. I have never got stuck with it with only 2 wheel drive. I have got it to where the tires will spin. I then drop it in low range maybe 1st or 2nd, let out the clutch and while the tires are spinning I jump off and give it a push. once its moving on its own I get back on and away I go.


And far as pulling logs out with the tractor, I don't like the idea of loading a log up with dirt then running a chainsaw thru it. I drop the trees and saw them up to lengths right where they fall. I drive the small easily maneuverable tractor right up next to the wood and load up the trailer and I'm on my way back to the splitter and stacking.

I can't imagine mowing a yard with the Deere. I do mow a couple of acres of field that I am restoring to tallgrass prairie at times but its not a delicate thing. No way I'd use the big tractor for my yard. Too many ruts and tearing up the turf.

On a side note if I had 3 acres of lawn I'd look at letting it go back wild and only mowing 1/4-1/2 acre of lawn at most.
I think yards are a waste of potential wildlife habitat, nothing so foolish as living in the country and having a yard that is several acres big. Better it is wildlife habitat, a couple of acres of well managed good habitat will support lots of rabbits. More fun in having a rabbit hunt on winters day than spending many a summer afternoon on a mower. And you get a rabbit dinner out of it too.

I agree, I think it is too big. But I think once we put a garden in and some berry bushes it will seem smaller.

One of each... but I'd say tractor