Tom_H said:
I would posit that the average homeowner also does not live on 4 acres of property as you do. The average homeowner has several hundred square feet of turf to mow and that's it; so the average homeowner doesn't need a BX. Living in the country simply is a lot of work. I remember the old TV show, Green Acres with Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, about a city dude who decides to go live this idyllic life in the country. Turned out to be harder than he realized. Sir, I say this with no disrespect, but life in the country isn't for everybody. My political views differ greatly from the average person on this board, but I share the love of country life most of them have and share the love most of them have about putting in hard work on the land. Life in the country is hard, but I love it and wouldn't go back to living in the city for anything.
Tom, "sweet" post (meaning "very good" post). I am a city boy who moved out to the country two years ago (my lot size went from a flat cookie-cutter 40' x 145' to 5 acres most of which is on an old river bank (glacial morraine)). I bought a garden tractor (JD) and after less than a year, started burning out the transmission. I talked to various dealers, and after a bit of research, knew I needed, at a minimum, something like the BX 1500. I went with the BX 2230 because of the hills and wanting something that could tug lots of rock and dirt up and down those hills.
Like the OP, I am not someone who is either mechanically or agriculturally inclined. Limited to a little scrap of lawn and a few flowers, I can make do. I also used to practice law (trial attorney) and worked 60 hours a week or more. Now, I never work more than 50, and usually not more than 40 (changed careers to family therapist).
After two years in the country, at this point all I can say is this: I can't imagine living in the city ever again. I am learning how to take proper care of my tractor. I am learning how to regrade long gravel driveways, use the FEL as a poor man's plow buy churning the soil for new vegetable and flower gardens that, by themselves, are as large as my old yard. I am learning to push large snow piles, and clear two little forests of a decades-old infestation of buckthorn. Most of all, I have a new and tremendous respect for farmers. This forum has taught me that farmers are their own engineers, welding bits and pieces of metal together all the time to make tools that are not available or to save a load of money.
To the original poster, I am sorry for your bad experience with your dealer. I don't know if you have any other choices, but if you do, look around. I have a tractor dealer (Agco/Massey Ferguson) who's sign I can easily see from my front yard--his place is only a few hundred feet down the road from mine (not exaggerating). I wanted to buy a tractor from him (they seem like good guys there, and it would have been nice to be able to drive down the road for parts and maintenance work) and even borrowed one for a weekend to see if I wanted to buy it. In the end, Kubota seemed more reliable and had better resale value for what I wanted, but even more importantly, the Kubota dealer seemed to actually want my business, whereas the neighbor dealer seemed to expect my business (wouldn't negotiate a decent deal on his little tractor--which is still sitting in front of his store more than a year later) and then refused to work on my Kubota even though I've seen other Kubotas in their shop. Oh well. Sometimes you just have to look a little to get what you want. My dealer is fantastic. In fact, I would have to say at this point, they are the most competent and honest dealers of any vehicle I have ever owned. I would rather pay the shipping to send my tractor over 20 miles at this point than drive a tractor 500 feet to the dealer down my road.
