Buying Advice Advice on Tractor purchase and needs

[elginfarm]

Hello all. So far I've taken a lot of good advice from all of the posts and replies in the various forums.
I am purchasing 15 acres of property. All flat some trees. The plan is to retire there in the next 2-3 yrs. and board some horses in addition to ours.
10 of the acres will continue to be farmed until we move there.
The other five will be for the house and the outbuildings. I need to maintain the five for now and plan to put up a building for equipment storage.
I want a tractor that I can use for mowing brush, digging ditches, footing and utility trenches as well as grooming pastures and indoor and outdoor arenas.
I'm considering a used JD 4300 with the loader and backhoe already installed. I figure I can get the other equipment used or at auction. I am open to all suggestions and advice. Will the 4300 have enough horsepower to do what I want or should I consider going bigger. I don't think I can afford a new tractor and this one is within my budget, but I don't want to not have enough tractor down the road.
Thanks in advance.

 

[SteveM]

I think the 4300 is fine sized for taking care of the 5 acres you have now....surely mowing 15 acres (give or take) with anything less than an 8' mower will take some serious time, but perhaps those local farmers can help with field mowing once you move on the place - or maybe enough horses and grazing stock will keep things down. I have 20acres right around my house, cant imagine the size machine I would need to own if I mowed it myself. (it is commercially farmed to keep it in order). Anyhow, no one tractor can do everything, and the tractor you have found seems perfect for many of the tasks ahead.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That tractor will handle a 5' cutter easily and mow up to 3-4 acres per hour depending on conditions.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

I have 80 acres and a 4310 (the 4300's replacement) The horses keep much of the mowing done, so that a 5' cutter should do fine to keep up.

Which loader and backhoe?

Which transmission on the 4300? Is it MFWD (deerespeak for 4WD...) You will want either the reverser or hydro transmission (the 4300 also came with a collar shift, which won't be as well suited. If it is 2Wd I'd keep looking...

Don't assume that you can't afford new. Get a bid on it, the financing is very attractive, and these machines hold their value very well. Often times financing a new unit is a great option.

But the 4300 should do a great job.

 

[elginfarm]

E-hydro trans, 420 loader and 447 backhoe. 4 wd

 

[rockyridgefarm]

OK. 4WD and eHydro are real pluses. The 47 hoe is what I have. It is a great hoe for me, since our frost line is 18". If you are in the great white north, it might be a a little small. It'll go 7.5' deep (I'll bet 8' if you bump it...) But you sure won't have much reach... We have plenty of operators, so we have a driver and hoe operator whenever we trench and it works well. If just one, the operator runs over top the rear tires when switching, a lot easier than getting off and climbing back on...

Another great thing is that you can reach most everything in the front from the rear seat...

To me, the biggest issue with the 47 is that you can't use it on anything but the 4300/4400 and 4310/4410. That kinda hurts its resale value a bit, but there are a lot of those out there...

The 420 loader is a bit of a letdown. It is light duty. The 430 is better suited to more things like unloading pallets, or small round bales.

I already mentioned that MFWD is a MUST.

 

[elginfarm]

Now I'm really getting stressed out over this prospective purchase. That tractor is 200 miles away. There is a nice 4600 and a 4310 only 50 miles away. Both have low hours and e-hydro. MFWD and loaders but no backhoe. I really think that I will have use for the BH. I think a BH at the JD dealer is around 6K. That will really stretch my budget to the max and I will still need a bush hog and post hole digger.
Anybody have any other thoughts?
Thanks.

 

[AKfish]

Couple of thoughts.... How about an aftermarket model of BH? Woods, etc. Might save a grand or so that route.

How about renting a small track hoe for the BH work? Do you foresee needing/using a BH for projects that are likely to stretch out for several years? If that's a yes, then investing in a BH is likely a good option for you. If no; then you might want to seriously consider renting.

A low hour tractor with a good dealer only 50 miles away sounds like a better situation than a unit 200 miles away.

You'd also get your projects underway this Spring season and begin to look at how/what you need to prioritize on your property. My .02 sence. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Akfish

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Buy the 4310. For the hoe, as AKfish said rent or even buy a mini excavator. You usually can find them cheap enough, and can sell it for what you pay for it.

If it has the 430 loader; I would get the 4310. It is ehydro, the 00's aren't. You can really benefit from it. It gives you loadmatch which really makes loader work go well. And you can inexpensively add SpeedMatch, which will gice you a creeper gear. With the 430 loader, you can handle small round bales very well, and they would be nice for the operation that you describe.

All of this is a compromise. If you wait the perfect deal might come a long. There is stll the new route, did you notice they are offering 0% for 36 months?

 

[rockyridgefarm]

in an earlier response I played along on the 4300 having eHydro, my mistake! eHydro was introduced in the TEN series. No eHydro means no LoadMatch - without LoadMatchl; I don't think you'd be as happy with a 4300.

eHydro is electronoc control. The earlier machines were thought by many as too stiff in their pedal opertation.

The 4600 doesn't have it, either, but they have enough 'grunt' that it would be ok.

There is a lot of info on the TEN series in the links that are in the JDFAQ, down in JD Owning and Operating.