buying 1st first tractor, L4701 or mx5200...or?

[ning]

I've been looking at buying, also in California (personally I'd prefer to buy nearly-new used, but go ahead and look for ~35hp tractors in California on tractorhouse.com and be amazed at the variety available - not! - so I'm going to probably buy new).

At one point I was considering buying from an Oregon dealership as their price was a tad lower than my local dealer, plus there's no sales tax in Oregon. Considering driving my truck costs me about 30 cents per mile (empty - total cost - fuel oil tires repairs etc), a $650 shipping bill was going to be about the same cost as renting a trailer, driving up and getting it; so this was under consideration as tax on a $35k tractor is well over $2k... until I was told by another dealer (copy-paste from a dealer's email):

... if you do live in CA and you are using the tractor for 51% or more for any kind of farm use; garden, orchard, livestock, or even chickens, you can qualify for 2.25% agricultural sales tax.​

I'm not commercial, but I do have ~70 fruit trees and ~30 chickens and a large garden, so I think I can claim with a straight face that I qualify for the ag sales tax, which makes the out-of-state price (plus shipping but no tax) just barely less than a local (+ag tax), so I figure if I buy, I'll buy local for the local dealer's goodwill (should be worth a couple hundred bucks).

 

[mopardude318]

Over a month and nine pages of very good tractor forum advice and no actual hands-on time with any of the equipment yet? Mopar, you need to go kick some tires!

I know! I need to get out there and get some time on these machines!

Word of advice, on your screen, click on the "my home" button, with the gear symbol above it, that will take you to "my settings" screen. from there click on the "general settings" tab located on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to "thread display options" and then increase the "number of posts to show per page" to the max, (40 posts per page). click save. you will thank me later. much easier to view threads without having to click through so many pages!!

If you use any implement regularly then it often makes sense to spend a bit more and get an upgraded version that makes life easier. However, for someone who uses something like a boxblade to do one or two smallish projects (a few days or so) each year and doesn't use it "on a regular basis" then it might make more sense to just get the basic version which will do pretty much exactly the same work albeit with a bit more operator dismounting and ripper adjustment time. The savings ($1500 in this case comparing the quoted hydraulic BB to what a plain old reliable Woods BB72 costs) need to be considered especially as $1500 (or even $500) might well buy you another implement that makes a bigger difference to your productivity than hydraulic rippers. YMMV and certainly I'd be looking into hydraulic rippers if I was rebuilding or maintaining a long driveway but I doubt the payback is there unless the implement is used "on a regular basis" (as you stated). In my case, instead of a hydraulic BB, I got a plain Woods and had budget left over to buy a SSQA tree boom (very useful), a set of frame mounted forks and still had money left for a hydraulic topping lift. Those three items saved my back far more efficiently than a hydraulic BB would have.

I'd just advise noobies to think carefully about what tasks they really will be spending a lot of time on regularly and what special tasks they might need to do occasionally. Buy implements that match your real needs. Tough to think that sort of analysis through if you've never owned a tractor before but it is time well spent before shelling out money either for inadequate implements or excessively expensive implements.

I do have a 3/4 mile long driveway that gets chewed up pretty regularly..I have a feeling I will be using that box blade quite often, as I do have other needs for it. In my mind, I think the hydraulic diggers are worth the extra cost. I'm willing to spend the extra 1k-1500 bucks for it. They also add some weight to the implement, which is a good thing, no?

I've been looking at buying, also in California (personally I'd prefer to buy nearly-new used, but go ahead and look for ~35hp tractors in California on tractorhouse.com and be amazed at the variety available - not! - so I'm going to probably buy new).

At one point I was considering buying from an Oregon dealership as their price was a tad lower than my local dealer, plus there's no sales tax in Oregon. Considering driving my truck costs me about 30 cents per mile (empty - total cost - fuel oil tires repairs etc), a $650 shipping bill was going to be about the same cost as renting a trailer, driving up and getting it; so this was under consideration as tax on a $35k tractor is well over $2k... until I was told by another dealer (copy-paste from a dealer's email):

...if you do live in CA and you are using the tractor for 51% or more for any kind of farm use; garden, orchard, livestock, or even chickens, you can qualify for 2.25% agricultural sales tax.

I don't even wanna get into this used tractor market in CA right now, everyones prices are way high. I feel I fall under this Ag tax qualification, but I don't have the "exempt" paperwork to "back" up my claim with this yanmar dealer...the Kubota dealer has no problem charging the 2% Ag tax.

