brazilfm98
New member
Im looking for a new tractor so I joined to learn
Looking for tractor
- Thread starter brazilfm98
- Start date
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Hello brazilfm98, welcome to TBN! Glad to see you posting. Hope you enjoy being a member of our community. 
CompactTractorFan
Super Member
Welcome to TBN!!!
RoMad
Platinum Member
Welcome, I'm pretty new here myself so I hope I don't sound like an upstart when I ask you for a few details. What are you planning on doing with this tractor? Do you have land and how much? If you give a few details some of the experienced folks here will give you plenty of good advice and I will read it and learn more too .
.
OP
brazilfm98
New member
Hi RoMad,
I have 5 wooded acres in the Black Hills of South Dakota and my parents have 1,000 acres (or so) in the middle of the state. On my land, I use ATVs to do everything but they just aren't up to the job. I cut and haul wood, drag trees to burn, haul & spread dirt/gravel and plan to grow up to a 1 acre garden. My parents ranch is mostly leased so they dont farm it but we periodically fix the roads and add gravel plus build some out buildings (used rented Skid steers for this work to date). My step-father has feed strips planted for game animals and birds but this work is done as a low priority as people need to get their crops in the field so this year all of the strips werent planted. In the future when my parents are retired (one is and one has 1 more year), they will grow a large garden too.
I have the implements to farm with the ATVs (plow, disk and drag harrow) but my step-father wants to use no till drills for the food strips. That makes sense to me so I have been looking at used and smaller no till drills like made by Kasco (Plotters choice). I could tow the smaller drills with the ATV but they are a bit small for the task.
So I have been looking at the small tractors for these tasks. I have studied some on the Kubotas, John Deeres and New Holland. I was thinking of sticking with dealers that can provide parts and service close to my land and my parents. There are Massey Ferguson dealers close to both sets of land too. I'm very mechanical so I probably just need parts. I don't have any preferences as I have no experience with any of these tractors. I have only operated ATVs, skid steers and a backhoe once.
I have 5 wooded acres in the Black Hills of South Dakota and my parents have 1,000 acres (or so) in the middle of the state. On my land, I use ATVs to do everything but they just aren't up to the job. I cut and haul wood, drag trees to burn, haul & spread dirt/gravel and plan to grow up to a 1 acre garden. My parents ranch is mostly leased so they dont farm it but we periodically fix the roads and add gravel plus build some out buildings (used rented Skid steers for this work to date). My step-father has feed strips planted for game animals and birds but this work is done as a low priority as people need to get their crops in the field so this year all of the strips werent planted. In the future when my parents are retired (one is and one has 1 more year), they will grow a large garden too.
I have the implements to farm with the ATVs (plow, disk and drag harrow) but my step-father wants to use no till drills for the food strips. That makes sense to me so I have been looking at used and smaller no till drills like made by Kasco (Plotters choice). I could tow the smaller drills with the ATV but they are a bit small for the task.
So I have been looking at the small tractors for these tasks. I have studied some on the Kubotas, John Deeres and New Holland. I was thinking of sticking with dealers that can provide parts and service close to my land and my parents. There are Massey Ferguson dealers close to both sets of land too. I'm very mechanical so I probably just need parts. I don't have any preferences as I have no experience with any of these tractors. I have only operated ATVs, skid steers and a backhoe once.
yooper1
Veteran Member
Hello and welcome to TBN
captaincrab55
Silver Member
brazilfm98, IMO, Look for a 4X4 with 30 plus HP & FEL... A Hydro over Gear drive is a plus, but I'm not familuar with MF tractors with Hydro. Being able to get parts is always a Big Plus....
btw, If one has the money, "think enclosed cab" ... You won't regret it in the winter..
Enjoy,
OP
brazilfm98
New member
Captain,
Thanks for the input. To make a long story short, after reading a lot on this forum and reading specs, I decided on the L3400 but the dealer had to put together and install the FEL. I asked if they could move the FEL off of the L3700SU and they didnt want to. Im back home in SD for Christmas so I needed to get a deal done and drive back to Denver. So I asked what the price of the L3700SU was and it ended up the same price they quoted on the L3400. Im not a genius but I said lets do the deal on the L3700SU. I drove it today for about an hour and a 1/2. Im not to smooth with the FEL controls yet but I had fun learning. I cleared a lot of my land of the trees I had cut down (mostly branches). I previously got rock bucket to clear fields and since I got the FEL that used Bobcat attachment, it attaches to my new tractor. It works well to clear branches and trees.
I learned a lot today but I have one question. What do people run the RPMS at ? I kept it to 2,000 RPMs since its new. The dealer said there is no breakin procedure but I figured I would go easy on it anyways. Is it ok to run at 3,000 RPMs all day ?
Thanks,
Thanks for the input. To make a long story short, after reading a lot on this forum and reading specs, I decided on the L3400 but the dealer had to put together and install the FEL. I asked if they could move the FEL off of the L3700SU and they didnt want to. Im back home in SD for Christmas so I needed to get a deal done and drive back to Denver. So I asked what the price of the L3700SU was and it ended up the same price they quoted on the L3400. Im not a genius but I said lets do the deal on the L3700SU. I drove it today for about an hour and a 1/2. Im not to smooth with the FEL controls yet but I had fun learning. I cleared a lot of my land of the trees I had cut down (mostly branches). I previously got rock bucket to clear fields and since I got the FEL that used Bobcat attachment, it attaches to my new tractor. It works well to clear branches and trees.
I learned a lot today but I have one question. What do people run the RPMS at ? I kept it to 2,000 RPMs since its new. The dealer said there is no breakin procedure but I figured I would go easy on it anyways. Is it ok to run at 3,000 RPMs all day ?
Thanks,
Egon
Epic Contributor
I run at RPM's that sorta suit the job; usually 2000 +.
When the full force and speed of hydraulics is required it gets upped to full RPM for as long as required.
When the full force and speed of hydraulics is required it gets upped to full RPM for as long as required.
LD1
Epic Contributor
That didn't take you ong to decide on a tractor, but good choice.
It will take time to get used to. But I DONT set the RPM with the dash lever. I use the foot pedal and drive it like a stick shift car. When I need more power to the tires or more hydraulic speed, I give it more pedal. But just doing light work or or grading, I usually run near Idle as long as it doesn't stall, and pick a higher gear. This keeps the PRM's and hours down.
Actually, I should have asked first, do you have a gear tractor or a HST???
My previous statement was geared toward a gear and NOT HST setup.
But running 3000RPMs all day long shouldn't hurt a thing. They are made for that. But If you can work nearly as efficently @ 2000RPM, I would leave her there. It will rack up the hours slower and it is obviously easier on the engine.