just a general observation about new tractors

[SixHoeBob]

Tractors used by this group are occasional use machines, therefore they should last for years. The more high-tech and flashy they become, the shorter their reliability lifespan will become. That is why I don't like all the flashiness.

Cars and trucks are used daily, so they wear out faster. Cars and trucks have become overpriced pieces of flashy crap.

I wish Oshkosh built a pickup truck. How about a light duty Uni-mog with sheet metal interior and a heater? No other amenities to raise the cost, or complicate the truck. One color of paint. No emissions crap.

 

[Johno Geo]

When I shopped for my first Compact tractor in 1989, I was looking at Deere, Ford, IH Case and Kubota.
I wanted a made in USA machine (When our farmers can sell rice in Japan, I will consider their product).
So Kubota was out.
Kubota all but owned the Subcompact market.
Deere was built like a Garden tractor and I was afraid IH Case would go out of buisness. The Ford dealer said Ford had been making tractors since 1905!
Nice machine, I bought it.....
Then I saw the Made in Japan Label!!

.. well. "only the subcompact Fords were made in Japan, but assembled in the USA" he said.......
I love the Ford (then Ford NH, now NH) and still ahve it today.
The dealer, a second generation dealership is gone.
Go figure....... I still like NH and bought another (Boomer 4060).
I am sure all the major brands are good.
I would always go with the dealer I trust.

Good luck

 

[Interlaux]

Ramble on!!!

I drive an 89' Buick 100 miles a day, have bought two used tractors and my 1st car a '72 Toyota corolla, last I heard, was still running.

Point is I think WE sell most mechanical things a little short. I'll demand the '82 3140 lasts a good while, the 4610 keys will have to be pulled out of my cold dead fingers. Bet that oti will last you too. Sounds like a nice unit. Cab tractors are so nice, sooooo so nice.

guy on here has a sign off that says: when selling a lifetime dont sell your self short.

learn, respect, care for your tractor, your car, your implements etc.. and they will last one heck of a long time

 

[rtimgray]

I think a lot of the reason folks get rid of cars/trucks has more to do with amenities and appearance rather than functionality. With a few exceptions, it will almost always be cheaper, in the long run, to repair a vehicle than replace it. Even if you have to rebuild the engine or transmission, for most gas vehicles, you will probably be under $5,000, sometimes way less. The only problem with that is that you might have a new engine, but you still have all of the other creaks, groans, poor A/C, broken power windows, etc., so often we use that as an excuse to buy new.

Also, financing incentives are offered a lot of the time, so at times it's easier to quality for a $15,000 - $20,000 loan to buy a car rather than scrape up $5,000 for repairs.

Now I do recognize there are some vehicles (tractors, cars, trucks, etc) that may not be feasible to repair due to lack of parts or expertise, but these are in the minority.

 

[flowerfarmer]

I am still waiting for the self levitating lawnmower with no wheel marks.

Ever see a Flymow? Wonder whatever happened to those?

 

[Patches]

The air flow used to "levitate" the machine flattened the grass beneath the mower deck, rendering them pretty much useless as a mower

 

[Tompet]

The Flymo...surprisingly, still being made.
The Original Flymo Hovering Trimmer - now manufactured by Husqvarna $699.00.

My uncle had one on the farm in the early 70's. It did glide very well.

 

[Soundguy]

I dunno. I'm one of those people that DO expect to get long life out of their vehicles.

1 got a 98 dodge ram, a 99 ford f450 and a 2000 gmc yukon. thems all 10+ ys old and running...

I would for sure not want to plunk down 50K$ and 'hope' a vehicle makes it 5ys...

soundguy

i went through a lot of turmoil before i decided on my recent tractor purchase, and i was just wondering about something that struck me as odd the other day. When i was looking for a new car, i didnt mind if it was Korean made, or Japanese made or US made. i just wanted good value for the money. my diesel 4x4 truck cost $48,000 and i always tell people..."i sure hope it last at least 5 years". its just the way things are made nowadays. Our friends bought a Saturn a few years back..because of all the great reviews and what experts said about the car. now the company doesn't exist. I was just wondering why people are more insistent that their tractors should last forever, and only cost 10-20 grand....but are willing to spend 50 grand for an suv that may last 5-8 years?. no one ever expects to keep their cars and trucks forever. My old John Deere lasted me 14 years....and is still going strong. i have placed it for sale for $10,000 two days ago, and have already had 4 phone calls and 2 people looking at it with 2 bids. the bids are a bit below what im looking for, but im thinking about accepting one of them. I never shopped around before buying my old tractor...i just went to the local JD shop which was offering 60 months at 0.0% interest and nothing down. i probably paid list price for it at the time, but heck, i had no money. so why not give them a llittle more cash if i could get the tractor.
However, with the new tractor, i was going into the deal with a boat load of cash.....so i was looking for a better deal..something off of list. this is what took the most time sorting thru. All 4 brands i shopped looked nice, and the decision came over price alone. One dealer refused to budge off of list price, the other 3 let us do some haggling. i must admit i never really heard about Kioti before i went to the dealership, so i went and did alot of online searching about the tractors before i purchased one. i never saw any real bad responses about the tractor, but i saw alot of positive responses to it. this helped my decision making.
now that ive become familiar with the new tractor, i think i made the right decision. only time will tell.
i think that they will be a manufacturer to watch over the years, and even the most blatant " buy green" or " buy the original orange" people have said that Kioti probably will stay around.
again, no one can ever be sure who will be here in 10, 20,30 years. GM nearly left us. Saturn has left.
Anyways, this is just my ramble as i look out the window at the new 4" snowfall, and more falling. Im looking forward to moving the snow in the nice heated cab :licking: :laughing: :thumbsup:

 

[bigbull338]

if the tractors made today cant last 20yrs or longer then they dont need tobe sold.but thats just me.heck the sub compacts an compacts should last 40yrs no prob.because most people put less than 100hrs a year on them.

 

[Reg]

Yeah, it is kinda odd.
I think we (allow ourselves to) follow precedent, e.g. we know that tractors have traditionally lasted 30 plus years on farms, we also know that cars have rusted out in 3 or 4 years (pre-Japanese "quality incentive").

We spend a lot of time in our cars/trucks, for many/most folk it is at least 10 trips a week to/from a 5 days a week "day job".
Tractors, more variable.
I haven't looked at ALL the gauges on my '03 truck lately, but I am fairly sure that it has over 140,000 miles on it and somewhere around 4,000 hours - my tractors don't (-:

FULL depreciated co$t (& pleasure/recreational "value") per seat hour ?
I haven't figured that, tractors might come out better or worse.

BTW, I expect AT LEAST 10 years from a car/truck, preferably 15.
For what I am doing right now "appearances matter", so my '03 truck may have to be replaced before 2018 for the sake of mere appearances - not happy about that, but the "recent and decent" policy dictates.
Not that it is a rolling pile of junk, just that model years portray something (-:
====================================================================
PS Curious that you don't mind a Korean or Japanese car/truck and SO MANY of the members here wave green and blue flags in the mistaken belief that anything under about 65 HP is actually US built.
{Can we say "Contract built ?" thanks, I knew we could}
(-:

Not that the Dodge emblems on Mitsubishi cars/trucks have fooled anyone since perhaps the first 3 days that they started doing that over 30 years ago.