Purchasing a Garden Tractor for my 2 acre yard.

[Lawrencelia]

Hello!

I am looking to purchase a new garden or yard tractor to ease my everyday yard chores as I've just moved in to my new home with a 2.4 acre yard. The yard is mostly flat land with very slight bumps and several trees scattered across. I need a tractor that can mow the lawn and is capable of carrying a rear attached leaf vacuum bag, a rear attached rototiller, and if possible, a rear attached land leveling equipment.

I have been looking at specifically two price ranges; one being a price range of $3000-$5000 and the other being a price range of $5000-8000. For the $3k to $5k price range, it seems to me that the John Deere x304 and Hasqvarna GT48XLS are the leaders of this price range in terms of quality and a lot of other things according to many tractor info sites out there. For the $5k to $8k price range, I am hearing that the John Deere x500 series takes the cake? However, before I jump headfirst in buying, may you guys tell me your thoughts about these specific tractors and if there are even better value tractors out there in your opinions for these price ranges?

Also, for the well informed, may I receive any suggestions on the best attachments (looking at about $1k to $3k each one) for a leaf vacuum, rototiller, and some equipment to level the ground. So far, all I have to go on are these DRPOWER mower attachments, but I'm wondering if there are better quality and value ones that you guys may have looked into before.

DRPOWER Leaf Vacuum: DR Power Tow-Behind Leaf and Lawn Vacuum: Premier 9.59 ft lbs torque
DRPOWER Rototiller: DR Power Roto-Hog PREMIER 9 FPT Tow-Behind Rototiller

Finally, I wanted to apologize ahead of time if I am sounding misinformed about the topic of tractors and I really appreciate any suggestions or advice given on here. Thank you all so much as you are all helping me immensely by posting here, really.

Regards,
Lawrence

 

[Earl Ohl]

Hello!

I am looking to purchase a new garden or yard tractor to ease my everyday yard chores as I've just moved in to my new home with a 2.4 acre yard. The yard is mostly flat land with very slight bumps and several trees scattered across. I need a tractor that can mow the lawn and is capable of carrying a rear attached leaf vacuum bag, a rear attached rototiller, and if possible, a rear attached land leveling equipment.

I have been looking at specifically two price ranges; one being a price range of $3000-$5000 and the other being a price range of $5000-8000. For the $3k to $5k price range, it seems to me that the John Deere x304 and Hasqvarna GT48XLS are the leaders of this price range in terms of quality and a lot of other things according to many tractor info sites out there. For the $5k to $8k price range, I am hearing that the John Deere x500 series takes the cake? However, before I jump headfirst in buying, may you guys tell me your thoughts about these specific tractors and if there are even better value tractors out there in your opinions for these price ranges?

Also, for the well informed, may I receive any suggestions on the best attachments (looking at about $1k to $3k each one) for a leaf vacuum, rototiller, and some equipment to level the ground. So far, all I have to go on are these DRPOWER mower attachments, but I'm wondering if there are better quality and value ones that you guys may have looked into before.

DRPOWER Leaf Vacuum: DR Power Tow-Behind Leaf and Lawn Vacuum: Premier 9.59 ft lbs torque
DRPOWER Rototiller: DR Power Roto-Hog PREMIER 9 FPT Tow-Behind Rototiller

Finally, I wanted to apologize ahead of time if I am sounding misinformed about the topic of tractors and I really appreciate any suggestions or advice given on here. Thank you all so much as you are all helping me immensely by posting here, really.

Regards,
Lawrence

Check out Kubota BX series tractors.

 

[davesl708]

Both the John Deere and Husqvarna have good track records. As to the attachments others may be better able to advise. I used to have a 30yr old John Deere 100 and 36" rototiller. Lasted a long time and did great work.

 

[Carl_NH]

Welcome to TBN!

Your selection of the Husky and John Deere are good basic level garden tractors then the Deere 500/700 series are the next level with more attachments available. If you intend to do rototilling, and leveling, I would stick with the higher end machines or get a older used JD 318 or Cub Cadet 1800-3000 series with the attachments included probably for $3K range.

Depending on your soil, a rototiller can beat up a Garden Tractor - I had one on my Cub Cadet 1811 and in our rocky soil it really beat up the tractor so I sold it.

For what you will spend for a Garden Tractor like the Deere 500/700 you can get a used Kubota BX series with a mower and likely a loader that will do a lot more and also get a 3 Point Rototiller in the future. Expect to pay about $7-10K for a decent BX used with 200-500 hours.

Your resale on the Kubota in 5 years will be good too, versus the new Husky or JD304, in 5 years they will be worth $1200-1500.

 

[mkreitler]

The KUBOTA BX SERIES is your BEST BET in MY opinion just remember that making the rite decision the first time around pays. Good luck with your decision in the new year!

 

[Lawrencelia]

Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate it. Keeping what you've all said in mind, though I desperately would love to own a Kubota BX Series, I am against buying anything used under my current circumstances. Instead, I've decided to follow through with a tractor from the John Deere X500 series as I am hoping that it is enough to get the job done.

Is there a specific JD X500 model that is most bang for your buck in terms of quality or can I pretty much pick or choose any of them because they are all great?

Also, if anyone may, could some experienced people please recommend me a quality leaf vacuum rear bagger? So far, I'm stuck on which one leaf vacuum I should go with; a Cyclone Rake, DRPOWER, or just a JD one. Any comments on this would be appreciated!

EDIT: Actually, may someone estimate for me the cost of how much a brand new Kubota BX Series tractor is? Their dealership website doesn't seem to post up their prices.

 

[davesl708]

This is what I found on Kubota's website for a BX2370 with the listed attachments.
Hope this helps.
BTW. A used Kubota can last for decades with regular maintenance. My BX 2200 is 11 yrs old with only 1287 hours. 10,000 hrs is not unheard of.



Image of product is a representative image and may not depict the exact product being configured.

Total Configured Price
$19,731.00





View Standard Features


1 FRONT - 18x8.50-10 R3 OTR Grass Master
REAR - 26x12.00-12 R3 Titan Multi Tracinc.

1 60" SIDE DISCHARGE 3-BLADE FINISHING MOWER$2,050.00

1 QUICK HITCH SUBFRAME$604.00

1 MID PTO DRIVELINE KIT$624.00

1 FOUR POSITION CONTROL VALVE$656.00

1 47" ROTARY SWEEPER W/MANUAL ANGLE$1,938.00

1 60" BOOT KIT FOR RCK60B23BX$165.00

1 3-BAG GRASS CATCHER 9.5 BU. CAPACITY$1,968.00

 

[texas42]

For a leaf vacuum I highly recommend the Cyclone Rake. I've had one for 5 years, works great, great customer service and easy to use. Much more capacity than a mounted grass catcher.

 

[roadhunter]

Might consider 2 pieces of equipment. Mowing will be much faster with a zero turn mower and you would have the option to get something bigger and more useful for tilling, FEL, and dirt work.

 

[Carl_NH]

Lawrence,

For the JD500 I would stick with the standard X500 at $5800 with 48" deck. The price to go the x530 @ $7500 for liquid cooling and power steering and hydraulic lift is a big jump. Also I think the 4 Wheel steering is interesting but adds complexity.

On attachments, I would look at the Cyclone Rake - they have good reviews, or a Trac Vac collection system - they will run you about $1600-2000 range. Then a powered tow behind tiller you could add later on.

In my experience a tiller powered by the tractor is nice, but it is more complex to take on and off, and you limit your resale vs a towed model. I don't have experience with a tow model and how they perform - perhaps others do.

Caral