Buying Advice Newbie asking for opinions

[water63]

Hi all, I am new to buying a tractor and I have not yet made a decision but I am hoping to get some opinions.

I have approx. 25 acres of pasture to mow/maintain, but I have somebody that cuts and bales most of it. It is mainly just weeds, the edges of the property, and the yard (basically just pasture) that I want to keep up. I also have some heavy lifting needs and would like to even out some rough spots with a small disc or tiller. I have a mower that I still use but the grass and weeds get out of hand everywhere but the yard.

My budget is approx. $18,000 but I would love to spend less if I can get away with it.

The main things that I am looking for are bang for my buck, quality, and ease of resale.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[bigbull338]

you could get by probly with a mx4700 w/la844 loader.an that would do your shredding an should do your lifting.2wd drive tractors will be cheaper.

 

[RoyJackson]

Boy...if you want opinions, you have definitely come to the right place!!!

So, you want to clean up weeds and such on 25 acres that is currently worked by someone else. I'll guess you're looking at cleaning up the periphery of the acreage. I'll guess that would be two laps around the acreage with a 72" rotary cutter...sound about right?
And you want to do some "heavy" lifting? How "heavy" is heavy? Less then 1000 lbs? Does this mean you want a loader, or are you going to carry the load on the 3PH?

For $18K (including the cutter?), you'll probably have to buy used. For the work you described, I'd suggest a Deere 4300 or equivalent (25-35 PTO HP). If you go with a CUT (such as the 4300) you'll probably want 4WD.
You could also go for a full sized tractor since you're buying used.

 

[siddle]

I gotta back Roy. He is right. A Deere 4300 would be the best one to mow 25 acres of pasture.

 

[RPW]

Is your cutting/baling arrangement permenant? You might either want or have to start doing the cutting/baling yourself. For $18k you should be able to pickup a decent 2wd in the 50 ~ 70 HP (used of course) and a decent shredder. Unless you find the ultimate deal you'll be looking at an open station. The deals are out there as i was at an auction recently (less than 6mo ago) and saw a JD 4010? (late 80s - mid 90s) series with cab go for about $10k. I wish I had the money at the time to have got it.

[edit] Where in Central Texas are you?

 

[TripleR]

For someone who has no experience with operating a tractor or sometimes someone who has been away from them for a while with only a little prior experience, it can be helpful to rent a tractor for a day or two to get a feel for what a particular unit will handle and give you a baseline.

There are almost an unlimited number and size of tractors that will work for you. I like 4WD, but 2WD can work really well depending on your terrain/conditions, we have some that work quite well and 4WD would be a waste of weight, money and complexity.

 

[jerrywane]

a good used 40-50 h.p. will do ya 2 w/d only if not in soggy or hilly,slopey terrain....a new new holland or cub cadet with a loader is about 20-22 g......try a few out if you have the oportunity to, and good luck-be carefull,use rops,and learn your limitations slowly....these things kill people all the time.Ive hade mine for 5 years now and will be learning new ways to get in trouble.....i will never own but a 4 wheel drive because of the slopes with a bucket spells single wheel left on the ground a couple of times.....and one more thing......4 wheel drive can mean 4 wheels spinning where i am from...good luck

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

Don't assume 18K means you have to go the "used" route. Look around at some of the other brand's forums below: Mahindra, Kioti, LS, TYM, etc.... You can easily find something around 30 hp w/FEL (and a 5 year warranty) with a new cutter to boot for that kind of money.

 

[Soundguy]

so it sounds like you want a tractor, cheap as you can get it.. good quality.. do some work with it, then sell it off.

My advice.. get a ford 4XXX or ford 5XXX and an 8' or 10' mower ( 8' / 4xxx ) etc.. and you can mow with it.. do heavy lifting.. etc. won't set you back more than about 7k$ and you can sell it for that after using it.

a 6' HD mower will save you 1k$ off that and stick with a 4XXX model to save another 1k$.. so for about 5k$ and just a lil more seat time you will have a machine that will eat anything it can drive over.

add a disc and box blade and you can cut and level.

3pt lift should be good for a couple thousand pounds at least.

soundguy

Hi all, I am new to buying a tractor and I have not yet made a decision but I am hoping to get some opinions.

I have approx. 25 acres of pasture to mow/maintain, but I have somebody that cuts and bales most of it. It is mainly just weeds, the edges of the property, and the yard (basically just pasture) that I want to keep up. I also have some heavy lifting needs and would like to even out some rough spots with a small disc or tiller. I have a mower that I still use but the grass and weeds get out of hand everywhere but the yard.

My budget is approx. $18,000 but I would love to spend less if I can get away with it.

The main things that I am looking for are bang for my buck, quality, and ease of resale.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[water63]

Boy...if you want opinions, you have definitely come to the right place!!!

So, you want to clean up weeds and such on 25 acres that is currently worked by someone else. I'll guess you're looking at cleaning up the periphery of the acreage. I'll guess that would be two laps around the acreage with a 72" rotary cutter...sound about right?
And you want to do some "heavy" lifting? How "heavy" is heavy? Less then 1000 lbs? Does this mean you want a loader, or are you going to carry the load on the 3PH?

For $18K (including the cutter?), you'll probably have to buy used. For the work you described, I'd suggest a Deere 4300 or equivalent (25-35 PTO HP). If you go with a CUT (such as the 4300) you'll probably want 4WD.
You could also go for a full sized tractor since you're buying used.

Sounds about right on this. Not sure the weight, but mainly old logs, fence posts, concrete globs, etc...

I definitely will want a FEL, shredder, disc or tiller, and possibly a finishing mower.

Is your cutting/baling arrangement permenant? You might either want or have to start doing the cutting/baling yourself. For $18k you should be able to pickup a decent 2wd in the 50 ~ 70 HP (used of course) and a decent shredder. Unless you find the ultimate deal you'll be looking at an open station. The deals are out there as i was at an auction recently (less than 6mo ago) and saw a JD 4010? (late 80s - mid 90s) series with cab go for about $10k. I wish I had the money at the time to have got it.

[edit] Where in Central Texas are you?

The cutting/baling arrangement is basically as long as my buddy wants to come and do it and get some free hay. I think he will continue as long as he has cattle. I am good with having an open station...for whatever reason I just don't really want a cab. I'm in Robertson County....about 30 miles or so North of Bryan/College Station.

For someone who has no experience with operating a tractor or sometimes someone who has been away from them for a while with only a little prior experience, it can be helpful to rent a tractor for a day or two to get a feel for what a particular unit will handle and give you a baseline.

There are almost an unlimited number and size of tractors that will work for you. I like 4WD, but 2WD can work really well depending on your terrain/conditions, we have some that work quite well and 4WD would be a waste of weight, money and complexity.

Thank you for that idea, I may give that a try, or I may test out a buddy's before I purchase. I typically take several weeks of looking around and reading before I buy something this big.


I took a look at the Kubota dealer here (online) and it looks like they have a L3400 4X4 with a FEL, 5' shredder, and 5' box blade for $16,700. I have not been able to price compare with any other dealers yet.

How would a price like this compare with a similar John Deere? Would this be "enough" tractor or possibly too much?