Another first time waffler

[Hambrospiper]

First time poster, long time reader.

I have a couple of 9N's that are more projects in themselves than for getting projects done. Fun to restore, but not reliable when it comes to getting jobs done around the homestead. I want something I can get on and go and not have to dink around with for an hour or discover new problems each time I try to use the thing.

I have 10 acres of mostly Pine and granite on unlevel ground, nothing real steep. I'm looking for a new mid sized CUT around 30 hp for pulling stumps, moving large rock and dirt for garden and landscaping work and dealing with 700 ft of gravel driveway. Winters tend to drop to -20 F with about 2 ft of snow here in Eastern WA.

So far I've been looking at the Kubota B7800, Mahindra 2615 HST and the John Deere 3005. All run just over 20K with loader and backhoe attachments. To date I'm leaning heavily towards the Mahindra, but there are things I'm liking about the others as well. I'm also seeing many favorable reviews for Kioti. I'm over 6'-3" and around 200 lbs which makes some of these compacts awkward to get around in.

My wife's brother says go JD for resale value and my neighbor who's a mechanic says Mahindra is the most bang for the buck and then I hear many people say Kubota is the best for trouble free long term use, but parts are slow to come in when needed. All these dealerships are within 30 miles and all have good reputations for customer service along with 0% interest and financing.

Any additional input would be greatly appreciated.

[mark4Jesus]

I believe any of the three will be worry free tractors. With your frame, you might be best off fitting it to the tractor frame. You sure don't want to spend time in the seat and be uncomfortable. Resale won't mean much if you are uncomfortable. Make sure you fit the tractor. My MF has a nice open area to move around in. I have a friend with a Mahindra and he is very impressed with it, they tend to be heavier than others in the same HP class. His is a 65 HP, a good basic working tractor. Another friend has a B7800 and is very happy with it.
If you are pulling up stumps, the weight of the tractor will be important. If they are large stumps, 30 HP will probably be the minimum HP that you would want. Mine is 33 HP, but I haven't tried to pull any stumps with it yet.
Let us know as you narrow down/decide!

[Hambrospiper]

I just talked with the Kioti dealer about the free FEL offer for the CK35, but he said he can't get his hands on any. They're supposedly just not available on the West coast.

He quoted me a price of 24,400 with free delivery for the CK30 HST with FEL and backhoe. With the cash rebate it knocked off another 1K, also the Kioti dealership is in Idaho which means no sales tax. So for that price sales tax is almost another 2K. Kioti is sounding better all the time.

[Gittyup]

Originally Posted by Hambrospiper

I just talked with the Kioti dealer about the free FEL offer for the CK35, but he said he can't get his hands on any. They're supposedly just not available on the West coast.

He quoted me a price of 24,400 with free delivery for the CK30 HST with FEL and backhoe. With the cash rebate it knocked off another 1K, also the Kioti dealership is in Idaho which means no sales tax. So for that price sales tax is almost another 2K. Kioti is sounding better all the time.

Kioti is a good choice. Though, I think that price is a little high. All the others you've mentioned are also very good tractors. do keep in mind that for ground engagement, weight is very important. You need to test drive them all and then decide.

[flusher]

Originally Posted by Hambrospiper

First time poster, long time reader.

I have a couple of 9N's that are more projects in themselves than for getting projects done. Fun to restore, but not reliable when it comes to getting jobs done around the homestead. I want something I can get on and go and not have to dink around with for an hour or discover new problems each time I try to use the thing.

I have 10 acres of mostly Pine and granite on unlevel ground, nothing real steep. I'm looking for a new mid sized CUT around 30 hp for pulling stumps, moving large rock and dirt for garden and landscaping work and dealing with 700 ft of gravel driveway. Winters tend to drop to -20 F with about 2 ft of snow here in Eastern WA.

So far I've been looking at the Kubota B7800, Mahindra 2615 HST and the John Deere 3005. All run just over 20K with loader and backhoe attachments. To date I'm leaning heavily towards the Mahindra, but there are things I'm liking about the others as well. I'm also seeing many favorable reviews for Kioti. I'm over 6'-3" and around 200 lbs which makes some of these compacts awkward to get around in.

My wife's brother says go JD for resale value and my neighbor who's a mechanic says Mahindra is the most bang for the buck and then I hear many people say Kubota is the best for trouble free long term use, but parts are slow to come in when needed. All these dealerships are within 30 miles and all have good reputations for customer service along with 0% interest and financing.

Any additional input would be greatly appreciated.

I have 10 acres of flat pasture land. Just traded my 2005 Kubota B7510HST/LA302 FEL (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto) for a new Mahindra 5525 gear tractor (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto) with the ML250 FEL (6-ft wide bucket). Financing: 0%/48 months. No backhoe.






No problem fitting yourself into the seat on the 5525. And with backhoe and FEL, you're probably looking at $25K.

The 30hp tractors you're looking at are nice, but my guess is you'll be looking for more horsepower soon after you purchase one of those. Bit the bullet now and get a big tractor that you won't outgrow for a decade or more.

[easygo]

It sounds like you should go to the dealerships again and see which one of the machines feels right. How comfortable is the seat, the controls, easy or hard to take off the loader (in case you do that sometimes) I wear size 13 shoes and it was a whole different problem fitting myself on a small Kubota that I bought.

I would say a 30hp or so machine will fit the bill for you. If you want to pull a lot of stumps just rent a mini excavator and that will make quicker work of that. One of my neighbors have a 27hp JD his brother-in-law has a 65HP JD. When they are cutting firewood (selectively) they always use the smaller tractor to haul it out because it needs a lot less room to get around and it turns much easier too. The large machine is no doubt more impressive, but it is not always the way to go.

[MtnViewRanch]

Maybe check with a Kioti dealer back east for the CK35 with the free loader. Shipping would be less than the cost of the loader and you would have yourself one nice machine. There are several on the board that have these tractors for sale at this time. Give them a call and check it out.

[kozak]

Hambrospiper,

I fully agree with Flusher & most of the others. Ensure you get a large enough tractor for you & your tasks. Not sure how large the rocks are or how large the stumps are but 30HP tractor does not give you the weight or the lift capability in my opinion. (You can always add more weight to a tractor though). If you don't want to abuse your tractor right from the start I would say you would need at least a 35 to 40 HP tractor & at least a weight of 3,000 to 3500 Lbs.

As you can see, flusher has traded up. I have seen many people on this board trade up even when they were advocating smaller tractors weeks & months back. I have yet to see a thread where somebody bought a larger tractor & then traded it in for a smaller one because they bought too large.

Your initial outlay will be more but you will be more comfortable & pleased with the capabilities of a bigger tractor. Otherwise, you run the risk of ultimately spending more if you trade up later.

Good Luck & Happy Tractor Hunting,

Vic

[Tractordawg]

If you are financing be careful with the Tax. Here in the Carolinas people are getting fined for not reporting their purchases to the state. Computers are making it harder and harder to get away with.

[pitt_md]

I think for the stump pulling and moving large rocks your going to need a HEAVY frame. I have a Kubota MX5000 that is 50hp and weighs around 4000lbs with FEL that has R$'s and even with lots of weight on it you will just spin your wheels with any kind of a stump at all. The tractor has plenty of power but its no match for stumps bigger than 12 - 15" diameter.

There is no perfect size tractor. Get one that you can get the most use out of and rent when faced with a special task thats out of your tractors class.