New to the tractor world - Need lots of advise

[Anonymous Poster]

New to the website. Can someone give us some sound advice?

Background:
My dad and I are new to the tractor world. We do not have a lot of land. We live about 45 north of Houston. I own 2 acres with a 1/4 acre pond with small gullies. The land is loaded with lots of pines, oaks and some underbrush. My dad has 1.2 acres heavily wooded.

Needs:
We are considering buying a tractor to help with basic leveling, removing small (12”) stumps, spreading dirt, moving cut trees, digging holes, working around the pond and all types of small projects. On the average we would probably only use it for about 3 to 10 hours a month. My wife is not even sure we need to buy a tractor as we could rent one 5 or 10 times and probably do what we need to do. If we buy one, we want the whole package to cost less than $24,000. My wife may be right but my dad and I are justifying the possible purchase by the fact of convenience. When you rent a tractor you have only limited time to do your project. With your own tractor you can go out, hop on and go anytime. You can always do side work for people and make a few bucks. And finally, you can always sell it.

Questions:
We have looked at Kubota, New Holland and John Deere. We were told to stay away from the others. We liked the Kubota’s and New Holland’s best. However, every time we go into the dealer (a Kubota and New Holland together) they always push the Kubota. Do they get a better incentive from Kubota or something? Anyway, we have looked at the BX-22 and it appears too small. We liked the B7800 and L2600. The attachments we were wanting were: a front end loader, backhoe, auger, and box blade.

1. The most important question? What size should we get? (my dad wants to make sure we have enough power to do whatever. He believes it’s better to have too much than not enough.)
2. What make has the least mechanical problems?
3. Are the attachable BL4690b backhoes worth the money?
4. Is the Mahindra 2810 HST any good? I looked it up on-line.

Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
James

 

[icat]

Not sure that I would agree with the "stay away from the others" part. As you can see by the site itself there is quite a support group for all of the different makes - everything from the big 3 to the grey market units.

As for which is best, that's a hotly debated topic! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I think you'll find plenty of ammo for any decision you make. My best advise is to drive the tractors and see which you like better. Be sure and drive both the NH and the Kubota at your local dealer. Both are excellent tractors. Once you've determined which one you like best, then you can begin the "great deal chase" and look for the best price. However, keep in mind that the best price is often NOT the lowest price. The best price includes dealing with a dealer you are comfortable with.

Since you're in Houston you'll have a great many dealers in the general area to deal with. Get each to "bid" on the package you want (I found e-mail to be excellent for requesting bids). Once you have the prices, visit the dealers and find which one you like best.

I have more land than you, so my needs we're a bit different and I went with a Kubota L3130 HST. But my final price was significantly LESS than your budget. I think you'll find that you can get everything you need for quite a bit less than your budget. For gosh sakes - DON'T TELL THE DEALER WHAT YOUR BUDGET IS! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DavidS]

here is a site for you to look at that has nice used Grey Market tractors. affordabletractors.com

 

[MarkV]

James welcome to the forum. I believe my first recommendation would be to grab hold of your favorite beverage and spend some time reading through past posts on the forum. There is an enormous amount of information here and much of it will apply to the tractors you are looking at.

As to your questions there will be differing opinions and non-of them will be exactly right or exactly wrong. It usually ends up being a matter of what you and your Dad are most comfortable with. Given the size of your property and the tasks you have outlined I feel any of the tractors you mentioned are capable of doing the job including the BX model. I would be looking at a tractor with a Hydrostatic transmission for ease of maneuverability though many here use gear tractors with great success. With your anticipated use I don't believe you need to worry much about mechanical problems with any of the major brands. The little diesel tractors are remarkably reliable with many of us having no repair issues after years of use. The small backhoes are strong working machines and not toys. Now it is not the same as using a full size industrial hoe but should be capable of what you have outlined. You will not pull up a 12" stump with one mighty swipe but it will come up with some work. Afraid I don't know much about the Mahindra so I'll leave that for someone with more knowledge on the product line.

Good luck with your search and keep asking questions.

MarkV

 

[RanchMan]

Welcome to TBN.

To second MarkV's recommendation, you got some reading ahead of you! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Seriously, you'll find a lot of info about tractors & plenty of recommendations to go around on TBN. Some info is pure opinion, some of it is speculation, while some is more factual in nature. Regardless, I'd suggest that you use the search feature as there is a ton of stuff in the archives to read that will apply to your purchase. Everything from other new tractor folks asking similar questions to problems/benefits with specific equipment.

<font color="blue">We have looked at Kubota, New Holland and John Deere. We were told to stay away from the others. </font>

Well, some TBN'ers will agree, but personally, I think that is an exceptionally bad piece of advise you received. There are a lot of "non Big 3" tractors out there that are good, hard working machines. I suspect that many may meet your needs/goals while others would not. I am not saying there is anything "wrong" with the "Big 3" mfgs., just that every tractor brand (Big 3 and otherwise) has +'s and -'s. For me, Mahindra was a good "fit," although it may or may not be a good "fit" for you. Simply put, I wouldn't limit what you are looking at quite yet - especially since you seem to be pretty early on in the selection process.

I’m sure others will pipe up, so I’ll sign off for now. Good luck (and have fun!) with finding your tractor!

 

[B7500]

If you really, really, really want a Kubota ( my personal choice of tractors) consider the B7500. It may be the perfect size for your needs.
Good luck with your choice.
-Terry

 

[John_Mc]

I see you've already got some good advice here. One thing I will add: though the BX22 will probably do what you need, if ground clearance is an issue, I'd be looking at the B7500 or the B7800 you mentioned (I'm not familiar with the L2600, but I'm sure it also has more ground clearance than the BX22). On the other hand, with its low center of gravity, the BX tends to be very stable on hills.

