Going back to the original question, I suppose that tractors plausibly are a luxury regardless of how much
land one has. Present day Amish are evidence of being able to do large scale farming without any mechanization whatsoever.
Maybe a better question then would be under what conditions would a tractor be practical. Partially this is answered by how much land one has, but a better answer depends on one’s intended usage and application.
For my purposes, I am required to mow my 5-6 acres of grassland at least once per year. I used to do this with my subcompact w/4’ bush hog. The ground was rough and I have some back issues. Riding on the small-frame tractor for several hours was hell on my back. I even swapped out the seat for a better one, but it was of limited improvement. Also, as useful as that little tractor was, it overheated easily mowing through 6’ tall dry grass. My new tractor is a nice step up. I swing a 6’ bush hog as opposed to a 4’ model. The new tractor, being more powerful not only mows a wider swath, but I can do so traveling faster over the ground. And the bigger tractor frame, combined with the larger tire size and an actual suspension seat is nice and gentle on my back.
Going with a larger tractor is better on the fossil fuel consumption as well. I used to use 3-4 gallons of diesel to mow my grassland. The larger tractor uses less than a gallon to do the same job—and it never overheats.
I should point out that for my case my tractor is my primary snow removal tool. I have about a 450’ driveway and I use the tractor with a 7’ offset blade. It is amazing at moving snow! That is pretty much a practical necessity in my case.
Finally, the loader has no end of very practical uses. I really only plan on getting 2 more implements. First is a hydraulic offset flail mower. A flail mower is an outstanding trail mower and will help control the spread of my living
fence. The other implement is a simple 3 point carry all. The steel frame only costs about $150, but I can modify it basically as I like.
So I guess for my sake, I do need a tractor (or some other vehicle that is going to burn some fossil fuel) to clear snow and maintain my driveway. I could hire out the mowing and I did when we owned the land but before we had the house built. It cost $750/mow. The 6’ bush hog cost just under $2k. This is an easy payback period. The loader is just so useful that I really hesitate to call it a luxury as it gets used on practically every time I use the tractor which is quite frequently. Plausibly the flail mower is a luxury, but I already have the tractor and a flail mower is amazing at mowing materials that are not fine grass (think weeds, woody/twiggy/branching materials, vines, just about anything organic) and leaving an incredibly fine looking finish. The carry all is cheap and incredibly handy.
So retuning to the original question, I would have to say that for me some tractor was a necessity. The first time I had to clear snow from my driveway was after we had lived in the house for about 3 weeks. We got 10” of wet, heavy snow. We were planning to leave for the holidays that day and we were snowed in. I did have a small riding mower (JD L120) with a 46” snowplow. It was completely unsuited to the task at hand. At best it could move maybe 18” forward before stopped from snow piling up. I had to get off, take a grain scoop and lower the snow level by hand for about 20’, get back on the “tractor” and then clear the rest of the snow after which the mower got stuck again and I started clearing snow by hand. It took me 3 exhausting hours to reach the end of the driveway, after which I had to widen the path so as to make it wide enough to get our van through. By the time I finished, I had cleared out a path just wide enough to move the van through—it actually scraped snow on each side of the van getting out. I decided right then and there that I in fact needed a tractor before the next winter along with a rear grader blade to go with it.
The addition of the grader blade made clearing snow a 15-20 minute event. To
boot, my wife is a doctor and needs to be able to get to the hospital in the mornings to do rounds. Our road is a dead-end and frequently is among the last to get plowed. Often I have to clear not only the driveway but also all the way down to the stop sign at the end of the road (about another 1000’). The intersecting road is usually cleared by the time I get done with the driveway and 1000’ of road.
I also clear my next-door neighbor’s driveway which is another 1000’, covered in gravel, has a particularly steep section and gets impassible pretty quickly. One year we had a good 12” snowfall and my neighbor got stuck trying to get out. She called AAA to tow her out. I was finishing up some snow clearing when I saw the AAA truck slowly drive by and the driver was looking down the driveway and just shook his head. I walked over and asked my neighbor if she needed help, she told me AAA was coming, the phone rang—it was AAA telling her the driveway was impassible—and she immediately changed her mind. I plowed their driveway ever since and I clear other driveways along the road.
So for me a tractor is a necessity—for snow removal at least. But once I have the tractor and grader blade, other attachments simply become practical. Why not mow my own land when hiring out costs $750 s pop? Other attachments just become easier to justify as the tractor is a sunk cost and attachments easy to justify. So in the end it really comes down to individual circumstances and requirements.
Anyhow this is my long-winded response and ultimately just my thoughts.
Eric