Thanks reg, good post :thumbsup: I have been considering waiting on the backhoe to save cost. I think it would be so darn useful, but they sure are expensive. I feel like putting in the septic justifies a chunk of the cost, but renting would save more $ on the project. Would also like to add culverts and I hear they can be useful for building rock walls. Would be nice to not have to rent and might find more uses in the future, but they add such cost... I imagine most users here would suggest buying with the original purchase as I see a lot of uses for it. Not decided yet I guess, will have to think about it more.
Waiting on the snowblower, will see after trying with the back blade.
Sounds like I should add grapples and forks to the purchase. Wasn't planning on those at first, but seems like I may regret not having them.
One way to compare tractors is to separate the things that should be included with a tractor purchase from those that make no difference if they come with the tractor or not.
With a basic tractor, bucket, and blade you are going to learn so much in the first few months that your decisions on the implements will be different from what you think now. There's a learning curve.
It is hard for me to see any advantage to buying certain things at the same time you buy the tractor. Instead of buying, you could simply make a list of things that could be added anytime without penalty: lights, wheel weights, backhoe, extra buckets, grapples, and forks would be on the "later" list....and lots else besides. Since you are going to buy new from a dealer, you can just hand him that list and say that when he has an incredible used deal on one of those items he should give you a shout.
On my own list of basic decisions I needed to make on the tractor itself last time I bought new were: HP range, transmission type, cab or not, FEL bucket type, tire type, SSQA, type II 3pt?, and some combo of front and rear remotes. Then warranty & financing. The rest can wait.
As a for instance, look at some of the backhoe decisions: Hoes basically come in three types depending on how they are mounted and you haven't yet used any of them enough to compare them - but you will. There is the 3pt mount, the add-on subframe mount, and the integral (TLB) mount. AFAIK, only Kubota and big commercial machines make the integral-mounted type and if you not considering those brands, you are probably looking at one of the first two types of hoe. But which one? BTW, not all backhoes swing a full 180 degrees and that's important.
Think about this, When digging, you'll move the tractor & hoe a lot - a lot more than you think now. Can you do that from the backhoe seat via some crawl feature? Or does it require raising the stabilizers, releasing brakes, getting down from the backhoe seat and going around to the tractor seat to move it a few feet? Of course you don't know....and my point is that these are all decisions that can wait.
As to how backhoes are powered, some are PTO powered and others are driven by the tractor hydraulics. You'll have a choice of buckets in width, depth, and teeth, plus pin-on versus quick attach, and does it get to have a thumb or not? Hydralic or manual?
If you are in an area where you an put in your own septic I'd be very surprised if you can't save enough to outright pay for a nice backhoe. But it can come later.
rScotty
