Tractor Help

[Anonymous Poster]

We are looking to buy our 1st tractor. We just bought 2- 2 acres lots in central WI. We are going to build on 1 in 3 years and our son on the other in 5 years. Ours is clear the other is wooded. There are 8 other 2 acre lots that will also be built up.
Behind this we also own 48 acres. Which is why we bought the 2 lots. We were going to build on the 48 acres but when these came up we bought them, to block access to our 48. We were so lucky to get these as they sold very quickly.The 48 has been in the family for 81 years. My grandfather used it as pasture land. Down the road is another 48 my brother owns, which was also my Grandfathers and has a house and some other out buildings. My brother lives in Chicago.
My question, what do we need? Total is over 90 acres. We want to clear the one lot, and put in a yard when we build both build. The one lot has piles of dirt from when they put in the road last fall. The remaining farm land we would like to grow something to attract deer, so hay, corn etc. Also plant some trees. We have 1.. 4-wheeler, and a 3 wheeler. We have a blade on the 4 wheeler that we use in winter to clear our driveway. The one field is pretty rocky.
Our budget is around 15,000 maybe a tad more. My brother did say he would help with payments. So maybe 20,000. What about attachments etc.
My brother thinks an old tractor because they are so easy to maintain. Hubby and I are thinking new so it runs when we want it too.
Thanks for your help.
Ellen

 

[Bird]

Naturally, I'd rather have a new tractor with warranty, etc. However, if you intend to cut and bale your own hay, do a lot of tillage (plowing) for other crops, move a lot of dirt in a reasonable length of time, and things like that, there's just no way you can get a big enough new tractor for the budget you've mentioned. You can get a new 25-30hp tractor with front end loader for that budget but I think you'll be wishing you had a bigger one (and of course then you're going to want to buy some implements to go with it - and the budget's shot /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif). You might be able to get something new that you'd be happy with if you bypass the big 3 (John Deere, Kubota, New Holland) and look at things like Mahindra, Kioti, Long, Zetor, and several others, but I have some doubts.

I guess the bottom line is that if it were me, I'd either have to increase that budget considerably, or agree with your brother. Big tractors don't seem to hold their value as well as the compacts, so I think you could do pretty well at finding a good used one.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My brother thinks an old tractor because they are so easy to maintain. Hubby and I are thinking new so it runs when we want it too.
)</font>

I think that you have so many excellant options on new or nearly new that your logic seems right. A project tractor can be fun, but sounds like you have no shortage of tractors.

Some things to look at are:
<ul type="square"> [*]What dealers are strong around you
[*]What size implements (brush cutter, boxblade, front end loader...)
[*]What type of transmission (sycro reverser or hydrostatic)
[/list]
A good tractor from a bad dealer isn't
A small mower will still mow, it takes more time...
All the transmissions do the job, you might do better on one.

When my wife and I went to try the tractors for size, what had looked like strong contenders, quickly dropped off the list, due to ergonomics. Be sure to go sit on some, and see what you like.

It seems to me that you will be interested in a Front end Loader, a boxblade and a rotary cutter (AKA BushHog)

There are some great financing options, so be sure and check out several options...

 

[DavesTractor]

As stated above, check into the latest Korean models, such as Branson/Century, Mahindra/TYM, Kioti, etc. They are high quality machines and for around $16K you can get a nice machine. A Branson 4020 (40HP) with a BL20 loader weighs about 4500lbs, comes with a three year warranty, shuttle shift, etc and usually can be bought for about $16K, depending on the dealer. A 45HP is about $18K. I suspect the other brands I mentioned would be in the same ballpark.

Or keep looking for a nice used one. They are hard to find, but $20K will buy a lot of tractor if you can find one.

 

[wasabi]

I searched high and low for conventional tractors with implements in the same price range....and due to the good advice I received here on TBN, ended up lookiing into and buying a Power Trac. You may be surprised at how much machine you can get from them for 20K. www.power-trac.com There is also a PT forum here on TBN. Good luck and enjoy your research. You are in the right place!

