Neophyte buying first tractor

[rtimgray]

"Other than a 15 minute training course in the dealers flat parking lot, who is going to train Friar Tuck?"

Most of the dealers that I have been to have only been more than helpful, and accomodated a quite thorough training session. Again, when we were looking for a tractor for the plant, we went to a Kubota/NH dealer, two JD dealers, a Challenger dealer, a Mahindra dealer, a Kioti dealer and a Kubota only dealer. We did the normal 15 minute test drive on all the lots. When we chose the Kubota from the Kubota only dealer, we went with several of the operators to their site and, with the dealer's direction and aid, we hooked and unhooked equipment, loader, drove for about two hours around their flat and hilly lot. The dealer's two salesman and one mechanic took turns showing us the controls of the tractor and proper operation sequence, answering all of our questions.

This may be above and beyond what is expected from a dealer, but they seemed happy to oblige. Note: they were not with us constantly, but also helped other customers. However, they always kept close and kept an eye on us.

 

[Friar_Tuck]

We'll be in Woodstock - about 20 miles south of Lake Geneva, WI.

 

[frank_f15]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM! i also would recomend something in the 30 hp range and HST. i just like the ability of keeping the rpm where u want them and be able to kreep at any speep u wish. you really need to start checking at dealers and test driving a few of the different models, name brands and transmission types

 

[MarkLeininger]

You're not too far from me, we're in Wayne. I've been mowing 5 acres of pasture with a Craftsman lawn tractor and a 60" swisher trail mower. That gives me an 8' cut for a fraction of the cost of a real tractor. Takes me about 1.5 hours to do 5 acres. You can pull two swishers with a garden tractor that's 20hp or bigger, which would give you about 13' cut. I need a lawn tractor anyway to do the acre around the house (lots of trees).

I don't know anything about alpacas, but we have horses and the only thing I really need a front end loader for is to move wood chips into their paddocks to keep the mud down. Hard to say what your need would be for a front end loader. I pull a 4' drag harrow with the lawn tractor for overseeding. We pick up the manure so I don't need to drag it. You don't say how many animals you plan to buy. If you have enough animals and rotate them properly, you almost don't need to mow except for weed control early in the year.

The snow here used to be really bad, but for the last 10 years or so we haven't had too much. When it does snow it tends to snow a lot and it's heavy, so you probably don't want to use a front end loader or a blade. I would just buy a good walk behind snow thrower, or if you buy a decent lawn tractor to mow the pasture, you can get snow throwers for the front. Our drive is about the same length as yours but not as wide. I bought an Ariens with a 36" cut that I've been happy with. You probably need something larger.

I'd start small until you know what you really need to do. You probably won't need to mow at all this year depending on when you plan to move in. You can always rent a tractor to try it out for different tasks to get an idea what you need. The rental places around here all deliver for about $30. Woodstock Power is right in town; they carry Kubota for sure and probably lots of other brands.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( i just like the ability of keeping the rpm where u want them and be able to kreep at any speep u wish. )</font>
Most CUTs seem to have a hand and foot throttle, so RPM can be kept even with either gear or HST. Of course, the ability to crawl or cruise on a whim is nice with my HST, but I can do that with a shuttle shift pretty well also. John

 

[JOELENAHAN]

I think your accountant might be wrong. You can section 179 equipment for a qualified business wether it is new or used. I don't have any recommendations on what you should buy, buy what you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Dargo]

I ended up trading up until I got to the 50 hp range to be satisfied. For mowing only and if you keep up with your mowing religiously, never miss a week, you can get by with a lot less hp. However, since I own a couple of businesses and at times have to miss a weekly mowing, I am not at all satisfied with having to either mow twice or mow really slowly for a penalty when I catch up.

I've also owned 9 brand new tractors in the last 20 years. I personally thought I'd never like an HST tractor until I tried one. I'll likely never go back to gears again. I've used and driven several different brands of tractors as well. When there is a sizeable difference in price, there is generally a reason as well. The old saying that you get what you pay for does hold true on tractors. I know that statement will fire up the owners of certain brands, but hey, it is the truth. It is a fact. If you want to buy on pure price, go here http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/26tractor.htm.

You can buy a brand new 22hp diesel tractor for $2138! A lot of guys continue to say that with some brands "you get a lot for your dollar". At the link I posted, you get a brand new fuel injected 22hp diesel tractor. I say that with that, you get a lot of tractor for your money. Again, it is a fact. I personally wouldn't buy it. They may need to change their styling to make it look pretty, and I'm sure they eventually will. I'm still not going to buy it. Good luck!

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Good points, Dargo, but your link goes nowhere... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Dargo]

I thought that the company had maybe already gone out of business. It appears that I inadvertantly put a period at the end of that sentence that messed up the link. Here is is:

http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/26tractor.htm

That should get you to the ultimate "economy" tractor!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[johnk]

Dargo,

Is that you test driving it with the smile on your face!!!