Buying Advice Tractor for homestead / land maintenance

[Binx]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you very much for the advice. Based on that, we're going to pay for the land clearing and give some more thought to the culvert.

Our Kioti dealer is only 8 miles away and was really friendly and informative. They can also service the tractors. We asked to see 40-50HP tractors (we were looking at 40HP tractors until hubby saw your recommendations). The dealer recommended the DK10SE Hydrostatic series and quoted us:

DK4710SE - $26,500
w/ 5520 Loader, 66" QA HD Bucket or 72" QA Bucket, Grill Guard & Loader Joystick Valve, $5,854
63" Hydraulic Grapple and third function on joystick, $4,500
MSRP: $36,584
Discount $6,855
+Taxes, Doc fees, etc. Total = $32,356.93

DK5310SE =$27,773
Same Loader, Grapple, bucket, etc.
MSRP $38,127
Discount $7,028
+Taxes, Doc Fees, etc. Total $33,533.93

For $1200 more on the DK5310, I think the additional 6HP in both the engine and PTO is worth the price. Is the total price a good deal? Would you go with the 66" HD bucket or the 72" standard bucket?

They're charging $1100 for a Hardee Box Blade and $2600 for a 20' trailer (we live about 10 miles from our land and would store it at home until we move). I'm wondering if we could get them to throw in the box blade and Piranha teeth.

We're going to Kubota next weekend. We have 2 near us, but one of them has very poor reviews and the other deals in small lawn mowers and construction equipment and doesn't do any service, so we would have to drive an hour to the next closest dealer.

 

[jeff9366]

graziaka​

Thank you very much for the advice. Based on that, we're going to pay for the land clearing and give some more thought to the culvert.

Our Kioti dealer is only 8 miles away and was really friendly and informative. They can also service the tractors. We asked to see 40-50HP tractors (we were looking at 40HP tractors until hubby saw your recommendations). The dealer recommended the DK10SE Hydrostatic series and quoted us:

DK4710SE - $26,500
w/ 5520 Loader, 66" QA HD Bucket or 72" QA Bucket, Grill Guard & Loader Joystick Valve, $5,854
63" Hydraulic Grapple and third function on joystick, $4,500
MSRP: $36,584
Discount $6,855
+Taxes, Doc fees, etc. Total = $32,356.93

DK5310SE =$27,773
Same Loader, Grapple, bucket, etc.
MSRP $38,127
Discount $7,028
+Taxes, Doc Fees, etc. Total $33,533.93

Doc Fees are dealer treats. Doc Fees should be dropped.
Check into full or partial sales tax exemptions. In Florida and many other southern states ag and forestry equipment is either sales tax exempt or pays reduced "ag" sales tax.

For $1200 more on the DK5310, I think the additional 6HP in both the engine and PTO is worth the price. Is the total price a good deal? Would you go with the 66" HD bucket or the 72" standard bucket?

I am not familiar enough with Kiotis to comment on the prices offered by the dealer. Make sure whichever bucket you choose that is has SSQA coupler.

They're charging $1100 for a Hardee Box Blade and $2600 for a 20' trailer (we live about 10 miles from our land and would store it at home until we move). I'm wondering if we could get them to throw in the box blade and Piranha teeth.

I would prioritize reducing doc fees to '0' and checking into sales tax exemption.
I looked at Hardee's web site. Very unusual for implement weights not to be prominently shown. Width and weight are the key criterion. What width did Kioti offer you?

We're going to Kubota next weekend. We have 2 near us, but one of them has very poor reviews and the other deals in small lawn mowers and construction equipment and doesn't do any service, so we would have to drive an hour to the next closest dealer.

I would favor Kioti in this circumstance.

 

[finn1]

Look at either a skid steer or, better yet, a CTL before you pull the trigger on a new tractor.

They will be more expensive, especially new, but are much more robust machines for construction and earth moving work.

That’s not a very popular opinion on this, a tractor forum, but having traded in my skid steer on a small tractor, I have some personal experience here.

I hope to have a CTL within a month or so.

I will keep the tractor for snowblower work, and light chores around the property, but moving dirt requires a more suitable machine.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Without question you want an SSQA quick attach FEL. If you have to get the "standard" bucket to get that, then get the standard bucket. From looking at your description, it reads to me like the heavy duty 66" bucket is a pin on. I would avoid that like the plague. Just no reason in this day and age to NOT get an SSQA front end loader.

 

[ericm979]

That is a lot for a grapple and 3rd function. A 60" EA wicked root grapple is $2200 and their 3rd function kit is $900. Installation should be under $500 if you don't do it yourself.

Make sure the grapple is not a super heavy skid steer model. Tractors have less loader capacity than skid steers and a heavy grapple takes away from carrying capacity. The EA grapple is fairly light but still strong. Of course other companies make good CUT grapples.

What you describe doing doesn't require a lot of HP. 47hp is plenty. I have a 37hp tractor that does all those things without issue. The one task I could use more power for is running the 8" PTO chipper- when I chip large material I have to slow the feed rate way down. Many people do not chip stuff that large but we have far more wood than we can burn.

 

[Tractorable]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you very much for the advice. Based on that, we're going to pay for the land clearing and give some more thought to the culvert.

