Help me make a decision

[jenkinsph]

paulfun9,

I understand your analogy, I have done a lot with two wheel drive tractors, long ago we were glad to have a tractor period. But, when offering advice it is better to offer or suggest what you feel is optimum. While you do have an upcharge for mfwd it isn't so much to be a deal breaker in most cases. I do understand that a 4x2 tractor is capable of lots of work, I know because for years that is all we had and I am glad we had them too.

 

[GManBart]

Are you serious? The hole darn machine is a luxury and every option on it as well!

I have lived and operated with 2 wheel drive for the majority of my life and we always managed to get the job done. To this day my 2 wheel drive machines out number my 4 wheel drive machines and I still use a 2 wheel drive machine for many jobs both summer and winter.

Yes I agree that 4 wheel drive makes many things easy but when budget constraints limit your needs/wants you have to make choices such as do I want to spend all day working that field or would it be more feasible to have a machine with 2 wheel drive and a 15 foot batwing and have to spend a little time prepping it for winter plow duties? ( which for me only means the installation of tire chains and some extra ballast). Yes that's right folks many of the jobs folks are describing have been done over and over again with the common sense approach successfully with 2 wheel drive for a long time. Some of those jobs have needed the help of a neighbors tractor to speed the process up but they still got done without resorting to using the wheelbarrow.

I wish we had all the digital camera stuff now back when, so I could post pictures of all the jobs that have been accomplished with 2 wheel drive! I assure the poster that the rock in the pics posted here is nothing compared to some we have dug out with 2 wheel drive and we didn't always have the luxury of just putting it back in the ground deeper. They came out and got hauled away with trucks that today you would wonder how they could even haul the groceries home from the store much less a weight that would make you cringe as they loaded into todays big trucks!

We recently sub divided a large part of our property and sold it to family members who wanted to move back home from the city. For some of them I actually recommended they purchase 2 wheel drive tractors to maintain their property as with the common sense approach they will be able to get most jobs done with no problems and very little frustration with others. For two of them I recommended they purchase 4 wheel drive and split the cost on a dozer or tracked loader with some real weight because their properties will require it. Now the two properties with 2 wheel drive are not flat and they will have to use a better strategy when doing some jobs but their pockets just simply could not afford a machine big enough to do their primary tasks without self destructing over time that also had 4 wheel drive. SO their budget prevailed and they now have well used 2x machines with all the gear they need to get the jobs at hand done without breaking the bank. Yes I am sure they will eventually move up to a newer 4 wheel drive in years to come but at the cost of the old farm tractors and their dependability I doubt they will ever have to spend the money needed to buy a big 4 wheel drive that will handle the batwings and those low cost 2 wheel drive units will probably still be running when the smaller machines with 4 wheel drive they buy to do the snow plowing have faded into dust.

When I decided to build here I could not afford to take my big machines out of use and bring them home as needed to do all the jobs at hand so I settled for a smaller than needed 4x thinking the same as many here seem to think. Boy was I wrong! A waste of money and a waste of a machine as it has slowly got beaten to death trying to accomplish what would have been easy work for a machine 2 times it size with only 2 wheel drive and it would have cost less than half what the smaller 4 wheel drive machine cost. Yes I would have had to make other choices and left some tasks on the table for now when I finally retired some of my 2 wheel drive machines and brought them home but in the end the money saved and timing would have worked out better as some of those jobs just proved too much for the smaller machine.

Its never an easy choice deciding on your wants/needs when your budget is a concern so I wish the poster well and hope he finds a way to get something that will work out best for him in the long term!

Yes, I'm serious. This isn't the 1920s and we have to move on and accept that most people consider many things "standard" or "normal" that used to be "luxury" items. A 4wd tractor isn't a luxury machine, it's a better machine. The way you guys talk, it's like you're saying buying a 4wd tractor is the same as buying a Mercedes instead of a Chevy....simply not the case.

Yes, 4wd is going to cost more, and no it's not the answer to every problem, but it will allow people to do more work with a smaller machine that they can afford to buy, have a place to store, and won't be vastly oversized for normal tasks.

Nearly your entire post is about you, and your uses over time, which is great, but it's not the OP. If you read his comments carefully, you'd note that he's never owned a 4WD tractor before, or used an FEL, and isn't confident he can pick a good used tractor. That rules out your concept of buying a 2wd machine that's 2X or 3X bigger because any of those would have to be used.

Also, don't forget that you have multiple machines, and have used them for years. You are less likely to get a machine stuck because of your experience, but if you do, it sounds like you would be able to get one of your other machines to pull it free. That isn't the case for most homeowners with some acreage.

 

[paulfun9]

Yes, I'm serious. This isn't the 1920s and we have to move on and accept that most people consider many things "standard" or "normal" that used to be "luxury" items. A 4wd tractor isn't a luxury machine, it's a better machine. The way you guys talk, it's like you're saying buying a 4wd tractor is the same as buying a Mercedes instead of a Chevy....simply not the case.

