Re: MF/Kubota/Case/NH/Deere - I\'m Confused
Way to go Duckman! I think I have settled on a dealer and a machine too. Changed gears a bit and went to the New Holland dealer for the first time. I was impressed with his dealership (loved just walking around looking at the old tractors and thinking about the farms they must have worked on and looking at all the new and huge machinery, a lot of which I didn't even recognize.) He had a lot of tractors in the lot, though neither the 26 nor the 33 I was contemplating.. Anyway, I think I have a deal on a new NH 26 machine. The dealer (Eklund Farm Equipment) is a little closer to me than the others. Relatives have been dealing with them for about a half century and they say they stand behind their products. I am a little leery about dealing with a dealer that is 30 miles away but hopefully, once I get into the swing of maintenence, I'll be able to buy a bunch of stuff and have it ready. I chickened out of a backhoe because of the cost, so it's a 26 with industrials, loader, 3 pt. finish mower and 36 months at 0%. To all the other dealers I've been driving crazy over the past couple years, many of you were very helpful, some of you didn't seem very interested in tractors, and most of you will be glad you won't be seeing me anymore ;-)
The final decision on the 26 over the 33 came down to cost and size. If I went for the 33, I would have popped for the supersteer as well, and the monthly payment was too big. The size of the 26 seems just right to me, and though the wider stance of the 33 would be a help, the extra weight would probably create some problems mowing. Once I get this machine I hope to never again be doing the kind of research I went through on this purchase. I thought a tractor was a simple piece of equipment like a computer going in, LOL.
It does bother me that we had John Deere, Kubota, Cub Cadet Ford-New Holland and God-knows-what-else locally here when there was nothing here. Now that the area is growing like crazy, most of the dealers are 30-50 miles away. There is still a local Deere dealer, and I like the dealership, but they seem to be moving away from diesel tractors and selling mostly lawn and garden tractors, cars and trucks.
Good luck to all. I'm looking forward to actually trying to do some work with a machine rather than reading about them.