Buying Advice Help with Tractor purchase - newbie

[kminnick]

Well that proves one is never too old, or at least I'm not, make a mistake and learn something new! Had not come across that before, and you're absolutely right!

As for the tractors, I have always liked the TN75's. Rugged farm utility tractors meant to survive hard use on the farm. The L5450, whose description I took to mean 226 hours on the new clutch, is a 1980's vintage classic, every bit as rugged as the TN75 and then some, but good ones are pretty rare these days. That price may be high, but a pristine unit would not be cheap. The L4150 is same generation tractor; smaller engine. No HSt with any of those of course.

Between the others, the condition of the specific tractor means a lot in making a choice, probably more than which brand it might be. If it's going to be primarily used for working in the woods, one of the old brutes has a lot going for it, if it's in decent shape.

Hi Grandad4-
The L5450 has 226 showing on the hour meter. It was bought by the current owner from a construction company, which makes me think they swapped out the dash. It's also been repainted... Some of these indicators scare me a little.

The TYM is very clean and has been loved. Probably has everything I need except front remote for a grapple and probably plenty of power. He has loaded the rear tires and the whole rig weighs 6000 lbs. Tires look almost new.

The TN75 is pretty much rust-free. I'm looking at it as it came off the field, so it's not clean (leaves, dirt, grease around the pins/zerks). It looks very rugged (FEL size, 3 pt size, etc.). Forklift attachment & QA bucket look quite heavy. It has 3 remotes. Hood has some kinks in it, but not bad. Front tires ~20%, Rear 40%.

So it looks like 1) heavy duty that will need tires & have more hours, Vs 2) newer/cleaner medium duty that would be ready to go.

One last question: The TYM has a mechanical shuttle, which means you still use the clutch from Fwd to Rev. The NH has hydraulic shuttle. Does that mean you don't have to use the clutch?

 

[kminnick]

One more thing - Full load fuel consumption on the TN75A is 3.94 gal/hr... Yikes! I guess that is a lot of HP though.

 

[paulfun9]

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One last question: The TYM has a mechanical shuttle, which means you still use the clutch from Fwd to Rev. The NH has hydraulic shuttle. Does that mean you don't have to use the clutch?

It means clutch is only needed for starts and stops.

 

[TripleR]

We traded a synchro-shuttle in on our hydraulic-shuttle and my brother's Kioti has synchro shuttle. You need to use the foot clutch on the synchro-shuttle to change directions and gears. On our hydro-shuttle, I never use the foot clutch, it is activated by the hand opeated shuttle lever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzdqA6NlXO0

 

[Grandad4]

Hi Grandad4-
The L5450 has 226 showing on the hour meter. It was bought by the current owner from a construction company, which makes me think they swapped out the dash. It's also been repainted... Some of these indicators scare me a little.

The TYM is very clean and has been loved. Probably has everything I need except front remote for a grapple and probably plenty of power. He has loaded the rear tires and the whole rig weighs 6000 lbs. Tires look almost new.

The TN75 is pretty much rust-free. I'm looking at it as it came off the field, so it's not clean (leaves, dirt, grease around the pins/zerks). It looks very rugged (FEL size, 3 pt size, etc.). Forklift attachment & QA bucket look quite heavy. It has 3 remotes. Hood has some kinks in it, but not bad. Front tires ~20%, Rear 40%.

So it looks like 1) heavy duty that will need tires & have more hours, Vs 2) newer/cleaner medium duty that would be ready to go.

One last question: The TYM has a mechanical shuttle, which means you still use the clutch from Fwd to Rev. The NH has hydraulic shuttle. Does that mean you don't have to use the clutch?

Clearing several acres of land is a big job and very hard on equipment, particularly comparatively "small" equipment like a 50 or so hp compact tractor. That was what prompted my earlier comments, of course. For example, few compact tractors will have good underside protection against sticks, rocks, etc. getting into exposed lines, linkages, etc. You either take it very easy or add some kind of skid plate setup.

TYM reportedly makes a good tractor, but just doesn't have a large footprint in the US market, so dealers are pretty sparse. That could be a factor when you're putting the tractor into what sounds like heavy-duty use. You'd want support for parts and repairs readily at hand if needed. Opinions will vary, but for me, doing loader/grapple work with a tractor that must be clutched every time you go from forward to reverse and back would get old in one afternoon. That works against the productivity you seek to realize by installing a fancy grapple on the front, since going back and forth is about all you do when working with the FEL!.

 

[TripleR]

Clearing several acres of land is a big job and very hard on equipment, particularly comparatively "small" equipment like a 50 or so hp compact tractor. That was what prompted my earlier comments, of course. For example, few compact tractors will have good underside protection against sticks, rocks, etc. getting into exposed lines, linkages, etc. You either take it very easy or add some kind of skid plate setup.

Good points and it all depends on your definition of "clearing". We've cleared land with chain saws and ATVs as well as SCUT, CUT, UT and old Ag tractors depending on the terrain and what was to be cleared. Even with the tractors we have, on our last clearing project, we decided to spare the scratches, flats etc. and rented a good sized tracked skid loader with a cab for a week, got lots more done and didn't have to repair flats or repair hoses.

A couple of TBN members have theirs armored up pretty well, but most of us don't.

 

[kminnick]

Good points and it all depends on your definition of "clearing". We've cleared land with chain saws and ATVs as well as SCUT, CUT, UT and old Ag tractors depending on the terrain and what was to be cleared. Even with the tractors we have, on our last clearing project, we decided to spare the scratches, flats etc. and rented a good sized tracked skid loader with a cab for a week, got lots more done and didn't have to repair flats or repair hoses.

A couple of TBN members have theirs armored up pretty well, but most of us don't.

I've already thought about renting a 'Dozer' for some of the really rough stuff. One of my neighbors insists that everyone needs at least 2 tractors: a TLB and a dozer. Having the equipment to haul all this 'stuff' is another issue. I have a '97 Dodge diesel 4wd & 10K trailer, but that may be marginal for some of this stuff.

 

[kminnick]

I'm seriously leaning towards the '06 TN75A. They are throwing in the fork lift QA and a set of new front tires. Plus they have a good used Landpride box scaper and rotary cutter that I can buy & have shipped at the same time. What do these units run new (72")?

I'm thinking a grapple may be just as important (more so?) than these. Thoughts?

 

[TripleR]

We got our first grapple about a year ago and can't believe how handy it is especially since my "ground crew" has grown up and moved on. We bought our second grapple a few months later when we found out how handy it was and got tired of hauling it back ad forth between farms then my brother bought one for our other farm; love them.

 

[kminnick]

How wide is that grapple?