Buying Advice Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range

   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #1  

frogracer

Bronze Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2018
Messages
67
Location
Sealy/Columbus, TX
Tractor
NH T4.120 - ArmstrongAg Grapple, Pallet Fork
Hi All - new to the land owning and farming world.

I have purchased 100+ acres for the purpose of restoring the land to native prairie grass. The property is located in the Texas Coastal Plains. I am working with several wildlife management groups in the area to develop a detailed land restoration plan etc. Land is currently partially restored and on its way to bring back the Quail! I will be selling the native grass seed.

After researching and investigating the size of tractor I would need I have settled on 100-120 HP - or abut 85-99 PTO HP. I have gone to several tractor dealers over the past few weeks looking at several machines.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the following tractors, all are model year 2017:

* Kubota - M5 - 111, 12x12
* John Deere - 5100E 12x12
* Case Farmall 100C or 110C 12x12
* New Holland T4.100 or T4.110 12x12
* New Holland T4.120 Demo (110 hours) 24x24 fully loaded 540/540E, HD axels and Loader, wheel weights and water/antifreeze filled tires etc.

(Pricing for the above tractors are all fairly close - the T4.120 fully loaded is only $1000 more than a the lesser spec壇 T4.100)

Kubota and New Holland Dealer are the closet to the land while the others are 20-30 miles further.

I will be using the loader, pallet forks, pulling 14 wide disk, 8 bush hog, 15 batwing bush hog, 2 blade plow, no drill seed planters, seed harvesters, among several other implements.

Your thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated. I am leaning towards the T4.120 as it has the most HP and is the most bang for the buck with the HP and full warranty.

Thank you,
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #2  
Any of these would likely work well for you, but I have a couple of thoughts.

The CaseIH Farmall 100C and T4.100 is the same tractor, as is the t4.110 and the 110C. They are both built by CNH (Case New Holland Corp a division of Fiat). If you were going to go with one of these pick the color/dealer you like, but given the list you described and the pricing on the T4.120 I'd go with that one. A 14' wide disk is fairly large and depending on your soil condition and desired cutting depth you could use the extra horsepower. As my Farmer Dad used to say when he came to similar decisions. "I've never said I wish I had less horsepower for that job, but I've often said the opposite".
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #3  
I went thru nearly this exact issue last year. Was looking at the exact kubota, Deere and cnh. Liked the color and dealer of the case but it’s identical to a new holland besides the paint. The case is for sure the most bang for the buck and comes standard with some great features but the fit and finish wasn’t what I wanted. Cab just felt cheap to me and the 3pt lever wasn’t comfortable.

The kubota felt light and with the 12x12 trans there isn’t a good speed to run a batwing. You’re either at the top of one range or the bottom of the other. No easy way to go back I forth and the steering cylinders are exposed. Also the ergonomics are terrible for me. I’m 5’10” 205 lbs and just didn’t like the fit in it.

The Deere was comfortable to operate. Fit and finsish were excellent and I liked operating it. Ended up ordering a 5100e with the 24/12 trans, buddy seat, 3rd function, right hand door, huge hyd box blade and mx15 batwing. Absolutely love this tractor. Also for the h260 loader and feel it’s a great match for the tractor. Dealer recommended the smaller h240 but we have had zero issues with it so far.

Where’s your place at?

Brett
 
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   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Any of these would likely work well for you, but I have a couple of thoughts.
"I've never said I wish I had less horsepower for that job, but I've often said the opposite".

Agree and I have been hearing this over and over...

NH dealer is much closer and friendlier than the CASE IH dealer - 20 minutes versus 1 hour.

Thanks for your feed back.
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #6  
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thank you
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #8  
I would shy away from the E model from Deere. They seem to be where most of the complaints come from. I call it their Economy model. The New Holland and Case are the same thing, just different paint color. I love the look of the Case, but would be very cautious about buying one. They just don't support their equipment very well. Kubota is over priced, but probably the best support of all the brands out there. I'd look at the Deere M models to compare to the Kubota M models and decide which dealer you prefer.
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I would shy away from the E model from Deere. They seem to be where most of the complaints come from. I call it their Economy model. The New Holland and Case are the same thing, just different paint color. I love the look of the Case, but would be very cautious about buying one. They just don't support their equipment very well. Kubota is over priced, but probably the best support of all the brands out there. I'd look at the Deere M models to compare to the Kubota M models and decide which dealer you prefer.

Good to know - Thanks
 
   / Looking to purchase new or used/demo utility tractor 100HP range #10  
We used to hunt a lot down on the Katy Prairie (duck, goose, and dove) but the fire ants had wiped out the quail. I guess the crazy ants have displaced them and while the quail are safe, your electrical boxes are not. That is a great area.

My wife and I recently bought an 85 acre place near College Station for our future retirement. The land is pretty beat up from 100 years of cows so we are going to disk and drag the real rough spots and start a regenerative cover crop rotation to help with moisture retention and get some nitrogen and organic material back into the soil and then start planting pecan trees for an eventual orchard operation. Went through the same (but a little smaller) thing looking for a tractor. As a warning, be careful on the used side, I ran across a couple of flood tractors that were not listed as such. Would not want one of them on a dare. A couple of the real (not a guy selling used tractors out of his yard) dealers also warned about them. Said that you can make them run for a while, but said that there is no way you can warranty them and they did not want a bunch of pissed off customers just to make a buck or two. We ended up going with a Kioti 73 HP cab model, really liked their 110 HP model but did not want the pleasure (sarcasm mode) of having another thing using DEF juice after dealing with my truck that uses it. Have you looked at the Zetor tractors? I heard some good things about them but dealer support is not strong near me and I would have to buy a new truck/trailer to haul it because they are quite a bit heavier than what I can deal with.
 
 
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