frankv
Bronze Member
OK I did it. I bit the bullet and bought a new tractor! I read just about everything I could here. I visited every dealer I could get to with in a reasonable drive. (MA, NH, CT). My wife was getting pretty sick of me burying my nose in the computer during every spare moment. (She wants her greenhouse built and we need site work done first…)
First of all, I only have 5 acres of land that is level and cleared. The majority of it is hayed along with my neighbors abutting 5 acres by a local farmer. I need my tractor to clear snow, grading/backfill/site work for a new greenhouse (maybe garage/barn next year), and gardening. We plan to slowly convert the hayfield to a commercial gardening operation over the next 5 or so years.
I started this effort probably like so many others. I saw what looked like a good deal on an older Ford Tractor and said, “hey I CAN afford a bigger tractor”. I really did not know anything about anything larger than a garden tractor. Needless to say that old Ford turned out to have some “issues”. After becoming disappointed with the availability of used tractors and the crazy prices on them I turned my attention to new ones. Heck if I sold my old garden tractor and some other items I could swing the payment on the low interest loan…. (Still have the old garden tractor.. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )
I first looked at tractors off hours, as most dealers around me are only open during the days when contractors can get there not the average Joe who has to work 40 hours a week behind a desk. Then I called around for pricing on what I thought where appropriate models in the 30 hp range. I can confirm that most pricing that I see you guys quote on this forum are nowhere near the pricing that’s available here in the Northeast, hence sticker-shock. Despite that I went to test-drive every brand I could find. I knew I would get to an acceptable price somewhere even if I had to have it shipped (I was not going to pay more than a $2k price difference to support someone locally if I did not have to…).
So first off I looked at the TC30 and some of the other Boomers. After looking at older Fords first I liked the look of the TC30. I test-drove the gear drive first and it seemed to be a little difficult to shift (I can’t remember now if it was synchronized or not), but what ruled it out for me was the weight. I picket up less than a full bucket of loose soil (you know the stuff the dealers have sifted…I mean available for you to test the loaders with) and the tractor nearly tipped over. My wife could not get the seat adjusted low enough on the Boomer to reach the pedals so we (she) ruled them out.
I really like the Kubota 2710/2910/7800. This is really IMHO the perfect size tractor for 90% of my tasks. At $16.5k to $17k for the 2710/la402 though it was easy to get swayed into a Grand L for just a little more money (3130/723 $19k) or even more the 3830/723 for $22k. Bearing in mind that I wanted to potentially garden my whole hayfield and thinking of plowing and disking I started believing the 3830 was the size tractor I needed but boy it looked pretty big for my property and it was a lot more than I wanted to spend.
Next stop JD land. The closest dealership to me is Padulas. They carry the whole line from JD including the big big farmer stuff. I’ve been in their more times than I care to admit browsing for used and/or looking at the lawn and garden tractors. And not once have I ever received assistance from a salesman. Never! They’ve got two salesmen that I could ever see (2 desks) but I’ve never seen more than one of them. So when I can get there it’s a busy Saturday morning as they are only open until noon it’s always busy. The good thing is that they have a lot of tractors and I could get a feel for the operator’s controls and build quality. I ended up finding a dealer in New Hampshire with a really helpful salesman (Lance @ Rosencrantz’s) he stayed late to show me stuff after I got out of work. I drove the 4110, 4115, 4210(leaking hydro fluid from loader) all hydro. I made an appt at Padulas and drove the 790, 990, and 4310 sync reverser. In the end I am not a plastic fan (to each his own, but the new JD plastic seems really thin), was not comfortable with push button electronics for tractor controls, and the local pricing was way to high (8% discount max). I have to say that electronic sync reverser was nice to operate, though; I don’t see the plastic housing holding up long term. The 790 or 990 might have gotten more consideration of it was a synchronized shifter or had a reverser lever.
Feeling like I could do better pricing wise I wanted to try some of the non-Big 3 brands. I found a Century and New Holland dealer in Keene NH. I was immediately impressed with the ease of shifting on the synchronized gears, weight, and loader of the Century. This is where I nearly tipped the TC30 hydro and the Century 2535 did not even budge. The 3040 cut into a pile like it was butter. The 2535 here was outfitted with the C-30 loader and only the larger ones had the C-50.
