Geotech
Silver Member
Hello all,
I've been reading plenty of posts and the general info has been very useful. I'm getting down to the brass tacks for a purchase in about 5 months from now.
I've got 24 acres in east Texas with lots of hardwoods and no pasture (not yet - maybe not ever). I have a 2,000+ ft long drive in rough condition and lots of brush to clear. Will also build a very small dam/culvert-bridge to cross a spring fed creek. The soil across the entire property is sand. I live in town 1.5 hours away and the tractor will probably get used 2 to 4 times a month when I visit the property. I will store it onsite in a shipping container. I don't NEED a tractor -just want one so I can do these tasks at my leisure but with higher productivity than doing it by hand. Whichever tractor I get, I will also get a grapple, box blade and rotary cutter. The latter two attachments might be purchased used. I am considering the following tractors:
Kioti CK3510 or 4010 from Cosper Tractor or Four Brothers Outdoor Power Equipment
LS XG3135 or 3140 from Cosper Tractor
New Holland Workmaster 35 (LS Equivalent) from Four Bros.
Branson 3520 from Big Red's Tractors or Big Tex Tractors
The Kioti seems the most attractive in terms of value and perceived quality/reliability. The LS and Workmaster are very close to the Kioti but I didn't like how the LS on the lot wouldn't throttle up...probably no big deal, but not a good omen when the machine on the lot needs a repair. The people at Cosper Tractor are very helpful, old school, straight up guys. Every time I have been to Four Bros. nobody has acknowledged my presence, though I did not request help. Young sounding guys on the phone at Four Bros. don't seem to know any more about their product than I do. Cosper has been selling Kioti for 20+ years. Four Bros. started about 5 years ago. Cosper is about 30 min from my house and Four Bros is about 30 min from my property where the tractor will be. Only a handful of good and genuine appearing reviews to be found for Cosper online. Online complaints on Four Brothers seem to be about their service -particularly at their branch near my property -mostly with mowers and smaller tools, though.
The Branson seems to have the best specs per dollar and is basically one frame class higher. However, when I visited Big Red's, which by most accounts is primarily a Branson dealer, they pushed me toward the Massey Ferguson they are carrying and were kind of talking bad about parts lead time on Branson causing them to migrate. I have not visited Big Tex yet, but cannot find anything but sterling reviews for them online - literally 73 google reviews with 5 stars. No BBB reviews to be found. I find it hard to believe that there are no dissatisfied customers at Big Tex. A good web admin can work some magic with online reviews... Big Red's has some complaints, but they are mostly due to not refunding deposits to customers who changed their mind and thought they were unclear about the deposit policy. The fact that there are four complaints about this indicates the dealer is not very customer friendly, especially when the complaints appear unique to them and not other dealers. I don't have a warm fuzzy with Big Red's or the "perfect" Big Tex.
Does anyone have first or second hand experience/knowledge about any of these dealers? I'm also open to discussion on my model picks. FYI, I've eliminated Kubota due primarily to their huge disparity in loader ability given the same price/model range.
I've been reading plenty of posts and the general info has been very useful. I'm getting down to the brass tacks for a purchase in about 5 months from now.
I've got 24 acres in east Texas with lots of hardwoods and no pasture (not yet - maybe not ever). I have a 2,000+ ft long drive in rough condition and lots of brush to clear. Will also build a very small dam/culvert-bridge to cross a spring fed creek. The soil across the entire property is sand. I live in town 1.5 hours away and the tractor will probably get used 2 to 4 times a month when I visit the property. I will store it onsite in a shipping container. I don't NEED a tractor -just want one so I can do these tasks at my leisure but with higher productivity than doing it by hand. Whichever tractor I get, I will also get a grapple, box blade and rotary cutter. The latter two attachments might be purchased used. I am considering the following tractors:
Kioti CK3510 or 4010 from Cosper Tractor or Four Brothers Outdoor Power Equipment
LS XG3135 or 3140 from Cosper Tractor
New Holland Workmaster 35 (LS Equivalent) from Four Bros.
Branson 3520 from Big Red's Tractors or Big Tex Tractors
The Kioti seems the most attractive in terms of value and perceived quality/reliability. The LS and Workmaster are very close to the Kioti but I didn't like how the LS on the lot wouldn't throttle up...probably no big deal, but not a good omen when the machine on the lot needs a repair. The people at Cosper Tractor are very helpful, old school, straight up guys. Every time I have been to Four Bros. nobody has acknowledged my presence, though I did not request help. Young sounding guys on the phone at Four Bros. don't seem to know any more about their product than I do. Cosper has been selling Kioti for 20+ years. Four Bros. started about 5 years ago. Cosper is about 30 min from my house and Four Bros is about 30 min from my property where the tractor will be. Only a handful of good and genuine appearing reviews to be found for Cosper online. Online complaints on Four Brothers seem to be about their service -particularly at their branch near my property -mostly with mowers and smaller tools, though.
The Branson seems to have the best specs per dollar and is basically one frame class higher. However, when I visited Big Red's, which by most accounts is primarily a Branson dealer, they pushed me toward the Massey Ferguson they are carrying and were kind of talking bad about parts lead time on Branson causing them to migrate. I have not visited Big Tex yet, but cannot find anything but sterling reviews for them online - literally 73 google reviews with 5 stars. No BBB reviews to be found. I find it hard to believe that there are no dissatisfied customers at Big Tex. A good web admin can work some magic with online reviews... Big Red's has some complaints, but they are mostly due to not refunding deposits to customers who changed their mind and thought they were unclear about the deposit policy. The fact that there are four complaints about this indicates the dealer is not very customer friendly, especially when the complaints appear unique to them and not other dealers. I don't have a warm fuzzy with Big Red's or the "perfect" Big Tex.
Does anyone have first or second hand experience/knowledge about any of these dealers? I'm also open to discussion on my model picks. FYI, I've eliminated Kubota due primarily to their huge disparity in loader ability given the same price/model range.
