Another Newbie Needing Tractor buying advice

[Anonymous Poster]

Outdoorsman: In making a choice I would like to respectfully suggest another consideration I seldom see mentioned. Forget the color. There is FAR more difference than the paint. Imagine you have bought something and its now down the road several years. You come out in the morning and the battery is dead and you have to jump it. Now, look at the choices you are condiering now and ask yourself which would be easier to work on. Or, the hydraulic pump goes out and you have to change it. Some tractor's pumps are inside the trans case, others can be switched standing right next to the thing. Imagine you are adjusting the brakes (& clutch if geared). Look at your new tractor BEFORE you buy it-which tractor is easier to fix? Regarding the hydro vs geared issue, drive both at 12-14 mph (if you can get the hydro up to that speed) and picture yourself having an emergency quick stop. All use of a tractor is not at 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 mph you know. Don't try this for real, you could end up going over the hood. One place where the hydro really shines is if you are going to spend all day going back and forth and if you have many different, unskilled drivers using it. Check the repair prices for stuff before you buy. Example: the dual stage clutch, worse case cost, for the JD 990 is $2000-$2100. A single stage clutch for the NH is $1000-$1200 worse case. Find out what it costs, worst case, to fix a hydro trans. Please sit down while they give you the number!!! I guess what I am trying to say is try to look beyond the "new", factory fresh paint (in whatever color) and imagine the stuff than can go wrong (and all brands have stuff go wrong) and how easy, and how much, it will cost you in money and effort to get it repaired. Check out parts availability for brands that were being made 20, 30, 40 years ago. Of course, if you've got lots of money, plan on trading every couple years (or when the warranty goes out) then this doesn't make much difference. Anyway, good luck. John

 

[frank_f15]

don't care what color u buy, the only thing i will restate is TO GET HYDRO.LOOK AT ALL THE MACHINES that are close to you. all the big 3 have fine machines but don't disregard some of the otheres, kioti, long, etc! get the one u feel comfortable with.

 

[OutDoorsman]

I hope we're not sorry that we didnt go with more HP but we found one today that we're suppose to go look at tomorrow that seems to be a pretty good price.
Used-350 Hrs, Kubota B2400 24HP 4WD, Hydro, R4 tires, LA352 FEL and Box Blade with NEW 60'' Rhino brush cutter and 60'' Rhino rear finish mower....all for 10,450. Dealer says it has one small crease in the hood and one small bend in the FEL bucket but other than that excelent condition, say paint is even still bright. He says its a repo that Kupota just wants the note paid and he wants it off the yard before year end taxes.
Also is telling me the same set up new would be about 18,000 and that this should be cheap enough that if I needed to trade up in a year or so I should make a little or atleast break even.
A little concerned about amount of HP but how does this price sound?
Also I thought this size unit (24hp) required the smaller 48'' brush cutter.....he says 60'' as the tractor is 54'' in width.

 

[Knight9]

I can't comment on the price as I'm always dealing in the Canadian dollar market, but I have a B2410 (24hp) and a 60" cutter for it. Unfortunately it has found a few good sized rocks hidden in the brush and a few other items, but it has never bogged the tractor. I'm glad I went with the larger size over the 48", but if I was doing really heavy cutting of saplings etc instead of just bushes and shrubs, I might feel differently.

Just my $0.02.

Kevin

 

[Bird]

That does sound like a good deal to me if it's all in decent condition. As for the size of the mowers, if you're cutting light stuff, no problem; in heavy conditions you'll just have to go slow (which ain't hard to do with a hydro tranny if you've got the time).

 

[DavesTractor]

A lot of guys are entirely happy with a 20-25HP machine. It takes a little longer to get the job done, but it's still a real tractor and very capable.

 

[Justaplain]

I have handled bush hogging, post hole digging,[600] roto tilling, wood splitting, snow blower and loader work on 12 A with a Ford 1210 and a Cub 7234. Manual Trans. and common sense will over come a push by salesmen[commision]to go up one or two steps. If the grass is heavy cut 3 1/2 feet instead of 5. With 4WD the little guys can do a lot. bcs

 

[OutDoorsman]

Looks like we're getting the little b2400 (posted about earlier in the thread). Got up there yesterday and it looked real clean. Couple of small dings in the hood, the FEL bucket had some definate wear and a little more wear on the front tires than the back but other than that it looked like new. Clean appearance all over with no tears in the seat, bright paint, etc. Seemed real solid and cranked right up on the first turn, very clean under the hood, no rattles or noises and drove and sounded real smooth.
Still a little apprehensive about the size/HP, but with no real plans for the back woods other than a few trails all we have or plan to keep up right now is about 7 or 8 acres out of the 36. and I really think we got a good enough deal that there's nothing to loose either way, whether we wanted to trade or keep it.
Anyway, we put money down and we're picking it up Tues. morning.... Anxious to get it home and get started tractor'n!

Few more questions.....
Seems like everyone is supporting getting the 60in brush cutter over the 48in, anybody else got any thoughts?

Would forks for the FEL bucket help with draging piles of dead timber or moving larger logs?

Other than the emplements I listed, is there anything else we need to be sure and get when we seal the deal besides Kubota caps?

 

[Spencer]

OutDoorsman, I'm glad you found a tractor that you all agreed upon. You can do a search on forks to see just how useful everyone here has found them. If the price is reasonable and you can afford them I would get them right away. If you don't already have one, a digital camera is a great attachment.