Buying Advice Buying a new tractor - any advice

[Spydermike72]

Good Afternoon!!

I have 20 acres in Northern Michigan, recently select cut but a mix of hardwoods and pine. Land is mostly sand with a little regular old dirt mixed in. My goal is to use the tractor around the property to get it ready to build a house. I built a Pole Barn last year. Some of the land is rolling but mostly flat. I would like to be able to clean up the trees and scrap that was left by the Select cut people (lesson learned there). So maybe a little lifting/dragging and some digging.

I believe I have narrowed my choices down to the following 3:

John Deere 3025e
Kubota L2501
LS MT225HE

The LS is far and away the best price of the 3, by about $5k - including a back blade,landscape rake, FEL, and a front snow blade. It even has mid PTO, whereas the JD and the Kubota do not. Why is the LS so much cheaper ?? Any thing I should know about LS that would prevent me from buying one ??

 

[Roadworthy]

Get to know the dealers distance and repair capabilities. I bought the Kubota L2501 last year due to bad prior experience with the LS dealer. I kind of avoided Deere as too expensive. There is likely nothing inherently wrong with LS as they build for another of other names like Case and New Holland. My next door neighbor has had one for a couple years and I know of no issues John Deere is or has been built to a large extent by Yanmar. Happy shopping and good luck with whatever you choose. Oh, and welcome to Tractor By Net!!

 

[shovelmike]

Welcome to TBN.

 

[kenmbz]

Welcome to TBN-quite a few LS people so hope they chime in.

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN and the forum. Check the service facilities before you purchase any tractor. This is what you will have to deal with - should you ever need service.

 

[mred2]

Check the nearest LS dealer. I have an LS and love it, but I know the biggest problem with some owners has been the dealer at times. I love my dealer. They are good tractors, but also a new kid on the block for a lot of people. They build a lot of tractors for New Holland. I had timber cut from my place about 10 years ago. I think the next time, I will cut and burn it myself. The damage that they did to my fences and roads were not worth it. I was paid about $10,000 but still had to deal with the stumps and fixing the roads, and the already new fences. I had to keep animals up for 3 months and feed them. I have a larger LS with grapple. It is nice. No snow here, so can not help there. And no need for MMM. All three are nice tractors for their size. Make sure you test drive. I know I had my mind made up on another tractor until I drove it. It just did not fit me. The LS did.

 

[rScotty]

The Kubotas and Deeres are the most popular tractors and the most expensive. I've seen it said that Kubota has almost half of the compact tractor market in the US, and Deere has a quarter. That leaves a dozen reasonable but less popular/less well-known brands all fighting it out for that last quarter of the market. Actually, that last quarter isn't evenly distributed since Massey, New Holland, and Yanmar are all well known makes with a long history. And Kioti although younger ... is coming up fast and well. So those makes get the bulk of that dimininshed quarter.

If I've overlooked anyone or stepped on a favorite, be sure I'll hear about it.

It is unfortunate that out of all the many possible ways to compete, most of those brands competing in that diminished portion of the final quarter are choosing to compete with price rather than in any other way. You can probably take it from there.

But let me turn the question around. You are looking at a tool that doesn't change much from decade to decade, and is expected to pretty much expected to work hard and last a lifetime with minimal maintenance - so is price the most important thing to you? If not, then what?

Some say if you decide to go with the more expensive tractors, you will recover part of that in resale - although I'm going to show my own bias by saying that if anything interested me less about a tool than price, it would be resale. But that's just me.

Here's what I would do..... There are brand-specific forums here on TBN where you can spend hours reading about those very tractors from people who own them. I'd give that a go. Ask them the hard questions.
The LS is at: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/ls-tractors/

BTW, this TBN is a very good forum. I've been around tractors and tractor forums a long time and people here may be biased, but they will admit as much. Hard to do better than that. And most of us like ALL kinds of tractors. That helps too. I wish I could honestly tell you that one is better than another - but although I have my biases, they are just that. I don't really know.

Now when it comes down to how to set one up to work, you will get better info. And the first question you are likely to hear is this: With 20 acres and lots of trees why are you looking at 25hp tractors? Why not go bigger? BTW, 25 is plenty of hp - we will all (probably) agree with that.
It's just that larger & heavier tractors are typically more comfortable as well as a lot more stable when handling weighty things. Very rarely do you hear someone wish they had gone smaller, more often it's the reverse.
Best of luck in the search and welcome to TBN,
rScotty

 

[VroomVroom]

Lots of other guys with more tractor knowledge than me. However I壇 just like to say think of a few of the following.

Size when going to trailer around.
Pto hp. Will you have enough to power those attachments you will want or need.
3 point lift capacity. I use forks on the back a lot. You値l carry a lot of weight.
Loader lift capacity.
Size for storing or getting in to your property.
Remote hydraulics. Wish I had.
Hydraulic flow in case you use the remotes.

 

[jeff9366]

Why is the LS so much cheaper ?? Anything about LS that would prevent me from buying one ??

Korean manufacturing labor is paid 20% less than Japanese manufacturing labor in $/USA terms.

I have shopped LS and been impressed. LS likely has around 1% market share of the USA compact tractor market. LS dealers are widely spaced and must be self reliant.

It is interesting that the two largest selling compact tractor brands, Kubota and Deere, between them have 70% of new compact tractor sales in the USA. Kubota and Deere are also the two most expensive venders. Kubota produces almost everything on a Kubota tractor sold in the USA except tires and rims, which come from Titan. Deere is a partner with Yanmar of Japan in the assembly of Deere compact tractors sold in the USA. Deere's interest lies more with Big Ag tractors than compact tractors.

About twenty-five tractor brands compete for the 30% market share of compact tractors not held by Kubota and Deere. You can go to the brand-specific forums here on T-B-N and read about all twenty-five.

Someday an aspiring marketing or business student will write a thesis exploring how this two brand compact tractor oligopoly developed.

 

[VroomVroom]

I thought mahindra been taking over #1 in North American tractor sales.? In any case, for a new tractor owner just make sure you have the lift capacity, hydraulic flow for rear remote attachments, it’s sized to enable you to tow it if you were travelling somewhere with it. And horsepower to use those desired attachments. Pto hp is as important as engine hp. After all it is what you consider hen attaching your tiller or snowblower to. I’m not brand loyal , a good tractor is a good tractor. Dealer support makes a difference as well.