I went out to Belchertown to see Massey Ferguson but they did not have anything in stock and Kioti and Mahindra. The Mahindra I did not even drive as the shifters hit my legs and I knew I would not be comfortable. The DK35 was a nice machine, but I did not have a good comfort level with the dealer and he was the only one I knew within a reasonable distance.
I then drove an hour and half to Connecticut (Fosketts) to take another look at Century. (Thanks Pacesetter and Johnhalf) I drove the 2535, 3040, and 3045. I was uneasy with a dealer this far away, as I have no way of transporting such a large tractor. I was assured from Harold that he has never charged for a pickup/delivery of a warranty issue and has customers in my area. He said, “I can’t see someone spending 17 thousand dollars for a tractor that does not operate as it’s supposed to and then charging them travel time”. Wow!! That was refreshing after feeling that a lot of other dealers had attitudes that it was my pleasure to do business with them!
So after a lot of research I narrowed my thinking down to this. If I had to have HST I was going Kubota. Either the 2710/2910/7800 la402 or the Grand L 3830. If I could live without the HST I would go Century. Price comparisons between the two non-HST seemed to be a no brainer. It would cost me close to $4k or more to go Kubota. Or price for price the Century offered more weight, HP, and loader lift capacity. Wanting to plow and disk my field I felt I needed to go with a heavier tractor.
If you haven’t guessed by now I liked Century and Fosketts. I feel I can live without HST. No lawn work (Toro Z). The gear shifter on the Century’s is so smooth and the sync shuttle reverser is very easy to operate. So which tractor? I could have had the 2535 for $16.3k but for $18.8k I got the 3045 and the Yanmar 4 cylinder direct injection engine. When the trailer pulled into my yard I thought my god that’s a BIG tractor…Doesn’t look so big on the lot next to all the others…Oh well I may have bought more tractor than I need 90% of the time, but for those 10% of the times I’ll be glad I spend the additional $2k which really is not much on the payments. (Century lowered their finance rate last week!),
It’s raining cats and dogs this week here in Massachusetts but I hope to play a little today. Thank you to everybody on the forums for indirectly helping!! There is a wealth of knowledge here. I promise to post some pictures!
First of all, I only have 5 acres of land that is level and cleared. The majority of it is hayed along with my neighbors abutting 5 acres by a local farmer. I need my tractor to clear snow, grading/backfill/site work for a new greenhouse (maybe garage/barn next year), and gardening. We plan to slowly convert the hayfield to a commercial gardening operation over the next 5 or so years.
I started this effort probably like so many others. I saw what looked like a good deal on an older Ford Tractor and said, “hey I CAN afford a bigger tractor”. I really did not know anything about anything larger than a garden tractor. Needless to say that old Ford turned out to have some “issues”. After becoming disappointed with the availability of used tractors and the crazy prices on them I turned my attention to new ones. Heck if I sold my old garden tractor and some other items I could swing the payment on the low interest loan…. (Still have the old garden tractor.. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )
I first looked at tractors off hours, as most dealers around me are only open during the days when contractors can get there not the average Joe who has to work 40 hours a week behind a desk. Then I called around for pricing on what I thought where appropriate models in the 30 hp range. I can confirm that most pricing that I see you guys quote on this forum are nowhere near the pricing that’s available here in the Northeast, hence sticker-shock. Despite that I went to test-drive every brand I could find. I knew I would get to an acceptable price somewhere even if I had to have it shipped (I was not going to pay more than a $2k price difference to support someone locally if I did not have to…).
So first off I looked at the TC30 and some of the other Boomers. After looking at older Fords first I liked the look of the TC30. I test-drove the gear drive first and it seemed to be a little difficult to shift (I can’t remember now if it was synchronized or not), but what ruled it out for me was the weight. I picket up less than a full bucket of loose soil (you know the stuff the dealers have sifted…I mean available for you to test the loaders with) and the tractor nearly tipped over. My wife could not get the seat adjusted low enough on the Boomer to reach the pedals so we (she) ruled them out.
