Girl needs sub compact tractor purchasing advice

[flusher]

Wow, you guys have been so extremely helpful, thank you all.

Now considering Compact size vs sub-compact, but hubby says the big knobby tires will tear up our ground which as someone else pointed out can get a little soggy in the summer. (Technically we live in the Green Swamp, which shelters the head waters of 5 Florida rivers)

Anyone want to comment on that?

By "ground" I assume you refer to your lawn areas.
So, get turf tires for your tractor.
Or better, get a riding mower for lawn maintenance and ag tires on your new tractor. My three tractors (Mahindra 5525, Massey Ferguson 135 and Farmall Super A) are used in the field. I have a 2005 $1000 Huskee riding mower (42 in) from Tractor Supply to take care of the lawn and a 1974 $600 Bolens G14 riding mower (42 in) with rototiller for the veg garden.

[pitt_md]

One thing to keep in mind (as a horse owner) is the type of hay you will be feeding. Small square bales can be moved around by hand but are a lot of work. Large squares are about 800 lbs. and need a machine to move them around. Round bales come in different sizes but still need a machine to move them.

I got tired of loading and stacking hay for my horse's and went to large square bales so I would have some time for riding.

[capi75rs]

You sound like the same boat I was in a few weeks ago, minus the trees. When I checked prices with Kobota, Yanmar, JD and Case the Kobota was the least expensive and seemed to be the best bang for your buck. However when I was talking with some friends of mine I found a Mahandra 2810 for sale. An older fellow bought it a few years ago and could no longer get on the tractor. He sold me the tractor with FEL, 16' flatbed trailer and 5' brushog for $6600.00. The tractor has 270 hours. The older gentleman was my local banker. I put @ $200.00 into the tractor for all new fluids and it seems to run great. I'm not sure if I got a good deal but I felt the price was much better than the 18,500 for the Kobota. I did have to give up 5hp though. Keep looking and best of luck.

[BungeeII]

You sound like the same boat I was in a few weeks ago, minus the trees. When I checked prices with Kobota, Yanmar, JD and Case the Kobota was the least expensive and seemed to be the best bang for your buck. However when I was talking with some friends of mine I found a Mahandra 2810 for sale. An older fellow bought it a few years ago and could no longer get on the tractor. He sold me the tractor with FEL, 16' flatbed trailer and 5' brushog for $6600.00. The tractor has 270 hours. The older gentleman was my local banker. I put @ $200.00 into the tractor for all new fluids and it seems to run great. I'm not sure if I got a good deal but I felt the price was much better than the 18,500 for the Kobota. I did have to give up 5hp though. Keep looking and best of luck.

Dude, I'm probably the biggest tight-wad on the board and I would have gotten off my wallet for that deal.

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

You sound like the same boat I was in a few weeks ago, minus the trees. When I checked prices with Kobota, Yanmar, JD and Case the Kobota was the least expensive and seemed to be the best bang for your buck. However when I was talking with some friends of mine I found a Mahandra 2810 for sale. An older fellow bought it a few years ago and could no longer get on the tractor. He sold me the tractor with FEL, 16' flatbed trailer and 5' brushog for $6600.00. The tractor has 270 hours. The older gentleman was my local banker. I put @ $200.00 into the tractor for all new fluids and it seems to run great. I'm not sure if I got a good deal but I felt the price was much better than the 18,500 for the Kobota. I did have to give up 5hp though. Keep looking and best of luck.

I'm jealous - that's exactly the type of deal I need to find. You wanna sell it yet?

[Sportsman762]

I worked on a tree farm where we grew trees for lumber. We used a Kubota B7500 23hp engine? and 17 pto hp. You should look at going hydrostatic because of the ease of use also I would look at some of the new holland products because of their super steer option. Supersteer would be nice for maneuvering in the rows. I would also get a loader for the tractor they can do everything. Forks for the loader would allow for you to maneuver pallets around in the field. You should only need around a 18-25 pto hp machine. I would also look into investing in a old forklift to load the containers and handle heavy lifting. Do not plan on taking the forklift off road they sink like a rock even on dry ground. I would probably not get a backhoe if you are trying to keep costs down. I have planted 1000s of saplings with a post hole digger. The cost of a post hole digget is around a tenth of the cost of a backhoe. For tires I would get R4s because they provide less compaction than R-1s (ag tires) and more traction than turfs. Resale is excellent on tractors however with the economy the way it is I would consider getting a used machine with less than 500 hours on it. Sorry if i rambled.

[botamike]

Having worked at a Kubota dealership for a few months, I got to play with many different Kubotas as well as a few other brands that came in for repair. The Kubota's hold thier value second to only John deere. You can get a mid mount mower, or a rear 3pt mounted mower, which seem to be the prefered set up, either finish or bush hog. You can back into the corners with the 3pt mowers and get most of it. They are usualy low enough to go under rail type fences. Even a mid mounted mower isnt going to get completely up next to a fence. Go with wide turf tires for there flotation over wet and swampy ground, most of the Kubota compacts are 4wd, even if you dont use it much, its there if you start to get stuck. I would stay in the B series as well, the BX are nice, but very complex and difficult to repair once out of warrenty. The B series are a bit easier to work on. My personal preferance is for Kubota, followed by John Deere or New Holland. Where we used to live in Erie PA, the whole area is a grape growing region, and all you see is loads of Kubota tractors. 4 dealers in one county! A second choice if price becomes an issue is a grey market Yanmar thru one of the better dealers like LMTC. These are full blown yanmars and not the SCUT's that cub cadet is selling. Parts for those are avaible thru LMTC or Hoye Tractor parts. Hope you find your new tractor soon. Mike and Michele T

[VistanTN]

OK, I lived in Cocoa (not the beach, the landside) and had 5+ acres. Flat, 26' above sea level, drained slowly, but mostly sandy soil (water table was only about 18" down). Neighbor had 15+ acres with lots of drainage canals. His two tractoprs both had turf tires and were frequently stuck. My little Allis had ags, and never got stuck. Yes, I had to be careful working on wet ground to not tear things up, but that "slow down" was far less than the interruption of getting a stuck tractor out. If your bermuda is well established in the pasture, ags (with some care) won't mess it up. If you want golf course pristine lawn somewhere, get a small riding mower for it and stay off with the ags. If you are sandy (not muck) R4's may work almost as well with less risk of damage (and less, not no, but less care in operation). However, if you are mostly much, I think ags are the only choise.

[capi75rs]

I'm jealous - that's exactly the type of deal I need to find. You wanna sell it yet?

Not as of yet, but we'll see what summer brings. I haven't had a chance to really work the tractor. I've moved some snow but nothing to really work it. From what I've read I may have gotten a real good deal, but only time will tell.

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

sounds you got it all for about 40% of what similar items sell for.