Informed opinions needed

[RobJ]

As to the new v. used question, yes there are numerous used tractors for sale, but I'm no expert on judging how well the machine has been maintained etc. I've done maintenance on my diesel trucks, and on my other vehicles, but how someone has maintained their equipment is a large question mark that I don't have the expertise to judge.

I've always bought new automobiles and trucks, and then kept the vehicles for 10+ years making sure that they're well maintained, and keeping the documents for resale. In this case, there won't be another tractor in my lifetime, at least not for working the land, so making payments for 5 years, although painful, is an easier pill to swallow than trashing my savings for a used tractor that will cost almost as much. I peruse tractorhouse.com quite a bit, and most of the newer CUTs seem to hold their value very well-or else the owners are very proud of them. The one's under $12K seem to be pretty well used.

As to the "free money" line, interest rates are by definition the cost of money. Borrowing at 0% when inflation is officially at 6.5% is actually better than free. Kubota is losing on the money because it's getting paid back in currency of less value over the length of the loan.

Anyway, thanks again for all the input, it has been very helpful.

If you are looking used, ask if they are a TBN member. If yes then the tractor has been lightly used and well cared for!! Otherwise you have to be patient. 4-5 months for me but for $5k I got the tractor, FM and RC. about 1200 hours 6 years old.

Sounds like you are use to buying new and there is nothing wrong with that at all, wis I could. Nothing like being the first to use something. I buy 1-3 year old cars and still keep them 9-10 years.

And that was me with the free money line.. I guess inflation is a lot higher than I thought, but I think you missed my point, not a biggie. U.S. Inflation Rate Forecast

Good luck and post some pics when you take delivery!!! we love pics here!

Rob

 

[Steve_Miller]

The long and the short of it Bird is that you gave Mike all the info he needed in your first post. Because I'm like him, I have to string things out because I'm so busy analyzing (its no wonder that word begins with "****") that my brain fails to make room for the clear cut. I guess it goes back to when I was logging analyzing everything that could kill me. At any rate, guys like me and Mike do what you did in your last post all the time. In the end we all get to the point we want sooner or later.

P.S. Bird:
You signed to Tractorbynet 2 years before I did. How the heck did you make 22 thousand five hundred posts more than me in that short time?

Bird retired completely from the garden tractoring a while back and now is devoted to giving us all of his valuable wisdom whenever and wherever we need it. You could probably call him one of the seven wonders of TBN. I always enjoy his posts.

Steve

 

[mike5.56]

RobJ,
The inflation rate is much greater than most are aware, until they go to pay for food or fuel. This is one of my big complaints with our gov-they use statistical tricks to make the inflation rate look smaller. They do this to make the Gross Domestic Product look better, and because it reduces the COLA increase for Social Security and Military retirements.

The actual tricks are geometric averaging, substitution, and hedonic weighting. These make the numbers smaller than they would be if the older more honest techniques were still used. That and using the "core" inflation stats derived by subtracting food and fuel from the "headline" number. Core is the one most quoted by the financial and news media.

If you want a look at what real inflation rates are, check out www.shadowstats.com. It is a website run by an economist named John Williams, and he calculates economic data the way it was done prior to 1995. It is an eye opener. The actual CPI is just shy of 9% to date.

Sorry about boring you with economic statistical data, but when you're borrowing money, it makes sense to know the playing field.

 

[RobJ]

Sorry about boring you with economic statistical data, but when you're borrowing money, it makes sense to know the playing field.

Not a problem, thanks for the info.

 

[burkhalterbenjamin]

If the loader is made by Kabota I would get the Kabota. Make sure it has Ag tires. Industrial tires wont get you far if it is wet. I found out from a friend who works for KB that the loader is idiot proofed for digging. With the arms in the full down position the bucket wont tilt down more than 7% to keep you from overloading the arms. I tired it on my uncles 45 hp and it was true. lift the arms a 1/4" and the bucket will go full tilt, but not in the full diging position.

 

[blackhawkip]

I hope my opinion helps. I owned a Kubota L3400 DT and was very impressed with the quality and build. I ended up selling the tractor since I purchased a 28 acre small farm and needed a bigger tractor. I looked both at the John Deere and the Kubota and went with the Kubota but with the HST instead of the DT. IT WAS THE BEST MONEY I SPENT IN THE PURCHASE!!!!
That $600 price tag only hurts once, but EVERY time you operate that DT you will wish you had gone with the HST.

My .02 worth

best of luck

PS The Kubota is a better built tractor. It is not a Chevy or Ford thing and I am not biased, just a consumer interested in getting the most for my $.

 

[Blee25]

PS The Kubota is a better built tractor. It is not a Chevy or Ford thing and I am not biased, just a consumer interested in getting the most for my $.

I hope you are refering specifically to the 4005 vs the L4400 and Kubota vs John Deere in general, even then that is as much opinion as chevy vs ford. I tend to think the L2800-L4400 is better designed then Deere's economy compact design but others would disagree.

 

[jinman]

Bird retired completely from the garden tractoring a while back and now is devoted to giving us all of his valuable wisdom whenever and wherever we need it. You could probably call him one of the seven wonders of TBN. I always enjoy his posts.

Steve

I agree with you on Bird, but what are the remaining six wonders?

BTW, Mike, I'm in the "as big as you can go and HST" camp. I think you will find plenty of times that you'll want a bigger tractor even than the L4400. I think you've made the right decision to go with the bigger Kubota.

 

[Bird]

what are the remaining six wonders?

Don't answer that, Steve. I shudder to think what I might be compared to.