I really like the Kubota 2710/2910/7800. This is really IMHO the perfect size tractor for 90% of my tasks. At $16.5k to $17k for the 2710/la402 though it was easy to get swayed into a Grand L for just a little more money (3130/723 $19k) or even more the 3830/723 for $22k. Bearing in mind that I wanted to potentially garden my whole hayfield and thinking of plowing and disking I started believing the 3830 was the size tractor I needed but boy it looked pretty big for my property and it was a lot more than I wanted to spend.
Next stop JD land. The closest dealership to me is Padulas. They carry the whole line from JD including the big big farmer stuff. I’ve been in their more times than I care to admit browsing for used and/or looking at the lawn and garden tractors. And not once have I ever received assistance from a salesman. Never! They’ve got two salesmen that I could ever see (2 desks) but I’ve never seen more than one of them. So when I can get there it’s a busy Saturday morning as they are only open until noon it’s always busy. The good thing is that they have a lot of tractors and I could get a feel for the operator’s controls and build quality. I ended up finding a dealer in New Hampshire with a really helpful salesman (Lance @ Rosencrantz’s) he stayed late to show me stuff after I got out of work. I drove the 4110, 4115, 4210(leaking hydro fluid from loader) all hydro. I made an appt at Padulas and drove the 790, 990, and 4310 sync reverser. In the end I am not a plastic fan (to each his own, but the new JD plastic seems really thin), was not comfortable with push button electronics for tractor controls, and the local pricing was way to high (8% discount max). I have to say that electronic sync reverser was nice to operate, though; I don’t see the plastic housing holding up long term. The 790 or 990 might have gotten more consideration of it was a synchronized shifter or had a reverser lever.
Feeling like I could do better pricing wise I wanted to try some of the non-Big 3 brands. I found a Century and New Holland dealer in Keene NH. I was immediately impressed with the ease of shifting on the synchronized gears, weight, and loader of the Century. This is where I nearly tipped the TC30 hydro and the Century 2535 did not even budge. The 3040 cut into a pile like it was butter. The 2535 here was outfitted with the C-30 loader and only the larger ones had the C-50.
I went out to Belchertown to see Massey Ferguson but they did not have anything in stock and Kioti and Mahindra. The Mahindra I did not even drive as the shifters hit my legs and I knew I would not be comfortable. The DK35 was a nice machine, but I did not have a good comfort level with the dealer and he was the only one I knew within a reasonable distance.
I then drove an hour and half to Connecticut (Fosketts) to take another look at Century. (Thanks Pacesetter and Johnhalf) I drove the 2535, 3040, and 3045. I was uneasy with a dealer this far away, as I have no way of transporting such a large tractor. I was assured from Harold that he has never charged for a pickup/delivery of a warranty issue and has customers in my area. He said, “I can’t see someone spending 17 thousand dollars for a tractor that does not operate as it’s supposed to and then charging them travel time”. Wow!! That was refreshing after feeling that a lot of other dealers had attitudes that it was my pleasure to do business with them!
So after a lot of research I narrowed my thinking down to this. If I had to have HST I was going Kubota. Either the 2710/2910/7800 la402 or the Grand L 3830. If I could live without the HST I would go Century. Price comparisons between the two non-HST seemed to be a no brainer. It would cost me close to $4k or more to go Kubota. Or price for price the Century offered more weight, HP, and loader lift capacity. Wanting to plow and disk my field I felt I needed to go with a heavier tractor.
If you haven’t guessed by now I liked Century and Fosketts. I feel I can live without HST. No lawn work (Toro Z). The gear shifter on the Century’s is so smooth and the sync shuttle reverser is very easy to operate. So which tractor? I could have had the 2535 for $16.3k but for $18.8k I got the 3045 and the Yanmar 4 cylinder direct injection engine. When the trailer pulled into my yard I thought my god that’s a BIG tractor…Doesn’t look so big on the lot next to all the others…Oh well I may have bought more tractor than I need 90% of the time, but for those 10% of the times I’ll be glad I spend the additional $2k which really is not much on the payments. (Century lowered their finance rate last week!),
It’s raining cats and dogs this week here in Massachusetts but I hope to play a little today. Thank you to everybody on the forums for indirectly helping!! There is a wealth of knowledge here. I promise to post some pictures!
