New vs Used

[WilliamBos]

IMHO, 2wd makes sense for mowing, hay work, pulling around grain bins, and a few other farm tasks. If you're not a farmer and the tractor will be used for anything besides mowing, 4wd is very useful or even essential.

I agree totally. 2wd shines in hay work, nothing beats the tighter turning radius of a 2wd. They still have a place.

 

[RadarTech]

Tight Turning radius?
I thought that was why we had individual brakes ?


Jim

 

[Botabill]

I'm looking at purchasing my first ever tractor. I have 20 acres of pature land that I would like to keep mowed and I also want to have about 5 acres of wildlife food plots. I have had 5 acres dozed off and need to prepare it for planting. This 5 acres is on 250 acres of hunting land that I own approx. 60 miles from my house. With that being said I'm hoping that I can get by with a tractor small enough to haul back and forth. I have been to many different dealers in a 60 mile area checking prices on all brands. My question is seeing the prices of the new tractors would I be better off finding a tractor that is 2 or 3 years old? I have been lookling in the 35 hp area. Is this going to be large enough for what Im looking to do?

Should you buy new or used? If you are a fussy person who will dote on and care for their machines hoping to make them last for a life time; a new machine is what you should get. If you are a sloppy or a not obsessed owner who doesn't really dote on a machine then a used one may be fine. Yes the previous owner could very well have abused the machine but you won't worry about it. Some folks get lucky and buy a used babied machine that is CHEAP and like new. That's the one we'd all like to get.

 

[Soundguy]

Get 4wd. I can't imagine buying a tractor w/o it. I couldn't begin to think how many times I'd be stuck or at least much less productive, especially if your doing loader/grapple work. A decent load of dirt or gravel will reduce the traction of your rear wheels significantly even with loaded tires.

rear counterweight helps that 'unloading' problem a 2wd might experience.

As a previous poster pointed out.. choose a tractor drive train by application.. not all applications require 4wd. Ironically.. the only tractors i've -ever- been stuck in were 4wd..

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Tight Turning radius?
I thought that was why we had individual brakes ?


Jim

gotta love them turning brakes.

kinda hard on the sod though!

soundguy

 

[George in Spokane]

I was in a similar situation. I think new is the way to go under 40hp. Resale values are just too high for the small machines.

The whole point in buying is that you are fed up with your 8N or MF35 breaking down . Why buy someone else's problems to save 10%?

For some reason resale value is low on the bigger machines and people with bigger machines seem more responsible and experienced in taking care of them.

 

[Soundguy]

The whole point in buying is that you are fed up with your 8N or MF35 breaking down

If the 8n/mf35 broke down due to lack of maint.. then the new machine won't be far behind...

Why buy someone else's problems to save 10%?

10% I can Buy those antiques you mention for 1500$ to 4500$.. are you saying you can get new durable CUT's for 1650$ - 4950$ .. maybee chinese.. but then... is that an upgrade? going from a mf 35 to a similar hp chinese unit? I'd stick with the 35 myself...

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

There's a certain "elitist" attitude that shows up from time to time that states new never breaks and old is automatically junk and unreliable. BA-LON-EEEEEE!

I've got 3 newer tractors now. I've owned, at various times in my life, 8 different NEW tractors. I own 4 older "used" tractors now and have owned literally dozens over the years. I feel I have a good grip on what is reliable, what is practical, and what you can expect from NEW OR OLD.

The most reliable tractor I own now is 38 years old.

The most expensive tractor I've EVER owned, as far as routine maintenance and "per hour operating cost" is one of my newest.

Now don't take THAT wrong either. I'm not saying ALL new tractors are unreliable, or are costly to operate. And I'm sure not saying ALL old tractors are bullit proof and stone reliable. But....You can find GOOD, reliable, economical used tractors at a fraction of new cost. I pay cash for tractors when I buy. Special finance rates don't come in to play. Even so, when I buy used, I look for deals that exceed what a low interest rate on a new tractor could save me anyway. Those deals are out there. You just have to pound the bricks looking sometimes.

If you NEED new, or can justify the cost, there's nothing quite like new. But if you're like a lot of us, and want the absolute most for your money, look at ALL deals with open eyes. If you find a nice used tractor that'll do the job, and the price is right. Go for it!

I farmed almost 200 acres for close to 40 years with 60hp as my biggest tractor. I maintain 45 acres now with a tractor that rolled off the assembly line @ 38 hp. (Gotta be up front with that one.... It's been "breathed on" and dynos 47hp now) My dad farmed almost 300 acres and never owned a tractor any bigger than 32hp.

Look for 35 to 45 hp tractors from late 60's through early 80's. They can be found in the neighborhood of $4000 to $6000 with years of dependable service left in them. My '71 Massey Ferguson 150 will outlast me at the rate it's going relative to the way I'm holding up.....

 

[WilliamBos]

There's a certain "elitist" attitude that shows up from time to time that states new never breaks and old is automatically junk and unreliable. BA-LON-EEEEEE!

I've got 3 newer tractors now. I've owned, at various times in my life, 8 different NEW tractors. I own 4 older "used" tractors now and have owned literally dozens over the years. I feel I have a good grip on what is reliable, what is practical, and what you can expect from NEW OR OLD.

The most reliable tractor I own now is 38 years old.

The most expensive tractor I've EVER owned, as far as routine maintenance and "per hour operating cost" is one of my newest.

Now don't take THAT wrong either. I'm not saying ALL new tractors are unreliable, or are costly to operate. And I'm sure not saying ALL old tractors are bullit proof and stone reliable. But....You can find GOOD, reliable, economical used tractors at a fraction of new cost. I pay cash for tractors when I buy. Special finance rates don't come in to play. Even so, when I buy used, I look for deals that exceed what a low interest rate on a new tractor could save me anyway. Those deals are out there. You just have to pound the bricks looking sometimes.

If you NEED new, or can justify the cost, there's nothing quite like new. But if you're like a lot of us, and want the absolute most for your money, look at ALL deals with open eyes. If you find a nice used tractor that'll do the job, and the price is right. Go for it!

I farmed almost 200 acres for close to 40 years with 60hp as my biggest tractor. I maintain 45 acres now with a tractor that rolled off the assembly line @ 38 hp. (Gotta be up front with that one.... It's been "breathed on" and dynos 47hp now) My dad farmed almost 300 acres and never owned a tractor any bigger than 32hp.

Look for 35 to 45 hp tractors from late 60's through early 80's. They can be found in the neighborhood of $4000 to $6000 with years of dependable service left in them. My '71 Massey Ferguson 150 will outlast me at the rate it's going relative to the way I'm holding up.....

All excellent points Bill. Yes, this coming from a guy with a New compact in his sig, but if we could have found an MF compact priced cheap we would have bought it. A local Dealer wanted $9K for a MF 1010 compact, so for us a new one was really a no brainer.

Look around before you buy, you may be amazed at what you can find, even more HP than you may need for less money.

 

[wwalkersd]

rear counterweight helps that 'unloading' problem a 2wd might experience.

As a previous poster pointed out.. choose a tractor drive train by application.. not all applications require 4wd. Ironically.. the only tractors i've -ever- been stuck in were 4wd..

soundguy

Not always. I picked up a pallet load of sand bags using QA pallet forks on my JD 4320 with a 1000 lb. Red Master II arena harrow on the back, and still found I needed 4WD to back up a not-very-steep gravel driveway (no way to turn around).