All in all, I realize I need to open my wallet more, so I'm almost at 10K cash I set aside the past few months for a down payment..Im willing to finance the other 35K as payments wont or shouldn't be out of hand expensive...considering I can get 0% for 72 months some of these guys are offering...

But I will get out there and try and operate some of these machines if they are willing to let me. Some of these saleguys seem like sticklers...

I appreciate everyones reply thus far. Thank you.

 

[ericm979]

I'm wishing I had the hydraulic rippers. The Gearmore BB I got has a manual lever to operate all the rippers together. It was a few hundred more than the traditional individual ripper model. The hydraulic rippers were a few hundred more. I've been leveling out an additional garden area and using the rippers for some of it. The other day I realized that the lever is positioned so you can operate it from the seat. I twisted around and tried to raise the rippers and re-injured a rib injury that I thought had healed. Oops. Now it hurts to get out of bed or run a chainsaw or laugh. Wouldn't have happened had I spent the extra $200.

$3k+ for a box blade sounds high. Mine was about half that for 66" and it's pretty burly.

 

[mopardude318]

today I went and "test drove" the first tractor...a New Holland Workmaster 50, around the dealer lot. 8x8 synchro shuttle....about 5000 lb weight...Not sure how I feel about it, maybe just..."Meh" if you will. LOL. Didnt exactly get me excited. Not sure how I feel about constantly feathering the clutch for loader work...

The last couple weeks, I have been thinking about the Mahindra MPower 85 as well, 83 HP, a hefty 7000 lb weight, 4100 lb loader lift, 5500 lb 3ph...Big guy. LOL But it also has a synchro shuttle 12x12.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I bought the exact same tractor back in May of 16. No issues at 100 hours other than losing a small bolt that attaches the brake lever when brush hogging. It has R4's tires. The 621 FEL is very strong. It's rated at 3550# to full height and 2200# at 800 mm to full height.

The MPower 85 is more tractor and a lot heavier. It will be 8-10K more than the 50. Nice one priced in Ohio on Tractor House for $35K.

I use my 50 to finish mow with so I wanted lighter weight. The 50, 60, and 70 are the same tractor with different HP ratings. So far I've been pleased with the performance of mine. With the forks and grapple very useful around the farm.

If I was in the market for a cabbed tractor I would look at the MPower 85 and the New Holland T4 series. The MPower 85 is a lot of tractor for the money.

 

[motownbrowne]

It's worth noting the implement prices once you start taking about tractors that size. I can't recall what you're planning on doing with this machine, but when you start looking at tillers, discs, mowers etc that will be a good fit behind an 80 HP tractor, you'd better be seated when you get the quotes. A tractor like that Mahindra will crumple a back blade that didn't cost $2k new into a beer can of you aren't real careful with it.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

It's worth noting the implement prices once you start taking about tractors that size. I can't recall what you're planning on doing with this machine, but when you start looking at tillers, discs, mowers etc that will be a good fit behind an 80 HP tractor, you'd better be seated when you get the quotes. A tractor like that Mahindra will crumple a back blade that didn't cost $2k new into a beer can of you aren't real careful with it.

I would actually say that new implements that work well behind a 75+ HP machine start in the $3000 range and go up from there. And honestly, if you go with lighter duty stuff, pretty much just throwing $$$$ away. BTDT. :ashamed:

 

[mike69440]

today I went and "test drove" the first tractor...a New Holland Workmaster 50, around the dealer lot. 8x8 synchro shuttle....about 5000 lb weight...Not sure how I feel about it, maybe just..."Meh" if you will. LOL. Didnt exactly get me excited. Not sure how I feel about constantly feathering the clutch for loader work...

The last couple weeks, I have been thinking about the Mahindra MPower 85 as well, 83 HP, a hefty 7000 lb weight, 4100 lb loader lift, 5500 lb 3ph...Big guy. LOL But it also has a synchro shuttle 12x12.

Is that the used one out of state for sale? Syncro 12 X 12 Shuttle is not so bad.

 

[mopardude318]

Is that the used one out of state for sale? Syncro 12 X 12 Shuttle is not so bad.

yes, you turned me onto those, then I started lookin. lol. I realize the implements for a larger machine, will be more expensive...

 

[redman135]

Hello mopardude328, if you go for a shuttle gearbox then I recommend you figure out your most commonly used speed range and then check if there is a gear (stick) shift in that range. Constantly changing gears gets old fast.eg JD quad shift. the 140hp tractor has the 20 speed quad shift. For me this means I can mostly use the quad shift within the B or C range, but the 120 hp tractors have the 24 speed quad shift and I find on many jobs that I am shifting between B and C range frequently.