tlm720
Bronze Member
There are many great tractors available on the market and the decision to buy can be overwhelming. Deciding on the right size/hp is just the start, then you have to pick a brand and dealer. I thought it may be helpful for new buyers if anyone who has been through the process already describe how and why they made their final decision and looking back now is there anything you regret or dislike about your pick.
I'll start. I bought a JD 4120 in 2006. Has almost 1500 hours on it now. At the time I looked at Kubota and New Holland in the same size/Hp. There are good dealers for each within 30 miles of my home. Briefly looked at Kioti but they did not have an HST transmission available in their equivalent at the time. Also tried to find a dealer that carried MF and didn't find one close.
I wanted a tractor that would do a wide variety of tasks, maybe not as well as a purpose built machine, but well enough to only own a single piece of equipment (sold two other tractors and a crawler loader/backhoe). This means finish mowing, snow removal, grading driveways, excavating, landscaping, brush hogging, plowing, discing, tilling, hauling/splitting wood, mowing/baling hay. Size wise I am happy with my selection. It's just big enough to get the jobs done, but not so big I can't mow the lawn. I am always amazed at how much work one can accomplish with these 4WD CUTs (I call them toy tractors)
As far as brand, I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a Boomer, then my dealer came down a little on the price of the Deere. What sold me on the Deere even though it was still a little more costly was the bigger 2.4L turbo charged engine which developed its power a lower RPM (=longevity I think), the ease with which the loader goes on and off (which happens frequently), the E-hydro, dealer and parts support (to me Deere is hard to beat for those), the most hydraulic pump capacity I could find in a CUT that size, the loader lift capacity is near the top of the class (Kioti beats it a by a little), visibility to the rear implement (especially compared to the Boomer) and of course the color.
What did I learn? Well, I never thought to ask if the 3pt had draft control when I bought it, and the first time I plowed I was surprised to find out it does not. I assumed all three point hitches had draft control (lesson learned). I love the e-hydro for almost everything, but if the proportion of drawbar work to loader/mowing/haying work was any higher for me, I think I'd rather have a shuttle shift. Luckily I have since picked up a JD 720 diesel that can be used for the heavier drawbar work. The hydrostatic consumes a lot of HP when pulling hard. And if I had it to do again, I probably would have spent the extra money and moved up to the 4720. Not that I run out of power, just that it bugs me that I can't "upgrade" an otherwise identical tractor to the higher horsepower and I didn't really think it through during the purchase decision. I wish Deere (or the aftermarket) would offer a kit to upgrade the Hp. And lastly, I have used a lot of B20 biodiesel in the tractor and it swelled my fuel tank and made the hood not fit quite right and it weakened the plastic in the fuel fill door so that the spring broke and does not work any more (gravity does the job). I mentioned these problems to the dealer and they said it should be okay to run B20 but I'm sure that is what caused my problems.
I'll start. I bought a JD 4120 in 2006. Has almost 1500 hours on it now. At the time I looked at Kubota and New Holland in the same size/Hp. There are good dealers for each within 30 miles of my home. Briefly looked at Kioti but they did not have an HST transmission available in their equivalent at the time. Also tried to find a dealer that carried MF and didn't find one close.
I wanted a tractor that would do a wide variety of tasks, maybe not as well as a purpose built machine, but well enough to only own a single piece of equipment (sold two other tractors and a crawler loader/backhoe). This means finish mowing, snow removal, grading driveways, excavating, landscaping, brush hogging, plowing, discing, tilling, hauling/splitting wood, mowing/baling hay. Size wise I am happy with my selection. It's just big enough to get the jobs done, but not so big I can't mow the lawn. I am always amazed at how much work one can accomplish with these 4WD CUTs (I call them toy tractors)
As far as brand, I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a Boomer, then my dealer came down a little on the price of the Deere. What sold me on the Deere even though it was still a little more costly was the bigger 2.4L turbo charged engine which developed its power a lower RPM (=longevity I think), the ease with which the loader goes on and off (which happens frequently), the E-hydro, dealer and parts support (to me Deere is hard to beat for those), the most hydraulic pump capacity I could find in a CUT that size, the loader lift capacity is near the top of the class (Kioti beats it a by a little), visibility to the rear implement (especially compared to the Boomer) and of course the color.
What did I learn? Well, I never thought to ask if the 3pt had draft control when I bought it, and the first time I plowed I was surprised to find out it does not. I assumed all three point hitches had draft control (lesson learned). I love the e-hydro for almost everything, but if the proportion of drawbar work to loader/mowing/haying work was any higher for me, I think I'd rather have a shuttle shift. Luckily I have since picked up a JD 720 diesel that can be used for the heavier drawbar work. The hydrostatic consumes a lot of HP when pulling hard. And if I had it to do again, I probably would have spent the extra money and moved up to the 4720. Not that I run out of power, just that it bugs me that I can't "upgrade" an otherwise identical tractor to the higher horsepower and I didn't really think it through during the purchase decision. I wish Deere (or the aftermarket) would offer a kit to upgrade the Hp. And lastly, I have used a lot of B20 biodiesel in the tractor and it swelled my fuel tank and made the hood not fit quite right and it weakened the plastic in the fuel fill door so that the spring broke and does not work any more (gravity does the job). I mentioned these problems to the dealer and they said it should be okay to run B20 but I'm sure that is what caused my problems.