Our Kioti dealer is only 8 miles away and was really friendly and informative. They can also service the tractors. We asked to see 40-50HP tractors (we were looking at 40HP tractors until hubby saw your recommendations). The dealer recommended the DK10SE Hydrostatic series and quoted us:

DK4710SE - $26,500
w/ 5520 Loader, 66" QA HD Bucket or 72" QA Bucket, Grill Guard & Loader Joystick Valve, $5,854
63" Hydraulic Grapple and third function on joystick, $4,500
MSRP: $36,584
Discount $6,855
+Taxes, Doc fees, etc. Total = $32,356.93

DK5310SE =$27,773
Same Loader, Grapple, bucket, etc.
MSRP $38,127
Discount $7,028
+Taxes, Doc Fees, etc. Total $33,533.93

For $1200 more on the DK5310, I think the additional 6HP in both the engine and PTO is worth the price. Is the total price a good deal? Would you go with the 66" HD bucket or the 72" standard bucket?

They're charging $1100 for a Hardee Box Blade and $2600 for a 20' trailer (we live about 10 miles from our land and would store it at home until we move). I'm wondering if we could get them to throw in the box blade and Piranha teeth.

We're going to Kubota next weekend. We have 2 near us, but one of them has very poor reviews and the other deals in small lawn mowers and construction equipment and doesn't do any service, so we would have to drive an hour to the next closest dealer.

Those new Kioti DK10SE tractors are really nice. I would give more thought to considering the cab model, especially for the extremely hot and humid South Carolina summers and protection from the sun, dust, dirt, stinging insects, and thorny bushes. If this is a once in a lifetime purchase think hard on it.

The new Kioti’s also have a super handy lever on the back for raising and lowering the 3pt hitch. Here’s a video on the new Kioti DK10SE tractors in case you haven’t seen it.

All New Kioti DK10SE HST Tractors - DK4210SE & DK4710SE Walkthru - YouTube

I also think the quote on the grapple and third function is high. I’d recommend Everything Attachments out of North Carolina, and they ship for free to SC. Tractor Attachments And Skid Steer Attachments For Any Tractor Or Skid Steer

Take a closer look at that 20ft trailer too. Those package deals usually offer the cheapest trailers possible. Consider whether you want a cheap trailer or if you want to spend a little more and get a good quality one like a PJ, Big Tex, Gatormade, Diamond C, etc.

As for Kubota, their Grand L line is the gold standard of tractors with a really nice 6 range HST+ transmission that no other manufacturer offers. The MX series is worth giving a hard look on too.

Good luck on your search!

 

[3gunr]

For the prices they are quoting you on the tractors the fel should be included. At least they are where i live.

 

[PEJ5]

Based on the kind of work you have described, you will want to get the tires loaded. This provides much greater stabiliy and is highly recommended for new tractor owners.
On that note your tractor is getting heavy. The DK5310 with loader is 4900 pounds plus 900# for loaded rear tires and leaving an implement attached could take you to 6800 pounds.
Make sure that $2600 trailer has enough capacity to handle that kind of load plus a factor for safety. I trust you have a powerful enough tow vehicle.

Good luck.

Peter, DK owner.

 

[Binx]

Thank you jeff9366.

I hope I'm doing these quotes correctly.

Doc Fees are dealer treats. Doc Fees should be dropped.
Check into full or partial sales tax exemptions. In Florida and many other southern states ag and forestry equipment is either sales tax exempt or pays reduced "ag" sales tax.

I told my husband about the doc fees and sales tax exemption and he got really happy. That's almost $2100 in taxes and about $260 in doc fees. He's going to research what we need for the sales tax exemption and I think we might have a good chance since our land is considered agricultural by the county.


I would prioritize reducing doc fees to '0' and checking into sales tax exemption.
I looked at Hardee's web site. Very unusual for implement weights not to be prominently shown. Width and weight are the key criterion. What width did Kioti offer you?

I think it was either 66 or 72". It was a verbal estimate. I looked at Everything Attachments and their 66" XTreme Duty Box Blade, 490 lbs, looks like a good deal for $893.


I would favor Kioti in this circumstance.[/QUOTE]
Kioti is definitely in the lead right now.

 

[Binx]

Looks like I need more work on figuring out the quote function.

@finn1,
We thought about a skid steer, but even the used ones cost more than a tractor.

@Slowpoke Slim,
We'll ask the dealer if the 66" bucket is a pin on or SSQA. He only showed us SSQA buckets yesterday, but we'll check and verify...and have him put it in writing.

@ericm979,
That Wicked Root Grapple looks good...especially for the price. We would save almost $1k on that. Is the Wicked Grapple better than the single/dual lid grapples? BTW, because of your suggestion, we think we're going to order the box blade and bush hog from EA.

@Tractorable,
The dealer said that the cab was an extra $7k, so it's definitely out. Plus, for some reason, my husband likes to work out in the yard and likes the open air feel. Since he's doing the yard work, I'm definitely not going to argue!

We definitely are interested in the attachments EA has to offer. We're probably going to start with the box blade and the grapple. It looks like we can get both of those for about the same price as what the dealer is offering just for the grapple!

We'll check out the different trailers. I forgot we're both took the day off tomorrow, so we'll go take a look at the Kubotas. There are 3 dealers an hour away, so we have to figure out which one we should visit. The 2 near us aren't an option.

@3gunr,
I agree that the Kioti price is a little high. Especially when I compare it to the package deals at Larry Stovesand in Tennessee. We'll look at the Kubotas and see what he likes better. I think it will be the Kioti and we can hopefully negotiate that price down.

@PEJ5,
The dealer mentioned filling the tires with a liquid, not water, but I'm not sure how much weight that would add. We have an F-150 and I just looked up the tow capacity and it's about 7,500, which is close. We would only be towing it about 10 miles, so it shouldn't be an issue...hopefully.

I really want to tell all you guys how much we appreciate your help. We thought we knew quite a bit based on the YouTube videos we've been watching and the forums we've been reading, but there's so many things we've been learning from your suggestions. I'll let you know how the Kubota dealer visit works out and I think we might stop by another Kioti dealer during our trip and get another quote on a DK.