What will you buy for $15,000.00

[SethO]

Every week or so somebody asks the question about advice regarding tractor purchase, the responses are always varied. I noticed that most of the time, the issue of how much is to be spent is left out. Therefore I am posing this question for all comers about how they will spend this measly $15,000.00

The scenario is a 5 acre lot, new construction in central Wisconsin. The needs are as follows

Landscaping with a 2 acre lawn and shrubs and a few trees.
Driveway (200').
Kitchen garden (1/4 acre)
Water garden with a pond 15' by 10'
Barn 30' by 40'

Any combination of implements can be used, but an explanation about how will be helpful.

Thanks

Seth

 

[Kodiak]

For $15,000 the New Holland dealer that I deal with in Western Washington, will sell you the following. A brand new TC24D, hydro,4x4 with a 12LA loader on R4 tires ($14,900). Or a brand new TC30,hydro, 4x4, 7308 loader on R4 tires ($14,900). A brand new TC30, 9x3 gear tranny with live PTO, 7308 loader on R4 tires ($13,975). Or a brand new TC29 (Boomer), 9x3 gear tranny with live PTO, 7308 loader on R4 tires ($14,975).

These prices do not include any other implements.
For those size of tractors 5.5' or 6' boxblade would work good your driveway, Leveling for the barn, yard installation and lanscaping. @ price 4 to 600 $ depending on brand and quality.

I would also go with a 7' landscape rake, at @ 4 to 500 $, dependind upon brand and quality.

For the kitchen garden I would just rent a 5' rototiller once or twice a year, until you can afford one. Same with a post hole auger to be used for for the pole barn and fence post.

As for the water garden with pond and planting a few trees you could rent a small tractor with mounted backhoe to do both of these jobs at one time.

I recently posted a post under the thread "Need Advice on New Tractor" here in this forum That explains my reasoning for recomending this size of tractor.

 

[MossRoad]

Is this a most bang for your buck question?

If so, here's what I got.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.power-trac.com/series400.htm>Click here for the PowerTrac PT425</A>
25HP Hydraulic articulated tractor with permanently mounted front lift arms. All attachments out front. Unbeatable quick attach system; non powered implements can change in as little as 15 seconds without getting off of the tractor; powered implements require an additional 15 seconds to connect/disconnect hydraulic hoses. Will NOT tear up the lawn. Built in ROPS and canopy. Made in the USA /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
10 cubic foot light material bucket
5 cubic foot heavy duty bucket with teeth
60" finish mower
48" brush hog
60" power angle snow plow
32" pallet forks
loading ramps
set of extra blades for finish mower
extra quick attach plate for custom attachments
arm rests for the seat
Approx. $12,500 delivered to my home town.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://pt425.godollei.net> Click here to see pictures, movies and even more long winded ranting by me about my PT425 </A> /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I might use the rest for:
48" tiller $900.00
Post hole digger head $600.00
6" auger $150.00
12" auger $200.00
48" box blade with teeth $400.00

I think that leaves another $250.00 /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.power-trac.com/pdf/March02pdfs/425price081502.pdf>Click here for a link to the price sheet. You need Adobe Acrobat to read it.</A>

If you are buying new I doubt that anything comes close to this package for total number of implements and HP.

Did I spend your $15,000.00 wisely. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif/w3tcompact/icons/king.gif/w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

EDIT: I forgot about the pole barn. Everything I bought fits in a 6' x 17' area of my garage. It wouldn't take much more floor space to fit the other items I mentioned, so you'd have lots of room left in your pole barn /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[chim]

Your lawn is about the same as mine, and my driveway is closer to 300'. I mow another 5 or so acres (not lately with the drought), and open driveways in the Winter for a couple neighbors. Your $15K figure is approximately what I have tied up in the following items:

B7500HST - It's larger than I really need, but nice to have the extra ground clearance and capability. HST is nice for things like using the FEL, plowing snow, controlling speed as you mow around things.

Front end loader - I was amazed at how much use this attachment gets. Hard to imagine how I got by all these years without one.

Removeable tooth bar for loader - great for digging, grabbing tree limbs without hopping off the tractor. For clearing snow or scooping material from paved areas it'll need to come off.

Rear finish mower - much easier to put on / take off. Some prefer mid-mounts.

3-Point Scraper Blade - handy for removing snow that doesn't require the FEL. For the last 10 years or so, this was my only snow removal tool. I bought a new heavier blade after the last tractor purchase, but the old one still has a lot of life left in it. Beats wearing the FEL edge down too. Our Winters range from almost no snow to the occasional blizzard.

Additional work lights - added them front and rear. Gotta see where you're headed.

This would let you handle a lot of tasks..................chim

 

[Gatorboy]

How about a

shovel,
rake,
post hole digger,
hedge clippers,
and then the biggest tractor (Kubota, JD, NH, etc.) you can afford with the remaining money.


When you have the topic "What will you buy for $50,000?", I may have a different list.

 

[Egon]

A big well stocked fridge, comfortable chair and supervise the contractor.

Egon

 

[rozett]

I bought a one year old (90 hours) 36 HP Cub Cadet (with FEL) for $13K. Some on this board use "resale value" as a reason not to buy certain colors. But resale can be used to your advantage.

Resale is only pertinent if you intend to buy new and sell (or trade up) in a few years. But most owners buy for "life". For example... the last two cars I got rid of were an 87 Crown Vic with 254,000 miles and a 92 Grand Marquis with 180,000. So resale value was not a factor at all in my tractor decision. Except that I could take advantage of lower resale and regional price difference to get more tractor for the money. After considering many factors, the Cub 7360 was my tractor of choice. I just hunted for a slightly used one in the southern states where it would be cheaper. Even though it cost me $1k to ship it from Alabama to New Hampshire, it was still almost $7000 cheaper than I could get a new one for.

So... for $15K, I could get a quality 36 HP tractor and lots of implements. Unfortunately, I am still looking for those 'slightly' used implements. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[SethO]

People are quick to tell you to buy bigger, now that I have a limiting price I have only a few takers and some jokers.

Proves that your wallet determines what you get.

 

[Gatorboy]

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>


now that I have a limiting price I have only a few takers and some jokers.


<hr></blockquote>



Maybe that's because you have THREE separate threads with different prices. How about telling us what you really want to spend? 12,500, 15,000, 20,000?

I still stand by my original post above -- if you want NEW.

Because you have so many needs, and such a small budget, you would be wise to look for USED equipment.

 

[SethO]

Gatorboy,

The reason for the 3 posts is to see how different the recommendations will be depending on the amount one has to spend. I also did not specify that the equipments should be new.

Seth