Metropolis_488
New member
- Joined
- May 25, 2007
- Messages
- 8
So I am looking to purchase my first tractor. I have 35 acres, about 30 of which are farmable. I am going to plant it in vineyard. The first year I will only put in about 5 acres and slowly fill out the rest from there.
The work I plan on doing with the tractor is: mowing, post hole digger, rotary tiller, sprayer and a little disc work. The soil is a silt loam. There are some rocks in there, but not too much and the aspect of the land has a good slope to it.
I am very confused as to what I will need from a tractor and have been getting a lot of conflicting information from local tractor salesmen. The local New Holland dealer tells me I need at least 65-70 hp for “real farming” duties and wants to get me into a $30k TN70F. Then a gray-market tractor dealer (about 45 minutes north of me) told me I really don’t need anything more than 20-25 hp and wants to sell me a used gray-market tractor for $5k or so. The local Deere dealer told me that they used to stock New Holland parts and they were more expensive than Deere parts. The New Holland dealer told me he worked a Deere dealership for 10 years and Deere parts are way more expensive than NH parts…which is true?
Purchasing a $30k tractor is not an option for me. Like everyone else, the cheaper the better, but I really do not want to go over $15k. I am intrigued by the gray-market tractors (the local dealer is EFC Construction…I think Buck posts here a lot) but am concerned about parts availability, warranty, etc. etc.
So my question is two-fold: 1) How much hp do I REALLY need and 2) of the tractors listed below, what should I go with? Also, was think that I would hold off on getting a FEL and add it later to defer some of the expense as I should not be needing it for the first two years or so.
Here are tractors I thought may work for me (but if everyone tells me that these are not enough hp, these deals are useless):
New Holland TC30 4WD – gear drive, $12k for the tractor, $14,995 with the FEL.
Kubota L3400 4WD – gear drive, $13,450 for the tractor, $16,950 with the FEL
Kubota L2800 4WD – gear drive, $12,550 for the tractor, $16,010 w/ FEL
Deere 990 4WD – gear drive, $16,659 for the tractor (if I get this, I would hold off on the loader for sure)
Deere 790 4WD – gear drive, $12,029 for the tractor, $15,594 w/FEL.
Also give some opinions on the gray-market tractors (Yanmar, Mitsubishi, etc.)
By the way, I have no idea why Deere dealerships charge above MSRP for tractors…
The work I plan on doing with the tractor is: mowing, post hole digger, rotary tiller, sprayer and a little disc work. The soil is a silt loam. There are some rocks in there, but not too much and the aspect of the land has a good slope to it.
I am very confused as to what I will need from a tractor and have been getting a lot of conflicting information from local tractor salesmen. The local New Holland dealer tells me I need at least 65-70 hp for “real farming” duties and wants to get me into a $30k TN70F. Then a gray-market tractor dealer (about 45 minutes north of me) told me I really don’t need anything more than 20-25 hp and wants to sell me a used gray-market tractor for $5k or so. The local Deere dealer told me that they used to stock New Holland parts and they were more expensive than Deere parts. The New Holland dealer told me he worked a Deere dealership for 10 years and Deere parts are way more expensive than NH parts…which is true?
Purchasing a $30k tractor is not an option for me. Like everyone else, the cheaper the better, but I really do not want to go over $15k. I am intrigued by the gray-market tractors (the local dealer is EFC Construction…I think Buck posts here a lot) but am concerned about parts availability, warranty, etc. etc.
So my question is two-fold: 1) How much hp do I REALLY need and 2) of the tractors listed below, what should I go with? Also, was think that I would hold off on getting a FEL and add it later to defer some of the expense as I should not be needing it for the first two years or so.
Here are tractors I thought may work for me (but if everyone tells me that these are not enough hp, these deals are useless):
New Holland TC30 4WD – gear drive, $12k for the tractor, $14,995 with the FEL.
Kubota L3400 4WD – gear drive, $13,450 for the tractor, $16,950 with the FEL
Kubota L2800 4WD – gear drive, $12,550 for the tractor, $16,010 w/ FEL
Deere 990 4WD – gear drive, $16,659 for the tractor (if I get this, I would hold off on the loader for sure)
Deere 790 4WD – gear drive, $12,029 for the tractor, $15,594 w/FEL.
Also give some opinions on the gray-market tractors (Yanmar, Mitsubishi, etc.)
By the way, I have no idea why Deere dealerships charge above MSRP for tractors…