Buying Advice New Member ... Do not know all the things to ask

[tkappeler]

I have been looking here for a few weeks as I am in the market for my first tractor. I am purchasing 3.5 acres of vacant land with an abandoned house in Southern New Jersey and will have quite a laundry list of things I want or need to do. The land is partially wooded and the rest overgrown brush.

My immediate needs:

• Moving fill dirt
• Grading of gravel driveway
• Tree removal (less than 5" diameter) for primary heating of the new home
• Grading around the new home
• Fence installation

Future needs post construction of home:

• Landscaping
• Material handling (stone for ponds, firewood)
• Lawn maintenance (finish mowing)
• Moving mulch, plants, trees
• Grading of gravel driveway

I have been looking at the following units with FEL: JD 1023, Kioti CK20, Yanmar SC2400, Mahindra Max25, Kubota 2360, NH Boomer 20 and TYM 233.

I have see many recommendations for size/ brand/new/used, etc. What I have not seen are what are the questions if I look at used tractors. How many hours is too many? How to gauge if a unit has been beat? How to buy from across the country? Warranties? How to ship? How much will shipping cost? What about gray market Yanmars?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If there is a thread that addresses this, feel free to point me there.

Thanks.

 

[JoeinTX]

I just replied to another new poster in a similar situation as you with much the same answer.

Hours? Hours on a tractor are like miles on a car. If a tractor with 2k hours has been well maintained and kept it will be like a car with 50k miles of easy driving and regular oil changes. If that 2k hours were earned over one oil change and a lot jockeying, well, you never know. Check all, ALL, of the fluids and see what they look like.

Look for leaks. Leaks tell the tale. Look for obvious signs of physical damage. Bent hoods or fenders, bent tire rims, bent 3-pt arms, etc. You really can't hide serious abuse of machine on the cheap. If you look for it, a coat of new paint will not hide evidence of hard use or real problems.

Don't let paint color drive you. All of the major players build good machines and bad machines.