Thanks or the comment and do agree with and have some concern buying an older tractor for the reasons that you mention. I have had a couple of older tractors in the past when I lived on the west coast but never had any really serious issues with them. I am fine for doing engine maintenance, replacing gaskets, valve adjustments etc, would be a little less confident to do a complete engine re-build however. Its a matter of money for picking something up that would make me look at an older machine. After spending over 4 hours yesterday clearing off a 5 cm (3 inch) dump of snow from 85% of my driveway, think that I need a machine. That and for property maintenance, garden ploughing as well, the needs are relatively light to medium duty for me. There is someone selling a JD 4100 with a FEL (JD 410) asking 10,500 I emailed asking how firm he was on the price thinking in my mind to come back with an offer of 9,000 (these are CAD dollars but pretty much the same as USD these days but things are cheaper in the US than here. Its a 2005 4x4 with 1006 hours. At 9000 this would be the very maximum that I would be willing to spend on something however in the end perhaps I might be better off with a newer machine. From what I read the 4100's have some favourable reviews from owners and report very few problems. Going to look at the MF today but have decided just to look for today and not commit directly. Some friends have recommended talking to a tractor mechanic that they use when they found out that I was looking, at least I would have a better idea from seeing it today. One thing I thought was that the JD front end loader would probably be better at ploughing snow than the tip bucket of the MF