Buying Advice Hiring or buying a tractor

[Minor9th]

Hello all,

This is my first posting as a new member. I'm in a quandary about equipment that I know my farm brothers and sisters with their years of experience can help with.

I moved from city life to country life last September. We have almost 8 acres of rolling land. Most of it is pastures with our house being in the middle and the land gently slopes down on all sides around our house leveling off at the bottom.

As we are already in fire season, I am wanting to mow the fields down very low and then will plant some orchards in the fall. I have a John Deere D140 riding mower that I have been managing the roughly 7 acres of area that I need to manage. The steeper parts I can only go downhill as the Deere is not 4WD and its also just a little on the steep side.

So, after Fall/Winter/Spring and now into summer, I have decided that I just cannot manage the property with the riding mower. It was fun the first few times, but endlessly going back and forth with that is just way too cumbersome. It takes too long to mow and if there are any thistles and other stuff I often have to go over a few times. There are places that the Deere can only manage in reverse as it's steep or if the grass is green it can just spin out since it's not 4WD.

I have found that hiring somebody to mow my fields will cost me from $600-$1000 each time I want it done. I think that purchasing a tractor with FEL is the way to go. I would like the FEL for pulling up fence posts and for moving rocks, fencing, and other large things. I would also get fence post driller (that corkscrew thingy - LOL - I dont know what it's called) for digging holes for trees, fenceposts, etc.

I have a Kubota dealer very close by and they quoted me a good price for a L3200HST 4WD.

I would have many uses for this tractor right now - I have piles of rocks in the driveway - piles of debris - heavy stuff - mowing galore. But I am having a hard time justifying spending that much money after spending a lot on some home renovations. I could get this for Zero down and Zero % financing for 60 months.

I haven't done the math - but I am wondering what people would suggest for this situation. Should I hire somebody to mow and save myself very many hours and tanks of gas using the Deere? Should I just use what I have and neglect all the other work I have to do? Should I just bite the bullet and go into debt and use this thing for everything like digging holes - I mean LOTS of holes and fenceposts, mowing, grading, etc. We have a long gravel road that is about 1/4 mile long that needs grading every once in a while.

Thanks for any input. I don't want to buy the wrong thing or waste money on hiring somebody to do stuff when I know that eventually I will just bite the bullet and get a tractor.

 

[/pine]

consider a used tractor and use the money you save for implements you will eventually find a use for...

 

[flusher]

That Bota L3200 is an excellent tractor. My first tractor was a 2005 Kubota B7510HST that I used for the first 3 years I was on my 10 acre spread. It had the LA302 FEL (4-ft wide bucket). A 6-ft wide bucket is a lot more useful. If it's in your budget, get that Bota and don't look back.

Good luck.

 

[Minor9th]

consider a used tractor and use the money you save for implements you will eventually find a use for...

Thanks for the very fast reply!! I have been looking for used ones but it seems they are really hard to find around here as they seem to get sold to neighbors/friends/family and I rarely see used ones that aren't like 100 miles away. I am always on the lookout, though.

 

[/pine]

Thanks for the very fast reply!! I have been looking for used ones but it seems they are really hard to find around here as they seem to get sold to neighbors/friends/family and I rarely see used ones that aren't like 100 miles away. I am always on the lookout, though.

Leave your name and number with local dealers for trade ins...dealer trade more likely well maintained etc...but most do not come with any attachments like ones being sold because they are no longer being used...

good luck...

 

[pjbci]

Im with Pine, buy a used machine and enjoy doing it yourself. I have to ask though. Did somebody really quote you $600 to $1000 to mow 8 acres? Or did i read something wrong?

 

[MHarryE]

Comes to finances. If you think you can swing it on the payments, you won't regret the new tractor. If you go Kubota, they will give a cash discount if you don't go for the zero for 60 but the low payments over 5 years may make the deal for you instead of having to come up with all the cash at once for the used and unknown. I don't know if it is possible to do a search on here for the threads where people thought they got a good deal on used but then started finding problems that were the sellers reason for disposing.

 

[RunninOnEmpty]

I was in the same boat as you a few years ago; "buy new or used?". After a few months of searching local dealers & Craigslist for pre-owned I decided on buying new. It seemed anything pre-owned in decent shape was going for nearly the price of a new machine. Buying new you get low or 0% financing + warranty. I think you should educate yourself on who has what to offer & spend some seat time on different tractor sizes & brands. Also consider what attachments/implements you may need down the road. Good luck!

 

[Leejohn]

Isn't L3200 a little big for 8 acres? I would go for higher hp B's.

 

[Notforhire]

Isn't L3200 a little big for 8 acres? I would go for higher hp B's.

The OP mentioned; "I have piles of rocks in the driveway - piles of debris - heavy stuff " Now I don't know just how heavy, heavy is, in this case, but a 500 lbs rock weighs the same if it's located on 8 acres, or on 80 acres. Frankly I wouldn't consider a L3200 overkill for many jobs.
No offense intended, just my:2cents:

Bill