 

[shado]

SO, you want to plow & build at the same time and really want something dependable? Me too, after months of analysis and studying (and saving up) on what type of machine would best be suited for the needs at hand, I decided a tractor would be the more versatile animal to keep around for a long time, and a new one would really make you feel better every time you walk by it (neighbors get a little envious also). I have over 30 acres to worry with, hilly and wooded, nothing less than a 40 HP would cut it. And being the person who hates to slow down when the job needs to get done, 4WD is the way to go (I've gotten into a lot of slippery situations, can't stop now). Now you know you'll have to get the FEL, but I opted for a self-leveling version. That way, if your'e lifting something up kind of high (when you get around to building those domiciles), you don't have to keep up with the load staying level as the FEL moves up or down, it does it on it's own. My dealer only charged me $332 more over the lesser model loader without that feature, and the FEL picks up more weight to boot. I would also highly reccommend having the Quick-Attach Plate that hooks up to Bobcat (Skidsteer to those generics understanding people) attachments via the FEL so that it does not take all day swapping out bucket-to-forks to-etc.. A set of forks that fit on standard Bobcat machines runs approx. $400 (you love it when needing to lift all that plywood and roofing shingles into place). Go with the R4 Industrial Tires, the AG type mess up the ground too much if you do any finish mowing on your manicured lawn, the R4's still give decent traction in muddy conditions. What did I end up with? I went around to different dealers, different brands, as I mentioned in another post, all of them nearby were just gold-diggers. The NH brand is nice, but I have to put my own kid through college. JD seems to import from elsewhere (from what I've been reading), so what would be wrong buying foreign anyway? Kubota achieved a reputation (and high price), so that was out of my reach. Mahindra is nice & heavy, but something about the mechanical fit & finish did not look right (to me, just my opinion) Century, Branson, Long were within my grasp, but not a lot of dealers in the region to comparison shop on price. I zereod in on Kioti, a DK 45 to be exact, with a KL1590 loader & R4 tires. The fellas on the Kioti discussion group seem to be real proud of their machines with little complaints except for the seat (mine needs replacing too, has a small hole) Now, I won't necessarily reveal what I paid, but I will tell (for the first time) that a base DK45 with the 1250 FEL (I think that's the right model number) & AG tires was priced at $17,800 back around Jan '03. But there has been a price increase (not due to the oil shortage), so I don't know if that good of a deal can be had these days. The Quick-Attach plate runs another $400-$425 depending on the dealer. And supposedly, if you buy across state lines, you would not have to pay sales tax from out-of-state. Here, I would have to fork up another $1500 for local purchase (sure, that's no problem, just let me skip paying for my dental work, I'd rather pay the tax). The only thing I wish my tractor would do different is a little faster-moving FEL, the hydraulic pump only does 8-9 gallons/minute. I've been spoiled on a rental backhoe, but you pay the price for higher performance.
One more tip, watch out for that insurance if financing, my dealer failed to mention it when first negotiating the deal, hit me with it two days before delivery. It can be cheap, it can be expensive. Guess which one mine was.

 

[Soundguy]

The market on huge used tractors is low right now. I looked at auction results for fords in the 7000 and 8000 series.. looking at $ 4000.00 to 7000.00 dollars... 7000 series is around 87hp.. and the 8000 series are up to 105 hp.

I'm looking at a ford 8000 myself.. just to have a big toy tractor.. and the prices are lower than compact tractors.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[markct]

yep i cant agree more with ya soundguy on the cheap prices of big tractors,i had been looking for a while to find a 45-65 hp tractor and wasnt having too much luck finding anything decent for a reasonable price, i ended up picking up a ford 8000 with 6500 hrs for $4000. it is a big tractor and it would be hard to use for all purposes,but we already have 2 ford NAAs and a ford 3400 to use for the small work, i wanted something with live pto and heavier 3pt so this tractor worked out great, the rear tires were like brand new, the only thing i had to do was put on new brakes,which was about 700 bucks worth of parts,they are wet brakes so they should last for another 5000 hrs or so. i love having a heated cab too!

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. something about that ford 8000 that is attractive... Massive comes to mind..

Soundguy

 

[markct]

yea there is somethin great about going up the street taking up the entire lane while riding on tires as tall as most suvs,and all this comes with a sound that lets people know your coming long before ya get there,that 401 cubic inch six cylinder diesel realy sounds nice wound up to 2400 rpm.