In the New Holland line, I'd be looking at their TC24 (smaller frame CUT), the TC30 (a very capable mid-sized compact tractor, without all of the bells and whistles of NH's more deluxe lines, but still available with hydrostatic transmission), the TC29 or TC33 and also solid mid-sized CUTS, with more bells and whistles, but otherwise similar capabilities to the TC30.

John Mc

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I think you're heading in the right direction. Without regard for what tractor you end up buying, I'd rather look at what you're going to do. First of all, I think your estimate of hours is off a little. Unless you get a monster loader/backhoe, any tractor that makes sense under your budget and land size is going to need a liitle longer to get the work done. Understand, it ill be 20 to 50 times faster than doing the work by hand, but you'll have to do a lot of teasing and coaxing rather than brute force working. You might spend 3 hours getting out one 12" stump if it's stubborn, and I think you picture more than 1 to 3 stumps per month. Figure 3 to 10 hours per week, and you might be closer. Also, once you have it, you'll find a lot more things it can do.

Second, wives always suggest rental, because they never think of the hassle, time lost, transportation, etc. involved vs. having the tool at hand. But the most important ting is, if you have the thing for only one 12 hour day at a time, it becomes work to maximize your rental time regardless of how you feel, what the weather is, etc. etc., instead of the fun a tractor should be in getting the job done. Wives will never understand this until they experience it once or twice with the inevitable problems that arise that waste half of the rental time.

As soon as I read "digging holes" and "12" stumps", I said to myself, "backhoe". You mentioned spreading dirt and moving trees, and I said "loader". You mentioned spreading dirt and leveling, so I said "boxblade". I also thought "landscape rake" and possibly "rear blade" (I don't have a rear blade, yet, so I'm not as sure about that). You didn't mention fencing, so I didn't thnk "auger" until I saw you mentioned it. You mentioned small brush, and I thought "brush hog".

So, lets back into the tractor. The most expensive attachment will be the backhoe, next will be the loader. Others can (and will) jump in with different or more accurate numbers, but figure $5K to $6K for the backhoe, $2K to $3K for the loader, and maybe $2K total for the other attachments. Using the maximums, that leaves you about $13K for the tractor. Will you need something to carry it, or are you going to be able to leave it at one property and get it back and forth to the other? If you're thinking about side jobs, getting to service, etc. do you need or do you already have a trailer and suitable tow vehicle? If so, that's going to have to come into your budget and cut into your tractor.

But, assuming you already have a trailer, that $13K is probably more than enough to get into the New Holland TC33D. If you need the trailer, or just want to pocket the difference, or put it into other tools, look at the TC30 with hydro. Both are bigger than my TC18, but I'm not sure I'd want a backhoe on my little machine. I'm not stuck on New Holland; it's just that I don't know anything about the others.

Your alternative, which is what I did, is to forgoe the backhoe, get a smaller machine, and use the difference to hire in a serious machine to quickly do the hardest work. In fact, if your estimate of 3 to 10 hours per month is anywhere close, and if there is any doubt about how useful the tractor will be when your specific tasks are complete, then I'm going to commit heresy on TBN and recommend your hire it all done, man and machine, and get it done in a week, for about $4,000. This based on your maximum estimate of renting one 10 times and using it 10 hours, or 100 hours total. A serious machine can do all that in 5, 8 hour days at probably $65 to $85 an hour. My $4K estimate allows a little slack. I paid $65/hour for a Cat 416C loader/backhoe and operator than can dig up a 12" stump in probably 30 seconds; even with a backhoe, a compact tractor might fool around for much longer. Attached is a picture of the "buddies" while they took a break to show the difference.

Like I said above, I think the best combo is to hire the serious work done and still get a smaller tractor to do the rest and continue with all the chores you will discover once you have it. I paid about $15K for my tractor, loader and implements, and about $3K for the work by the "big guy" comparable to yours.

Oh, as for what brand? Buy the dealer first, and if he sells two, buy the one he isn't pushing just to spite him. I don't trust it when they push something.

{Edit} As if this isn't long enough, I thought of something I want to add. If you're going to rent, rent a serious machine like the Cat. NationRents quoted me $425/day plus delivery and pickup for a similar size machine. Of course, my figure of $650/10 hour day for operator and machine, with no delivery/pickup charges, was better than that considering how much faster the operator is than us, but manned machines might be more expensive in Houston.

 

[normde2001]

James, I believe I would expand the search to include the S. Korean Branson and Century. S. Korea is building some really good tech stuff these days and is rapidly catching up with Europe, (even Japan), in GDP. I'm sure you pay a heavy premium for the big 3's advertising. Also, I would forego the backhoe. You will pay $5000-$6000 for an implement that will barely, and with great effort, remove stumps that you can hire done in a couple of hours of bulldozer work, and then you will have no more or little use for it. In my area of N. Ga. I can get an artist with a dozer for 4 hours for $200.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You have some good advise here.

A 12" stump is a lot of tree, you might wish to save them up, and have that hired out. Then a small tractor, without a backhoe, could do all the rest of your work. Your money, your choice, but I need to work in a budget so I'd look to that route.

Are you sold on a new machine, or are you willing to look at used? NH has some really good tractors in the 25-30 hp range that hold up well. Could save some money. If it ends up being an expensive toy, you can resell it with very little loss. A new machine, like a car, loses several thousand when you drive it off the lot.

Do you have a vehicle & trailer to transport it, as someone else mentioned? Unless you & your dad are right next door, the dern tractor will always be at the other place, when you need it at this place....

--->Paul