Yes, 4wd is going to cost more, and no it's not the answer to every problem, but it will allow people to do more work with a smaller machine that they can afford to buy, have a place to store, and won't be vastly oversized for normal tasks.

Nearly your entire post is about you, and your uses over time, which is great, but it's not the OP. If you read his comments carefully, you'd note that he's never owned a tractor before, and isn't confident he can pick a good used tractor. That rules out your concept of buying a 2wd machine that's 2X or 3X bigger because any of those would have to be used.

Also, don't forget that you have multiple machines, and have used them for years. You are less likely to get a machine stuck because of your experience, but if you do, it sounds like you would be able to get one of your other machines to pull it free. That isn't the case for most homeowners with some acreage.

Anything besides a pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow is a luxury! Just because we have more choices it does not change that fact!

Secondly posting here is about our experience in hopes that someone can take your advice and mine and combine it to get a solution that is best for them!

Yes I read the original post and still feel that if they apply common sense to their approach they could go in any direction they want! My cousin who purchased one of the properties had no confidence in his ability to get a good used machine but he used common sense and asked both myself and my neighbor to help him look at some used machines. Are you telling me that the original poster could not try to do the same if decided to take a different approach to his problem. Also I could have saved a bunch of money and purchased a much bigger 2 wheel drive machine when I built this house and still had a useable machine right now rather than a worn out piece of crap with 4 wheel drive!

Yes my post was about me but it is clear and to the point letting him know there are other options and that his needs can be accomplished with a 2 wheel drive machine if he chooses to go that route!

 

[GManBart]

Anything besides a pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow is a luxury! Just because we have more choices it does not change that fact!

Yes I read the original post and still feel that if they apply common sense to their approach they could go in any direction they want! My cousin who purchased one of the properties had no confidence in his ability to get a good used machine but he used common sense and asked both myself and my neighbor to help him look at some used machines. Are you telling me that the original poster could not try to do the same if decided to take a different approach to his problem. Also I could have saved a bunch of money and purchased a much bigger 2 wheel drive machine when I built this house and still had a useable machine right now rather than a worn out piece of crap with 4 wheel drive!

Yes my post was about me but it is clear and to the point letting him know there are other options and that his needs can be accomplished with a 2 wheel drive machine if he chooses to go that route!

In fact, a pick and shovel are luxury items because you can use your hands. Taking it to that level does nothing to help the discussion because it's unrealistic.

I'm not the OP, and I'm not putting words in his mouth. He says he's not confident in buying a used machine, so we'll have to take his word for it. Maybe he doesn't have any neighbors or relatives who can help, or maybe he wants something new with a warranty just in case....I don't know, but all we can go on is what he said.

You're guessing about his needs and whether a 2wd machine will accomplish them under reasonable circumstances given the size/price machines he's talking about. The option to go with a much larger 2wd machine isn't on the table unless he changes his position significantly.

It boils down to 4wd machines, or a 2wd machine that's just a bit larger....that's based on the OP's comments, not anybody's opinion. In that scenario, there is no comparison which one would be better for the OP...something with 4wd.

 

[TSO]

I can drive my F450 all over the place in 2wd as long as it's dry and moderate terrain. Add mud, snow, etc ... And it's USELESS without 4wd. It's not Luxury, it's a requirement. I could spend the better part of an hour providing specific references to the instances that has applied to my tractor as well. But I won't. The simple fact is, there are some applications where four wheel drive is not optional to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time... In many cases, it is simply required. Don't know why anyone would bother trying to argue against that.

 

[jenkinsph]

TSO,
I would also add that the heavy traction tire option makes a huge difference in my 4x4 F550s' too. With the regular all terrain tires and 95 psi all you have to do is spit in front of it to stop it in 4x2.

 

[TSO]

TSO,
I would also add that the heavy traction tire option makes a huge difference in my 4x4 F550s' too. With the regular all terrain tires and 95 psi all you have to do is spit in front of it to stop it in 4x2.

Lol exactly. Just like the R1 vs R4 tire comparison, I'm sure that my load range G 110 PSI "highway all season" tires aren't helping.

 

[TJP89]

Kioti is mostly considered a economy brand. To the best of my knowledge, Kioti does not make a tractor without 4WD. If an economy brand tractor maker has 4WD on every tractor it makes, then I'm thinking 4WD is now considered a basic tractor feature.

I have an 1950s farm tractor. I'd fail if I tried to make it my main farm tractor for a full sized farm. Yet it did such things once. Times have changed. I can do most everything on my property with a push mower and shovel, but my time is more valuable than that. As TSO said, this ain't the 1920s.

 

[grm61]

Kioti is mostly considered a economy brand. To the best of my knowledge, Kioti does not make a tractor without 4WD. If an economy brand tractor maker has 4WD on every tractor it makes, then I'm thinking 4WD is now considered a basic tractor feature..

I Don't think Kioti would be considered a economy brand any more than Kubota would be.

 

[oldpilgrim]

if they are not JD, then they are an economy brand. Just look at the prices.