I'm looking to downsize, what do you suggest?

[MHarryE]

Aren't you concerned about the hit you will take getting rid of a 4 year old tractor? I assume you are hoping to get a good price for your tractor and then deal for a used one. I traded off a very good low hour L3710 2 years ago on a L5740. Something like that L3710 sounds like what you would like. After negotiating a deal on the new tractor outright, we then negotiated on the used tractor and I gave it away for $13,500 - tractor included a loader. On our Missouri farm we have a L4330 that cost double that - a low hour private party purchase. Kind of giving you some numbers and things to contemplate. I hate buying used myself due to the unknown. We bought a used 956 IH at an auction - the owner said it had a complete overhaul the previous winter. After a hundred hours we started noticing the oil level was getting higher every day. We would start out every morning after that by draining the coolant from the oil pan until we got pure oil. Fortunately we have enough tractors around so we didn't have to use it much and that winter installed new sleeves and pistons. If not for having the mechanical ability, it would have cost more for that rebuild than we paid for it at the auction. If you do trade and get the Vette somebody will get ticked at you and key your car so you will end up in front of Judge Judy suing the culprit for damaging the car and you will feel depressed about the whole thing so may as well keep your proven tractor.

 

[creekbend]

I have a L4400. I think that model is now the L4600 - 1 more HP, I think. Just a thought.

 

[crazyal]

If you want to sell your 5240 and put $10k (ish) in your pocket and stay with an L sized tractor after selling what you have now then I think you're going to be looking at older used tractors. I doubt you'll find much in the older GL30 series that'll fit the bill. I think you're going to be looking for an older GL10 series or a standard L model.

 

[ka41]

I did some playing around with "Build your kubota" and it seems that the difference in cost between a L5240hst with the options that I have and a L4600hst is around $7000 and $6000 for a L3940hst. So shouldn't I be able to find a similarly equipped L4600 or L3949 for the cost difference? If I can't find something for $10k difference then 6-8k would be ok also.

 

[crazyal]

Without seeing your tractor it's hard to set a price but I would guess you could sell it for $20k, maybe $25k. That's a rough guess after looking on Tractorhouse. A L4400 of about the same year as yours is selling for about $2k to $3k less. If you got a good price for your tractor and found a L4400 for a real good price then I think $6k could happen, maybe even more. The problem, at least in my opinion, is that the price doesn't drop dollar for dollar. If you paid $30k for your tractor and could sell it for $20k while at the same time as you bought your tractor the L4400 was selling for $24k new it's not going to loose the same $10k as yours. It's also unlikely that it will loose the same 1/3 ($8k) as yours. There seams to be a sweet spot of around $15k to $20k where used 40hp tractors sell at. They loose value until they reach this price point and then ones in good shape sort of settle out price wise.

 

[ka41]

Crazyal I appreciate your comments and I will try to post some pictures of the tractor tonight. I think that if I can't find a nice older, smaller tractor for $6-8k less than mine, then I will probably just keep what I have.

 

[txdon]

A slightly smaller tractor for a sports car????? Who are you trying to impress? I hope she is worth it.
Sounds like you may be able to make a decent trade - someone here on TBN is always looking for more weight and HP, and your low hours is a good trading/selling point. If my L5030HST with 800Hrs was smaller (or yours larger) .......

 

[ka41]

Here are some pictures.

 

[crazyal]

It looks like it's in great shape. You could always try to sell it outright for a high price and see what interest you can get. What will hurt you is the 0% financing from Kubota on new tractors but what you have going for you is that the GL40s are getting hard to find new and I think the GL60s are a pretty good step up in price. You also don't have the new tier 4 engine, that'll be a plus.

 

[bucktaker]

i think the best bet is to just list your tracotr for sale and sell it outright, Then search for the smaller tractor with available cash in hand... Is that a Kuboto top ? makes me want one