First time tractor buyer

[todd_arganti]

I have a small 7 acre track that consists of 3 acres of open yard mowing and 4 acres of choke cherry and standing timber that has approx. 150 small pines mixed in that someone once planted. I need to mow my yard and want to clear the scrub from around the pines and give them a chance to grow. Additionally, I have dirt to move and I take care of a five acre field that I plant for the deer and turkey. Currently I use borrowed or rented stuff and I am ready to make the investment on my own equipment. I have been looking at the Kioti CK20 and the Farmtrac 270dtc both 4wd with FEL and mowers. They are both around 16k with the Kioti being about 1500 more. Any suggestions on what I should be watching out for?

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Depending on your budget you will find lots of willing volunteers to help you spend every cent you have.

For mowing & FEL work I strongly prefer a hydrostatic transmission. The tasks will get done faster with a hydro. I know the Kioti has a HST option. Reports on this forum say the Kioti is a really nice tractor, no dealer in my area so I don't know that. In that same size class you might also want to look at the Kubota 7500 and the New Holland TC18 or TC24. Deere has the 4110 (I think that is about a 20hp). All of the machines I mentioned are available with a Hydro transmission.

The curved loader arms on the TC18 or TC 24 and the Kioti CK20 are very nice, provide better visibility for your work than the straight arm loaders. I have a curved arm loader on my TC24 and traditional loader on my Kubota B2910, from experience I can tell you the curved arms, combined with the sloping hood of the NH makes for a MUCH better view of the loader bucket and faster loader work.

The NH TC tractors have a lot of little features that raise the price, but might be worth it to you? Kubota also has a deluxe unit, the B2410 which is similar to the TC24 in features, both are 24hp units.

 

[Inspector507]

NH now longer offers a TC18, they do offer the TC21DA and the TC24DA though /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
The sub-compact line does have the TZ18DA and a TZ24DA

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Oops, I thought the TC21 got dropped and they kept the TC18. The 21 would be a better comparison to the Kioti CK20.

I didn't think a Sub-CUT like the TZ series would be appropriate given some of the tasks mentioned in the initial posting. That was why I stayed away from them as well as the BX series. I also stayed away from the Chinese tractors because of their lack of HST transmission and because the 2 primary jobs (mowing and FEL work) are much better done with hydro. Further, the Chinese tractors typically come with R1 tires and switching over to R4 or Turf tires adds to their price pretty dramatically and mowing with Ag tires is a good way to make the wife angry! I also only recommended tractors that come standard with 4wd because the tractor will be used for loader work. Not sure about the Farmtrac units being 4wd or not, I know some are 2wd, don't know about the model 270?

 

[GaryS]

I just bought 8 acres and spent the last six weeks shopping various tractors. Most of my land is cleared and I want to continue rough cutting. I wanted a tractor that could handle a 5' brush hog and had a decent FEL. I looked at Deere, New Holland, Kubota, and Massey Ferguson. After waaay too much analysis, I decided on the Massey 1428v hyrdo. After looking for so long I came to the conclusion that for my weekend warrior workload, any of the tractors would work for me. I suspect the same is true for you.

Here's the pricing I got during my tractor shopping:

NH TC30 & 7308fel: 16,400 (the tc29d was 2k more)
Deere 4210 & 420 fel: 17,500
Kubota 7800hst & la402 fel: 15,500
Kubota 3130hst & la513 fel: 18,300
Massey 1428v & 1464 fel: 15,000

I drove'em all, narrowed the choice to the 7800 and the 1428v, and decided on the 1428v for purely subjective reasons. I bought it last week and should be delivered this week.

I didn't price Kioti because the dealer was to far away and I didn't look at Mahindra because I was already in serious tractor overload!

Good luck and enjoy the shopping.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Todd, you say both tractors are around $16K, but what are you getting with them? The CK20 with an FEL should be somewhere between 12,5K and 13,2K I would think. I bought all of my equipment, FEL, BH, and boxblade for $16,681 + tax.
As I only took a cursory look at the Farmtracs, Landtracs etc, I can't really comment on them. They seemed like very good tractors, but the pricing here was higher. I would recommend though that you step up to the LK3054XS with mechanical shuttle as I believe it will carry that 5' mower better than the CK20. Yes, the CK will carry it, but you have a lot of acres to mow and that's a heavier mower. Some of the other work you'll do will be aided by the extra HP as well. Should be able to get the 3054 with FEL in the neighborhood of $15K. I have to disagree with Bob, the HST to me, and I have one, is no better for mowing than anything else. The one thing I feel it is NOT good for is plowing. The 3054 would be better for your feed plots. John

 

[Bob_Skurka]

KiotiJohn . . . we will have to agree to disagree about the HST transmission and its use for mowing. However, suggest that our disagreement may be based on what we mow. Mowing around landscaping, or around buildings, or wherever there is no real chance to make straight runs with the tractor is easier and slightly faster with an HST. Field mowing is really no big deal with either a HST or a gear machine.

And you and I are in total agreement about using a HST machine for plowing, it is simply not designed for that type of work, that is a gear tractor job. But for the food plots I would suggest one of those ATV type cultivators/planter all-in-one units they don't require a lot of HP and are well suited for small tractors. Small CUTs really are not well suited to traditional plowing.

 

[frank_f15]

GET THE ONE THAT FEELS BEST TO YOU. and also remember to get the tractor that is best for most of your uses.

 

[Inspector507]

This is only my personal opinion, but the HST has been great for my mowing and the FEL work. The gear tractor I had before was good, but this is one definate improvement. The gear tractor served it's immediate purpose and now I have what I want. I highly doubt if I'd ever look at a gear tractor again, but that's strictly for my needs and no one else's.

Edit begins here.....
The TC21DA would probably come in at around the same $16K maybe a bit more.

 

[Inspector507]

I'm not familiar with the Farmtrac 270 series. What HP is that?
Make sure you're comparing apples to apples.
Sorry, I just found the HP on the Farmtrac. You're comparing a 27HP unit to a 20HP unit.