2thdoc
Bronze Member
Greetings all. I've been on this board since last August and have never posted a message; so I figured it's time to post one. A little over two yrs ago I bought a house on 6 1/2 acres and figured I needed a little bigger tractor than my JD 318 lawn tractor. Being totally tractor illiterate, I bought a used Belarus 250AS with a bush hog and a few other attachments. It didn't take long to figure out that the ole Belarus wasn't exactly the kind of tractor I wanted; talk about crude, hard to steer, and rough riding, it was! Finally sold it and went looking for another tractor. Looked at NH, JD and Kubota Compacts, really liked the NH Boomers, but they sure are expensive little boogers. Figuring I could save some money, and going against all I had read about them on the tractor boards, I bought a new Chinese made Jinma 25hp 4wd tractor, 5ft bush hog, 6ft rear finishing mower, and 58in tiller from a local farm supply store last May. Had problems with it from day one. Hydraulic leaks, electrical malfunctions, clutch problems; twice the hydraulic pump fell off due to the bolts that hold it on working loose. Most recently it developed a bad hydraulic leak and the pto wouldn't disengage when the clutch was in. Took it back to where I bought it for repair (1 yr warranty). Told them I'd like my money back. They convinced me to let them try to fix it. After about three weeks I stopped by to check on it and was told that they would give me a refund minus $1000 for the 120hrs I had used the tractor. I decided to take the money and run; that was about a week ago; haven't received the refund check yet, but hopefully it will show up in the mail before long.
So, now I'm without a tractor; planning on going to look at the Boomers again. In addition to tending my 6 1/2 acres I used my chinese tractor last year to prepare several food plots on a 250 acre farm (all in CRP) where I deer hunt. The farm owner and I used his 4000 Ford to drag out several good sized logs to cut up for firewood last fall. I know that a class II Boomer would be plenty big enough for my 6 1/2 acres but I'm considering a class III for use on the deer hunting farm, ie., big food plots, dove field, dragging logs etc. I need you fellas to convince me that a class III wouldn't be overkill for my place. It seems that physically the jinma was sort of in between the class II and class III Boomers in size; I used it to mow with the six foot mower and the Jd 318 for trimming in areas that I couldn't get with the jinma. I also used the jinma to till about 2 acres for sweet corn patches and garden.
Finally, are this years Boomers essentially unchanged from past years? I liked everything about them except for brake and hydrostatic pedal arrangement. Oh yea, one other thing, I also need you guys to convince me that I really must have a FEL. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
So, now I'm without a tractor; planning on going to look at the Boomers again. In addition to tending my 6 1/2 acres I used my chinese tractor last year to prepare several food plots on a 250 acre farm (all in CRP) where I deer hunt. The farm owner and I used his 4000 Ford to drag out several good sized logs to cut up for firewood last fall. I know that a class II Boomer would be plenty big enough for my 6 1/2 acres but I'm considering a class III for use on the deer hunting farm, ie., big food plots, dove field, dragging logs etc. I need you fellas to convince me that a class III wouldn't be overkill for my place. It seems that physically the jinma was sort of in between the class II and class III Boomers in size; I used it to mow with the six foot mower and the Jd 318 for trimming in areas that I couldn't get with the jinma. I also used the jinma to till about 2 acres for sweet corn patches and garden.
Finally, are this years Boomers essentially unchanged from past years? I liked everything about them except for brake and hydrostatic pedal arrangement. Oh yea, one other thing, I also need you guys to convince me that I really must have a FEL. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif