Need guidance in selecting Mower vs Yard Tractor

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Next question is do these smaller tractors have rear remotes? (2 extra hydraulic ports per remote)

You need rear remotes for power angle rear blades to change angles without getting off the tractor, anything with a hydraulic lift, some bigger disks ext.

Also you can add remotes to the FEL for different attachments like a grapple, front broom, front snow blower ext. blowers are usually ran off a mid PTO with a extension kit to the FEL, but to angle the blower, that requires another remote up front, the FEL can lift and angle the blower.

It's better to have as many remotes as you can, my tractor has only one rear remote, I have a remote on the FEL also but that's just lines that runs off the rear remotes instead of another valve for the front and one for the rear, to use my rear remote I have to unhook the hoses feeding the front.

It's good to have at least one extra rear remote and one FEL remote available, on larger tractors that run balers and different things, they require 2-4 rear remotes.

But with a smaller tractor, at most one remote I would think, and both rear and front PTOs are needed.

My dads 445 has two remotes on the front, one to lift a blower or blade, the other to angle the blade with two controls on the column, I don't believe he has any rear remotes.

But like others have said, garden tractor attachments are kinda proprietary and super expensive, I can get 6ft attachments for my tractor for the same price, many times less than he can for his 445 that are no more than 4ft, only attachment he's ever used is a 4ft woods rear 3pt blade to push snow, I paid $200 for a Ford 6ft rear blade lol.

Cat 1 attachments are much cheaper than garden tractor 3pt and much more readily available. You can buy any brand or make of any attachment and it will work on the 3pt. SSQA attachments are the equivalent for the FEL. JD has there own but honestly it's not that difficult finding attachments for the FEL, some things are a bit over priced where a SSQA are cheaper over the JD proprietary quick attach, but some of that was covered in previous posts here already.

 

[JK22]

I don't know of any SCUTs that come standard with rear remotes. But unlike adding an FEL, adding rear remotes is fairly simple.

 

[dnmccoy]

Yeah I dont see anything that shows they are standard.

Right now the Massey GC1715 is my front runner, it has the most power of all the machines. I got a quote of 15,450 for the tractor,fel and belly mower from the local dealer

 

[piercedtiger]

The Massey 1715 is standing out so far

I have to say, I quite like the cruise control on my Massey. Mostly use it when driving down the road to a friend's house, or when tilling. For tilling (or mowing long stretches maybe) it was nice to keep a consistent speed the whole time without my foot getting tired or cramping. Mine was broken when I bought the tractor so I had to fix it, and I'm glad it works now.

 

[dnmccoy]

Have you been pleased with it otherwise?

 

[boggen]

add to your spread sheet....

1. split brakes.
2. how many gear options it has example(low, high) (low, medium, height), (1-4), etc...
3. cost of something on rear end, make it rear blade, box blade, weight box, cost of filling rear tires with a fluid, something, to help off set weight of FEL, so you can use FEL to full capacity
4. noted above but say it again, filling up rear tires with a fluid for weight.
5. roll over deck finishing mower, (easy hook up), or 3pt hitch finishing mower. pulling decks out from under tractors is well. painful more ways than i can count at times.
6. tires (double check type) = (ag / R1), (industrial / R4), (turf ) most likely turf is what you want.
7. if you do not know how to weld, or have a good drill and set of descent drill bits. then see about getting "bucket hooks" 2 generally on top of the FEL general duty bucket.
8. FEL BUCKET =do NOT get a mulch bucket, they are wider, but not as strong / take as much abuse compared to a general duty generic bucket
9. double check FEL = some times they offer more than 1 model for a given tractor model. generally 1 is less powerful, and does not lift up as high, compared to the other one.
10. REAR hydrualic remotes =i would advise getting 1 set, while you can get 3rd party remotes added later on, they tend to be a field installed kit at dealer, and not manfuactured with them already installed. as a result, there is a labor charge. if you get it now perhaps bigger discount vs buying later.
11. 3rd function joystick for FEL (to deal with 4in1 bucket, or front mounted snow blower) like above, field installed at dealership and manufacture most likely not including them as the tractors get shipped off to dealers.
12. check chains and sway bar chains for 3pt hitch, they may come separately. you will most likely need them for rotatry mower (bush hog) and/or for rear blade, box blade, and some other stuff.
13. 3pt hitch.... telescopic lower lift arms, to pats easy hitch (found here on the forum), to a quick attach on 3pt. one of them, is highly advised. it is not easy to muscle around stuff and move backwards/forwards for perfect alignment of stuff when attaching to stuff. and having one of them makes word of difference (been there done that). to note it, if you get a upside down U shape quick attach for 3pt hitch, you may need to cut and re-weld some 3pt hitch connectors to work correctly. ((it is just one of them things)) a rotatry mower tends to be heavy more so due to they stick so far out behind tractor. and int hat you may need to take off a quick attach that is mounted on 3pt hitch. in order to lift the rotatory mower up all the way (dealing with ditches along road side and like)
14. brush gaurd on front i doubt you will need, more so if you have FEL.
15. i doubt getting a larger altenator to run a 12v winch would be worth it. better off 12v winch and second battery on a SCUT. if you needed a winch.

beyond #13, everything above is pretty much very tractor specific per each make and model. exception #4 filling up rear tires, if you do not have something yet you can DIY fairly cheaply, but if buying new, might be easy done and over with thing for ya. and #7 bucket hooks, many do it themselves. but if you do not have tools and/or abilty to weld leave it to the dealer to deal with.

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stuff like....can be done 3rd party, and/or DIY within reason.

1. higher lights on ROPS, (front and rear) suggest min on rear to make unhooking easier at night, when ya pushing them hours right to night time and ready to park it for the night it helps.
2. 3pt hitch equipment on rear end of tractor.
3. tire chains
4. tooth bar for FEL general duty bucket

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what is or is not covered in buying new from given dealer....

filter changes, oil changes, and anything else for the first i don't know first 50 hours, 150 hours, 300 hour service intervals (what ever the given manual suggests) some dealers pick this up free of charge some tack it on at different costs.

some dealers may or may not charge for dealing with trailing your tractor to and from your home.

above can be rather costly!

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if you are trying to get trailer WITH OUT doing your home work / research. then no no. and would suggest, just on that alone buying trailer separate, just to push you through doing your home work. tractor first bought to find out what weight and dimensions are for tractor and any attachments (fel and 3pt hitch) that might be on tractor, then trailer next buying. so you can get 1 or 2 axles, and over all length of trailer.

 

[piercedtiger]

Have you been pleased with it otherwise?

I love the thing! haha But then, I was the guy working at Sam's Club who'd use the forklift for everything possible, not just getting stuff off the racks. Drop 10 pallets of paper towels and push them down the aisle to their bays. Nudge pallets back in line under the shelves. Haul a stack of pallet jacks back to receiving.

My tractor is the same. Home made 4x4 post forks and a piece of plywood held a 5 gal bucket of aluminum paint at roof level so I didn't haul it up the ladder. Extensions on the forks picked up a whole stack of pine branches at once after a company dropped the dead tree, and my buddy and I cut it up. Forks and larger platform hauled chunks of pine that wouldn't fit in the loader. It tills our garden, and is my favorite wheel barrow for mulching/composting around the flowers and fruit trees. I've pulled shrubs out by their roots with the loader and a chain. It mows and clears snow. I used the loader to dig out a friend stranded in 19+ inches of snow with just a cheap plastic shovel, and an elder gentleman's driveway that his neighbor got his truck stuck trying to clear out. (Couple ladies stopped me while on the other job and asked if they could hire me. No idea what to charge, but I made $100 that day in a couple hours.) I used the forks to lift off 300-ish lb stone steps, carried them back to my fire pit, then set them on log sections for benches. Tearing down those steps (door is walled over on the inside, insurance company made us maintain them for liability reasons) was a job I'd dreaded doing before. I figured I'd need to chisel the mortar away, and somehow drag these "huge ***" stones into my truck bed, then fight to get them back out. The remaining stone crumbled under the loader and was scooped up. I did it all myself without any help in like half an hour. My 11 yr old daughter can even drive it, till with it, and work the bucket somewhat. This year I might start her on mowing since I can take the bucket off in a few seconds now.

The ballast box is a tool holder too. So it carries my rakes, shovels, etc while we do yard work.

I even had a custom bucket designed and built for it to replace the wooden expander I made so cleaning out the barn, and raking snow off the roof takes fewer trips (and less time).

I did load the rear tires with 11 gal of washer fluid for more ballast (using a submersible pump, 5 gal bucket, and adapter off amazon), and swapped them left to right to get 3" wider wheelbase for stability which helps a lot. And a quick hitch from harbor frieght to make it easier to swap 3pt implements (also adds about 60lbs of ballast).

 

[piercedtiger]

One thing I wish it had were split brakes as I lose steering traction plowing snow, but I haven't seen that option on this size tractor. So I might just throw chains on the front. It's really only my driveway and sidewalk that are the issue and I have R4 tires. So maybe some turfs or doing some grooving on the tires would help.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Boggen,

Nice long post.

When you see people on this forum complaining that they got a tractor delivered that was broke, poor quality control ext, that could be avoided with making a list and doing your own walk around on the tractor before you let them take it off the lot. Boggen has some really good points here.

If it was mine, and you made a final decision on the model and brand and your sitting down doing paperwork, I would tell the salesman to show me which tractor is mine, before I signed anything I would go threw the tractor, take notes for reminders of what to look for, better to find out now than 15h down the road or the same day it was delivered.

I have read some real horror stories getting newly bought tractors back in for service, once it's yours it's yours, they simply wont exchange it for another on on there lot, it's important that your fully test the tractor and check it out before you buy it, I would write down that Tractors model and serial number, and I would even go as far as marking a tire with a sharpie after you go threw it to make sure that's the tractor you pick up/ gets delivered.

If you order the tractor with more rear remotes or at the very least #11 the 3rd function joystick, I would get that, I do not have a 3rd function joystick, my extra remote is a separate lever, ok for a directional blade but would get old fast on a grapple or something like that.

#9 goes along the line of the 120D loader on the 1023E offered in that deal, that loader lifts more but isn't quick disconnect and would be a real pain to remove, making them include the 120h FEL would save you tons of headaches down the road, knowing the FELs for that model is important and to make sure it has the one you want.

He's given you plenty to look into lol.

Dealers sometime try to let things slide hoping you won't notice or maybe they just don't care, stuff they should fix and is pulling teeth to get them to fix them later.

 

[Deere Dude]

Dealers sometime try to let things slide hoping you won't notice or maybe they just don't care, stuff they should fix and is pulling teeth to get them to fix them later.

That/s why it is so important to have a decent dealer you can rely on to get things right after the sale. It is impossible to know all the flaws from a two hour going over on a new tractor when you really know little about the particular model to start with. Most problems won't show up until you start working the tractor. About all you can do is drive it and see how nice the controls and ride are and maybe get a few questions answered.