Buying Advice what compact tractor will serve us best?

[BuilderML]

I guess when you only have 88 post you shouldn't take my advice. After all what do i know.:banghead:
VTSNOWEDIN i would give you a napkin but i had to use it to clean up my coffee.

Just a side note. If you plan on running a rotary cutter in and out of the fruit trees your planting. I would just keep in mind the width/size of your tractor along with that of the cutter you'll be using. You don't want it to be **** trying to keep things cleaned
up because your rig is to big.

 

[IslandTractor]

That made me snort coffee out my nose. :laughing: JD makes tractors up to 30,000 lbs. Just pick the one you want.

We are pretty clearly discussing under 30 HP here so when you get finished snorting check out the relative weights of JD and Kubota vs mahindra, Kioti MF etc at the same price and HP point.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I guess when you only have 88 post you shouldn't take my advice. After all what do i know.:banghead:
VTSNOWEDIN i would give you a napkin but i had to use it to clean up my coffee.

Not trying to rain on your parade. I'm sure you meant in the compact tractor class and the JDs in that class may well be lighter then others. I'm certainly no expert on CUTs or SCUTs as I have just the one utility tractor and an old JD ridding lawn mower. It just read funny to someone that spends summers next to JD and Cat construction machines where 50 ton is the "Good size".

 

[Grandad4]

...especially since we don't know how to fix anything at this point.

How important is it for the dealership to be close by?
debp

The brands discussed all make very dependable equipment that should not need major work to keep it running. However I think perhaps you've answered your own question in some degree. Having a nearby source of support may be valuable while you are on the steepest part of the learning curve. It would be great to have a trusted friend or neighbor for that, but it may also end up being the person you bought it from.

If you can get to the point where you do the maintenance and any small repairs yourself and you have some "school of hard knocks" knowledge of how it all works, the dealer doesn't need to be around the corner. My two Kubotas haven't ever been to a dealer for service or repairs in the 11 and 8 years we've owned, respectively; we do the servicing ourselves. So take care of your tractor - doesn't matter what brand - and it will return the favor.

It sounds like that's not exactly a smoking hot deal the Kubota guy has put on the table. $19.5k is MSRP for the L3200+Kubota loader; there should be some bargaining (10% is OK, 15% is great).

 

[cartod]

Get hydrostatic drive. With trees and uneven terrain you will be going back and forth much faster than with a geared tractor. All of the 30hp stuff is relatively the same size and you can always add more weight and ballast. I like green because orange make my *** look fat. :laughing:

 

[Piston]

I absolutely recommend to go with the tractor that YOU feel is best after driving it for a bit. You don't want to go with the best dealer and wind up with a second choice tractor. Dealers aren't nearly as important as you will be led to believe on this forum.