Tractor Purchase Recommendation - Mahindra vs Kubota vs New Holland vs JD

[jascott]

We're looking for a new/used tractor for some ranch land in central Texas. We have about 500 acres of land comprised of rocky brush and pastures. We currently have a 71' Ford 3000 in need of a new hydraulic pump and a few other repairs and are looking at "retiring" it to a backup tractor and getting something which is more apt to start up after sitting for a month and work, without spending an hour fixing it...

Usage will be lots of bush-hogging along fence lines, in some pretty rough terrain. We would like a FEL, a disc, and some sort of planter. We have about 200 acres of cultivated land that is currently leased, but I do anticipate having to maintain this at some point in the next five years or so. We'll likely just plant a few food plots for hunting and turn the rest of it once a year to keep it from getting overgrown.

How much tractor do we need? The Ford 3000 was purchased new and the only tractor for a number of years on the place. With that said, I don't know if we really need anything bigger than this. I know a much bigger tractor would allow us to run a much bigger disc, but I don't think we could justify a tractor big enough to pull a 10' disc or so.

2wd vs 4wd??? The Ford is 2wd and seems to do fine, but I am guessing a FEL would benefit from 4wd???

Thanks in advance for the help.

We are looking at the Mahindra, Kubota, New Holland, and JD.

 

[ModMech]

Personally and you did ASK.......

I don't think you could go "wrong" with any of those brands. Many people have suggested that the DEALER is more important than the color, and I believe it.

Good advice, good parts availability and an honest deal are worth more than the preception of a premium product, at least in my view.

I don't think 4x4 has any real value on most farms, if you MUST traverse wet terrain, then you can possibally make an arguement for it. I'm not at all a believer in 4x4 on much of anything and I have some (to me) good reasons for it.
- When it's stuck, it is REALLY TRUELY stuck.
- More maintenance
- More purchase cost
- More parts to break/wear out
- Added weight (larger trailer for transport etc)

I have posted before, in the "good old days", you bolted on another set of R1s and moved on.

Anything over 40 PTO HP would likely do what you are looking for, but may not be enough for future needs if you will be actively working the land. I believe a gear tractor is superior to one with HST for field work with ground engaging equipment. Not everyone agrees, but I will concede if you are doing a lot of work with a FEL or in tight quarters, the benefits outweigh the costs.

My $0.02

 

[jascott]

Any thoughts on the Mahindra 4530/5530?

What about the Kubota MX 4700/5100?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Any thoughts on the Mahindra 4530/5530?

What about the Kubota MX 4700/5100?

Maybe check out the Mahindra 5035. A little bit light at 4939, but add the loader at 1450lbs and load the tires and get another 1000lbs. You end up with a nice modern style tractor that weighs over 7000lbs. Not to bad for 50 hp tractor. Check them out, they look to be a pretty nice machine. :thumbsup:

 

[two_bit_score]

jascott, good advice and questions so far. Welcome to TBN. Would you mind saying what county you are in? As you know 'central Texas' could mean Falls county which is mostly blackland farms to Kerr county which is pretty rocky and anything in between. What dealers do you have close by? All the brands mentioned? I think as far as an all around tractor I'd rather have 4x4 than not. If it was going to be specifically a field tractor pulling disc/plows/planters, etc. in level fields that were regularly worked maybe 2wd would be fine. Just my 2 cents.

 

[flusher]

Any thoughts on the Mahindra 4530/5530?

What about the Kubota MX 4700/5100?

My tractor is a 2008 Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto, 2WD, power steering, 8F/2R constant partial mesh gear tranny) with the ML250 FEL (6-ft wide bucket, 2950 lb lift to 10.5 ft). Bought it new. Cost: about $18K plus tax.

I also have a 6-ft Hawkline bush hog ($1100).



I only have 10 acres of flat pasture land, 6 in oat hay so I can't really comment on using something like the 5525 on 200 acres. I assume by "turning" you mean that you want to run a disc over that 200 acres once a year. A tractor the size of the 5525 can probably handle an 8-9 ft wide tandem disc provided the soil fairly dry. But you would log a lot of seat time doing 200 acres with that size disc. You might want to look into larger used ag tractors in the 75-100 hp range.

 

[texasjohn]

Welcome to TBN:thumbsup:

Where are you... Central Texas is a big area....come by for a visit/call if you wish...PM me if you wish.

You can see what I use..have 200 acres and it works extremely well for me, 25 mother cows/calves, it's about 50hp. You could justify around 60hp and still be in a nimble tractor. I understand the country well...have both black land and hill country experience. Sounds like you have both.

4wd is a MUST....
I STRONGLY believe HST is needed for the type of work you will be doing... we can discuss why personally... I have expanded on my reasons in other TBN threads.

I know of several dealers in the area, we can discuss. Recommend Lanford Equipment for Kubota.

 

[jascott]

jascott, good advice and questions so far. Welcome to TBN. Would you mind saying what county you are in? As you know 'central Texas' could mean Falls county which is mostly blackland farms to Kerr county which is pretty rocky and anything in between. What dealers do you have close by? All the brands mentioned? I think as far as an all around tractor I'd rather have 4x4 than not. If it was going to be specifically a field tractor pulling disc/plows/planters, etc. in level fields that were regularly worked maybe 2wd would be fine. Just my 2 cents.

Stonewall County, but I will be buying and servicing the tractor from the DFW area...

 

[jascott]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go shopping Friday and see what I can find... I'll report back with my thoughts.

Couple of comments...
-I'd love to have the HST, but don't think I can justify the price from the amount of loader work we'll do.
-I need to see how much difference in cost there is between the 2wd and 4wd. I won't be using it in the mud, if at all possible. My main thoughts are how much more dirt work we can do w/ 4wd vs 2wd.
-I have thought about buying a used bigger tractor for the disc work. However, one of my goals here is to get a tractor which can sit for 2 or 3 months and still be reliable to start without me having to work on it when I need it.

I really appreciate all the comments and welcomes.

 

[Dargo]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go shopping Friday and see what I can find... I'll report back with my thoughts.

Couple of comments...
-I'd love to have the HST, but don't think I can justify the price from the amount of loader work we'll do.
-I need to see how much difference in cost there is between the 2wd and 4wd. I won't be using it in the mud, if at all possible. My main thoughts are how much more dirt work we can do w/ 4wd vs 2wd.
-I have thought about buying a used bigger tractor for the disc work. However, one of my goals here is to get a tractor which can sit for 2 or 3 months and still be reliable to start without me having to work on it when I need it.

I really appreciate all the comments and welcomes.

I don't care what anyone says, if you're considering a front end loader, you lose about 90% of it's ability on a 2wd tractor. I'm sorry, but I personally consider a 2wd tractor with a FEL a joke if you really need a FEL. Unless you're getting up into 300, 400 hp tractors etc., 4wd makes a HUGE difference. Even then, look and see if you can find any even in that size that isn't 4wd. Except for just mowing mostly flat pastures, I view a 2wd tractor as obsolete. I can flip my tractor into 2wd anytime I want and see how it operates. The difference is unbelievable. I would positively never consider a 2wd tractor. If you need to save money, there are other areas that are a lot better places to save money.